Effective Communication

Communication is definitely one of the most important skills that you need to develop to be an effective project manager. But, learning to pass information to you team quickly and efficiently is not always easy and there are mistakes that you should work to avoid.

1. Over Communication: This person sends out emails for every single thing he wants to tell you. He has return requests on every email. And he replies to every single email he is copied on if only to let you know that he received your email and is working on it. The problem with this style is that people are getting so many emails, it becomes difficult to filter through to find the important information.

2. Wordy: This person has a similar issue to Over Communication, but he does it in a slightly different way. If you ask for information, you will receive a 200 page document that takes more of your time to find what you need.

3. Forgetful: This person is usually overworked and distracted. He forgets that he hasn’t sent out the meeting announcements or the changes that were requested. Another aspect of this style involves not knowing. When your project is interacting with other people and needs to be coordinated, some people are not aware of how their information needs to be taken into account by other people. It’s important to know who needs to know what and make sure proper data flow is in place.

Remember to work for clear and concise language. This will help your team and make things run smoothly.

Understanding and Valuing People

"Sometimes it snows at late as May, but Summer always comes eventually."

Virtual Challenges

Let’s be honest, working with a group of people is challenging.  Working with a group of people living in different time zones, from different cultures, and sometimes different languages can be more than challenging.  It can be downright impossible.  But, with careful planning and management and preparation, these obstacles can be overcome.

1.  Communication:  The biggest problem with virtual teams is making sure that communication stays open and information is being shared among all of the members.  Careful planning on the part of the manager will ensure that people are getting the information they need when they need it.

2.  Relationships:  Another difficulty is making sure the team relationships stay strong.  When dealing with more text communication, it is easier to misinterpret someone or stereotype them.  If you were speaking face to face, you could read their emotions and intentions with visual and auditory cues.  But, when you are relying on text, it is easy for team members to assume many things that may be untrue and cause conflict in the group.

3.  Performance:  The third obstacle in virtual teams is inspiring the team to preform and meet deadlines.  When you are face to face, it is easier to motivate your team and be sure that all of the pieces are coming together at the right times.  When your team is virtual you will have to work hard to maintain the team’s energy and inspire everyone to keep moving toward the goal.

Gratitude...

Be Organized

1. Organization – Make a checklist.  Start your day by looking at the list of tasks you need to accomplish.  Unfortunately, we can't keep everything in our head and getting the list on paper,  or using an online organizer will increase your productivity.

2. Limit distractions – You may need to block facebook and other distracting websites.  Use headphones to tune out nearby conversations.  We actually don't multitask, our brains switch between tasks frequently.  We are not as productive when we switch tasks, as when we are focused one thing at a time. 

3. Get rid of Easy Tasks – Take some time to get the easy and simple tasks checked off your list.  If it will take less than 5 minutes to complete, just do it right away and get it done.

4. Prioritize – Always know your deadlines and what needs to be done when.  Be mindful of sequencing and how your tasks impact other people.  You may need to accomplish some things earlier because it is needed by another team member.

5. Use In-person conversation when possible – Problems can be solved much faster when you are working together, without a lag created through email.  Additionally, it's easy to misinterpret things via email, but when talking in person, questions can be asked and answers clarified to be sure everyone is working together.

6. Take breaks – Go to lunch!  When you let your brain relax, you will be more productive when you return to the project.  Stress reduction will give you better insight to the problems and allow you to get more accomplished.

7. Routine – We love patterns, create one that works best for you.  Some people do best when they accomplish their hardest tasks first thing in the morning.  Others will work better if they write emails first.  Find out what is best for you and follow it whenever possible.

Good Relationships

When running a project, relationships determine if you will receive repeat clients, new clients, and how the client feels about the project.  There are several things you can do to improve your relationships.

1. Make your deadlines:  Show them that they can depend on you and trust you to do a good job with their resources.

2.  Keep them in the loop:  Let them know early on that their choices have consequences and what they are so that they can make informed decisions and not be surprised later on. If changing the vinyl to ceramic will increase the cost and require a time extension, let them know during the decision process.

3.  Know your teams strengths: If there is a problem on a job, make sure that the person interacting with the client will be able to stay calm and level headed.

4. Demonstrate that you desire the project to be successful:  Call the client regularly and let them know that you are actively engaged in the process.

5. Have a personal relationship with your client:  Take them to dinner, play golf, make sure you are friends so that when problems occur you are on the same team.  Know who they are and let them know more about you.

6. Listen:  Make sure that you are hearing their concerns and are ready to meet their needs and expectations.

Mission Statement

Where is your organization going?  What is the plan?  How are you going to get there?  Having a clear sense of purpose is very important for an organization to function well.

A sense of focus for your team, will lead to better and more focused work output.  And frequent evaluation allows your members to look at how they are reaching their goals and increase efforts to achieve even more.

I was discussing motivating personnel to perform with some friends.  Sometimes, when there is no goal and no motivation to improve performance, people develop bad habits and lose their drive.  

But, having a clear mission statement and organizational goals can increase worker productivity and give people a direction to move toward.

Be Friends with Your Team

I have a friend who is working in a new office.  It's doing the same job, the same tasks, the same problems, and deadlines.  But, she says it feels different.  The people are more fun somehow.  They have food days where everyone works together to create a  taco bar.  When they are working on a deadline and need people to work late, they bring in food.  And after the deadline is met, her boss bought the department pizza.  

Simple acts of saying thank you and I appreciate your effort, make the place seem so much friendlier and create an environment where people are able to work together to overcome the obstacles.  Sometimes, when we forget the other person is our friend, it's a lot easier to butt heads and get frustrated when if we can work together as friends, the problems can be solved better and easier.

So, keep your connections strong and be a good friend at work this week.  These people spend more time with you than most of your friends and family.

Easy BBQ Sandwiches

Ingredients

3 pounds pork tenderloin

3 c bbq sauce

6 Hamburger buns

Directions

Put the chopped pork and the bbq sauce in a crock  pot.  Cook on low heat for 6-8 Hours.  Shred and eat!  Easy!

Recipe: Cheesecake

Looking for a good cheesecake recipe?  this one looks pretty fabulous.

INGREDIENTS

Crust

• 2 cups (475 ml) of Graham cracker crumbs (from a little less than 2 packages Graham crackers
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• Pinch salt
• 5 Tbsp (70 g) unsalted butter (if using salted butter, omit the pinch of salt), melted

Filling

• 2 pounds cream cheese (900 g), room temperature
• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar (270 g)
• Pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream (160 ml)
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (160 ml)

Toppings

• 2 cups sour cream (475 ml)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar (35 g)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 ounces (340 g) fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g)
• 1/2 cup water (120 ml)

2 Preheat oven to 350°F, with rack in lower third of oven. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor or blender until finely ground. Put in a large bowl, and stir in the sugar and salt. Use your (clean) hands to stir in the melted butter.

3 Put all  the graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of the springform pan. Gently press down on the crumbs using your fingers, until the crumbs are a nice even layer at the bottom of the pan, with maybe just a slight rise along the inside edges of the pan. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Make the filling

4 Cut the cream cheese into chunks and place in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed for 4 minutes until smooth, soft and creamy. Add the sugar, beat for 4 minutes more. Add the salt and vanilla, beating after each addition. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Add the sour cream, beat until incorporated. Add the heavy cream, beat until incorporated. Remember to scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl, and scrape up any thicker bits of cream cheese that have stuck to the bottom of the mixer that paddle attachment has failed to incorporate.

Cook the cheesecake

5 Pour the cream cheese filling into the springform pan, over the graham cracker bottom layer. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Cook at 325°F for 1 1/2 hours.

6 Turn off the heat of the oven. Crack open the oven door 1-inch, and let the cake cool in the oven, as the oven cools, for another hour. This gentle cooling will help prevent the cheesecake surface from cracking.

7 Cover the top of the cheesecake with foil, so that it doesn't actually touch the cheesecake. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight.

Prepare sour cream topping

8 Place sour cream in a medium sized bowl, stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla, until smooth. Chill until you are ready to serve the cake.

Note that this recipe produces enough sour cream topping for a thick topping and some extra to spoon over individual pieces of cheesecake, if desired. If you would like a thinner layer of topping and no extra, reduce the sour cream topping ingredients in half.

Prepare the raspberry sauce

9 Place raspberries, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Use a potato masher to mash the raspberries. Heat on medium, whisking, about 5 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat. Let cool.

Prepare the cake to serve

10 Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Remove the foil from the sides of the pan, and place the cake on your cake serving dish. Run the side of a blunt knife between the edge of the cake and the pan. Dorie recommends, and we've done with success, that you use a hair dryer to heat the sides of the pan to make it easier to remove. Open the springform latch and gently open the pan and lift up the sides. Spread the top with the sour cream mixture. Serve plain or drizzled with raspberry sauce.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_cheesecake/

The power of Vulnerability

Song of the Day - Chicago, Dialogue Part 1 and 2

Project Management as a metaphore for jazz improvisation

Especially at the point of project estimation, the relationship between project management and jazz improvisation should be apparent.  In jazz improvisation, you have to intuitively recognize the chord progression and rhythm and have a repertoire of response patterns ready to knit together.

 

The article below - regarding scheduling development via parametric analysis - illustrates that while you are sensing the business change progression and rhythm of the changes that the business is going through already, you have to already have a deep repertoire of system and service response patterns that can be fitted to the context.

http://project-management-knowledge.com/definitions/p/parametric-estimating/

 

I have the experience.

 

Let's improvise together!

Recipe: Fried Rice

This recipe is so good.

Ingredients:
4 cups Cooked Rice
4 Eggs
2 Carrots
1 Cup Sweet Peas
1 Onion
Soy Sauce
Vegetable Oil

Directions:

In Wok, add 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil.  Fry eggs, stirring while they cook.  When cooked, but still moist, move to separate container.
Add 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil to the wok.  Saute the vegetables until tender.  About 10 minutes.  Move to container.  If desired, other ingredients like cubed ham or chicken can be added.
Add 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil.  Fry rice with soy sauce to flavor.  Stir, Cook about 2 minutes.  Return the vegetables and eggs to the pan.  Combine and eat!  Easy and delicious.

Recipe: Awesome Sandwich!

Sandwiches!

One of the most versatile food.  They are transportable, easy to take with you when you aren't eating at home.  Great for picnics and can be very cute and dainty at dinner parties.

So, I'm going to give you the recipe for the best sandwich evar!

1 egg
2 slices of bologna
1 slice of cheese - swiss, or provolone, or your favorite
2 slices of bread

Saute the bologna till slightly brown.  Make a fried egg.  Then assemble everything on the bread like a grilled cheese sandwich with bologna and egg.  Butter both sides of the bread and cook until the cheese is melted and bread is toasted.  Enjoy!

What is your favorite sandwich?