{"id":12603,"date":"2022-08-11T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lei.flywheelsites.com\/the-lean-post\/articles\/dont-present-your-a3-share-your-a3\/"},"modified":"2023-07-19T12:48:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T16:48:59","slug":"dont-present-your-a3-share-your-a3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/dont-present-your-a3-share-your-a3\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Share, Not Present, Your A3 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"Body1\">Most lean coaches consistently stress how the\u00a0A3\u00a0process\u00a0enables collaboration, drives engagement, and gets buy-in. So, in that vein, let\u2019s explore what it means to engage others and the difference between \u201cpresenting\u201d and \u201csharing\u201d your A3 report.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"Body1\">Every time I teach a\u00a0<em>Managing to Learn<\/em>\u00a0course, the issue of how to best present A3 reports comes up. \u201cEric, I like the\u00a0problem-solving\u00a0aspect, but I find A3s hard to read on the screen,\u201d people say. Or \u201cI have to break my A3s into multiple PowerPoint slides so people can read them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"Body1\">In my response, I try to steer people away from using the word \u201cpresenting,\u201d which conjures images of conference rooms with a big table, an audience scattered about the room, empty seats up front, and a projector with a screen. In that situation, you are trying to communicate your message while the others in the room multitask. It\u2019s not the best environment for engaging others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, I&nbsp;&nbsp;suggest that we think about&nbsp;<em>sharing<\/em>&nbsp;A3 reports. The word \u201csharing\u201d brings up images of a few people closely engaged in a common goal. They are working with each other, not having someone show something to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Helpful to making this subtle shift is thinking of your A3 report as a small, portable whiteboard. We often discuss problems with others using an actual whiteboard \u2014 so use your A3 in the same fashion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Think of your A3 report as a small, portable whiteboard. We often discuss problems with others using an actual whiteboard \u2014 so use your A3 in the same fashion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>And don\u2019t wait for major milestones to engage your stakeholders. Instead, share your A3 report with them often (think \u201csmall lot\u201d sharing). As you do this, you can take meeting notes on the A3 document so you don&#8217;t lose what you&#8217;ve learned from the engagement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading Body1\"><strong>What About Achieving Consensus?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"Body1\">Of course, the time will come when you need to bring all the stakeholders together to ensure consensus. Then you will need to \u201cpresent\u201d your A3, but you should still think, \u201cshare.\u201d One way to share effectively in this situation is to provide a copy of the A3 report to everyone at the meeting. It\u2019s only one page (versus 30 or more for a PowerPoint deck). Then the stakeholders can look at the screen to follow your story, but they can also reference their hard copy for any details. They will naturally feel a stronger sense of ownership over something they can hold in their own hands. Also, keep one copy for yourself to write notes on as you gain additional input from the group discussion\u00a0and simultaneously create meeting minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:37px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/info.lean.org\/how-to-a3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/download-how-to-A3-pdf.jpg\" alt=\"ebook image for How to Use the A3 Process to Lead, manage, Mentor and Solve Problems\" class=\"wp-image-21910\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/download-how-to-A3-pdf.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/download-how-to-A3-pdf-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/download-how-to-A3-pdf-150x75.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/download-how-to-A3-pdf-375x188.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/download-how-to-A3-pdf-190x95.jpg 190w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:37px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes a simple word choice can help us to see a way forward. So, don\u2019t&nbsp;<em>present<\/em>&nbsp;your A3 reports only occasionally to large groups. Instead,&nbsp;<em>share<\/em>&nbsp;them frequently with small groups of people, in small lots,<em>&nbsp;<\/em>using them as you would a portable whiteboard, gathering people to discuss and adding their input to the report in real time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong> <\/em>This Lean Post<em> is an updated version of an article published on December 11, 2012, one of the most popular posts about this vital lean practice.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A veteran A3 coach explains how a seemingly minor word change can help foster more productive teamwork and learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"4996,12211,5862,12361,5875,4486","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - 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