Task formulation
When the preparatory work has been done, the goal has been formulated, and there is an action plan, then it is necessary to shift this into understandable tasks. When you understand what you need to do, how to do it, and what result you will get. The level of problem formulation is in the “Key Results” > Tasks and subtasks”, but I separate it into a separate section since the approach works both in a common system and separately.
It can be used before any task you want to tackle. To move on to the tasks, you need to not just write them down, but formulate them from your plans. Any task should solve a problem or move you towards a goal. Therefore, before you start the task, you need to think about how you will come to the result.
“A properly set task is 90% of the solution”
Sergey Faer
To formulate and clarify tasks, I use a list of questions that help to understand the task and its implementation plan. Here they are:
1. Why are we doing this?
As you remember the questions “Why?” and “What for?” are the best friends of mindfulness. Therefore, any task needs to be checked through them. Why are we solving the problem? What drives us? What do we want to get?
2. What should be the result?
If you cannot answer this question, it means that the task has not passed the SMART filter. This is a wake-up call that something is wrong with the task. It is poorly formulated, or it is not a task.
3. What consequences are expected?
What will happen if you don’t do the task? What will happen if you do? This will help to set priorities, which we will talk about in more detail later.
4. What are the deadlines and other restrictions?
Tasks are not goals, you can set exact deadlines here. I usually sketch the most accurate timing. You also need to go back to the Obstacles from the GROW method and see what other resource constraints there may be.
5. What is the format of the presentation of the result?
What exactly should you get at the output of the task: event, status, artifact, modified process, money, passed test, read book, review, document, certificate, etc.
6. What methods and approaches will you use?
For example, I wanted to become a project manager. How will I do it? Marry a girl who works as a project manager, and she will teach me? Find a mentor? Will I steal the company owner’s dog and blackmail him for employment? Will I go to study or will I look for an internship? There are many ways, they will all lead to a result, but in different ways. Depending on the result, there may be different approaches. Depending on the approach, there will be different tasks.
7. What do I need to figure out in order to complete the task?
There is no other way with tasks from the proximal development zone. You’ll have to deal with something new, but you’ll like it. After the previous paragraph, you can find examples of how someone has already solved such problems. Their methods and approaches may not be clear to you, but the main thing is that they are there, and they only need to be understood. It all depends on you.
8. What resources will be needed, and where are their sources?
Money, time, people, energy, knowledge, other people’s experience, etc. You need to figure out where to get the necessary resources as quickly and cheaply as possible. What or who is their source that is available to you?
9. What are the risks and what can be done with them?
Uncertainty and many other factors from the first chapter have not gone away. There will always be risks. Our task is not to play roulette, but to approach risk planning and their development as a separate task. Make predictive actions to avoid or minimize them, set up monitoring, and prepare solutions for their case.
10. What is the sequence of actions?
In the end, you need to arrange all the tasks in a sequence that will lead you step by step to the result. It is better to make a reverse plan. This is a list of events in reverse order from the desired result to the current situation. This way you will make a list of specific cases, and the adequacy of the deadlines will be higher.
Record all the arguments on paper and do not neglect to check the formulations of the tasks. Of course, you need to engage in study and verification without fanaticism. The depth and detail should be directly proportional to the incomprehensibility and complexity of the task.
