Business Online

There is one luxury one enjoys when one plans an operation as compared to when one runs an operation. That luxury is the fact itself that the operation is not running.

When the operations runs, when the salesmen start going out, when the server hangs, when the Internet drops, when agents don’t show up, when money doesn’t come in on time, when new business just refuses to show its face, that is EXACTLY when you DON’T have time to plan. That is the time when you can not afford to be stepping on other people’s toes. When Murphy shows up, that is the time to act. That is the time when different people in the team play their part! They play the part they are supposed to play.

It is very easy to get into a situation where everyone on the team is contributing without them knowing what they are contributing towards. One must define the roles as soon as possible.

In crises, even when the captain of the ship calls out ‘all hands on deck’, the hands know EXACTLY why they are being called. I am sure you will see the analogy.

Imagine a General telling his group of soldiers, “I do not know who will lead you, who will act as a correspondent, who will command the gunners, the ordinance etc. We will only decide that when we start the operation. The one who dies the last can call himself the leader.” 

take-away story: There was a company that set a record for building a house (an American, wood-heavy house). They built the house in 11 hours flat, starting with the foundations ending with the ring on the front door. It had a front lawn, porch and all other features one expects in a well finished house. Normally, a house would take a few months. This company did it in less than 11 hours. What people may find more amusing is that it took them about 10 months of planning to get there.

Make sure you have the essentials listed down with job requirements as clearly jotted out as possible. 

There are a lot of IT tools that can help you along the way:

Basecamp by 37 Signals is the most famous project management tool out there.

I prefer to use a combination of Google Docs, Spreadsheets and email. It works for me. Again, always remember, the job of IT is to assist you, not teach you. No?