In this article we will learn about the best way to work with each other by answering the following questions:
- What is your role within your company?
- What is your department/team role within your company?
- What is your role within your team?
- Input - Process - Output (IPO) is the natural way of working together
What is your role within your company?
You should be able to solidly answer this question after reading this article. It's important to know where you are within the company big picture. First, we'll learn about what's the role of the company within the world.
Notice this pattern: Company takes input, process it and output something meaningful (IPO).
What is your department/team role within your company?
Let's take an example that you are a software engineer, who belongs to engineering team. In a big picture, engineering team takes inputs as captical ($$), people and directions from executives, process them and output something that contributes to the completion of company's output (aka goal). In this particular example, it is a mobile application.
Notice this pattern: Engineering team takes inputs, process it and output something (IPO) that contributes to the completion of company's goal.
Sales and Marketing team does the same (IPO) with an additional input from Engineering team. Which is the mobile app for customer demo.
What is your role within your team?
Let's continue the previous example. You are a software engineer, you take as many inputs as necessary (from managers, from peers, from design team, ...), use your expertise to process them and create output work as expected. In this particular example, it's an mobile application.
Notice this pattern: Engineer takes inputs, process it and output something (IPO) that contributes to the completion of company's goal.
Input - Process - Output (IPO) is the natural way of working together
The pattern is clear that whatever role you are within the company, you will always consume certain inputs, use your expertise and produce expected output.
What you do is the Process. Clearly defined Input and Output create a clear interface between you and your colleagues. If Input and Output are clearly agreed upon. And everyone do a good work on their process, works need to be done just seamlessly flow from start to finish.
- Input: is what you need to do your work.
- Output: is what you will create.
- Process: is using your expetise to manipulate input and produce output.
🏋️ 🏋️ 🏋 We will heavily apply this concept to the way we communicate, document work, define tasks and work together.
The following is an example of a design ticket: design company logo. It clearly states what designer needs to know to do it (Input). It clearly states the desired outcome of the work (Output). The process will be up to designer to fill it in.
Ticket: design company logo.
Input:
- Color: main company color
- Materials for inspirations: everything about our company: our product, our people, our philosophies.
Output:
- Company logo, all regular shapes and sizes for web, mobile and marketing consumption.
- Sleek, elegant, modern looking.
- Simple yet reflect our business: real estate, mortgage, advanced technology.
- Reflect the value
Process:
- [Ticket implementor will fill this in to capture her/his thoughts.]