Transcript:
Hi there, Russell Stratton. President and Leadership Champion with Bluegem Learning. I work with organizations just like yours to help managers be even better at managing individual and team performance to get you the business results that you need.
So, I was talking to one of my clients the other day about an issue that he had with a project team where they started the project, thought everything was going okay, only to find that it was veering off course and they weren't going to meet their key deliverables.
You may have found yourself in a similar position before, particularly when you've got people living remotely and they're not there for you to sort of be in constant contact with. So, what I offered him was a simple option and solution that he could use that would help mitigate this problem in the future, the Objective Briefing Process.
I'm going to take a moment just to talk you through the various stages. At the beginning of any project, no matter what size, if you get your project team together with the team leader and they can run through this process with people.
First stage is making sure that we've got the context for the project clear in people's minds. This enables you to paint the picture for people as to why we're actually undertaking the project in the first place. What's the reasoning behind it.
Secondly, is making sure that we've got the intent clear. People are crystal clear about what the objective or objectives of the project are. What is it that we're looking to achieve?
Thirdly, we make sure that we drill down to some specific, smart objectives so people know exactly what's needed, they know when it's needed, and they know how they are going to be measured.
And this leads to our fourth point. Make sure that our measures actually measure success. Tangible things that we can put our finger on that say this shows that our project is on target to achieving the aims that we want
Our fifth point that we want to look at is making sure that we've set our boundaries and parameters. Everybody in the room is really clear about what permissions they have and what constraints they have so they know what decisions they can make, at what level they can make them, and when they need to refer back to you or other managers on the team.
And finally, the backbrief. And in some ways this is the most important piece, because this gets you to have the team in some ways repeat back to you what they understand by the first five stages. What's the context, what's the intent, what's their objective, how are they being measured, and what are the parameters. But by doing this it makes sure that you're all on the same page. So you don't get the situation that my client had. Halfway through the project, people had gone off from the meeting thinking they were doing the right thing, and found out that they were off target and weren't doing what he wanted, because they weren't on the same page.
So, avoid having those problems, and try using the Objective Briefing Process. It's worth those few extra minutes doing it, and it certainly pays dividends.
If you found that interesting, and you'd like to find out more about what I can do for your organization, then check out the link below, bluegemlearning.com. We'll speak to you soon.