RECOMMENDATION #2:
Train people in how to use PARA

I suggest you view the implementation of PARA as primarily a training challenge, not a technical one.

The biggest pitfall I see managers fall into is the idea that they can “install” PARA without having to teach anyone anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. I promise you: you will need to teach your people not only how PARA works, but how it works for your team.

I suggest using the PARA Playbook (created per my previous recommendation) to make presentations, run demonstrations, and host workshops to make sure everyone is on board.

Even with such a dead simple method as this one, you will be surprised how many existing habits and mindsets most people have to unlearn in their relationship with information, such as the idea that there is a “right way” to organize; the belief that there is only one place a given piece of information belongs; and the assumption that formal order and precise structure are always better.

Don’t skimp on the need to train your colleagues in the shared conventions and policies that will determine how knowledge is created and shared between them.