Team 2016

War Room Checklist

A seven-point checklist for setting up a project room where work stays visible on the walls.

What it is

Seven checks: enough space to move, a huddle spot separate from the wall space, wall space that stays posted for the project's duration, stocked materials, a no-teardown policy between sessions, reconfigurable furniture, and a way to photograph the walls before anything comes down.

Reach for it when

• A multi-week design project with no persistent home for its artifacts
• A team defaulting to scattered meetings with no shared visual memory
• A room that gets cleared after every session, erasing the team's working history

Running it

1. Walk the seven checklist items with whoever controls the room before the project starts.
2. For remote teams, swap a persistent digital whiteboard in for the wall-space and huddle requirements.
3. No spare room? Use the mini war room (door surfaces), popup war room, or online war room hacks instead of skipping the setup.
4. Photograph the walls at the end of each major session as a running record.