Delegation Poker Applied
At her school, my wife has taken the responsibility for organising school t-shirts. This job, because it involves many parties - other teachers, members of the school's friends' association (sponsoring the shirts), and, oh my, parents - is an absolute magnet for bikeshedding discussions. What shirts to buy - organic / high quality / cheap but oh please don't ever cross that absolutely red line price tag or else -, what colour to use - oh please, my kid doesn't like green, never mind everybody else -, and so forth. You get the idea. (Perhaps you've been part of such things. Don't do it again please.)
Anyway. Because she was worrying about how to go about the discussion, I gave my wife a brief intro to delegation poker, and given that she has so far had all of the responsibility and work, but everybody else has just been flinging requirements around without showing the slightest sign of will to contribute, the consult model ("I will consult and then decide") seemed absolutely justified. My wife was relieved. (Green it is.)
Tags: work