When you need to know what’s going on with your team or your project, how do you find out? How do you get an update on that one bug in the game, or that meeting you missed, or that task you asked someone to do? All you should have to do is ask for a sitrep.

Strictly speaking, “sitrep” is shorthand for “situation report”. This report is sometimes defined as describing everything which is happening to a unit, or as an update, “…issued as conditions change or events begin to unfold.” This is a reasonable definition, in a dictionary sense, but the use of the word sitrep within a team should carry much more weight.

“Sitrep” is at once a command and a question. It sounds gruff, but precise. Accompanied by a sense of urgency and a common understanding of The Mission. It speaks of an internal code understood only by those in the Know, in the group. Outsiders experience a brief, but palpable feeling of awe upon witnessing a discussion that follows this request. A desire to be on the Team. A longing for a collective that could use and benefit from such terse, yet clear language. It denotes a team that clicks. A team that is on the same page. A team operating at peak performance. It is a word. A powerful word. Where’s your team? What’s your sitrep?