Managing Projects for Ministry

184 Manag i ng Pro j ec t s for Mi n i s t r y

The Continuing Reign of Adhocracy: TUMI’s Prototype Shop, continued

5. Format all text into grid design.

6. Make adjustments. There will be awkward text shapes (when rag right or left), bad word spacing (when justified) widows (where the last line of a paragraph has only one word), or just bad balance/proportion between elements. Some of these problems can be worked out by small changes that stay true to the spirit of the overall design, but may bend a rule or two of the grid. Sometimes the writer could make a small change without compromising quality, for example, shorten or lengthen a heading by a word. 7. Refine/test. See if the printed piece reads easily and is accessible to target readers and make adjustments where it falls short. This is excellent thinking – clear, concise, and efficient. As you can see, the purpose of such administration is to guarantee a level of quality in all of our prototype efforts. How Will TUMI Staff Collaborate within the Prototype Shop ? Virtually every prototype idea will involve team collaboration and cooperation. Project management demands the highest level of team planning, coordination, and organization. My desire is that TUMI staff will take advantage of the Shop’s capabilities to do innovative and open minded kinds of production, to do it together, and collaborate in new ways. Most of the creative process demands the input and suggestions of all the staff, and we must strive to create an environment where everyone’s ideas are sought, heard, and considered. We must be careful, however, to understand that “design by committee” can be a cumbersome and highly ineffective for creative enterprises. The earlier phases of any project (what Tim calls the “thumbnail phase”) requires the active seeking of an abundance of ideas from many sources. Once we settle on the ideas that are best, we must shift to a “soaring with strengths” approach. Our most gifted people ought to shine in their respective areas of expertise, and we all learn to submit mutually to one another, deferring to one another’s gifts and strengths. In so doing we get the best of both