“What do you mean, make it necessary?” Max looked confused. “We know what we were supposed to do in that handoff meeting. What more should I do, as the leader, to make it necessary?”

“Three things,” I replied. “First, what is the vision, what does that handoff meeting look like, feel like, taste like? Your vision of the paperwork is NOT a big checkmark across the page. Your vision of the paperwork is individual checkmarks on specific line items. More important is the discussion between the estimator and the project manager about each line item. So, what does good look like.

“Second. Does the team, the estimator and the project manager, have the capability to understand the decisions and problems, and the capability to make those decisions and solve those problems? Max, you are the leader. It is your judgment I depend on to assess their capability and make the necessary resources available.

“Third. Are they committed to the work? A checklist looks like compliance, but compliance isn’t good enough. You, as the leader, need commitment to the work. It is your role to create the circumstances for that commitment to exist. If you just needed compliance, you could do that with pizza. But, pizza doesn’t create commitment.”