We have all been there, trying to find the right path while getting things done efficiently… wether that’s on cost and on time or targeted to the right consumer and best design, there are lots of things to consider, but we are inherently trying to keep moving… forward if possible!
The notion of Balance allows us to “get things done efficiently” … when we are at an imbalance it can feel like we are struggling, crawling up hill and this can be disheartening. Now don’t get me wrong, creative conflict or imbalance can cause some amazing outputs, forcing us to think in different ways, but you cannot have that imbalance all the time.

Why?

Getting things done efficiently or “easy” as some people say, allows us to feel good about our jobs, it produces satisfaction, it allows us to feel needed and passionate to come into work the next day and do more really good stuff! and it also means we are more likely to hit time / cost constraints on projects for the whole company.

What goes wrong?

It’s important to understand that when working in a 20+ person company or corporation you are surrounded different “subject matter experts” from product mgrs , developers, engineers, designers and so on. Everyone works together to get to a common goal. Each of these disciplines see things at slightly different angles, this is great some diversity and expertise, BUT the opportunity for imbalance to sneak in.

Over my time consulting and working in various size companies I have found that balance or imbalance rears its head in many forms. The basics are always true, they involve teams and constraints set by the company.

Causes of Imbalance:

1. The voices in the team are imbalanced … maybe an engineering voice is always strong and loud and drowns everything else, or maybe a product managers voice is too quiet.
2. The goal is unclear. Causing people to have a slightly different path to getting things done.
3. The priorities of a project are not ranked or communicated.
4. The Scope (level of required effort or complexity) of the work is different in each team members mind
5. Some people have less humility than others.

Cures for Imbalance

1. Someone (normally a non team member) needs to curate the TEAM carefully understanding the goals and people involved.
2. Outwardly Admitting that we often don’t know the Scope is important, and being upfront and asking everyone to be flexible and communicative.
3. Every SME has the ability to be heard (this mens understanding personalities and communication styles), this takes some diligence to remember and enforce this.
4. One person in a working team makes the ultimate decision on a moving forward point. A decision is made, all the SME’s respect that and work towards it
5. The team members that need development work in EQ should be identified and mentored to provide a better level of humility.

What do you think?