Anticlue

Agreeing and moving forward.

There are times, I just want to get back to doing the actual work at hand. We are currently in the planning stages of a new project. Yesterday morning, I had the unfortunate experience of scheduling a meeting to decide who is going to do what on a project. The meeting was bright and early on a Monday morning 8:00 am, several VPs and several directors, but a small enough group to actually get a decision made. In my youthful exuberance I thought.

First thing out of the box, the new and improved charter was never received before the meeting, although it had been promised by a director. The old one, which was incorrect, was handed out. Next came the voicing of complaints on the early hour of the meeting on Monday morning. I sat and quietly nodded my acknowledgement, however in my organization it is impossible to schedule this group of people at a better time without 2 months notice. It was 8:00 am on monday or 7:00 am on Wednesday. Trying to get back to the schedule at hand, which was the project organization structure again was lost. One VP wanted something fundamentally this way, the other vp had an opposite opinion of the fundamental belief. Neither philosophy had to do with the project team organization. We tried getting at the project organization from a top down structure, failed miserably, then we tried from a bottom up structure. We were slightly more successful. We stopped at the project manager and decision makers. No one wants to lead the middle but all what to participate. After the meeting, I went to one of the director’s office, and wouldn’t leave her alone until we actually had an agreement on the project organization and structure. We also banged out what each team would be doing, we have teams for reporting and converting, intersystem workflow, technology, case management, quality management, coding and abstracting, and 3rd party denials. I understand that planning is needed. We as an organization need to know where we are now and what we do, then how we will be functioning and then figure out how to get there. But if it is taking 4 weeks to get a project structure and organization, how long is it going to take to plan what needs to be done? Of course if we don't plan, is there a less chance that the pieces will fit?