Focused Guide

Finding the Next Point of Contact

2 minute read

You look at the Trello board and feel pulled to make it a little clearer. Another label might help. A better list name would read cleaner. Before you tidy, you wonder where the next point of contact with the actual project sits.

What a point of contact is

A point of contact is a bounded action that touches the project itself. It is not another refinement of cards, lists, or system rules. It is small enough to start now and concrete enough that you can tell when it is done. It leaves evidence somewhere other than Trello. Opening the document and writing a paragraph qualifies. Calling the venue to ask for available dates qualifies. Running the test on the device qualifies. Moving a card or editing a label does not.

Finding one bounded move

Look at a single card that represents real work and ask what interaction with the thing behind it would move it forward once step. If the card is “Draft release notes,” the next contact might be writing three sentences that explain one change. If the card is “Confirm vendor,” the next contact could be sending one email that requests a quote. If the card is “Fix login bug,” the next contact might be reproducing the error on a real account and saving the steps you used. Each option is specific, limited, and happens in the world the board describes.

A short list can help you recognize this kind of move:

• It changes the state of the underlying work, not only its description.
• It can be started and finished without reorganizing the board.
• It produces something you can point to outside Trello.

Let the board follow the work

Once you make contact, the board may be out of date for a moment. That is normal. After the call, after the paragraph, after the test, return and mark what changed. The map catches up to the terrain you just touched. You can decide again whether to keep going in the work or to update more representation. Seeing the next point of contact as an action in the project helps the board stay what it is meant to be, and lets the work carry the weight of progress.