My two-cent into remote working part B
Find the root of all causes!
If you have missed some items on your list, for a few days, or even a few weeks, the frustration starts growing between you and your team, the pressure builds, and stress starts being an issue.
To be able to solve this, you need to find the root cause of the problem and here is a super simple tool to do it.
5 Why’s
5 whys, used across many industries, here you can find a few resources that are a pretty good read too:
Although the cases above are more team-oriented (maybe to dev oriented), they are still applicable to your every day. You’ll be surprised by how clarity on the root cause of the problem, can help you ease the stress, and calm you down.
So for a task that is being given you grieve, you start at the very top.
Why can I now finish these tasks on time? Be honest. It may be for a wide range of reasons. Like:
- I keep getting interrupted
- I have to research too much
- I need more time to understand the task.
Let’s pick randomly
Why do I keep getting interrupted?
- Because of the continues questions from some of my team members
Why do some of my team members have so many questions?
- Because of their work depends on task or projects I am leading, and I don’t have enough time to explain them or document everything I do or need
Why don’t you have time to explain or document everything you’re team needs?
- Because of multiple responsibilities, I have in my role, and I have to prioritise things as they come along because if hard to know what’s next.
Why is it hard to know what’s next?
- Because we don’t have a transparent process to or visual indicators to look at what coming soon and what is critical compare to normal operations.
The logic above is one of the most common problems among small businesses, and as the video showed, it seems like it needs a tonne of work to resolve, but it is not that hard of a problem to solve.
A little bit of communication can help this problem go away in a short period, and I would suggest for this problem to create a job board, where all quotes are posted. If approved, everyone can say cheers, congratulations and define who will need to work in the project, and maybe what tasks need to be completed. With time it will become more detailed and part of the brief creation process.
In remote teams, especially little ones, this is easy to do and communicate (the next blog will be about communications). Don’t be afraid ask for help to do your 5 why’s or organise a 10–20-minute standup to get support into solving an issue (yours or general) within you task workflow or a project. Remember you are not an island. Most importantly, your team are all heading for the same goal, help them and they will help you!
