We’ve all heard plenty of project team analogies. For me, the most fascinating one compares a project to a football game. Each has an objective, a team that needs to be coordinated and a deadline.
I’ve devised a little tool that extends the analogy further. Football coaches have long made use of playbooks to ensure accurate communication, visual sequencing and coordination among team members spread over a large area. I’ve found that a playbook can serve the same purpose for a virtual team working on a small project.
My playbook is based on the classic issue log. Instead of being an incongruent list of problems, however, it’s a sequential list of tasks. It clearly shows everyone the order of the work, who is being called on and when.
By their nature, virtual teams work as a collection of free agents, and conference calls among team members have a tendency to become disembodied forums of multiple conversations, divided attention spans and mayhem. Given that most of my virtual teams are located across the country or around the world, I need a more focused means of getting results. The playbook is that mechanism.
Learn the plays at:
http://journyx.com/rss/redir/cworld-small.html