Four P's of Productivity: Push, Put, Pull, Pass
Last Call Media
Full article here.
Traditional Project Management has its roots in a "Push" mindset for accomplishing its work.
An example of "Push" would be where projects, or issues, emerge and are assigned to people who are subordinate to the assigner, typically the Project Manager.
On a "Push" model, the assigner can push the assignment without having to necessarily do any work themselves. To make someone else accountable, all they have to do is assign it, often with a due date, basically saying, “here you go, figure this out, good luck!”
The problem here is that the newly assigned person never truly committed and will probably have valid reasons for not being able to accomplish the assignment on time, and so never feels true responsibility. This also cuts both ways, people in a "Push" model won’t feel responsible if it fails, but they also won’t feel truly responsible if it succeeds, which is important.
One big change you might try to get your team to make incrementally is a switch from a "Push" to a “Pull” mindset.
The “Pull” version of our example above is where projects, or issues, are made visible somewhere and the people who do the work know where to look for what’s next to do, they are able to ask questions about it until they are comfortable with it, then they pull the work to themselves and commit to doing it.
With “Pull”, the person bringing the work desired to be done has their own work to do to make the requests as “pullable” as possible. Breaking down the work clearly, into prioritized pieces helps. Making sure those that will pull the work are not overloaded, or stuck on a previous project, also becomes part of the organizational mindset.
This talk will explore why “Pull” is better and will discuss techniques to get started on your own “Pull” transformation. Two new related terms, "Put" and "Pass," will also emerge and be explained as critical to teamwork in a "Pull" model. We also don't throw "Push" away completely nor do we leave it unconsidered.
Attendees of any background will leave this session with ideas for better ways of getting things done.