Organization Keeps you moving-Vin (Photo credit: nist6ss)
I’m continuing to work with Team Bushwhack from my recent Startup Weekend experience and we’re seeing some of the typical growing pains. Well, ‘growing pains’ might be premature. Bushwhack isn’t growing yet. ‘Colic’ might be a more appropriate term.
Going from idea to organization is a tricky business. In my day job at MobileIgniter, it was about as easy as it gets. My business partner Dominic and I go way, way back. We spent too much time together in college, worked together for a few years afterwards and have a good understanding of each other. Forming a working entity was easy. But, with a more or less random group of folks this task is much more difficult. It’s probably made worse by my diminished role. After coming up with the idea, pitching it and forming the team, I have jumped into the back seat. There’s probably some quip here about jumping into the back seat after the baby is born, but I’m missing it.
Aside from deciding who’s going to drive the bus, there is the matter of when it’s going to stop and where. Ok, this analogy is not really going anywhere.
New teams need organization. This keeps the work focused and the team productive. One of the best tools in existence for keeping a team organized is the Meeting. Oh, I can viscerally feel you groaning. OK, I admit that meetings can suck. Sucky meetings give good meetings a bad name. A focused meeting is an awesome thing to behold. Information comes in, decisions are made, everyone goes forth with a set of actions. Next meeting, discuss the results of those actions, make new decisions, go forth. Rinse, repeat.
Now, it’s true that team members can accomplish a lot without ever having a meeting. we all know how to do what we do. But, without the sharing of info, we could be working really hard in the wrong direction. Or, a team mate may know a faster way to do the same thing, or someone who has already done it. Or, better yet, a fabulous reason not to do it at all. Right now, I have no idea what each member of the Bushwhack team is doing. I’m pretty sure the others don’t, either. Recently an email went around with the resume of a designer. The fact that the team is in touch with a designer is awesome. They’re really hard to find. But, who knew we were looking for one? “Not I”, said the fly. But, for all we know, each of us is looking for a designer. That information hasn’t been shared. Neither have our criteria for selecting a designer.
This is one example. Given that three people are actively working on the project and another 2 or three are pitching in when they can, there are likely more. Or, maybe there aren’t. Who knows?
My take-away from the this experience is pretty simple.
Businesses run on information. Right now, we’re running on fumes.
