What does good delivery look like?

If I’m asked what good delivery actually looks like, I think about a situation that was tough and how I hopefully made it a bit better. I don’t think about a project or service going to plan or a perfectly written task on a manicured board. I do think about someone feeling comfortable to send a message asking ‘got a minute?’.

Some of the best delivery I’ve seen, and my own best work, probably looked quite messy from the outside. Real delivery is doing whatever is needed to help the team get something - whether that’s a draft policy, a key piece of research, a tricky piece of code, an early idea, a working prototype or a service people rely on every day - done and out where it actually matters.

In the public sector, where I’ve spent the best part of the past decade, it’s quite easy to focus on things that I now see being called performative or theatre; ceremonies, show and tells, roadmap reviews. I think it’s harsh to call this theatre; these are things that can cause a lot of worry for folks. We shouldn’t forget or diminish this. We should have more respect for ourselves and our teams.

Good delivery is spotting when someone is worried... and sending a quick message to check in.

I think good delivery is letting people know that health and family come first, always.

You’ll hear and see good delivery too. Maybe it’s how a developer talks about a user’s frustration and is thinking about ideas to make it better, or the way a researcher understands a technical constraint. Silo stuff gradually starts to melt away, and the ‘why’ of doing something is held as tightly by a designer as it is by the delivery manager.

Good delivery is about creating a space where people can do their best work, whatever that might be. Maybe it’s helping block out focus time each day to do the thing, or spotting when a cuppa break might reduce the worry levels.

When delivery is good, things feel doable. It feels human.