Following is an introduction to three of our six "simple" rules of managing design teams extracted out of our seminar titled Managing Excellence in Design Team Execution. If these rules are of interest you may want to consider purchasing the hardcopy material or hosting our one day seminar for the detailed discussion of these rules plus the additional three rules.

"Commit only after doing your homework. Be creative, be aggressive, keep your vision broad and commit only when you have a means to get there."

A commitment is not an unproven, un-validated top down goal.

Misplaced commitment will haunt the design team, the business and the end customer for the entire project and beyond.

"Keep a keen eye out for the unknown. It is always there, waiting to disrupt your plan."

Think of an unknown as an un-addressed receivable expectation or an unmanaged/unplanned task.

What you don't know is what WILL tank your predictability, guaranteed.

"Are things progressing as planned, or is a correction to the plan and/or deliverables in order?"

Just because it is in the original "plan" does not mean it is forever and always.

Keep the plan in your view throughout the entire project.

Many organizations have some type of analog sharing initiative in place. The results vary across many organizations with virtually none of them saying they are achieving the level of reuse they envisioned. Why not? The answer may surprise you. The answer to this question and more is discussed in detail in our seminar.

Re-users Needs
This should be the foundation of any reuse strategy. In most cases the re-users requirements will be in the form of documentation that addresses the design details, tradeoffs and theory of operation of the block. Without this foundation in place your reuse plans will be sure to stall at the starting gate.

Re-Users Concerns
All re-users will be apprehensive about using someone else's work. Understanding the reasons for concern and addressing the "Fear of Reuse" will provide the essential catalyst to move re-users from apprehension to acceptance.

Marketing Strategy
If you want reuse to flourish it is probably worth some level of marketing effort to create the desired level of energy around reuse. Focus your campaign on the excellent deliverables you will be providing.

Repository Requirements
With all the base deliverables and requirements well underway, now it is time to define and develop the repository to hold all those great deliverables. Keep in mind that the repository will not keep re-users coming back. It is the IP content that will either derail or energize your reuse strategy. Keep the proper perspective on what really matters.