Richard Wilson: asking how much time a listed team member contributes

A long team roster led Richard to ask what the listed people actually did. In his example, some were advisers who spoke with the company for an hour each quarter.

The roster could combine different roles

Richard described looking beyond a claimed team size. A person shown on the page might be an employee, a contractor or a board adviser. Those relationships represented different amounts of day-to-day work.

The question concerned operating capacity

It asks who performs the work and how much time is available. Establishing those commitments gives the reader a clearer picture of the organization behind the roster, without drawing a conclusion from the photograph alone.

In Richard C. Wilson's words

"board members just talk to them one hour a quarter and don't do anything else." (Richard C. Wilson, Due Diligence mini-series)

How to use this

Annotate a team roster with each person's actual role.
Ask how often an adviser works with the company before counting that person as operating staff.

Questions and answers

What commitment appeared in Richard's example?

An adviser speaking with the company for one hour each quarter.

How is this different from a photograph review?

It concerns the person's role and working time, beyond the appearance of the team page.