Thoughts - Is Justin Bieber Trying to become a PMP (lol)
20:25
Posted by jason tratch
Humour is an important and strategic tool in project management! People need to be able to relate and laugh at themselves.
Level the playing field - feel like we are all on the same team and use anything we can to help get through tough times - find a way to smile and move forward.
A humour example.....
Could it be that Justin Bieber is reading the PMBOK and studying the profession of project management ??
Bieber's song "What Do You Mean" is politely asking a stakeholder that seems to change their mind frequently, possibly regarding changes to scope, schedule, budget, quality or a decision..... we never do find out. But we can easily relate how people often try to move forward in a project without firm clarity or prioritization and at times try to avoid hard decisions (which cause many secondary/tertiary risks and negative impacts to the project).
Check out his lyrics below, could be useful in your next meeting to help manage expecations, lol
What Do You Mean:
What do you mean?
When you nod your head yes, But you wanna say no
What do you mean?
When you don’t want me to move, But you tell me to go
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
Said we’re running out of time
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
Better make up your mind
What do you mean?
You’re so indecisive of what I’m saying, Trying to catch the beat, make up your heart, Don't know if you're happy, or complaining, Don’t want for us to end where do I start
First you wanna go to the left and you want to turn right...... etc.
A link to his 1st PM song is below (play it at your next PM meeting and if you can relate, then remember you are not alone :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gZ8tgj23kk
NOTE:
After he released this song, I think he wanted to provide another one for PMs that bring news to project teams that is not well received (e.g. over budget, over time, etc).
Lyrics to his 2nd PM song (Sorry) are below....
You gotta go and get angry at all of my honesty
You know I try but I don't do too well with apologies
I hope I don't run out of time. Could someone call a referee
Cause I just need one more shot at forgiveness
I know you know that I made those mistakes maybe once or twice
And by once or twice I mean maybe a couple of hundred times
So let me, let me redeem, redeem, myself
Cause I just need one more shot, second chances
Is it too late now to say sorry
Cause I'm missing more than just your Scope Statement
Is it too late now to say sorry
Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too late to say I'm sorry now
I'm sorry, sorry , sorry
Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too late to say I'm sorry now
I'll take every single piece of the blame if you want me to
But you know that there is no innocent one in this game for all of us
I'll go, I'll go and then you go, you go out and spill the truth
Can we both say the words and forget this
A Link to his 2nd PM Song is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqh0mWKP8Dk
Level the playing field - feel like we are all on the same team and use anything we can to help get through tough times - find a way to smile and move forward.
A humour example.....
Could it be that Justin Bieber is reading the PMBOK and studying the profession of project management ??
Bieber's song "What Do You Mean" is politely asking a stakeholder that seems to change their mind frequently, possibly regarding changes to scope, schedule, budget, quality or a decision..... we never do find out. But we can easily relate how people often try to move forward in a project without firm clarity or prioritization and at times try to avoid hard decisions (which cause many secondary/tertiary risks and negative impacts to the project).
Check out his lyrics below, could be useful in your next meeting to help manage expecations, lol
What Do You Mean:
What do you mean?
When you nod your head yes, But you wanna say no
What do you mean?
When you don’t want me to move, But you tell me to go
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
Said we’re running out of time
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
Better make up your mind
What do you mean?
You’re so indecisive of what I’m saying, Trying to catch the beat, make up your heart, Don't know if you're happy, or complaining, Don’t want for us to end where do I start
First you wanna go to the left and you want to turn right...... etc.
A link to his 1st PM song is below (play it at your next PM meeting and if you can relate, then remember you are not alone :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gZ8tgj23kk
NOTE:
After he released this song, I think he wanted to provide another one for PMs that bring news to project teams that is not well received (e.g. over budget, over time, etc).
Lyrics to his 2nd PM song (Sorry) are below....
You gotta go and get angry at all of my honesty
You know I try but I don't do too well with apologies
I hope I don't run out of time. Could someone call a referee
Cause I just need one more shot at forgiveness
I know you know that I made those mistakes maybe once or twice
And by once or twice I mean maybe a couple of hundred times
So let me, let me redeem, redeem, myself
Cause I just need one more shot, second chances
Is it too late now to say sorry
Cause I'm missing more than just your Scope Statement
Is it too late now to say sorry
Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too late to say I'm sorry now
I'm sorry, sorry , sorry
Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too late to say I'm sorry now
I'll take every single piece of the blame if you want me to
But you know that there is no innocent one in this game for all of us
I'll go, I'll go and then you go, you go out and spill the truth
Can we both say the words and forget this
A Link to his 2nd PM Song is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqh0mWKP8Dk
PMTip - If it works great - Do not stop thinking how it can be better!
11:58
Posted by jason tratch
Often if things are going well, or we win, or we achieve our goal/complete the project, we then go into "cruise mode".
We lose our sense of creativity to try new approaches and even more common, we lose our desire to take risk (with risk comes failure, stress and often finger pointing so lets just do the same old thing as long as it works - don't touch/play with it).
After seeing a show about rock climbing, it reminded me how humans have some type of inner desire, to constantly grow.... it is an exciting aspect of our species. But we can always learn to be more comfortable with risk and innovation.
A famous rock climbing site is in the USA, called Nose of El Capitan (Yosemite National Park).
The site was considered one of the top challenges a climber could face. Then, people started to set their focus on it and finally, someone set a new record:
1 - an assisted climb was completed in 45 days (this made the news and he became famous, he dominated the sport and stated how it had to be done)
then, years later,
2 - an assisted climb was completed in 1 day (how is this possible, people could not believe it, again, the climber became famous and legendary... obviously that record will not be broken)
then, years later,
3 - a free climb (no ropes/assistance) was completed in 1 day (now this is making people think differently about the sport, and what people used to think, how is that possible). Also, even more troublesome for some people to wrap their brain around it, is that the climber was a woman (Lynn Hill).
then, years later,
4 - a free climb was completed in 12 hours (wow, what next......)
I was amazed, so many stories are right there in front of us, constantly teaching us about continued growth, learning and advancement. Look at old problems from a new angle, things can always be better.
I had to read more about the sport and the stories and the history, since it is a fairly new sport. It consisted of so many people that went into a new level of thinking, innovation and creativity will lead down paths that the previous project/person had not even considered - and could lead to earth shaking results.
Somehow, people find a way! How do they find a way....... after reading more about the climbers that broke the records, and continue to do so, a few things I believe they all had (tools that they posses to break into new levels of success):
- persistence
- passion
- creativity
- confidence
- collaboration
- discipline
- understanding the important link between physical body and mental mind
- non-judgemental and open
Lynn Hill
On May 9, 1989, she fell during a climb in
Buoux, France; after forgetting to tie a safety rope, she fell 85 ft (25 m)
into a tree, and was knocked unconscious, dislocated her elbow and broke her foot. She had been training hard for the World Cup and had to stop
competing for a few months to recover; she was devastated to miss the first
World Cup in the sport. This is where she could retire and live out her life.
However, only six weeks after her fall, she was
back climbing.http://lynnhillclimbing.com/?page_id=5
Tools - All Business Needs a Platform
14:32
Posted by jason tratch
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 - Diffuse conflict and emotion before they begin
09:58
Posted by jason tratch
The term "Why" is so important within project and business planning. It also is key to help manage potential conflict and prevent mis-understanding and mis-communication.
Do not get sucked into the cyclone of crisis, that is common enough in the work world and we all have responsibility to diffuse it before it begins. Is always a two way street between two people that communicate..... Sender - Receiver.
A key tool is to formalize these questions so they become habit. Utilize them when someone is in a high state of stress, anxiety, anger or frustration, or are quickly jumping to things during times of diress or conflict or uncertainty.
STEPS:
Start out by stating the term in neutral as possible voice, the word: " Interesting"
Then pause.... maybe a few silent nods of your head, with a neutral look on your face..... this presents a non-judgmental message which should have low risk for the other person to go into fear, hurt, defensive or attack mode.
Then ask two types of questions, based on the situation:
1 - Tell me more
2 - Why did you
a) say that
b) do that
c) ask me this
The more I look at this tool, the more I also see that I should not only use it at work, but also in personal life with partner, friends, family! Is a great way to live and a great foundation tool!
Tools - 7 Habits of Success - start with # 1 = Be Proactive
07:05
Posted by jason tratch
Another new year, what will be different?
Take on the new year, spend 6 min on this Stephen Covey video!
7 Habits of Highly Successful People (beautifully animated)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlTxC4QG8g
Take on the new year, spend 6 min on this Stephen Covey video!
7 Habits of Highly Successful People (beautifully animated)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlTxC4QG8g
1 = Be proactive
2 = Begin
with the end in mind
3 = Put
first things first
4 = Think
win – win
5 = Seek
first to understand, then to be understood
6 =
Synergize
7 = Sharpen
the saw
To be successful at project management or business, you must integrate your personal life habits and systems with your work habits and systems. Have a culture of success, that means you live and breathe it, your family does it, your friends do it, like grows with like!
Thank you to you-tube, ability to access fast, free, rich media to help learn AND retain!
Tools - Best Practices for Report Cover / Title pages
12:03
Posted by jason tratch
A strong cover page sets the stage! Often, we leave it plain, cold & too formal. In a multimedia rich world we can avoid boredom and get excited about the content (cover page introduces you to this).
Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to have a first opinion within 30 seconds of seeing things and this will lead to a judgement or opinion that they form within their mind. So do not underestimate the value of spending extra time on that cover page.
The next part is for you to either reverse that judgement (if it is a bad one) or to enhance, foster and cement it (if it is a good one).
Thus, ensure you spend some time on that cover page and do not have a "one template fits all" attitude.
At a minimum, create a theme for your cover page based on the:
A sample cover page could include:
Other key things or guidelines include:
The items below depend on the size of the document (for small files you may incorporate them directly on the cover page or if a large document these types of things should be on the second page):
A final note, do not be afraid to have your cover page in a different font then the rest of the body. This also shows a bit of flair and can gain more attention.
A few links below touch on this topic, but surprisingly not a lot out there...
Title page creation in MS Word (visual)
Do's and Don'ts
Sample cover pages
Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to have a first opinion within 30 seconds of seeing things and this will lead to a judgement or opinion that they form within their mind. So do not underestimate the value of spending extra time on that cover page.
The next part is for you to either reverse that judgement (if it is a bad one) or to enhance, foster and cement it (if it is a good one).
Thus, ensure you spend some time on that cover page and do not have a "one template fits all" attitude.
At a minimum, create a theme for your cover page based on the:
- receiver,
- sender,
- content,
- presenting technology (if applicable),
- and constraints (e.g. time, money and quality).
A sample cover page could include:
- Header/Footer: this is variable, examples of what to include are: Title, website, sending company name, receiving company name, * Confidential * wording,
- Content: be short, specific, this is your landing page for the people you are trying to present something to, align the body of the document to the type of cover page you need to have
- Confidential or Proprietary Notice: depending on how confidential or how much IP is involved, have a simple one liner or include a legal statement
- Logos (do not need to be drawing attention, subtle logo in the right space is key (header/footer or embedded somewhere on the page)
- Diagrams - this is low hanging fruit, people are visual and seldom do I see an image, yet it is very easy to do, it can be a descriptive image that related to the content, or it can simply be a background image (eg. drops of water if the content is water management).
Other key things or guidelines include:
- Title
- Subject
- For (company and if possible a name)
- From
- Date
- Slogan (if applicable)
The items below depend on the size of the document (for small files you may incorporate them directly on the cover page or if a large document these types of things should be on the second page):
- Version Control
- Contact Information (address, tel, email)
- Controlling Author
- TM or copy right statements
A final note, do not be afraid to have your cover page in a different font then the rest of the body. This also shows a bit of flair and can gain more attention.
A few links below touch on this topic, but surprisingly not a lot out there...
Title page creation in MS Word (visual)
Do's and Don'ts
Sample cover pages
PMTip - Does a Project Plan bring value?
07:22
Posted by jason tratch
Immediately, the day you start to execute the plan, you will find that your plan has flaws. This is because your plan has become out-dated and incorrect as soon as it is put into play.
TRUTH: In a living interactive world full of human interaction - everything is changing, with and sometimes without logic and no person has the ability to 100% totally predict the future - and this is a constant we live with and try to get things done as best as we can.
QUESTION:
Thus one should expect things to not go exactly to the plan. But to continue to identify the multiple possible futures and multiple possible paths available to take us into the best future that we can estimate with the current information at hand.
One must find the path that best balances the objectives and available resources (e.g. people, time, money, equipment, materials, etc) and remember that each path will have a fork, and decisions must be made which fork in the road is to be taken.
This again is why it is so key to spend time up front, in early stages to really have the buy-in and support of the objectives and value that the project must produce.
4 Techniques to help manage this include:
1) Include in your project lifecycle more phases/stages that occur early on (few people with few resources spent). If following the PMI methodology, these would occur before "Initiation". In mature organizations it is common to have a:
- Concept Stage: identify the idea, identify value, talk through it and don't try to complicate or over analyze,
then also include a
- Proposal Stage: talk about feasibility at a high level, is this real, do you think we could achieve it, this is where the amount of resources spent to conduct the feasibility plan or even pilot, will be highly based on the risk threshold of the organization
Then after those two stages are complete (ensure you have gates and deliverables to close the gate), the project can move into the standard PMI lifecycle stages/phases which include:
2) Clearly know AND understand the different levels of objectives, from top executive sponsor role to the front line stakeholder and customer. Also it is key that the objectives have a simple definition of the associated value that will be produced.
3) When we face the unknowns we always have constraints (we will be limited in resources), thus decisions will have to involve "Trade-offs" and must always go back to the objectives. Ensure the project does not stray too far into a future path that is not recognizable from when the project was started.
4) As soon as the idea is hatched, bring in a PM to start the coordination of flowing through the project in a structured manner. Today we are so inter-connected, that there will be risks that simply cannot be foreseen. A project manager too often is hired and focused on managing the budget, schedule, scope and quality. But to truly get maximum value from a PM, enable them to focus on Integration and to coordinate the inter-connected variables that exist within the project - between all the diverse stakeholders. And it is ever so key to do this right from the start.
PS: just a quick reminder, don't think it is okay to throw the plan out the window, or minimize the importance of the plan. We always must plan, do and circle back with a continuous check. Follow as close as possible to the plan, and take corrective actions as needed. AND ensure things get recorded (what did not go according to plan) and plan the time for proper lessons learned after the objectives are achieved.
While in the midst of execution, emphasize working to achieve objectives, we need to change how we think about planning. There could be less emphasis about deliverables, since much of the scope will lack clarity and thus you are destined to not go according to the plan. But ensure if you have a collaborative, creative team, then know your journey and you will achieve your objectives (thinking about the solution, not the parts).
TRUTH: In a living interactive world full of human interaction - everything is changing, with and sometimes without logic and no person has the ability to 100% totally predict the future - and this is a constant we live with and try to get things done as best as we can.
TRUTH: We can sometimes be arrogant with our plan and think it is SO good that there will be a "Single Optimal Future" that must be achieved.
TRUTH: In the real world of a project, there will be "Multiple Possible Futures" and you will never know all the influencers, so you must be managing your project from start to finish and try to be a close as possible to your original plan.
TRUTH: In the real world of a project, there will be "Multiple Possible Futures" and you will never know all the influencers, so you must be managing your project from start to finish and try to be a close as possible to your original plan.
QUESTION:
So why do we get so stressed when things do no go according to plan? Why do we Curse the Plan?
ANSWER: ha, ha, there is no single answer, and never will be, this is so complex and is essentially part of a journey - not a race!
Continue to chip away and "Stay the Course". We must be able to manage our stress when we have to conduct "Decision making with levels of uncertainty".
ANSWER: ha, ha, there is no single answer, and never will be, this is so complex and is essentially part of a journey - not a race!
Continue to chip away and "Stay the Course". We must be able to manage our stress when we have to conduct "Decision making with levels of uncertainty".
The higher level of project risk that exists
(e.g. complexity and uniqueness), the higher the level of unknowns.
Thus one should expect things to not go exactly to the plan. But to continue to identify the multiple possible futures and multiple possible paths available to take us into the best future that we can estimate with the current information at hand.
One must find the path that best balances the objectives and available resources (e.g. people, time, money, equipment, materials, etc) and remember that each path will have a fork, and decisions must be made which fork in the road is to be taken.
This again is why it is so key to spend time up front, in early stages to really have the buy-in and support of the objectives and value that the project must produce.
4 Techniques to help manage this include:
1) Include in your project lifecycle more phases/stages that occur early on (few people with few resources spent). If following the PMI methodology, these would occur before "Initiation". In mature organizations it is common to have a:
- Concept Stage: identify the idea, identify value, talk through it and don't try to complicate or over analyze,
then also include a
- Proposal Stage: talk about feasibility at a high level, is this real, do you think we could achieve it, this is where the amount of resources spent to conduct the feasibility plan or even pilot, will be highly based on the risk threshold of the organization
Then after those two stages are complete (ensure you have gates and deliverables to close the gate), the project can move into the standard PMI lifecycle stages/phases which include:
- Initiating
- Planning,
- Executing,
- Monitoring and Control,
- Closing
2) Clearly know AND understand the different levels of objectives, from top executive sponsor role to the front line stakeholder and customer. Also it is key that the objectives have a simple definition of the associated value that will be produced.
3) When we face the unknowns we always have constraints (we will be limited in resources), thus decisions will have to involve "Trade-offs" and must always go back to the objectives. Ensure the project does not stray too far into a future path that is not recognizable from when the project was started.
4) As soon as the idea is hatched, bring in a PM to start the coordination of flowing through the project in a structured manner. Today we are so inter-connected, that there will be risks that simply cannot be foreseen. A project manager too often is hired and focused on managing the budget, schedule, scope and quality. But to truly get maximum value from a PM, enable them to focus on Integration and to coordinate the inter-connected variables that exist within the project - between all the diverse stakeholders. And it is ever so key to do this right from the start.
PS: just a quick reminder, don't think it is okay to throw the plan out the window, or minimize the importance of the plan. We always must plan, do and circle back with a continuous check. Follow as close as possible to the plan, and take corrective actions as needed. AND ensure things get recorded (what did not go according to plan) and plan the time for proper lessons learned after the objectives are achieved.
While in the midst of execution, emphasize working to achieve objectives, we need to change how we think about planning. There could be less emphasis about deliverables, since much of the scope will lack clarity and thus you are destined to not go according to the plan. But ensure if you have a collaborative, creative team, then know your journey and you will achieve your objectives (thinking about the solution, not the parts).
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