3.0 BELIEF
Common vocabulary over common tooling
Diversity on teams is increasing (finally!). More and more conversations are happening via chat than in-person and we’re all busier than we’ve ever been, which means getting lost in translation has become the norm more than the exception these days.
THE PRINCIPAL BELIEFS
Acronyms, codenames and abbreviations may make intra-team comms faster but often at the expense of staying in tune with other teams.
Acronyms, codenames and abbreviations may make comms within your team faster but often at the expense of staying in tune with other teams.
Our knee-jerk response can be to get everyone working in the same tool, or pre-2020 to get everyone in the same office. But the answer to confusion and chaos isn’t more constraints at the expense of empowering individuals and teams, it’s a thoughtful approach to designing consistent ways of working across teams.
We believe all teams benefit from working the way they want, with guardrails to keep inter-teams comms easy and efficient. Setting empowering guardrails, starts with agreeing on the common questions all teams should answer before, during and after their projects.
From
teams must standardize on same tools to get on the same page
To
teams rely on a shared communication layer & common language for visibility across chosen work tools
From
reporting the same update multiple times
To
one update a week to all audiences
From
codebreaking other teams' updates
To
one global language for projects and goals
Create consistency
Level feedback to project phase
Encourage more of the right type of feedback and less back and forth explanations
Encourage honesty
Give project leaders a template so that they feel safe communicating the good, bad and the ugly
Standardize fields
Reduce cognitive load for writers, readers and lurkers alike
Connect the dots
Easily identify relationships among previously silo’d projects
Related research
3.0 RITUAL – common vocabulary over common tooling
Answer the same foundational questions for all projects
“What is a project?” sounds like a question the dictionary could solve, but it’s surprisingly complex. Layer in “How is your project going?” and the range of possible ways to answer can certainly not be defined by a generic dictionary. That’s why you need to create your own custom project dictionary for your teams.
Empower every team to work the way they want to work, by giving them a template for what needs to be consistent across all projects. It can be as basic as defining “What is a project?” and being clear about expectations for status updates or step it up a notch and setup a system that helps all teams answer the same foundational pre-, during and post- project questions we found critical in enabling our scaling company or empowered teams.
PRACTICE with your team
3.1 technique – common vocabulary over common tooling
Define your project’s what, why and how
Oftentimes the “what, why and how” of a project lives in a few people’s minds. These questions are crucial context for every team member, stakeholder and anyone you ask for feedback.
3.2 technique – common vocabulary over common tooling
Agree on “what is a project” and phases
Ask a team of 10 people to independently write their answers to “what is a project?” chances are you’ll get 10 different answers.
3.3 technique – common vocabulary over common tooling
Define your status markers: On track (green), At risk (yellow), Off track (red)
Have you ever heard of Watermelon status reporting? It’s a contagious form of fake news that happens in the workplace but it can be cured by setting up a social contract among all teams for when and why to change your project’s status.
An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Emperor of the French
Explore all the Loop techniques
1.0 Open up your work in progress
1.1 Create reference-able handles
1.2 Open up comments & questions (avoid 1:1 messages)
1.3 Distribute updates in channels where teams live
2.0 Curate, don't automate
2.1 Character constrain your updates
2.2 Update async, spar in real time
2.3 Balance qualitative + quantitative
3.0 Common vocabulary over common tooling
3.1 Define your project’s what, why & how
3.2 Agree on “what is a project” and phases
3.3 Define your status markers (On Track (green), At Risk (yellow), Off Track (red))
4.0 Show that you are paying attention
4.1 Level your feedback in line with phase/fidelity
4.2 Create a read receipts mechanism
4.3 Follow relevant projects & celebrate wins together