CommitKeeper: The Missing Loop
What’s missing in work group software?
Cloud-based software supporting collaboration can include shared calendars, files, and tasks. Workers share dates and documents with each other using services like Google Drive or SharePoint; and there are several task managers available to small groups. Plus, there are platforms like Producteev, Flow, and Remember The Milk that integrate all three. One thing they all seem to be missing, however, is a collaborative workflow that emphasizes the importance of making negotiated commitments.
A negotiated commitment (Flores, et al.) is one in which a Requester and Performer have made an explicit agreement about the terms of the task at hand. Requests will include:
- title
- due date
- budget
- description of the scope of the task
The next step — which most solutions ignore — is to get the Performer to agree. Top-down management doesn’t always work. Lost emails stop progress.
The SaaS solution called CommitKeeper (www.commitkeeper.com) aims to provide the missing link; or better, the missing loop. CommitKeeper automates the commitment-based management (CBM) stages of:
- Preparation
- Negotiation
- Countered
- Delivery
- Acknowledgement
- Archival
When a team member fills out a New Request form and clicks Send, the parties Negotiate. If the Performer needs to, she makes a Counter-offer. After the parties agree, they enter Delivery. When she’s finished, she clicks Deliver, and the Requester is notified. Time to Acknowledge. The Requester can ask for rework (back to Delivery) or click OK (Archived).
Explicit commitment closes the loop and brings results.