Accelerating Projects by Encouraging Help

摘要

In turbulent business landscapes with rapidly changing technological platforms, many organizations are trying to accelerate product introduction cycles by prioritizing project delivery. However, many projects have two characteristics that make optimal delivery times elusive: First, the projects themselves tend to involve uncertainty (for example, they develop a new product function whose feasibility has not yet been established); and second, the workers have information about the status of their project tasks that is not observable to anyone but themselves, which many don't share. Therefore, behavioral issues are as important in project timeliness as diligent planning. These behavioral issues include the following: 1. Willingness to communicate and collaborate under uncertainty and interdependence. Why should employees seek help for a problem or help resolve a colleague's problem when they can leave the problem to later stages or hide behind their own task responsibilities?