In the gaps

When good people do their thing, and things aren’t working, the place to focus is on the transitions. Those moments where the work passes from one person to the next, from one area of responsibility to another. Scratch even lightly, you’ll find issues with timing and phasing, information and knowledge, blurred responsibilities and accountabilities. In other words, it’s not the people – after all, you said yourself that they’re good – it’s the structure that’s letting things down.

So fix the timing and phasing – make sure everyone can see what’s coming down the track. Fix the information and knowledge – build a system that passes the brief along with the work and that binds the relevant intelligence into the pack. And fix the responsibilities and accountabilities so everyone knows and there’s no reason for finger pointing or shoulder shrugging.

Skippy strategy: When good people can’t make it work, look in the gaps.

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Category:
Focus