Sarah Green from WistiaFest 2015

1. MANAGING VIDEO
TEAMS & PROCESSES
Sarah Green
Harvard Business Review
HBR.org
@skgreen

2. What’s HBR?

3. 1. Make your video team as small as
possible, not as large as possible.

4. The phenomenon of the mysteriously
expanding video team.
• Because: Video is often cross-disciplinary
• Because: Organizational politics
• Because: Power. (Muahahaha.)

5. The Ringelmann Effect

6. Social loafing

7. #worldstoughestjob

8. Managing the mysteriously large
video team
• Option 1: create working groups or task forces
• Option 2: create a team-within-a-team

9. Involvement vs. Committment

10. 2. Overcommunication Is Almost
Impossible

11. Alex “Sandy” Pentland, MIT

12. Pentland’s prerequisites for peak-
performing posses:
• Communicate frequently, both formally and informally.
• Explore for ideas and information outside the group.
• Talk and listen in equal measure, equally among
members.

13. Bad team communication looks like:

14. Good team communication looks like:

15. Why is this so hard?

16. Animated video: distortions in perception

17. Repeat Yourself.
• You have to repeat yourself at least twice before people
understand.
• Use multiple methods of communication: start with a face-
to-face discussion, then send a follow-up email.
• This is especially important if you’re working on projects
that require teams to form, disband, and re-form.
• You have to repeat yourself at least twice before people
understand.

18. But are you over-collaborating?
• Decisions are always made by consensus
• Accountability isn’t clear
• Execution is slow
• Meetings are:
• A bit aimless, with no clear agenda or follow-ups
• Mostly held for “updates” or “discussion”
• Plentiful

19. 3. It costs a lot to be cheap.

20. HBR’s 2011 London Shoot

21. David Lammy, MP for Tottenham

22. David Lammy, MP *in* Tottenham

23. 4. Embrace Your Constraints, but
Question Your Assumptions

24. Break the internet, Michael Porter

25. A video experiment.

26. 5. A Process Is Always a Work in
Process

27. Refining our video process
• More parallel processing

28. An early video process

29. A revised video process

30. Refining our video process
• Parallel processing
• Documenting how much time things really take
• Relying less on email
• Having fewer meetings
• Invite fewer people (only the pigs!)
• Make them working meetings

31. In conclusion:

32. Summing up:
1. Make your team as small as possible, not as large as
possible.
2. Over-communication is almost impossible (but over-
collaboration is easy).
3. It costs a lot to be cheap.
4. Embrace your constraints; question your assumptions.
5. A process is always a work in process.