Making Lists

The aging hippie in me is probably just as abhorrent to making lists as the rest of you free spirits are. Understandable. Lists are just not natural. The problem is when working in a group a decent list becomes a necessary even vital component to your success. Not only is a list important but it has to have several key features to be useful.

1. It has to have an item identifier (see the "1." at the beginning of this sentence). In project management this identifier is usually part of the WBS (work breakdown structure). In less formal groups it can just be a line item.

2. It has to have a place to live that everyone that needs it can access it. The best way to do that low tech is tape it to the wall. A high tech solution would be get a Sharepoint 3.0 website (way cool).

3. It has to have a procedure for adding to it that includes notifying everyone who needs to be aware of the contents of the list. Low tech - shout out in the room "Hey I added something to the list." High tech - subscribe for email notifications

4. The list has to be reviewed at some fixed interval by every person on the team. Lo tech - look at it when you walk by. High - schedule a recurring task in Outlook to review the list.

5. There can be no other lists. The minute your create another list that covers the same functions you are "splitting" your effort and "doubling" your work load. Make sure you stick to one and only one list.

Depending on what the list is for there are other guidelines that might be useful. Like...

6. Accept all entries. Close irrelevant ones quickly. Capture everything on the list and quickly close out the ones that are not important or not relevant.

7. Make one team member the list keeper. Their role is to be manager and cheerleader for the list. They give out gold stars for the people who work the list and sad faces for those who undermine it's value

List making is frustrating and can require a lot of pushing to become a habit but properly applied, it can save you a ton of time in completing all the items "on your list."