What's Next?

 

Like many 10- or 11-year-olds I knew, I used to build model airplanes. It didn't really matter if it was a P-51 from World War II or an F-4 Phantom, my favorites were the models that included a pilot inside. You know how young boys are, I imagined myself as that pilot zooming around—saving the world.

Learning how to follow instructions and paying attention to what came next was important to properly finishing a model airplane. If I had done a good job assembling and painting, my Dad would usually tell me it looked like the real thing. Knowing what comes next is every bit as important for individual members of the project team as it is for boys building model airplanes. When team members have to dig around and search for their next task or assignment, it wastes valuable time and resources.

Making sure your team knows what they should be working on now and what they need to tackle next can be made a lot easier with the software or methodology you choose. For example, SCRUM teams usually don't have to look very hard to find their next task. It's usually as close as the SCRUM board. However regardless of the type of project management methods you use, some software does a better job of making it apparent to team members than others.

If you use software to distribute tasks and assign work, you need to make sure it doesn't make it harder for the team than it should. In fact, I don't think it should make it difficult at all. Unfortunately, most project management solutions are designed to help project managers plan projects and generate reporting. They leave out the critical component of clearly communicating "what's next?" to the team.

That's one reason I'm such a big fan of incorporating the social media metaphor into the project management process. The easier we can make it for team members to see "what's next?", collaborate and update status, the better we'll be able to capture accurate information at the source to provide the business leaders in our organizations the information they need to make informed decisions.

Not long ago, Tim Harmon from Forrester recorded an interesting presentation about Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your Dynamic Workforce Asset and why it's important to make sure they know what they're supposed to be working on now, and what they should be working on next.

What are you doing to make sure your team knows what they're supposed to be doing now and what they're supposed to be doing next?