To function as a self-organising business, you need to consider a range of issues: how do we organise ourselves, how do we replace monitoring with transparency, who makes decisions and how do we resolve conflicts? We’ve already written about several of these questions, and today I’d like to discuss the strategic development of our company.
Our strategic development is IMPORTANT
Our planning horizon is 16 months. Every four months, we review the strategy and adapt it if necessary. Over the next four months, we take a closer look at ourselves and decide what tactical goals we’ll set within the team.
These tactical goals are divided up into concrete epics and stories and laid out transparently on a board. Then we get started, piece by piece. We try not to do too much at the same time, and we only start something new when we’ve finished the previous job. Once capacity is available again, we select the next task and bring in the right people to work on it. As it’s fairly clear to us where each person’s strengths lie, this decision is usually straightforward.
URGENT daily business often wins out
That’s the plan, anyway; but everyday life often puts a spoke in our wheel. We have to consider what has priority: ‘urgent’ operational activities or ‘important’ strategic development. Both are vital for our company, but the ‘urgent’ things usually win out, as they’re what creates the revenue that allows us to pay the wages. We’re always balancing the revenue of today against investment in tomorrow. We still haven’t found a satisfactory solution, but we’re aware of the problem and are attempting to improve ourselves on an ongoing basis.
In upcoming blogposts, I’ll keep you up to date on how we’re tackling this challenge and what we’ve learned.
