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By now you might be agreeing with Patrick Lencioni's book title, Death by Meeting! Hold on…the protocols all work together.

We have a process for making ready the requested work so it can be promised. We have a process for making promises day-by-day for performing the work. Now we need a process for finding out what work is in process and what is being completed. We can't wait 'til a weekly meeting. Why? Because your work tomorrow depends on my completion today. Coming into work tomorrow only to find out that my group hasn't finished now creates a mess for you and your workgroup. If you could have found out two days earlier you would have adjusted your workplan.

The daily coordination meeting is a very short meeting. You'll want to conduct the meeting standing up. And if you have to conduct the meeting on the phone, then get everyone to promise to be standing when they are on the call! No kidding. Getting comfortable will only extend the meeting. Also, no coffee, doughnuts, birthday cakes, etc. This is a meeting to fine tune the work we are doing with each other. It doesn't take more than 15 minutes.

The meeting starts by asking people to report complete on the work promised for the day. "I'm done" or "I'm not done" are the only allowed responses. Only complete work releases work for other people. When someone reports "Not done" ask for a new promise. You'll also want to ask what kept the performer from completing as promised. Record the reason provided for future analysis and removal of the cause of the planning (promising) failure. Record the number of promises completed as a percent of promises made for that day. Graph the results and display the graph where you conduct your daily meeting. Record the reasons for plan failure in Pareto chart fashion (vertical bar chart by reason type). (Make a Pareto chart quickly.)

Next you'll want to ask people if they need any help to complete their promised work. Often constraints will arise in the course of doing the work in spite of the effort given to look-ahead planning. This is also a time for people to announce that they will be doing work identified as workable backlog.

What's the best time to have a daily coordination meeting? It depends: either at the beginning or end of the workday. On construction sites the end of the day works well. It gives people the opportunity to do some replanning overnight and to authorize some overtime to complete work before the start of the next day. In other settings — new products development, software, engineering, architecture — the beginning of the days seems to work well. People are often keeping different work hours. The beginning of the day schedule allows them to fine tune their actions for the day.

Are we complete? Not yet. Last up, improving the system performance.

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I've been testing new software for managing projects. Basecamp™ is great! Go visit the site. Trials are free. The interface couldn't be easier to use. It's the right solution for small design projects. It's also good for consulting engagements. Get an idea of how different this is by reading their manifesto. It starts with

We believe project management is communication.

I could have written that first line. Have a look. Better yet, try it on your project.

Will NASA really answer your questions? Not likely. But ASK Magazine is a great resource for project managers. The articles and stories are practical. You couldn't ask for more. In the latest issue Scott Tibbitts writes about The Morning Meeting. The article does a great job of showing the benefits of a project organization that keeps its attention on commitment-making and fulfilling. Take a few minutes to read Scott's article. You are sure to come away with two or three things you can implement immediately.

Did the title get your attention? It got mine! Naked Consulting is David Schmaltz' latest series of articles in his Compass Newsletter. He's written on the subject in the last three issues. I urge you to have a look. But do yourself a favor, print the newsletter. The articles are just a few pages and well worth your time.

David is the author of the widely acclaimed book on project management The Blind Men and the Elephant. About a year ago Greg Howell and I interviewed him on a teleconference: David Schmaltz Was a Hit! I've also had the pleasure of speaking at the same conference with him. I'll just say it was quite provocative. As was David's comments that led to one of the more important Project e-Tips 017: Produce Coherence Among Project Participants. David has a way of pushing me to the edge of the box (and then some).

So what is in this latest Compass Newsletter? In my opinion David offers one of the most useful descriptions of what consultants can do for you that I've ever read. He calls it Brief Consulting™. Read the rest of this entry ¶