General Principles

Two Pillars

Efficient work depends on:

  1. Communication
  2. Task / Project Management

The TightOps framework dramatically improves both. This leads to less friction and increased productivity.

Here’s the heart of TightOps, an excerpt from the Tight Operations Handbook.

Tight Operations contains a framework and a communication protocol. The framework part will tell you what part of your communication goes where. The protocol part will tell you how to use the different channels.

Its purpose is to make your communications more effective, avoid misunderstandings, and reduce friction.

 "… a protocol must define the syntax, semantics, and synchronization of communication …" – communications protocol on Wikipedia

General Principles

The idea and intention of Tight Operations is to improve all communication you send and receive, making it

  • more concise,
  • easy to understand,
  • hard to misinterpret,
  • and more powerful.

Quality

The quality of communication is important. I want to receive high quality communication (input), and I want to send high quality communication to the people that take the time to read, listen or watch whatever I send them. It’s about mutual esteem 1 .

Empathy

TightOps puts an emphasis on empathy in the sense that the reception of your communication needs to be considered.

Appropriate Channel or Medium

Since Tight Operations acts as a framework for communication within a group or team, we emphasize the importance of using the best channel for any type of communication.

Therefore, Tight Operations uses the Communication Channel Code.

Clearness

To improve your communication, repeatedly ask yourself the following questions:

  • How can I word and write this as simple and clear as possible?
  • How can I minimize the chance for ambiguity and/or misunderstandings? (Be specific)
  • How can I explain, format and possibly visualize this for ease of understanding and retention for the recipient?

Brevity

  • What can I edit out?
  • How can I condense this without losing meaning or clarity?

Consistency

Consistency leads to reliability and keeps things simple. A good example is naming things: Be consistent with the name / term that is used for one thing. Stay with the same word for the same thing.

Context

  • What context should I provide to facilitate the recepient(s) understanding?
  • Why is this information relevant?
  • What parts are most important?

  1. It sounds corny, but that’s all there is to it. In the end, effectiveness, productivity, … these are all valid benefits, but the main intrinsic reason for Tight Operations is "to treat others as one would like others to treat oneself" (aka the Golden Rule). ↩