Just-In-Time Hoop-Jumping

In many organizations, bureaucracy consists of people, policies, and procedures that focus organizational resources on reaching accepted objectives. Bureaucracy can also be an unnecessary obstacle, but that's a topic for another time. For now, let's focus on how to operate within bureaucracy to get our work done with minimal frustration and wasted effort.

One approach might be what I call Just-In-Time Hoop-Jumping, which means deferring preparations for jumping through a given hoop until the time is right.

For example, if you're preparing a project plan for a sequence of reviews by sponsors, managers, and governance boards, you know that some of these folks review only parts of the plan. Others review the entire plan piecewise in a set of mini-reviews. Some review items only after others have reviewed them, and so on.

The straightforward approach to final approval involves developing the entire plan and submitting it to reviewers, in turn, making adjustments after each review. But Just-in-Time Hoop-Jumping often produces better results, because you develop in detail only enough of the work to meet the requirements of the next reviewer along the path to final approval.

Of course, a clear view of that entire path is necessary — including answers to any questions that any reviewer might ask. But it isn't necessary to have those answers in final form until you reach the point where they might be asked.

Here are three guidelines for implementing Just-In-Time Hoop-Jumping.

Synchronize your work to your audiences

On the path to final approval, you'll probably face a sequence of different audiences. Be certain that your work meets the needs of each audience, but complete treatment of each part of the work is necessary only for the part to be reviewed by that audience. Sketchy versions of portions to be reviewed by later audiences might be adequate for now.

Break your task into layers

As you progress, How can you operate within bureaucracy
to get your work done with minimal
frustration and wasted effort?expectations for completeness and sophistication of the work increase. Meet those expectations. But going beyond what's necessary at any one stage exposes you to the risk that the above-and-beyond part might need rework if elements it depends on undergo change. Develop the effort in detail no more than is required for a particular stage of the review process.

Use modularity to manage the risk of rework

Understanding the standards to be applied at any stage of the process is a given. But you can limit the impact of failure to satisfy a reviewer by limiting the interactions between modules of the work. By making the modules of your proposal independent, you can reduce the work required to bring the entire work into compliance when one module changes.

Just-in-Time hoop-jumping can feel wrong and risky at first, but that's where the advantage comes from. It gives you time to focus your effort on the parts that matter most right now.  Top    Next Issue

Love the work but not the job? Bad boss, long commute, troubling ethical questions, hateful colleague? This ebook looks at what we can do to get more out of life at work. It helps you get moving again! Read Go For It! Sometimes It's Easier If You Run, filled with tips and techniques for putting zing into your work life. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

What Haven't I Told You?

When a project team hits a speed bump, it often learns that it had all the information it needed to avoid the problem, sometimes months in advance of uncovering it. Here's a technique for discovering this kind of knowledge more systematically.

Ten Reasons Why You Don't Always Get What You Measure: III

The phrase "You get what you measure," has acquired the status of "truism." Yet many measurement-based initiatives have produced disappointing results. Here's Part III of an examination of the idea — a look at management's role in these surprises.

Coping with Layoff Survival

Your company has just done another round of layoffs, and you survived yet again. This time was the most difficult, because your best pal was laid off, and you're even more fearful for your own job security. How can you cope with survival?

Twenty-Three Thoughts

Sometimes we get so focused on the immediate problem that we lose sight of the larger questions. Here are twenty-three thoughts to help you focus on what really counts.

Wacky Words of Wisdom: VI

Adages, aphorisms, and "words of wisdom" seem valid often enough that we accept them as universal and permanent. Most aren't. Here's Part VI of a collection of widely held beliefs that can be misleading at work.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Project Management for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming September 30: Seven More Planning Pitfalls: II

Planning teams, like all teams, are susceptible to several patterns of interaction that can lead to counter-productive results. Three of these most relevant to planners are False Consensus, Groupthink, and Shared Information Bias. Available here and by RSS on September 30.

And on October 7: Seven More Planning Pitfalls: III

Planning teams, like all teams, are vulnerable to several patterns of interaction that can lead to counter-productive results. Two of these relevant to planners are a cognitive bias called the IKEA Effect, and a systemic bias against realistic estimates of cost and schedule. Available here and by RSS on October 7.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenmhXARWRMUvVyOdHlner@ChacxgDmtwOKrxnripPCoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
   
• A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
   

Bullet Points: Mastery or Madness?

Decision-makers in modern organizations commonly demand briefings in the form of bullet points or a series of series of bullet points. But this form of presentation has limited value for complex decisions. We need something more. We actually need to think. Briefers who combine the bullet-point format with a variety of persuasion techniques can mislead decision-makers, guiding them into making poor decisions. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented June 24, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
   
• A recording of a program presented June 24, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.