People Ops Project Management

The People Ops team manages their projects through a team Trello Board that is updated weekly. There, you can see People Ops projects slated for the current quarter. If you have questions regarding any of the content on this board, contact the People Team in #ask-people-team in Slack.

What goes on the Trello board?

  1. Every People Ops project you expect to take more than three day’s work should be a board card.
  2. Cards should include:
    1. Description of the project, including links to any relevant documentation
    2. Member/Assignee
    3. Due date if applicable
    4. Deliverables
    5. Any other details you deem relevant
  3. Only projects you expect to work on in the current quarter should be included.

What do these columns mean?

  • Future Projects: Projects planned for this quarter that have not yet started or scheduled.
  • To Do: Projects that you plan to begin working on in the next two weeks.
  • In Progress: Projects that are actively being worked on.
  • On Hold/Blocked: Projects that have been paused either due to shifting priorities or missing a critical piece. This could be missing resources, waiting for an answer from a vendor or teammate, etc.
  • Done: Projects where all deliverables have been completed.
  • Cancelled: Projects we have decided not to do, whether that is permanently or just for this quarter.

How will we keep it updated?

  1. Each quarter when setting OKRs, we will archive the previous quarter’s board and build a new one with projects for the upcoming quarter. The board title will include the quarter it pertains to.
  2. At the beginning of the People Ops weekly team meeting, one person quickly reads through all cards in the following columns:
    1. In Progress
    2. On Hold/Blocked
  3. Assignees of each card should respond with the following:
    1. On Track: the project is moving along as expected and I do not need support from other teammates at this time. This can be true for an On Hold/Blocked item if action is already underway to unblock.
    2. Off Track: the project is running behind, blocked, or otherwise not going as expected.
  4. After all relevant card updates have been given, each “Off Track” card is a discussion topic with the goal being to help get the project back on track. This can take several forms: Adjusting due date, pulling in additional resources, changing scope of the project, etc.

This should take about 5–10 minutes at the beginning of our weekly People Ops internal sync meeting!