How many times you participated in a meeting where everything is absolutely clear – tasks, outcomes, schedules, how-to’s – everything but clear deliverable’s owner? Like “John brings beers tomorrow” or “Mary gets tickets by Tuesday”. Instead I witness things like “It is our common responsibility”, “Beers must be bought”, “We need to invite him to give a keynote speak”. The result? Everyone agrees but the task has no owner and it dies before it is even started.
Why it happens? May be because we assume too much? May be we really believe in things like “it goes without saying”. I witnessed way too many failures to deliver when clear individual assignments not set.
To avoid such failures I adopted simple rule of asking simple question to make things clear “Who does what by when to get this on the table?”
What’s usually overseen
This. The deliverable. The owner and the rest of the gang know what to bring back on the table when the deadline flies by. Usually it is well defined outcome – the main reason why.
When. The dead line. The owner must plan his path of action in timely manner to make it happen. It is also usually well known and accepted by all.
What. Path of action. Everybody knows and agrees what’s needed to be done. It helps to identify road bumps that can slow down the delivery and hit the deadline. The "what" is discovered through the discussion and then usually agreed.
What’s usually overlooked
Who. The owner. It is the guy who is responsible for failure or success of the outcome, of the deliverable. This name must be tightly coupled to the outcome and communicated to related audience. This part is overlooked way too often.
Opportunity
Lack of owner creates an opportunity to be one. Owning impactful deliverable can get you closer to your goals or even create new more attracting ones.
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Alva Edison
2 comments ↓
Those are sane things that difficult to argue. GIve me something more controversial, I just want to try myself in ‘kickboxing’ (at least I know how dangerous in can be:)
Try these first and tell me how it went. After that i’ll show you real secrets of achieving results. The idea is simple - accomplish more with less. If you follow proven rules above, you have better chance to hit your goal. What’s your goal? If you want to sweat go kickboxing. If you want to achieve result and go home to your kids by five o’clock then follow simple rules, look for a way with less resistance.
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