JEFLO phased approach implementation plan

The content of this post came from a response I gave to a question from Hayel Msherbesh in regards to the JEFLO domain name selection, and whether it is an office, an organization, a society or a company. Here is basically what I said with some modifications to make it more general and more detailed.

" In the first group meeting which we held on 10 Sep 2011, I mentioned to the other JEFLO members that we will adopt a phased approach towards implementing the JEFLO initiative.

• Phase-1 (which we are in right now) relies heavily on the "virtual office" / e-collaboration model". I mentioned that in this phase, we will NOT have a physical office and there will be no employees. This is why we have to rely on volunteer work because we have no operational budget to spend from.

• Phase-2 (which we will be ready for as natural exit from the current phase-1) will witness the move from the "total virtual model" to the "partly virtual/partly physical" model.  In this phase, I envision we will have a prestigious (but small) physical office in a prominent area in Amman.  The office will be equipped and furnished with high-standard/high-quality items, there will be very few employees  (possibly selected  from the current JEFLO core team), and so on so forth.  Because I would expect in this phase to have a clearly specified operational budget based on the sources of revenue that we achieve or anticipate to achieve.

I hope this elaboration explains the story behind the domain name which we will use on temporary basis (now) and on permanent basis (later on).

Furthermore, let me talk a little more about the transition from phase-1 to phase-2 and when we may expect this to happen. Let me first confirm that such a transition is not time dependent. It is more "readiness" dependent and hence we need to assess our  "readiness" to take this step and ensure we take it in a mature and disciplined way.

The way I see it, is that we need to determine the "exit criteria" from phase-1 and agree that these exit criteria are the necessary "entry criteria" to phase-2 of JEFLO implementation.

1. Development and finalization of  V1 of the JEFLO business model basics, principles, processes and procedures.
2. Development of V1 JEFLO web site that reflects and mirrors V1 of the JEFLO business model above.
3. Critical volume of JEFLO members reached; whether this means 200+ members, 500+ members, 
4. JEFLO members professional profiles and JEFLO initiative profile ready for publishing and promotion
5. Feeding the opportunity/leads pipeline with a significant number of qualified leads.
6. Being able to close and successfully execute the first few engagements inside/outside Jordan 
7. Ensuring required level of commitment and business conduct from the JEFLO members through pioneering customer engagements during phase-1
8. Availability of funds from the executed pioneering projects and/or from other sources of funding to support the Phase-2 operational plan and its budgetary expenses.
9. Nomination and consensus on the JEFLO core team members / additional employees to the JEFLO physical office
10. Official registration of JEFLO inside Jordan as a society and/or as a company.

I will put this topic as an item in next group meeting on 29 Oct 2011 due to its importance.

Mohammed Thiab

Jordan Freelancers Office (JEFLO) Initiative