Concurrent Design: The Method and its Uses
Knut I. Oxnevad
©SIMTANO, Inc November 7, 2006

How often have we not found ourselves sitting in a meeting and getting this sinking feeling of not getting anywhere and thinking there must be a better way. There is a better way!

The method is called Concurrent Design. The method was developed for, and very successfully applied at JPL, NASA, ESA, and now also in the offshore oil and gas sector.

At the core of the method lies the notion that time spent in a meeting should be used for working together as opposed to just talking together. These working meetings are called sessions to distinguish them from a traditional meeting. A session lasts about 3.5 hours and a set of sessions will typically be set up to solve a specific problem. These sessions will be conducted in a dedicated work arena.

In the work arena all participants will have a desk and their own networked computer. Every participant will have access to the same tools on this computer as they would in their office. The participants can therefore work while they are in the work arena and together develop a report, a rover design, a well plan, a mission scenario, etc.

Tools will range from PowerPoint/Word, through internal and external databases, the Internet, structural analysis tools, and thermal analysis tools, to sophisticated power and dynamics simulations. The set of tools will depend on the problem to be solved.

Around the work arena are six wall screens. All computers in the work arena can dynamically be displayed on any of these screens. This makes it possible to see input from many people in the work arena at the same time and ensure that everybody in the work arena is on "the same page."