How small working groups can help to change the projects and organizations?

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Good day, BA fans! This Tuesday let`s think deeply about the cases when we need to change something significant on the teamwork or project level! All of us in such moments think about some best practice or holistic approach etc. Am I right ? ;) I can suggest, that yes)

Let`s deep dive into the reasons why and how we can make needed changes.

On personal and team practical levels we have the following reasons for changes:

• Organizational changes - for the best fit of project team structure or roles functional specific with the client's work manner or vision.

• Fast and adaptive reaction to local and global challenges - just for example AI tech rapid implementation in the client work.

• Constant upgrade of managerial toolset - customized approaches (project frameworks), techniques, etc. We need to do this because of the reason to be in alignment with clients' challenges in changes or tendencies.

• Quick work investigations - the ability to find answers to any questions or issues in our work.

• Efficiencient knowledge sharing - for the best option to implement successfully any kind of needed practices.

• Work processes optimization - as a way to cover existing gaps.

• Business restructuring - business model changes and project circumstances for the best market conditions adaptation just as an example.

But how do we face the mentioned challenges?

The most common approaches are:

• Internal consulting and audit departments creation;

• Company development programs implementation;

• POC concept groups start;

• Company hackathons setup;

• OKR groups work;

• Internal product development as a system capability;

• Business modeling as a way of complex restructuring;

• Strategy analysis and planning for best vision implementation.

All mentioned practices and approaches are pretty efficient and complex at the same time. To start any of them needs a lot of effort and optimal condition creation. And sure that is a normal case for our practice. But how we can start any of the needed changes? Do we have the easygoing starting point as a universal basis in our managerial practice? More than 4 years ago I asked myself about it.

On what points we are dependent on when were want to start any changes in our company, project, or team?

In practice, we have a simple answer:

1. Employees (mindset and qualification);

2. Business context;

3. Company knowledge;

4. Processes and organizational culture;

5. Technology basis;

6. Market-specific needs.

In managerial reality, we always have a unique combination of all or some part of the mentioned factors that help or restrict our actions.

So how we can start any changes and test or develop any idea with the less part of the team or organizational resources usage, safely at the same time?

That is why I developed and tested the idea of the Concept of the small working group.

The main sense of this concept is the next - in any company, account, project, or team we always can find 3 professionals who can help us in a specific manner. Always!) Without any losses for the real work.

For the best work of the group, we need to unite professionals with specific characteristics and roles.

1. Thinker & knowledge keeper - SME, who can understand, investigate, analyze, and explain the real roots of issues in work cases.

2. Decision maker - a manager who has the power to make needed decisions quickly and proactively. Also, the mentioned manager has the power to involve needed specialists at any time.

3. Proactive doer - an employee who can test discussed ideas and decisions on practice quickly, proactively, and collaboratively.

The proposed trio combined key abilities of a productive workgroup - creating something, acting freely, and making a real influence through the development of nonrestricted hypotheses. This approach helps to develop a culture of quick changes on different organizational levels. Confirmed results should be tested broadly, decomposed, and implemented.

Main organizational principles of the small working group usage:

1. Find the right people for the trio's roles. People with the needed mindset, power, proactive behavior, professional maturity, and authority on the team (or group) level.

2. Provide the ability to act freely and think creatively.

3. Support their actions on the managerial level.

4. Create an open-minded environment to share ideas and investigation results.

5. Be fast in the actions that you provide on individual and team levels. Keep the needed pace of small group work.

A proposed approach called upon creates value in the following areas:

іn processes, organizational structure, initiatives, knowledge sharing and upskilling, experience implementation, needed behavior culture, and mindset changes.

I am convinced that the fact that work of small working groups' is impossible without an ideology basis:

• Common basis of understanding: principles, point of view on work, similar education, etc. Just as an example. The group is working till the investigation is done and the results will be obtained. Everyone in the group is responsible for the results. The team should have enough flexibility on any kind of changes in existing initiatives or actions.

• One working stream: account, program pool, projects stream, project. For the best forming of a deep understanding of the work context. Only with that condition, we can expect fast and deep small working group investigation results.

• Wish of changes: common need or wish to build something better than it is. This is a great true motivation in group work.

• Readiness & ability: to achieve real results. Emotional readiness to work over a long distance based on existing ability to provide extra effort in work.

• Wish to create knowledge and share experience: convince and study others. As an obligatory basis of got results extrapolation on a big scale (whole project, stream, account, or maybe an organization).

The main question sounds like "Why is it worth choosing a small working group usage approach to make changes or improvements in the projects and organizations?"

And I can share the set of my practical conclusions as an answer to the provided question:

1. Flexibility. A small working group is always much more flexible to any kind of working conditions than a standard or big group such as OKR for example, etc.

2. The highest efficiency. Based on my practice, I can mention that small working group members can act freely and experimentally. This is a real key to successful solution creation.

3. Quick interaction. Real interaction inside the close small group is immediate! That saves significant time and effort to make needed decisions on the fly!

4. Fast results. Results matter, only results! Fast results mean fast reactions and conclusions are you on the right way or not? This practically saves our resources. Why? Because the cost of efforts on a small scale is less than on a bigger one! And we can change the direction of the group work easily at any time.

5. Possibility to decompose any known or new practice. Initiative and inspired employees can start real waves of needed changes step by step on the biggest scale. How? With consistent efforts and accents on quick practical education of the most applicable professionals for needed changes implementation.

A logical question is whether the proposed approach is so universal.

I can say definitely yes for the following cases:

1. For small or medium-sized project reorganizations;

2. For rapid testing of the ideas and hypothesizes for all types of possible projects;

3. For surgery changes implementation in some parts of big and scalable projects, accounts;

4. Quick decisions implementation support in all types of projects;

5. Internal project consulting cases;

6. Creation of the right environment for changes implementation etc.

The proposed cases list could be expanded in practice. But for sure guys this is your area of the next experiments)

Please share your thoughts about the idea of small working group usage and its practical value.

Thank you a lot for your time and attention!