
Projects and People: who’s in?
You want to solve a problem. You don’t have the in-house expertise, so you look at the freelancing world. If you’ve done your homework, you have a defined project Boundary, a good story to tell that provides a metaphor for the project, and now it’s time to have a conversation with a freelancer.
Or is it?
Depending on your perspective, you could be making things worse, not better. If you are the boss, you likely have a clear idea of what needs to be done, and you know exactly who you hired to get that done. You probably have a job description for the person in charge of that area.
But how long has it been since you understood how things are done on the ground?

A trope of business stories is the unofficial org chart. A newcomer is brought into a company and is educated on their place in the system by means of an org chart. Pretty soon someone comes along and invites the newb to an after-work get-together. Someone else is pointed out as the tech guru. A third person sidles up during lunch and fills the rookie in on all the political minefields that have to be traversed to get things done.
None of these roles are in the org chart. But they are all indispensable in order for things to get done.
In developing your project story, take a little while to understand the informal org chart in your workplace, and figure out which of those connections will be important in implementing this project.
You may roll out a new tool, but who has to give the okay before others in the office start adopting it? That person should be consulted before the tool’s feature set is defined.
If a process requires communication across Boundaries, who are the people that actually bridge the gap and can speak both dialects? Bring them in and learn what needs to change about the process.
There’s management by directive, and then there is coaching and encouragement. Who is actually looking out for weaker team members, easing their load and helping them succeed and grow towards harder projects? If a new learning system is being installed, maybe that person should have some input into your priorities.
A normal team is full of role players, and not all of those roles are recognized or part of salary negotiations. When you are drawing the Boundaries within your organization, make sure you look at both the formal and informal org chart. The project you save could be your own.
