Remote Work Tools
-
Stakeholders
-
Consensus
-
Dot Voting
-
Fist of Five
Techniques
-
Avoid top-down decision making; seek the advice of multiple roles and perspectives within the organization, e.g. design, implementation, sales, marketing, strategy, operations, etc.
-
Actively solicit, incorporate, and address the concerns of multiple points of view, especially when that role will be affected by the decision.
-
CAUTION: The goal is not consensus; while it is important to seek the advice and input of a variety of people, it is usually impossible to please everyone.
-
TIP: While some teams use consensus for decision making, we have also seen effective, single decision makers, as long as that person not only solicits, but also seriously addresses the concerns raised by the multiple points of view.
-
-
Every concern that is raised should be considered and addressed; the people closest to the issue often understand and experience the issue more strongly than those making the decisions, so trust that their perspective may be different and also valid.
-
TIP: To consider and address an issue does not mean that you must do everything proposed by everyone; this is NOT about integrating multiple solutions; concerns can be addressed in multiple ways.
-
Guidance
P1.2 Integrating Multiple Points of View
Remote Work Tools
-
Mob Programming
-
Volunteer Task Assignment
-
Skills Matrix
-
Fool’s Errand
Techniques
-
Employees will do work because you ask them, but when team members want to do work, productivity increases in unexpected ways.
-
You have to listen for and discover intrinsic motivators in your team members; by definition they cannot come from without the person.
-
There will be a large variety in what inspires each person on the team; try to put all opportunities in front of everyone on the team and let them volunteer.
-
TIP: You’ll often be surprised that tasks which some team members dread and avoid will be exciting for other team members; avoid assumptions about which tasks are “desirable”.
-
-
Intrinsic motivation is separate from skill; give preference to providing opportunities for people to learn new skills according to intrinsic motivation, especially when that skill is a bottleneck, when very few people on the team have that skill.
-
CAUTION: Think long-term when it comes to intrinsic motivation; training someone in a new skill will often slow the team down in the short-term, but you can double your speed or more in the long-term.
-
Guidance
P1.1 Intrinsic Motivation
-
Confusion
-
Defects (Bugs)
-
Disgruntled Employees
-
Impediments & Delays
-
Lack of Communication
-
Late-breaking Requirements
-
Low Output
-
Rework
-
Siloed “Not My Job” Thinking
-
Unhappy Stakeholders
