What makes good action items?
Thought exercise to start with
Consider the following action items:
- Kapil to set up a meeting to discuss about our release process.
- Kapil to present a proposal for improving our release process.
- Kapil to drive solutioning for X, Y & Z pains in our release process and present a proposal to the group by
date
Are any of these better than the other? If yes, what makes them better? What problems do you see with them?
Let us look at them in detail.
Kapil to set up a meeting to discuss about our release process.
The good: There is an accountable person. Every action item needs an accountable person to own it. But don’t assign it to someone who isn’t in the meeting without talking to them first!
The bads: set up a meeting : While it is an action that needs to be taken. It is a tiny administrative one. It should just be done. I don’t recommend this action item because though this action item starts the solutioning process, it is too weak to bring solutioning to focus.
about our release process : Too vauge. How do you know when this item would be done? What would be the acceptable next state? It is too open to interpretation.
Kapil to present a proposal for improving our release process.
This improves the action compared to the one before it. The action has a concrete deliverable.
However the vaguness problem still remains. Also, how long do I have to make this proposal? When can the team expect it?
Kapil to drive solutioning for X, Y & Z pains in our release process and present a proposal to the group by date
This removes further ambiguity attached to the proposal. This describes clearly the pains that need solving, the process of building it, while still having an accountable person.
There is also a concrete date by when the team should expect it.
It is almost perfect. One question: Is Kapil empowered and enabled to act on it?