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What is In Parallel?

Short introduction to In Parallel

K
Written by Kristian Luoma
Updated over a month ago

In Parallel is the living execution layer between goals and work. It gives teams a continuously-updated execution plan for each area you’re accountable for—so you don’t have to rebuild “where things stand” from scratch every week.

In this article

  • What In Parallel does

  • What it’s for (and who it’s for)

  • What it’s not

  • How it works (the execution loop)

  • When you’ll get the most value


What In Parallel does

In Parallel keeps a living execution plan current by connecting:

  • meetings (where reality changes),

  • system updates (where work progresses),

  • and human review (so nothing material changes silently).

That plan is the shared answer to:

  • What are we actually doing right now?

  • What changed since last time?

  • Who owns what?

  • What’s at risk?

  • Why did we decide that?


Who In Parallel is for

In Parallel is built for people who own outcomes—especially when they don’t control every task directly.

Typical users include:

  • managers and team leads

  • program / portfolio owners

  • ops and PMO leaders

  • executives responsible for execution

Individual contributors benefit from the clarity (and can get tasks and context), but they aren’t expected to “run the system.”


What In Parallel is not

In Parallel is intentionally not a replacement for:

  • task trackers (Jira, Asana, Linear, etc.)

  • docs/wiki tools (Notion, Google Docs)

  • chat (Slack/Teams)

Instead, it sits above them to keep the execution picture coherent as reality changes—while delivery details stay in the tools that are best at delivery.

Rule of thumb:
If something is “work detail” (subtasks, ticket hygiene, specs), keep it in the source system.
If something changes execution reality (priorities, commitments, risks, decisions, accountable actions), it belongs in In Parallel’s plan.


How In Parallel works: the execution loop

In Parallel is designed around a simple loop that repeats each time you meet and decide:

1) Organize work into an execution scope

Everything in In Parallel lives inside an execution scope—a team, project, program, portfolio, account, or business area.

A scope is the boundary that keeps the system calm:

  • one scope → one plan

  • one accountable owner

  • one cadence (or a small set of related cadences)

2) Maintain one living execution plan per scope

Each scope’s plan is a structured view of execution reality:

  • goals and commitments

  • ranked priorities

  • tasks and milestones

  • risks and dependencies

  • explicit ownership

  • recent changes

3) Treat meetings as “execution events”

In Parallel can automatically join recurring meetings connected to a scope, transcribe in real time, and detect decisions, actions, risks, ownership shifts, and unresolved topics.

These aren’t stored as “notes.” They’re interpreted as execution signals that update the plan.

4) Use reports as the control point

After a meeting:

  • a structured summary is published

  • the execution plan updates

  • tasks are assigned

  • stakeholders can be notified

This is where trust is built: you review and confirm what matters while context is fresh.

5) Make change visible with snapshots

Every meaningful plan update creates a snapshot, so “what changed” is explicit and reviewable—not hidden inside an edited doc.


What success feels like

After a few cycles, you should notice:

  • fewer “status chase” messages

  • meetings spend more time deciding and less time rehashing

  • stakeholders get aligned without extra prep

  • priorities feel stable (and changes have clear reasons)

A practical expectation is that after ~2–3 meeting cycles, the plan becomes as trustworthy as a manually maintained document—without the manual work.


Tips for getting value fast

  • Start small: One scope + one recurring meeting beats modeling your whole org.

  • Keep scopes honest: If the plan feels noisy, the scope is probably too broad.

  • Start every meeting with “What changed?” The system is built to make that question effortless.

  • Let delivery tools do delivery: Keep Jira/Asana/etc. as the system of record for task execution; use In Parallel for execution reality and accountability.

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