I love management jargon. I found this today and believe me, you need one: “an oobeya room”
An oobeya room is a large room specifically set up to run a project from. As you enter the room it contains:
1. The objective
2. A representation of the expected output (a graphic or model so everybody is clear)
3. A red amber green status board
4. An action board
5. An issues board
The idea is that you put everything up on the wall so it is clear, and run a standing agenda every morning to discuss the live issues with all the relevant people in the room.
Nobody leaves until you have actions to address the issues. As soon as somebody is behind, everybody else pitches in to help.
It is a really simple and effective way of forcing communication.
For those of you who need to know, oobeya is Japanese for “big room”, fabulous.
Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash
I wonder how easily this concept can be applied in real life. Nobody leaves the room? Every issue should be addressed by the action by the end of the meeting? Easier said and probably never done…
Probably not easy, but if a job is worth doing…