Resource for project managers

Heres one cool resource to use from pmstudent to know more about getting into project management.

I subscribe to it and the frequently sent personalized emails that Josh sends is a great way to get your hand on amazing tips, resource links and best way to have the awareness that you should do a little more to be in the domain.

Right, you already are certified. So, here's something for you as well Project Managers.

Thank you Josh.

Why it’s hard being a newbie?

Obviously because no one will take you seriously.

People are hesitant to give you the chance to whip up a really nice project. They will always blame your inexperienced soul, your lack of domain knowledge, your inability to handle deadline and pressure.

I know. Newbies might not have 16 years of experience behind them but they sure have the new technology, the zeal to work harder and flame to learn more. Try that.

So, if you are having a hard time getting a spot in the team:

• Observe well. Swoop down on every opportunity to volunteer for extra work.
• Get the best mentor possible and use your persuasion skills to convince them that you are here for real- to be a project manager.
• When you are pushed to the sidelines, work harder. Finish your assigned task and dive deeper into projects. Read through project documents if you get nothing else.
• Start a blog. It can turn people around- write truly, honestly and on what you can. Now they know you are into it and want to grow.
• Don’t take a NO personally. It’s just that most people don’t want to spend the time to train you; they would rather do it themselves. Persistence pays.
• Stick around. Be there. Listen to client calls, meeting updates, anything really. Try taking meeting notes.
• Read about terminologies, technology, clients- anything that will help you understand the next conversation better. Scribble the technical jargon you don't understand that you overheard two seniors talking about to "search" them later and learn about.
• Get along yet be professional. It’s important to be objective as well. Know where to draw the line.
• Never give up because it’s not happening right now. It will because you won't give up.
• Do the right thing. Don’t get involved in politics or back door policy to get what you want. It will backfire.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

Working in a Global Setting - II

If you are in technology chances are you have or will work with a multicultural team who are perhaps located miles away at some point.

Either they are part of your team or work has been outsourced.

Remember:

 They are here because they are part of the team and want to help as much as you do
 Clear instructions help when working miles away. So, when work is delegated ensure you have mentioned what is required, when and how you want it delivered.
 Try listening when they come up with issues and being in their shoes.
 Distance can be a major factor, so overlapping times for meetings might be necessary.
 They are emotional. Bonding as one human to another might help, instead of focusing only as colleagues.
 Communication gap will be the source of discontent. Conversations/phone calls should be given priority over emails if traveling onsite/offsite doesn’t seem a feasible option during the recession period.
 Fairness matters
 Don’t take things for granted, please re-confirm.
 Recognition for special initiation or delivery encourages everyone to pitch in or contribute to the best of their ability.
 Understand the regional politics and try to keep it minimal. Lesser the better.
 Beware of the cultural taboos when conversing with the counterpart from other nations.

To know more about working in a multicultural team, click here

Working in a Global Setting- I

Have you worked with a globally placed team ?

If you are getting into it, there are certain things you might want to consider:

• Time zone difference is the most important thing to consider
• Culture needs to be treated as a bonding factor
• Accents and language barriers can be solved
• Work ethics should be synched
• Communication will keep the team together
• Work will happen on how you manage all of the above

So, why hear it from me? Having worked closely with two cultures- Indian (by birth) and American (Masters degree and later work) I have survived and made some lifelong friends on the way from both the worlds through my work. Being globally placed is awesome.

Part II of this post coming soon.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

What mentor-ing can teach you?

When I started mentoring a few newly joined individuals in my office, I always remembered and thought about my mentors and what they have taught me. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have some amazing mentors who have helped me groom as a professional and an individual.

Mentoring is hard. You are trying to impart lessons of a lifetime to them. I make sure they have good work ethics with a good heart; that helping each other is important. More I work with them, more I figure out about myself.

What you learn from your mentees:

•Your ability to bring out the best in them- By helping them do so, you work on your patience, your teaching skills and analyzing your own mistakes that you should work on to become a better mentor.

•Teaching skills- As they say, if you can’t help a 10 year old understand a concept you don’t know it yourself. True to the core! Now you know how much you know.

•The basics of being a professional- If you tell someone to be honest and be true to your work and be inquisitive; you will have to show them yourselves in your job. Or what you teach is just for the sake of teaching; they won’t follow it because they see you not doing it.

•They will observe what you don’t teach- I always did and I know they do too. The best teachings are those which are not taught and the mentees simply pick them up by being in your proximity. Your bad habits too. So beware.

We all want one of those perfectly curious and patient mentees who are easier to teach, who pick up skills easily, are smart and witty and want to learn. When you don’t have a perfect one, remember how perfect a mentor you can be is what will determine their learning curve.

So what if they are not perfect, you can be.

(Picture: Google images)

Have you joined PM groups yet?

Have you? If not, you are missing out on a lot of information.

Being part of groups help you find treasure bags, you didnt even know about. Join the project management community where ever possible and of course keep a track of them. Jot the links in a notepad or word document and once in a while go browse.

Here's what I found from the linkedin group today:

http://pmpstudynotes.blogspot.com/

Now, you know why you should join groups!

If you are not giving certifications yet and just trying to figure out what the PM stuff is all about, this is a good chance for you to try them out and see. You will get an idea at least.

Why wait? Browse the site and thank the author.

Steppingintopm is back

I’m back and thank you for visiting my blog!

If you have noticed, my blog has a registered domain name now- www.steppingintopm.com . Hurray! I wanted to celebrate my one year of blogging (June 13) so after much deliberation I got myself a domain. Of course with the new domain, my hard earned page rank of 3 went poof.

Nope, I didn’t take a vacation from work; I was here all the time working and reading blogs, sites and New York Times like always. I did spend some time with my family, enjoyed with my sister who visited for 10 days from London, watched movies, went shopping and finally have my new schedule working for me. Yes, I am exercising every morning. It was about time!

The break seemed great and I spent as much as possible offline trying out new ideas, going for walks and enjoying the rain.

Here are some links you can visit, while I get ready with my regular posts:

• From PM4Girls
• From Softwareprojects
• From projectsatwork
• From Ravensbrain
• From PMstudent

Enjoy!

(Picture: google images)

Are you feeling down today?

Have you heard the news once again or taken a cold shoulder from your best buddy? Your boss doesn’t like you anymore and you are at the receiving end of all wraths from your team members?

Stop. Breathe. Calm down.

We all have our downtime, whether we talk about it or not. Life in the world of project management or otherwise is not sans emotions infact it’s loaded with it.

Learn to tackle negativity-

• Let go- stop criticizing yourself because someone said you are not good enough
• Quit- not your job, but the forces that drag you behind
• Laugh- with your friends over pop corn and a funny movie
• Identify- the problem and see if you can tackle it better
• Evolve- to a positive person
• Read- happiness blogs
• Create- a positive environment
• Never- give up
• Awaken- to your life’s purpose and go ahead and do it
• Realize- downtime will come and how you handle is what your future will be

I'll be taking a break to smell the flowers and enjoy life and will be back with more to blog from June. Till then stay happy and happy project management everyone!

(Picture: google images)

Change

April has been a month of change for me.

Things are always crazy, however I decided to take it on- all challenges, my shortcomings, plans and the enthusiasm to do something more.

I decided to incorporate a lot of new things in my life. With so much in my plan platter, I decided to let everything stop for a day.

I think the hardest job is to prioritize and get things done one after the other. I enjoy doing them all but keeping a tab of the list is time consuming.

I’ll be focused on my venture for the next few days and be active in dumping my brain elsewhere and start afresh. As they say, to learn something new you have to unlearn first.

My schedule has to be something that I enjoy doing. So while I work around it, I’m trying to pick up on the vibes. I have given up on processed food and meat in the last month (includes bread). So, it takes time to get my meals ready, however am glad I did it. It’s something I have done for me!

I’m working on getting my 40 minutes of exercise (cardio, yoga, light weights) everyday, the treadmill looks dusty and I need to get back at it. I’m trying out the time and getting in at least 10 minutes of meditation into the regular schedule. I want to be more calm when I handle pressure and deadlines.

It’s hard to keep promises and maintain the level of energy in a stressed out ambience that we are so becoming used to. I have my flaws and fall off the wagon but I do get up and get on it easily.

A paper clipping in my purse from Les Brown says- "When life knocks you down, try to land up on your back. If you can look up, you can get up."

Instead of trying to check off my done chores and treat them as one, all I want is to enjoy what I am doing- be conscious of it. This is the life I wanted- to be super busy and now when I have it- I haven’t smelled a rose in the last one month. Everything has become a job, a to-do that needs to be get over with.

I want fresh flowers this summer, peace, happiness and gratefulness that I'm doing what I wanted to do.

(Picture: Google Images)

Interview with Jonathan Mead

RECLAIM YOUR DREAMS is a wonderful read, inspiring and thoughtful that will change your life.

Jonathan Mead ( follow him on twitter) draws from his life and brings a book that outlines why you should you be in touch with your dreams. He talks here about his inspiration in the book and how everyone can implement them. 

Hi Jonathan, thanks very much for the interview. Your book “reclaim your dreams” is a straight cut invitation to dream- what do you mean by it?

By dreams I mean the idea we have in our minds of the way our lives could be, before we stopped believing. We have a lot of unnecessary shoulds and musts that we place on ourselves that are really optional. We see them as requirements, but they're really agreements. To reclaim your dreams, you simply need to stop agreeing with a view of life that isn't what you want to create.

You talk about taking risk, taking the plunge- how applicable do you think it is in today’s economy? 
I think it's more applicable than ever. The downturn in the economy is just showing us that mediocrity cannot be tolerated. The downturn is basically distilling the market down to a level of excellence. Only the truly excellent, truly passionate and driven individuals will survive.

Now is a better time than ever to devote yourself to doing something you're really passionate about. When you focus that passion into something that fills a need or a gap in the market, that's when you create truly remarkable interactions. And remarkable, amazing value is what is always going to be safe, no matter how great the downturn.

Personally what keeps you going? I mean you talk about out of the template style living, how did it work for you? 

What keeps me going to is my drive to create a social revolution of people liberating themselves, through living on their own terms. It's so ridiculously exciting to me to do this stuff, sometimes its hard to contain.

As for the template life, it didn't really work. My cog has been malfunctioning for quite some time. I think it's now broken beyond repair.

Times are hard and sometimes it’s not so easy to take the risk, to do things out of the norm even when the person really wants it. What do you suggest- what should they do? Are they doing wrong by taking the much traveled path?
Taking risks is a big deal, especially when you have a family or people depending on you. In that case, don't kill your dreams. What you'll have to do is carve out some time every day that you'll use to work on your dreams. In the beginning in might be 20 minutes, then after a while you find a way to turn it into an hour. You have to ruthlessly remove all of the things from your schedule that aren't adding value, to make time to work on your dreams.

Then once you're making a decent amount of income doing it, your "dream time" starts to snowball. That's when you can really use the momentum to cut back on your day job hours and keep the snowball going.

I personally believe in what you are suggesting like “inspirational desktop” or “poster board” to keep quotation or pictures that inspire me. In fact, my purse has 3 quotations in them- do you think visualizing is in a big way an aid to get closer to your dreams?
I think it is a big aid. It's something to keep you inspired and reminded about why you're doing what you're doing. It helps you keep plugging away when it seems like the culmination of your dreams is far off in the distance. And it doesn't have to be visual. It could be an audio recording, or a "dream movie" with your favorite music. It sounds kind of cheesy, but I've found this incredibly powerful.

I’m big fan of your writings and this book is fascinating and a must read I think for everyone, so where can the readers get a copy for themselves?

They can head on over to my blog or go straight here to the book description page. 

Jonathan Mead is a revolutionary, raw foodist, dream coach, and prolific blogger. He is interested in unconventional paths to personal growth and advocates strange things like killing your goals. In his spare time he studies Jeet Kune Do and other ass-kicking strategies. His mission is to create a social revolution of people liberating themselves through living on their own terms.