Sorting Custard

When you're talking about organisational productivity, just going faster is not enough. Prioritisation, accountability, and the ability to identify and eliminate constraints is just as important.
But... those status meetings where everyone sits around shuffling a list, achieve none of the above, those are an exercise in sorting custard...
When you've built a system, it's obvious - how it all fits together, where everything goes, what comes next, but those who are new to the system, or haven't had access to the big picture, feel like they're just poking the same yellow gloop over and over, or if they're really overwhelmed, it feels like pushing flies.
So what do you do to bring them out of the gloop and into the loop?
1. Make work visible
2. Give everyone access to the Big Picture
3. Acknowledge progress
4. Get your team onto the Productivity Power-Up http://www.scale-ability.com/productivitypower-up