A simple technique to enforce common understanding and knowledge distribution on important topics.
Within a team an important topic is discussed. A team member requires information that is only known to other team members.
How should the information revealed during a team discussion be preserved?
Participants that did not know the facts will write it down. During the discussion they should be shown references to all related information.
After the document has been created, the rest of the participant will take some time to proof-read it. If there are any misunderstandings detected the group should have a time-boxed meeting to discuss them. The authors will correct the document and will pass it again to the rest of the group.
During this process all related documents are also updated be the authors of the new document. Doing it in pair is typically a good idea.
This way information is easily distributed. All members learn how the information is organized and how new information is added and existing documents are updated. The documentation needs collective ownership. Everyone should be allowed to apply changes. But every change needs to be reviewed by at least one other team member and all team members must be able to get informed about any changes.
It is possible to assign team members with a dedicated field of expertise as agents for certain parts of the documentation. They watch changes to the documentation. If they notice a problem and suggest solutions to the problem. The agent is neither responsible to remove the problems nor are they entitled to enforce changes. The team has to find a solution.
Advantages
- Every team member participates in the discussion and learns how the documentation is organized.
- Having team members with the least expertise in a given field have applied the changes will help them to get familiar with the topic quickly. It is important to pair these members. This prevents team members to get stuck and have fun investigating the new field.
Disadvantages
- Discussions take time.
- If they are getting fruitless the team needs to seek advice by a coach to settle unproductive meetings.
- Time pressure may demand that those members with the most knowledge in a particular field will apply the changes. But this will remove the possibility for other team members to learn and to have the documents reviewed effectively.
- Team members need to respect the fact that their colleagues require time to become acquainted with the new field. This practice will not work if team members are not willing to share their knowledge openly.
Resources
For more information regarding this practice please refer to:
