Door blue

Will you do this thing for me?

Any time a manager asks an employee, a customer asks a supplier, anyone asks anyone to do something … they’re setting themselves up for failure … unless they’ve agreed the terms.

The brief has to include:

– The work that needs to be done (Paint the door blue).

– An acceptable level of quality and performance (Undercoat first, then a primer and three coats of colour X from range Y manufactured by Z – super-smooth finish).

– A metric that relates to progress or completion (Tuesday next week).

Taking the brief, you need to consider:

– Clarity of the brief – do you know what success looks like?

– Do-ability – do you understand what’s involved or have a good idea that the unknowns are soluble?

– Availability of resources within the timeframe – is the deadline reasonable?

Keep talking until the brief is sparkling and deliverable.

Skippy strategy: A clear, doable, resourced brief.

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Category:
Focus