Business Operations

Purpose

Operations covers the intersection of business best practices and project management, uniting the best interests of devs and clients with the company itself.

Scope

This document will give an initial overview of what operations is presumed to cover in this case, plans for the operations guild at Countable, and link out to more useful reference docs on our processes.

Our Methodology Toolbox

In general, we do not take a prescriptive approach to methodology. We use methodologies as a toolbox. First, seek to understand the problem as deeply as possible. Then, evaluation methodologies and select those which best address the specific context for your project.

Here is a guide to specific methods, and when to use each.

  1. Scrum - A versatile project management (PM) methodology which provides efficient change management (via backlog), regular meetings with stakeholders, continuous deployment and project velocity measurement. Use for any project with stakeholders who will be engaged throughout the project. The more and the greater variety of stakeholders, the more important a fully implemented PM methodology (Scrum) is needed.
  2. Prototyping - Man plans, god laughs. Instead of planning every detail (guessing), why not build a quick approximation of your end goal? Prototyping an excellent way to conduct and validate planning. A cheap prototype lets you validate technical feasibility, market fit, usability and aesthetics without guessing (planning). Use for any novel product (different from existing ones), particularly if there may be many unknown unknowns to test for.
  3. Wireframes - A lighter prototype that only includes the navigation (page structure) of your product. Use for any product with non-trivial use cases. Useful if a design process may come later and coding is being done first.
  4. Use cases - Determine who will use the product, and how. What specific goals do users have and what steps does your product take to fulfill them?
  5. User stories - A variation on Use Cases, and part of Scrum. Emphasizes a deep understanding of the Actor’s point of view and context. Use for any new project that involves developing a product.
  6. Visual Mockups - A non-functional prototype. Displays the exact look of the finished product. Use for any public facing product. Useful if wireframes or an unattractive prototype already exist, or for brand new projects.
  7. SEO Research - Focused on search engines, but serves well as a general purpose market research tool. Identify what words your market uses, and the volume of searches with those words. Then, get ranked well for them. Use to understand and acquire customers.
  8. Usability testing - Observe actual users interacting with your product, and identify obstacles and opportunities in their behaviour. Use on flows you need the user to complete reliably.
  9. Creative brief - A lightweight design process kick-off document to identify the project goal, audience, proposed tone/character, and summarize design deliverables. Use before undertaking substantial creative/branding work.

Processes at Countable

Processes are the official rules defined in this manual which we all commit to work by.

We prefer to have a small set of official processes to produce better, more meaningful work faster, achieve our mission, and have more fun doing it. Processes have a cost, so we want the minimum set to accomplish this.

Process Conventions

Most processes will start out as conventions. As you work, experiment and try things. When you can demonstrate something is working really well, we should consider making it an official process.

Process Drafts

The first step for an official process is to write it up in this manual as a draft. The purpose of this is to make it clear and let teammates test whether it’s useful.

The proposed process should:

  • Have a clear benefit that outweighs its cost substantially. When in doubt, eliminate the process.
  • Be as simple with the minimum number of steps necessary.
  • Be informed by our own experiences and evidence first, consultation with colleagues second, best practices third (processes well known and contained in multiple industry standards), and specific literature from a single author a distant fourth.
  • Be aligned with our mission.

Testing A New Process

Don’t rush a new process. Trial it first:

  • Document the process in this operations manual as a draft. Be clear about when the process applies, what the roles are and why it’s worth having in concise simple language.
  • Explain the process to team members, and get feedback. Testing a process is a consultative decision.
  • Lead by example, and update your process document as you learn.
  • Review the process with the team and decide if you want to propose it company-wide.

Making Processes Official

  • The process must be approved by the company’s Director.
  • Remove the draft status from the ops manual page. It’s now official.

Company Structure / Governance

Countable is an agency that uses consulting as a source of information to build start-ups.

Countable has projects, and some of those projects can turn into new businesses (KMC_shfits turned into Cortico in this case). Those businesses stay in the team as a project for all intends and purposes at first, but over time they may become more independent. This depends on when they need space to focus on different problems than Countable. This model is to help us reconcile the difference between consulting and start-ups. Consulting is a source of information to help us understand problems in the world. If we solve a problem in this area which is replicable, we can spin it off into a new product/business.

COVID-19 Safety Plan

For all staff and subcontractors:

  • As a remote-first company, it’s much easier for us to manage COVID-19 safety by default.
  • Do not attend the office if you have any symptoms.
  • If you do attend the office, avoid touching your face, approaching within 6 feet of a colleague, and wash your hands regularly.
  • If you suspect you may be infected, refer to the Cortico COVID-19 screening form for a list of symptoms and book an appointment if you have concerns at https://kmc.cortico.ca/book/first-available-walk-in/