Several people have mailed me about TeamUp so I think it is appropriate to
inform our discussion with a brief description.
TeamUp is two things. Primarily, in my opinion, it is a 12 stage
methodology and secondly a bit of software. It is produced by
TeamTechnologies Inc. (3810 Concored parkway, Suite 1600, Chantilly, VA
22021) and its primary use is for project development, management and
monitoring and evaluation.
Working on the basis of the team approach to project conceptualisation and
development it takes practitioners and participants through various
stages. The methodology contains the major conceptual items and the
software can be used as a reporting and documenting tool. The core of the
methodology and the software, in my opinion, is a tool called the logical
framework which is a 4x4 matrix and which in turn provides a means to
consider and develop project visions (vertical axis runs from activities,
outputs, purposes to goals, the horizontal axis runs from narrative
summary, through objectively verifiable indicators, means of verification
to assumptions). I recommend if you want to know more contact Team Tech.
at the address given above.
I have used TeamUp in a variety of project contexts (the most recent, in
Pakistan, is described in a paper coming out in the March edition of
'Systems Practice' journal).
My interst is in using TeamUp as a means to provide systemic analysis and
design of project contexts and maybe, on from this, in organisational
contexts. It strikes me as being systemic from a number of angles and it
also seems like a good tool for organisational learning. What I am seeking
is informed debate on the value of the approach and maybe links into other
ways of thinking about projects (I take the word project at its widest to
mean organisations themselves).
--S.G.Bell@open.ac.uk (Simon Bell)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>