diff --git a/en/01-keep-a-steady-beat.md b/en/01-keep-a-steady-beat.md index f92aed9..e9e94c7 100644 --- a/en/01-keep-a-steady-beat.md +++ b/en/01-keep-a-steady-beat.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ # 01: Keep a steady beat -**Ad-hoc approaches to keeping everyone informed and aligned are brittle, time-consuming, and tedious. Replace them with automated, structured communication loops to create a steady beat that keeps everyone in tight sync without all the effort and interruptions.** +**Ad-hoc approaches to closing the two feedback loops — planning to execution, and individuals to teams — are brittle, time-consuming, and tedious. Replace them with automated, structured communication loops to create a steady beat that keeps both loops closed without all the effort and interruptions.** ## The theory @@ -21,13 +21,13 @@ The problem is, **meetings are too inefficient to keep up with the half-life of What’s worse, meetings and other ad-hoc approaches are *brittle*. They depend on everyone doing the right thing, on their own, day in, day out. That works for small teams, but 50 people? 500? 5000? The odds aren’t in your favor. Adopting an ad-hoc approach is *actively signing up for endless process policing*. -The way out? Take a page from the [Continuous Integration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_integration) playbook by breaking alignment work down into smaller, higher-frequency, automated async loops. Daily within teams, weekly/bi-weekly/monthly across teams. +The way out? Take a page from the [Continuous Integration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_integration) playbook by breaking alignment work down into smaller, higher-frequency, automated async loops — one for each feedback loop. -**Daily loops** keep individual teams in tight sync, and help individual contributors prioritize tasks, address budding issues, and coordinate action plans. +**The individuals-to-teams loop runs daily.** This is the smaller, tighter loop. It keeps individual teams in sync, helps contributors prioritize tasks, surface budding issues, and coordinate action plans. -**Weekly/bi-weekly/monthly loops** — like updates on a team or company-level goal — keep multiple teams and entire companies aligned by providing everyone summary-level insight into where things stand. +**The planning-to-execution loop runs weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.** Every team is working toward some container of work — a sprint, a project, a marketing campaign, a quarterly goal. This bigger loop keeps that container honest by providing everyone summary-level insight into where things stand, across teams and across the company. -This dual loop strategy cuts the alignment trap [Gordian Knot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot). Everyone up and down the org has complete context day in, day out, *and* plenty of time for deep work. Even better, you have a full record of history of who’s done what and why, and nobody gets saddled with the frustrating, low-value process police job. It’s a game changer for working as a team. +This dual loop strategy cuts the alignment trap [Gordian Knot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot). Both feedback loops stay closed, everyone up and down the org has complete context day in, day out, *and* plenty of time for deep work. Even better, you have a full record of history of who's done what and why, and nobody gets saddled with the frustrating, low-value process police job. It's a game changer for working as a team. ## Further reading diff --git a/en/adoption.md b/en/adoption.md deleted file mode 100644 index a1295aa..0000000 --- a/en/adoption.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,44 +0,0 @@ -# Adopting Continuous Coordination - -**A 3-step guide for implementing the Continuous Coordination principles** - -Every digital product and service organization is unique, with a variety of tools, processes, skillsets, and headcount that drive _how_ they work. And with modern work, input variables also include _where_ and _when_ the work gets done — hybrid, multi-office, distributed, etc. - -Because of these differences, there’s no precise formula for implementing Continuous Coordination. So here we outline broad guidelines in a 3-step pattern known to work for others. You’ll have to tailor it further to fit your organization, but it’s a proven and solid start. - -It’s also important to note that Continuous Coordination is not designed to replace established tools, processes, or communication channels. Instead, it’s a lightweight _overlay_ practice that offers instant improvements by solving for the underlying problems that typically hold organizations back: miscommunication, opaque vision, fractured context, micromanagement, and misalignment. - -As you follow the steps, look for efficiencies, but we don’t recommend _replacing_ existing processes right away. As an overlay, Continuous Coordination will work alongside waterfall, agile, OKRs, and many other embedded processes. - -Shoot for a gradual, incremental approach and let the principles do the heavy lifting. - -Adopting Continuous Coordination in 3 Steps - -## Step 1: Establish high-frequency, single-team communication loops - -**Implement _Keep a steady beat_ at the team level on a daily basis.** - -Within each team, automate a way for all contributors and managers to _briefly_ summarize their intentions for the day in writing and share it with the rest of the team. Use existing communication channels that have the best chance of getting these check-ins in front of the whole team. Configure notification prompts so that team members don’t have to remember to check in. This will help the motion become habitual. - -## Step 2: Establish low-frequency communication loops for team and cross-team objectives - -**Implement _Keep a steady beat_ at the organization level on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.** - -Automate a way for contributors and managers to update their progress — in writing — against shared objectives and share it with the rest of the organization. For example, a team could have a quarterly goal and update their progress against that goal every week or two. Keep these updates short and consumable but not shallow, with enough context and details to underpin further discussion if necessary. Use communication channels that ensure the updates are highly visible and not buried in a folder or the dark corners of your knowledge base. - -## Step 3: Lead by example - -**Use the _Keep a steady beat_ communication loops established in Steps 1 and 2 as vehicles for the other 6 Continuous Coordination principles.** - -By following steps 1 and 2 with _Keep a steady beat_, you’ll naturally develop several other principles within your organization: - -- Surfacing check-ins and goal updates to the whole organization is how to _Work in the open._ -- Cataloging plans and intentions within communication loops is the way to _Tell the future_. -- Written check-ins and updates reinforce the _thinking_ that’s the basis for _Write it down_. -- Keeping a steady beat with written communication loops can avoid low-value “catch-up” and status meetings eschewed in _Spare the meetings_. - -Implementing _Lead with context_ will require a more deliberate, demonstrative effort by managers and leaders. Use the communication loops to constantly lay out why the work matters so that contributors can function autonomously. In the updates leaders provide in Step 2, clarify the ties back to parent goals and the organization’s mission. - -Finally, to apply the _Track output, not input_ principle, make sure the updates in Step 2 aren’t an examination of input metrics — like lines of code written or meetings attended — that don’t correlate with the outcomes you’re shooting for. Focus on the output metrics that matter in the updates. - -None of the principles are exclusive to managers or contributors. It’s therefore _critical_ that managers lead by example and fully participate in the communication loops, both in writing thoughtful updates that demonstrate the principles and engaging in updates from others. Model the behavior you want to see across the organization for best results. diff --git a/en/introduction.md b/en/introduction.md index f722761..46b3689 100644 --- a/en/introduction.md +++ b/en/introduction.md @@ -1,52 +1,41 @@ # Principles for modern knowledge work -**_Continuous Coordination_ is the practice of using open, structured communication loops, alongside a set of proven collaboration principles, to give everyone in a digital product or service organization precisely the shared context they need, when they need it, to stay productive, aligned, and engaged.** - - - Continuous Coordination Visualized - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +**_Continuous Coordination_ is the practice of keeping two essential feedback loops closed — one connecting planning to execution, and one connecting individuals to teams — so everyone in a digital product or service organization has precisely the shared context they need, when they need it, to stay productive, aligned, and engaged.** + +Continuous Coordination visualized + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + -At its core, knowledge work is about making decisions. From writing code to structuring a marketing campaign to prioritizing a roadmap, knowledge workers need a stream of information — who, what, where, when, and how — to work effectively. But making timely and effective decisions also requires *context* — the *why* that drives the work of individuals and the business as a whole. +High-performing teams depend on two tight feedback loops for coordination. The first connects *planning to execution* — are we building the right things, and are we on track towards our goals? The second connects *individuals to teams* — does everyone know what matters, what's changing, and where they fit in? These loops aren't new. Waterfall, agile, PMP, OKRs and other frameworks for running knowledge work are interpretations of them. The loops are the constant; the frameworks are attempts to keep them closed. -Most modern tools and processes for structuring work are remarkably good at two things: *breaking chunks of knowledge down into small parts* and *producing metrics*. Project management tools turn complex epics into consumable tasks, performance management tools quantify task completion states, and communication and collaboration tools sprinkle it all across your organization’s knowledge footprint through wikis, emails, and chats. +The problem is that modern work makes closing these loops brutally hard. You try to close them manually — with meetings, dashboards, chat threads, and a whole lot of toil. It doesn't scale. Organizations respond by *breaking knowledge down into smaller and smaller parts* and producing metrics about those parts. Project management tools turn complex epics into consumable tasks, performance management tools quantify completion states, and communication tools sprinkle it all across your organization's knowledge footprint. -Once knowledge is shredded into bits, contributors and managers alike must *constantly assemble context* from this ever-growing pile of data to make the hundreds of daily choices their jobs require. This assembly process is overwhelming, sapping everyone of the time and energy they need to do their *actual work*. Also, teams and people often arrive at *different versions of context*, driving expensive efforts in multiple directions. The result is an existential crisis to the business: productivity down, poor work quality, and disengaged, burned-out people. +Once knowledge is shredded into bits, contributors and managers alike must *constantly assemble context* from this ever-growing pile of data to make the hundreds of daily choices their jobs require. This assembly process is overwhelming, sapping everyone of the time and energy they need to do their *actual work*. Teams and people arrive at *different versions of context*, driving expensive efforts in multiple directions. The feedback loops blow open. The result is an existential crisis to the business: productivity down, poor work quality, and disengaged, burned-out people. -The good news? Thriving teams and organizations have flipped this script by distilling hard earned lessons learned over decades running knowledge work teams and embracing the distributed nature of modern work. They do this through *Continuous Coordination* — the application of seven core principles for knowledge work. +The good news? Thriving teams and organizations have flipped this script. They keep the loops closed not through more process but through *Continuous Coordination* — the application of seven core principles for knowledge work. Each of the principles is powerful on its own, but combined, they are a proven force for achieving and sustaining high levels of productivity, work quality, and meaningful engagement. Even better, the principles are self-reinforcing: the more your organization uses them, the easier they are to apply. To dig in, we recommend reviewing the principles in order, starting with _Keep a steady beat_. - -For more information on implementing the principles, see the 3-step [adoption guide](https://continuouscoordination.org/adoption/).