Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Thoughts: Get it together with "personal responsibility"
10:59
Read a blog where this guy has so much energy and passion it is amazing! He also links that energy/passion to a structured approach, thus he is highly successful.
I wanted to share his blog (descriptive words below) and a link to his video.
Brendon Burchard Blog Post...
I wanted to share his blog (descriptive words below) and a link to his video.
Brendon Burchard Blog Post...
Life blooms when we take responsibility for our full human experience. To be personally responsible and self-reliant means we have to get our sh*t together and decide to have command over these five areas:
1. Our Aim. What is our goal, our direction, our purpose? What is it that we are moving toward and organizing our lives to achieve and contribute? These are questions of the motivated and purposeful human.
2. Our Attention. Are the things we continually focus on bringing us joy, success, connection, growth? Or are we being distracted by a bunch of garbage and gossip in life?
3. Our Attitude. The power plant doesn’t have energy, it generates energy. Similarly, we don’t have an attitude, we generate one. When we choose to generate a negative energy and attitude, life is horrible. But when we choose to generate and broadcast a joyous, loving, and positive energy, life opens up to us, people feel something new from us, and our entire life blooms and grows.
4. Our Affections. Are we connecting with those we love and sensing the beauty of this life? The emotional quality and connections we feel in life are also a choice, and we should choose to feel again, to love again, to become passionate and emotionally open, giving, strong and vibrant.
5. Our Actions. Our destiny is dictated by our disciplined actions - what we do each day, the habits we develop, our purposeful efforts. Take no action, have no life, no adventure, no progress. But overcome apathy and fear and get going and soon there is magic and momentum and what we love to call, the charged life.
Link to his video that aligns with this topic:
His video really talks to personal responsibility and self-reliance!
When looking at your project successes and failures look first to yourself :)
Tools: Mantra = Great Value in a Project Environment
13:22
Every project has change, risk, stress - thus teams need to be re-assured, learn from mistakes and then move on.
We forget, every project is built on estimates. Thus, every project will not go according to the original plan, we will hit bumps in the road, that is where the Managers and Team pull together, leverage their skills, adapt and overcome.
Be confident, collect your thoughts and keep the trust and collaboration. A team mantra is a great tool that can be utilized to "re-group and move forward"..... people may laugh, but laughing is also a great tool so leverage that too!!!
Simply put, a Mantra has the power to enhance positive energy. Check out video below...
NOTE: if video link does not connect, goto: http://www.jasontratch.com/
Few more links and comments on the power of a mantra............
Link below talks about a CEO that embraces mantras in his business, and shares a few that he uses:
http://www.inc.com/lauren-perkins/six-mantras-for-business-success.html
We forget, every project is built on estimates. Thus, every project will not go according to the original plan, we will hit bumps in the road, that is where the Managers and Team pull together, leverage their skills, adapt and overcome.
Be confident, collect your thoughts and keep the trust and collaboration. A team mantra is a great tool that can be utilized to "re-group and move forward"..... people may laugh, but laughing is also a great tool so leverage that too!!!
Simply put, a Mantra has the power to enhance positive energy. Check out video below...
NOTE: if video link does not connect, goto: http://www.jasontratch.com/
Few more links and comments on the power of a mantra............
Link below talks about a CEO that embraces mantras in his business, and shares a few that he uses:
http://www.inc.com/lauren-perkins/six-mantras-for-business-success.html
Tools - All Business Needs a Platform
14:32
Quick, in 30 sec, define how you carry out your business?
If you do not mention "Methodology" or "Management System", then how are you instilling confidence? How can I truly trust that you can "do what you said you would do!"
If you do not mention "Methodology" or "Management System", then how are you instilling confidence? How can I truly trust that you can "do what you said you would do!"
It is amazing how we still try to instill confidence by saying: Sure.... I have done it 100 times so this will be no different - it is all about my experience.
Now granted, that is very important, but the world is wayyyy to dynamic and year over year, using an Analogy of the past is fine for budgetary purposes, but it will not give enough accuracy anymore for planning and delivery of the solution. Also, if you don't have a best practice framework, what if you have been doing it inefficiently for the past 10 years, and just getting by, or riding a bubble?
How well can your business grow without you, how well can it operate when you go on a 4 week vacation?
Now granted, that is very important, but the world is wayyyy to dynamic and year over year, using an Analogy of the past is fine for budgetary purposes, but it will not give enough accuracy anymore for planning and delivery of the solution. Also, if you don't have a best practice framework, what if you have been doing it inefficiently for the past 10 years, and just getting by, or riding a bubble?
How well can your business grow without you, how well can it operate when you go on a 4 week vacation?
The video below emphasizes the importance of a
common platform from which all your business work (both project, operational
and strategy) stems from in order to deliver successful solutions.
The video also lists a list of the major aspects of a business framework/methodology that you should be very comfortable talking about at any time, between customers, employees, investors, alliances, regulators, associations, academics, etc.
The video also lists a list of the major aspects of a business framework/methodology that you should be very comfortable talking about at any time, between customers, employees, investors, alliances, regulators, associations, academics, etc.
Note: if link does not work, go direct to blog to view www.jasontratch.com
How fast can you gather and present well organized "Formal Documentation" of the guidelines, processes, tools, templates, techniques and overall framework/methodology that is followed (collectively and collaboratively by the business as a whole). The scary thing is when this documentation is stored in the brains of a select few.
This is now becoming very common in Saskatchewan, every major Association has a Standardized Course they teach to the Public and their Memberships. The really cool thing is that each Association (Construction, Manufacturing, Innovation, Agriculture, Mining, etc.) are all using the same common platform methodology - which is the Project Management Institute and it's Manual called the PMBOK (www.pmi.org).
A simple article helps explain the importance of a methodology and also I really liked their last bullet, how they emphasize to align your methodology with:
1) Strategy,
2) Software,
3) Community Learning
PS: the only other two I would add to this list is...
4) Operational work,
5) Project work)
The link to the full article is below....
sixdisciplines
1) Strategy,
2) Software,
3) Community Learning
PS: the only other two I would add to this list is...
4) Operational work,
5) Project work)
The link to the full article is below....
sixdisciplines
Tools - placing people into RO levels
10:05
This blog-post is a sensitive subject but is win-win for employee & company! It's a follow-up (part 2 of 2). See video:
Note: if video does not work in the link, please visit www.jasontratch.com to view it
In last post, we talked about 8 levels (0 to 7) or 8 strata that people can be placed within. After this is complete, then the work must be assessed and put into levels. Then the key is to align the levels of the resource and the work at hand.
Organizational Design (or RO as many people call it) aims to provide a quantifiable process (scientific based) approach to help get tasks done within a project or a business. It promotes the focus on trust and transparency through systems, methodologies and organizational design and attempts to take away subjective, emotional, political and people issues that we often focus on when hiring/promoting/allocating people into specific projects or jobs.
Both the company/project and the people doing or managing the work should have confidence that the job at hand is properly aligned with the capability of the person.
One challenge is that we often try to classify people by looking at their resume and placing tremendous value on this, and then conducting an interview process. To qualify people through a resume and an interview process, we use such a variety of tools and techniques that results are often hit or miss.
The missed opportunity is to be more trusting, communicative and transparent as to where gaps exist and what they are - between the job at hand and the person doing or managing the work. This will be key to addressing risks and constraints and then ALSO lead to much better management of expectations (from both the person doing the work and the ones receiving the work).
As mentioned in the video above, 4 key parameters at a minimum must be assessed when trying to qualify a person's level.
Note: others exist, but this post focuses on the ones below:
One can further describe the above parameters as:
IPC - Information Processing Capability - this is the most complicated parameter and takes a high level of experience to do it properly (essentially it is the ability of a person to work within a structure to do the work. If in order to do work you must be told step A then B then be managed and monitored to deliver that work - this would be the lowest level, as you move up into higher levels, then you can work with more processes, in more parallels and with more unknowns and in a more fluid/dynamic manner - you have comfort with the abstract and a spatial ability to flow through work with countless scenarios that adapt as work progresses)
KSE - Knowledge, Skills and Experience (this is the traditional way of assessing people, it still brings value, but one must focus on the knowledge/education listed on the resume and also the persons delivery of work using that knowledge, need to have the combination - learn the right methods to do things, then get experience trying to do it that way)
PS/PI - Personal Strengths (maximize these, this is your core so be confident with them) Personal Inhibitors (don't kid yourself, be aware of personality traits that will inhibit the task at hand and compensate for them or bring in people that are better suited than you - believe in yourself and talk about both of these more openly)
VI - Vested Interest (how much passion and enthusiasm do you have for the work, how much pain will you feel if you fail, how much gain will you get if it is successful - how does the work align with the stage of life you are in, if going through a traumatic personal event, be open about your priorities - we live in a society of work - personal life blending and carry emotions so again, don't kid yourself or others)
These four parameters are key pillars of RO and are extensively studied and proven within business and project management. I am not doing it justice to describe them within a few paragraphs so if interested in more details and to grow your understanding, I recommend to start with some of the links below:
Great Association Website for RO:
Note: if video does not work in the link, please visit www.jasontratch.com to view it
In last post, we talked about 8 levels (0 to 7) or 8 strata that people can be placed within. After this is complete, then the work must be assessed and put into levels. Then the key is to align the levels of the resource and the work at hand.
Organizational Design (or RO as many people call it) aims to provide a quantifiable process (scientific based) approach to help get tasks done within a project or a business. It promotes the focus on trust and transparency through systems, methodologies and organizational design and attempts to take away subjective, emotional, political and people issues that we often focus on when hiring/promoting/allocating people into specific projects or jobs.
Both the company/project and the people doing or managing the work should have confidence that the job at hand is properly aligned with the capability of the person.
One challenge is that we often try to classify people by looking at their resume and placing tremendous value on this, and then conducting an interview process. To qualify people through a resume and an interview process, we use such a variety of tools and techniques that results are often hit or miss.
The missed opportunity is to be more trusting, communicative and transparent as to where gaps exist and what they are - between the job at hand and the person doing or managing the work. This will be key to addressing risks and constraints and then ALSO lead to much better management of expectations (from both the person doing the work and the ones receiving the work).
As mentioned in the video above, 4 key parameters at a minimum must be assessed when trying to qualify a person's level.
Note: others exist, but this post focuses on the ones below:
One can further describe the above parameters as:
IPC - Information Processing Capability - this is the most complicated parameter and takes a high level of experience to do it properly (essentially it is the ability of a person to work within a structure to do the work. If in order to do work you must be told step A then B then be managed and monitored to deliver that work - this would be the lowest level, as you move up into higher levels, then you can work with more processes, in more parallels and with more unknowns and in a more fluid/dynamic manner - you have comfort with the abstract and a spatial ability to flow through work with countless scenarios that adapt as work progresses)
KSE - Knowledge, Skills and Experience (this is the traditional way of assessing people, it still brings value, but one must focus on the knowledge/education listed on the resume and also the persons delivery of work using that knowledge, need to have the combination - learn the right methods to do things, then get experience trying to do it that way)
PS/PI - Personal Strengths (maximize these, this is your core so be confident with them) Personal Inhibitors (don't kid yourself, be aware of personality traits that will inhibit the task at hand and compensate for them or bring in people that are better suited than you - believe in yourself and talk about both of these more openly)
VI - Vested Interest (how much passion and enthusiasm do you have for the work, how much pain will you feel if you fail, how much gain will you get if it is successful - how does the work align with the stage of life you are in, if going through a traumatic personal event, be open about your priorities - we live in a society of work - personal life blending and carry emotions so again, don't kid yourself or others)
These four parameters are key pillars of RO and are extensively studied and proven within business and project management. I am not doing it justice to describe them within a few paragraphs so if interested in more details and to grow your understanding, I recommend to start with some of the links below:
Great Association Website for RO:
Great group of experts that promote RO and also share many free books/papers/videos about RO:
PMTip - Project Inspiration & Performance
06:28
Often we over analyze & complicate things, especially if a project is going side-ways. Another approach is to own your accountabilities, dig deeper, get inspired, then simplify and get your job done.
See video which relates this to us doing it at the early ages, and still not learning as we become adults...
If we have a plan, then there should be less worry and anxiety to get the job done. There will be slight deviations, but that is when we need to be clear on our role, responsibility, accountabilty and then use our best tool .... our brain and our heart..... and then get it done. We need to find our own mini-battles and win every one of them. Cumulatively, all mini-battles will deliver a successful project.
This does not mean when drastic change comes into play, that follows a strong Change Control or Change Management System. This can be seen as configuration management, where there are always slight variances to the plan, of which good resources should be able to manage.
PS: take a look at this link, find the ones that relate to you, for short periods of time when you need the boost, use it as a screen saver, print if off.....
Inspirational Quotes & Images
Know your job - find inspiration - believe in yourself - dig deeper - get it done!
See video which relates this to us doing it at the early ages, and still not learning as we become adults...
If we have a plan, then there should be less worry and anxiety to get the job done. There will be slight deviations, but that is when we need to be clear on our role, responsibility, accountabilty and then use our best tool .... our brain and our heart..... and then get it done. We need to find our own mini-battles and win every one of them. Cumulatively, all mini-battles will deliver a successful project.
This does not mean when drastic change comes into play, that follows a strong Change Control or Change Management System. This can be seen as configuration management, where there are always slight variances to the plan, of which good resources should be able to manage.
PS: take a look at this link, find the ones that relate to you, for short periods of time when you need the boost, use it as a screen saver, print if off.....
Inspirational Quotes & Images
Know your job - find inspiration - believe in yourself - dig deeper - get it done!
Tools - Team Development Stages
09:29
Teams are usually happy when initially formed, however, soon conflict begins to occur. There is a science behind why this happens.
The PM must talk to the team so they understand, use tools and techniques to help get the team through the low periods. It is just a phase everyone is going to have to get through and have faith that it will pass and you will get to the next stage.
There are 5 main stages a team flows through from when they first meet to when they are leaving the team.
See video below to help explain:
The PM must talk to the team so they understand, use tools and techniques to help get the team through the low periods. It is just a phase everyone is going to have to get through and have faith that it will pass and you will get to the next stage.
There are 5 main stages a team flows through from when they first meet to when they are leaving the team.
See video below to help explain:
As described in the video, the stages are further defined below also with a Recommendation/Action that the PM can carry out:
1)
Forming – the team first meets one another, it is superficial, members
are wondering if the team is a good fit, what others are like, how they will
get along. First impressions are made
(whether they are accurate or not) and most people do not reveal much about
themselves.
During this stage the PM
needs to foster team unity and help start laying the foundations to build
trusting relationships. Ensure all
members are aware of the project objectives, boundaries and the code of conduct
or existing Human Resource processes to be followed. Also clearly document the roles and
responsibilities and provide the required tools, resources, work areas,
equipment, etc. as early as possible or address outstanding gaps.
2)
Storming – the team members now start to assert themselves. Personalities start to come out and may
conflict with others. Control issues
start to emerge, misunderstandings of roles and responsibilities are generally
an example of one area of stress and conflict.
Stresses of the project may start to appear and test the resources. Personality strengths and opportunities to
improve also start to become more evident.
During this stage the PM
needs to identify conflicts as early as possible and address them with the
appropriate conflict management technique.
Project issues and concerns must be discussed addressed. Encourage team members to get involved in
solving the problems together. Include
the team, recognize the team and be supportive, positive and enthusiastic.
3)
Norming - the team starts to work
productively and performance levels and output starts to increase. Conflicts still exist but people are learning
how to interact with each other. Smaller
subgroups may also be forming. Conflicts
generally start to be around project or process issues and not around personality
differences. Levels of trust start to
appear.
During this stage the PM
must encourage team members to continue to work together and leverage each
others skills. Actively seek out the
small groups and promote larger group participation and cooperation. Confirm ground rules for team interaction and
accept people for who they are and respect what they bring to the team. Healthy debates bring different perspectives,
identify examples of trust and build upon them.
4)
Performing – the team is working at a strong level of productivity, the
optimum level is achieved or breaking new ground on higher and higher
levels. Conflicts are generally solved
by the team members themselves. Respect,
safety and trust is evident between all members and friendships begin to
form.
During this stage, the PM
should continue to look for opportunities to promote a more cohesive unit and
further enable the momentum. Also start
to look at future needs, e.g. training, coaching, mentoring, provide motivation
by conducting more social and open team building events.
5)
Adjourning – the project is wrapping up and winding down. The team is happy about the new found
relationships that have been established but also is sad to leave and may feel
anxious about the next project coming up.
During this stage the PM
should emphasize the positives in terms of how the team has evolved and the
accomplishments that have been achieved.
Formalize a contact list and emphasize the importance of maintaining the
network. Plan a future team event and
book it in everyone’s calendar (before everyone disperses).
Tools - Risk Analysis using PICTA
08:56
Risk analysis focuses
on attaining the details related to the risk events. One method is to focus on the process of
determining probability and impact of the risk. This information forms the basis of how risks are analyzed, prioritized, ranked and
ultimately responded to.
The two main parameters to always know are PI (probability and impact). However, additional ones also include: Cause, Timing, Frequency and Alternatives.
See video below for an explanation on what the tool/acronym PICTA stands for:
Try to remember the word PICTA - Probability, Impact, Cause, Timing/frequency, Alternatives.
Keep that in your back pocket at all times to help focus on key parameters of risk analysis.
Keep that in your back pocket at all times to help focus on key parameters of risk analysis.
Supporting details related to the two key parameters are included below:
Qualitative risk analysis should follow a
systematic approach to identify:
- Probability – the likelihood that the risk event will occur. The probability should be assigned a numeric value. The definition or scale must be detailed enough that there is no misunderstanding by stakeholders. The scale may range from 0 (will not occur) to 0.5 (in the middle, may or may not occur and has an equal change for each) to 1 (certainty that it will occur). It may also help to draw a scale (people can then visualize it).
- Impact – this reflects the magnitude of the consequence how the project will be affected if the risk event occurs. This must be assessed by the team with a focus on the project as a whole (generally the objectives should be reviewed and compared to the types of consequences that could occur). More detailed impact analysis could be done later in the risk planning stages with a focus on a more specific area (e.g. scope, time, cost, quality, training, etc) but this should follow a more customized risk management approach with specific resources assigned. Similar to the probability scale, the impact scale definition must be detailed enough that there is no misunderstanding by stakeholders. Generally the scale will have a column that assigns the impact a numeric value and also a column with a definition.
An example includes:
Impact Value
|
Impact Level
|
Definition
|
1
|
Low
|
Impact will be minor and not noticeable outside
the project team
|
3
|
Medium
|
Impact will influence the plans of the project,
corrective actions will be taken, active response planning will be required
|
5
|
High
|
Impact is major and stakeholders outside the
project team will need to be immediately involved
|
For additional details on a risk matrix approach using PI, see a journal paper at the link below:
scientificpapers-risk-analysis
PMTip - Organizational Design & PM Interactions Part 1 of 2 -
15:20
We need to understand "Styles of Organizational
Design" that exist since they directly impact how easy it will be to manage projects.
The organizational structure of a company and also
of a project must both be clearly documented, communicated and understood by all project stakeholders.
An organizational structure defines how employees interact, relate,
communicate and express levels of authority. This will enable the stakeholders to manage expectations and also identify risks of the project due to the type of design that exists.
A key concept to help identify what type of design structure that exists will relate to the
type of managers that have the most authority.
The two main types of mangers defined within organizational structures
include:
- Functional Manager – specializes in a specific area of the organization and the general management skills required to execute on the associated operational goals, manages resources by following operational management practices.
- Project Manager – has a general understanding of all aspects of general and project management, manages projects and people by following project methodologies and project management practices.
Organizations can generally be grouped into three
types of organizational structures.
- Functional; (functional managers have high authority)
- Projectized; (project managers have high authority)
- Matrix;
Illustrated
below is a Functional organization design:
All resources report into a Functional Manager (focused generally on an Operational Aspect of the Business). This
type of design is most prevalent in larger, older, more established
organizations. This design is also known as
hierarchical.
Illustrated
below is a Projectized organization design:
All resources report into a Project Manager. This
design has project staff separated from other departments and only grouped in
accordance with projects. If not on a
project, employees may be placed within Human Resources temporarily with a
focus on professional development (or also known as “on the bench”).
Matrix organization design:
The third type of Design is the Matrix
Design and can be described as "somewhere in the middle between Functional and Matrix". The Matrix blends aspects of both designs and thus can also be called Strong Matrix (closer to the Project Concept) or Weak Matrix (closer to the Functional Concept). It
is generally identified by having a "project management office" where all the PMs
report into. Resources still report into a functional manager but it is formally recognized that parts of
their capacity are managed by the PM and the PM has a level of authority over
the resources (e.g. the PM takes gives input that impacts a resources performance review or bonus, etc).
For more support (good amount of detail from a Methodology Book) check out the link:
slideshare-organizational-structures
NOTE: check out the next/upcoming Post - Organizational Design & PM Interactions Part 2 of 2 to see the Advantages vs Disadvantages of the types of organizational design structures.
NOTE: check out the next/upcoming Post - Organizational Design & PM Interactions Part 2 of 2 to see the Advantages vs Disadvantages of the types of organizational design structures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)