Brainstorming Organizational Issues and What Are We?

abigailnus abigailnus at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 9 19:09:53 UTC 2003


Well, if no one minds listening to voice of inexperience...

My first instinct was to favor your second suggestion, Cindy.

> 2.  We could decide that, as a team, we will produce just one FP at a 
> time.  If we decide Harry is the next FP we will launch, then 
> everyone would work on Harry until that FP is finished.  Then we'd 
> start a new FP.

But the more I think of it the more it seems like a recipe for disaster 
- too many cooks and all that.  I do think, however, that there's 
something to be said for not dividing the group's energies too much.  
Your first suggestion, larger FP teams, with clearly defined roles, 
seems to me like a good idea, and I think it offers a good balance.  A 
larger group can cover more ground in less time, and the members 
can encourage and prod each other (and cover for each other if 
necessary), but a group still needs to be small enough for a clear 
division of labour and responsibilities (this seems rather important in 
this group since, as you say, there's no clear-cut hierarchy).  3 or 4 
people per FP sounds ideal to me.

Similarly, I'm of two minds regarding deadlines.  While a deadline can 
be constructive, providing a focal point around which to plan a 
schedule, I have to wonder how effective it would be in this 
environment.  The older members of this group can correct me, but I 
would assume that RL considerations will almost always come before 
FAQ work.  I like the idea of monthly (or bi-monthly) progress reports, 
however.  Not necessarily as a way to improve productivity, but as a 
way of making sure that no group works in a vacuum.  Other members 
can offer suggestions or insights as these occur to them.

On a copmpletely unrelated matter, I had some free time last week 
(which I am paying for this week) and spent some of it going over the 
uncatalogued posts on the main group, looking for memorable 
discussions.  Mostly I noted discussions that I either followed or 
participated in, and wrote down the number of the first message in the 
thread.  Has there been any decision about the new Fantastic Posts table?  
There was some talk about dividing it by subject, or creating different 
tables for different FPs.

Abigail





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