Being a CEO- Indra Nooyi

We all have been trying to dream big and think of achieving them, this year should be the year where we take hard core actions in getting them done.

The interview below hopefully will allow you take concrete actions and plan out what it takes to be a true leader. Listen to the 5C's almost towards the end of the interview!




The #PMOT author series will continue, I just had to share this video with you!

Interview 2: How to Become a #PMOT Author?

The second interview in this series of #PMOT authors is with Gina Abudi . 

It’s a big milestone to be an author- why did you decide to be one?

I have a significant amount to share with others based on 20+ years of experience. Most particularly, you see many individuals who have left - either voluntarily or not - their current job going out on their own. They need some guidance on how to begin their business adventure and how to sustain it. My current book does just that.

What are your published works and where can we find them?
I have been published on a number of websites and blogs, including Vistage, Business on Main, and a number of international websites/blogs and magazines. I have one published book to date and I have been a contributing author for another book. I’m hard at work on my next one! My current book is: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Best Practices for Small Business, Alpha Books, 2011. I co-authored the book with Brandon Toropov. It can be found here. 

  

The book to which I was a contributing author is Gantthead’s Project Pain Reliever, J. Ross Publishing, 2011. You can find that book here.

How long did it take you to write your last published book?

Once I officially began the book, it only took about 4 - 5 months to write The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Best Practices for Small Business.  I did all the writing on weekends and in the evenings.

What was your schedule like while working full time and writing it?

Not always easy!  I restricted my writing to weekends and in the evenings so as not to interfere with the job. It meant many late nights certainly and weekends where I did not much other than writing!

How different is authoring a book from blogging?

In my opinion blogging is easier because I have no restrictions other than what I put on myself, and, of course, based on what I know my audience wants from the blog. When writing books, especially when working with a publisher, you have guidelines to follow and sometimes you may want to include information in the book that is not able to be included due to space constraints, etc.

Three things every #PMOT author should know?

• Commit some time every day to writing - even if it is just 30 minutes a day
• Stick to the timeline you have from a publisher. If you don’t have a publisher - create your own timeline and stick to it!
• Have someone read the book with a critical eye. It’s hard for you to be critical since you are too close to it.

Is it tough luck finding a publisher?

Yes, it is.

Frankly, I sort of “fell into” it. I was asked to do a technical expert review a year prior to taking on this book and ended up having a conversation with the acquiring editor at Alpha Books about writing. He introduced me to a co-author who introduced me to his agent, who is now my agent also. That being said, you should still try to submit your work and keep at it. Don’t give up!  There are also many small boutique publishing houses and many options for self-publishing.

Name a book/incident/person that inspired you to become an author.

There is no particular book, incident or person that inspired me to become an author. I do read lots of books - both fiction and non-fiction and business focused books.  I suppose I could say that all my reading has inspired me!  For as long as I can remember I wanted to write. My dream is to one day write a fiction book - a mystery!

Gina Abudi, MBA has over 20 years of consulting experience in helping businesses of all sizes develop and implement strategy around projects, process and people. She is President of Abudi Consulting Group, LLC and an adjunct faculty at Hesser College (NH) teaching in the business administration department. Gina regularly presents at conferences, forums and corporate events on a variety of topics.  She has written a number of white papers, case studies, and articles on various management and project management topics, which can be found on her blog:http://www.GinaAbudi.com.  Gina serves as President of the PMI® Massachusetts Bay Chapter Board of Directors. She has been honored as one of the Power 50 from PMI^®.   

Interview 1: How to become a #PMOT Author?

If you are still celebrating the first week of this year, doing more in 2012 will matter or how to have a great year without setting a goal!

The next few posts will be about #PMOT authors and how they have managed it. We start with Elizabeth Harrin.

It’s a big milestone to be an author- why did you decide to be one? 

I have always written; when I was younger I wrote stories and poems. For me, there was never an option of not writing, and getting a publisher seemed like a logical next step. My motivation for Project Management in the Real World was partly because I wanted to write a book before I was 30. We had the book launch event a month after my 30th birthday, so I nearly made it!

What are your published works and where can we find them? 

Project Management in the Real World came out in 2006. Social Media for Project Managers was published in 2010. They are available on Amazon and the other online stores or you can get them through bookshops. You can pre-order Customer-Centric Project Management from the Gower website now, I think. That isn't due out until the summer, provided my co-author, Phil Peplow, and I finish the manuscript in time.

I have also self-published two books: Get Started Using Social Media on Your Projects is a practical ebook that walks you through the steps to - you guessed it - start using social media on your projects. You can get that from my blog. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Ten Strategies to Stop Feeling Like a Fraud at Work came out just before Christmas. I wrote that because I gave a presentation on the subject and it seemed to impact so many people that I felt there was more to say on the topic. You can get that at www.overcomingimpostersyndrome.com or from the Amazon Kindle store.

How long did it take you to write your last published book? 

Social Media for Project Managers took about 6 months to write, if I remember rightly.

What was your schedule like while working full time and writing it? 

I do remember the last few weeks being horrendous. The deadline was fixed because it was due to be launched at the PMI Global Congress in Washington and I was working full time and then writing every evening and all weekend. The hardest part isn't the writing, although that is tough. It's the co-ordination of everything else: quote approvals and permissions, footnotes and references, preparing images and tables, checking formatting, proofing over and over, responding to the copy editor's queries (I had to take out the word senior because she felt US audiences would interpret that as meaning 'old' when over here it means 'executive'), reading the galleys, doing launch interviews ahead of time. There is a lot more that goes into producing a book than just the words.

How different is authoring a book from blogging? 

In blog posts you make a point in 700 words. In a book, the whole argument has to hang together over 70,000 words! Some of the worst books I've read are when a blogger takes a collection of blog posts and puts them in one document and calls it a book. The structure needs to be completely different.

Three things every #PMOT author should know? 

• If you want to write, write.
• Don't write a non-fiction book without selling it first. Just do a book proposal, as you will get feedback from the commissioning editor about how they want to make it fit into their list.
• Don't underestimate the amount of work, and always add a month or two extra into your contract with the publisher so you give yourself some slack.

 Is it tough finding a publisher? 

No. Well, I didn't find it difficult the second or third time round. First time round I pitched to a big publisher who took a year to say no. I should have done better research because I realise now they would never have published a book by a nobody like me. I matched my next attempt at selling Project Management in the Real World to a smaller publisher, the British Computer Society, and they rang me the next day. I have had a great experience working with them and my other publishers.

Name a book/incident/person that inspired you to become an author. 

That's tough. My mother would let me sit on her lap while she read romance novels, but it was my grandparents who gave me a journal for Christmas one year and that started me out writing.

Elizabeth Harrin is Head if IT Programme Delivery at Spire Healthcare, and Director of The Otobos Group, a business writing consultancy. She was recently named IT Professional Blogger of the Year by the readers of Computer Weekly. Find her online at www.GirlsGuideToPM.com or on Twitter @pm4girls. 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

This year starts the beginning of the SIPM Business Group. 

As you know the beta site is doing really well and was built with the help of volunteers- all of them my friends, I always wanted to do more with the site so more people know about project management first hand. Maintaining a site and keeping up with it (adding new features) requires a lot of time and some money.

So, the SIPM Business Group was born.

The Business Group offers three packages and customized work- we work with small and medium businesses including start ups.

The money of course allows me to pay my friends and volunteers who have been with me for so long and at the same time grow the beta site. By the way, the beta site got a new name- it’s called CONNECT- The SIPM Community.

The Business Group offers:

• Branding through social media
• Search Engine Optimization (both on page and off page)
• Customized website development (including design)

The special offers are posted through twitter.

January- February, we have a $350 on page optimization option for 60 working days. For more information, you can email at info@sipm.biz

And if everything goes right, the newbies can work on the project management side with their mentors for the SIPM Business Group projects. So many of the newbies say they don’t get the chance to work on project management to try their hands and develop skills- this initiation hopefully will solve some of it and provide everyone with a stepping stone.

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t

make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and

then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.—Maya Angelou

I hope this year brings in lots of luck, good opportunities and amazing work to you all.

Happy Holidays

Almost ready to take off for the Holidays.

If you are celebrating Christmas- Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful New Year everyone. I will be back on Jan 5.

Till then- enjoy the e-books or simply be inspired.

Do Something

View more presentations from Sarah Kathleen Peck

Gift Yourself

This holiday season, gift yourself first.

Here are some good stuff that will help you see yourself:

•Imposter Syndrome - Its worth every single minute of your time and it’s such an important factor to understand that this e-book is a must read. While you relate to the real life stories and see yourself in them, you know how to encounter it next time.
•Go through the book reviews and pick your favorite, even if you don’t want to buy the book, borrow it from the library.  This holiday season, I have ordered books and 2 out of the 3 are after reading reviews and their effects on someone else.
•Make Sh*t Happen – Is by Jenny and doors open January 10 it will be $297 and open to 36 people who are ready to find their courage and change their lives.
•Gift yourself by building your own brand this holiday season- stand apart from the rest of the crowd, work on your credibility and see yourself grow.
•Find a mentor, there’s no replacement for a mentor.

Family/Work Balance

Honest Confessions

Being honest isn’t easy.

When I started this blog, I wanted everyone to know the hurdles and the real life story of what happens every day.

I have been honest but there are times when you tend not to write about the truth- the horrible days, the irritating moments and the failures. When you are aware that the blog is being read, you don’t want to feel vulnerable and to protect your work identity and private details, you skip it.

But here am I, someone who promised to tell the truth, don’t want to be miles away from the truth as well.

I have had bad days like most of us, really bad days at work- when someone doesn’t get the point, takes advantage of me being polite, back stabs you for not getting what they want, sabotages your projects just because they want to and hate you for you-can’t-figure it out. It’s all part of the game.

It’s all alright as long as you can take it or if it happens for a few days and you have managed it well. Mentors can be great assets during this time period, especially if you have in-house mentors. However, there will be always days, when nothing gets solved, you feel horrible, feel belittled and feel you are in the wrong place.

Team building and management is an art and when they don’t follow certain aspects of life, work life can becomes as stressful as it sounds.

Stress, deadlines, projects can all be handled if you have a great team and good support system at work. When it doesn’t, stop blaming yourself- you can do so much with your life.

Pick up your life and get going, get another certification, look for your next job, write the perfect resume and don’t blame yourself for not being the right fit. Sometimes, it’s just not about you!

Want to read up on what great project managers do, download the collection of interviews that happened in the blog by clicking here  (its free).

Pic Courtesy: Google Images

Team Building Pt2

Hope you all had a restful long weekend with your family and loved ones. If you celebrate Thanksgiving- I am sure this weekend was special.

The best part of your job, should be to love it . Let’s face it most of us don’t realise what the job is in hold for us, till we have entered it and figure out the reality.

You can opt to make your work meaningful but that certainly mean that it will happen unless of course your team supports you.

So, here are some more theories on team building:

Belbin Team Dynamics

The nine Belbin team roles:

 Plant

Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems. However tends to ignore incidentals and be too immersed to communicate effectively.

Resource Investigator

Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities and networks with others. However can be over optimistic and loses interest after initial enthusiasm has waned.

Co-ordinator

Belbin's Co-ordinator is a mature, confident and a natural chairperson. Clarifies goals, promotes decision-making and delegates effectively. However can be seen as manipulative and controlling. Can over delegate by off loading personal work.

Shaper

Challenging, dynamic, thrives under pressure. Jumps hurdles using determination and courage. However can be easily provoked and ignorant of the feelings of others.

Monitor Evaluator

Even tempered, strategic and discerning. Sees all the options and judges accurately. However can lack drive and lack inspired leadership qualities.

 Team Worker

Co-operative, relationship focused, sensitive and diplomatic. Belbin described the Team Worker as a good listener who builds relationships and who dislikes confrontation. However can be indecisive in a crisis.

 Implementer

Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Acts on ideas. However can be inflexible and slow to see new opportunities.

Completer-Finisher

Conscientious and anxious to get the job done. An eye for detail, good at searching out the errors. Finishes and delivers on time however can be a worrier and reluctant to delegate.

Specialist

Single minded self starter. Dedicated and provides specialist knowledge. The rarer the supplier of this knowledge, said Belbin, the more dedicated the specialist. However can be stuck in their niche with little interest in the world outside it and dwell on technicalities.

Strength Inventory Deployment

People are our/your working Environment

Discover how vital relationship skills are to business success

The cost of neglecting your people

Create a high performance environment

Understand People

Why people behave as they do

The seven motivational styles

Discover your own personal drivers

Recognise Different Styles

What can you learn from body language, hobbies, pets and work place?

Predict how others will behave

Understand insecurity, self-doubt and de-motivation

Listening

Create Rapport

Match the other's style

Behaviours that bring dramatic results

Practical tips to get along with difficult people

Handle Conflict

Understand why people can be difficult

Discover your behaviour pattern in conflict

Recognize individual needs in conflict

How to deal with the angry customer/team member

The secrets of lasting agreement

Manage your impression

How does your style of working come across to others?

Some practical ways to close the perception gap

Actively manage your impression for better results

Feedback not biteback

Practical things to do when there are conflict and perception gaps

Feedback v criticism

Develop competency in giving and receiving feedback

Influence with integrity

Discover your current persuasion strategy

Learn five key processes of influence

Beware of fishing with vindaloo chicken

Organizational implications

Communicate organisational change and get commitment

Easy steps to improve motivation and job satisfaction

Become a facilitative leader and empower your team

Application

Implications in your professional life

Implications in your personal life

Decide action agenda

Forming - Storming - Norming – Performing

Developed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965. It is one of the more known team development theories and has formed the basis of many further ideas since its conception.

Tuckman's theory focuses on the way in which a team tackles a task from the initial formation of the team through to the completion of the project. Tuckman later added a fifth phase; Adjourning and Transforming to cover the finishing of a task.

Forming

The team is assembled and the task is allocated. Team members tend to behave independently and although goodwill may exist they do not know each other well enough to unconditionally trust one another.

Time is spent planning, collecting information and bonding.

Storming

The team starts to address the task suggesting ideas. Different ideas may compete for ascendancy and if badly managed this phase can be very destructive for the team.

Relationships between team members will be made or broken in this phase and some may never recover. In extreme cases the team can become stuck in the Storming phase.

If a team is too focused on consensus they may decide on a plan which is less effective in completing the task for the sake of the team. This carries its own set of problems. It is essential that a team has strong facilitative leadership in this phase.

Norming

As the team moves out of the Storming phase they will enter the Norming phase. This tends to be a move towards harmonious working practices with teams agreeing on the rules and values by which they operate.

In the ideal situation teams begin to trust themselves during this phase as they accept the vital contribution of each member to the team. Team leaders can take a step back from the team at this stage as individual members take greater responsibility.

The risk during the Norming stage is that the team becomes complacent and loses either their creative edge or the drive that brought them to this phase.

The rest of this article covers the final stage of Performing and Adjourning and Transforming.

You can read Part 1 here.

(Content courtesy) 
(Image Courtesy: Google images)

Team Building- Pt1

Have a team?  Have trouble communicating them. Feel you are always on the wrong side?

And you want to win them over?

Here are some theories:

•Maslow’s Team Building Theory- his pyramid had 5 levels and you have to complete one to move on to the next. From the bottom:

• Survival/basic needs
• security/safety Needs
• Social
• Ego status/Esteem Needs
• Self-actualization

So, identify your team members level, make them comfortable and let them move forward to the next.

•Theory X and Theory Y-Developed by Douglas McGregor, he described 2 opposing views of style that will influence management style.

Theory X- is the tradional view of direction and style
Theory Y- a self directed workforce that takes an interest in the goals of their organisation and integrates some of their own goals into these.

Theory X assumes:
•The average person dislikes work and will avoid it unless directly supervised.
•Employees must be coerced, controlled and directed to ensure that organisational objectives are met.
•The threat of punishment must exist within an organisation.
•In fact people prefer to be managed in this way so that they avoid responsibility.
•Theory X assumes that people are relatively un-ambitious and their prime driving force is the desire for security.

Theory Y effectively takes the opposite view.

It assumes:
•Employees are ambitious, keen to accept greater responsibility and exercise both self-control and direction.
•Employees will, in the right conditions, work toward organisational objectives and that commitment will in itself be a reward for so doing.
•Employees will exercise their imagination and creativity in their jobs if given the chance and this will give an opportunity for greater productivity.
•Theory Y assumes that the average human being will, under the right conditions, not only accept responsibility but also seek more.
•Lack of ambition and the qualities of Theory X are not inherent human characteristics but learned in working environments that suffocate or do not promote Theory Y behaviours.

•The color Works- Team Building Theory- The Colour Works uses a psychological model of behaviours that helps teams to understand similarities and differences in order to become more effective.

A 25-frame online evaluator measures our preferences for the use of all 4 colour energies.We will all have a dominant, a secondary, a tertiary and a least preferred energy.This detailed questionnaire is designed to measure these levels as it uses a sliding scale of responses rather than a simple YES or NO.The resulting profile is comprehensive - a minimum of 24 pages covering amongst other things strengths, weaknesses, stress points, blind spots, management style, preferred environment, communication needs, value to the team - often scarily insightful and unique to the profilee.

The order and intensity of your colour preferences places you on a 72-type wheel, made up of 8 archetypes, as follows:

THE DIRECTOR
Has the ability to focus on results. They decide what it is they want from life and set a strategy to achieve it. Their natural assertiveness means they will push both themselves and others to achieve goals.  They are not put off by setbacks.

THE MOTIVATOR
Has enormous enthusiasm that he spreads to those around them.  Their drive to succeed gives them a high level of motivation to achieve their dreams.  They are not easily put off and find it easy to think positively about every situation.

THE INSPIRER
Has well-developed people skills and has a constant need to enjoy interactions with others. They are persuasiveand their quick minds produce creative solutions to others' problems.

THE HELPER
Has a genuine desire to help others and put their needs first. This makes them flexible and adaptable with a natural ability to share ideas and knowledge.

THE SUPPORTER
 Has a true team approach.  Their expert listening skills can uncover others' true needs and they are loyal to both their colleagues and their organisation.

THE CO-ORDINATOR
Can pull all the loose ends together to organise themselves and others in a structured approach.  Their planningand time management skills make them thorough and reliable.

THE OBSERVER
 Can write the book on product knowledge required for their job.  When others need the facts to make a decision, they know them.  They set the standards for others and analyse and collect the data.

THE REFORMER  
Has a natural desire to monitor and judge performance.  Their own approach is disciplined and logical and they back this up with a determination to succeed.

What are you using to effectively work with your team?


(Content courtesy) 
(Image Courtesy: Google images)

Be happy- don't over plan

When you know what you want from life, you can plan it well.

To make the changes take the baby steps one day at a time. It isn’t easy to suddenly start preparing for PMP and put 4 hours a day.

Pen down what you want next month and the coming year. Set your priorities, look at it realistically and then decide your goal.

Change is good and forming new habits are better. For me, I have planned my goals that I need to get done for the next 6 months- both personal and professional. I have listed them down and on a weekend chalked it out- what I can do instead of what I want to do.

Turns out, I need more time to do self studies and am always running out of time. All the travelling and hectic schedule was taking a toll on me and I missed being super- happy about life.  Also, I tried reading while commuting to work which I used to successfully in Chicago when I took public transport.  Now, reading in jam packed streets of India seems impossible. I tried, hated myself for not being able to do it and wasting 45 minutes everyday twice doing nothing.

So, I changed. I wanted the happy positive feeling that I could keep to myself for the rest of the day and also use the time. So, I started listening to podcasts- motivational stuff, things that will inspire me. I download them on Sundays, to keep me busy for the next 5 days. And I have enjoyed it very much.

I have also kept my list very lean- no additional distractions. Focus on things you can do and that will make you happy.

This is something I read and am sure you will like how people chisel their own career paths

I also read that when you have decided on something, don’t share it because chances are you won’t do it then. I read these 2 different articles  in complete different context but in a way they made sense.

So, don’t make random new year promises this year. Don’t right down pages and then feel silly for not doing them. Keep it lean and keep it right and don’t judge yourself too often- I think you will be fine.

(Pic courtesy)

Google Plus

Enjoy- my find from Google +

iWoz

Getting your dream project isn’t always easy. This involves learning, training perhaps even travelling and lots of will power and focus to make sure you don’t deter.

Yesterday while reading Iwoz, I was blown away. The book of course is all about Steve Wozniak and his brilliance but amidst it all I learned: 

·Stay true to myself and my goals

·If others don’t get it, don’t look back, continue with your plans.

·Think differently

·If you have an opportunity, go for it.

·Have ethics at work, its good.

·Don’t lie or malign others, never under estimate your peers and respect the passion others have.

If you get a chance, make sure to read this definitely. It's an inspiration, an awakening and an insight into how great minds think.

Your day is waiting for you!

Newsletters- Do they change you?

If you follow me on twitter, I tweeted about 2 fav persons whose newsletter I love.

I am not a fan of newsletters, I treat them more as a spam flooding my inbox because most of the times I really don’t care what you have to sell.

However, Jenny Blake and Elizabeth Harrin are exceptionals. If you are a newbie or out of college (I’m none of these) and love entrepreneurial journey- Jenny’s newsletters (and blog) are fantastic. Need a project management update and what’s new happening in the PM Town, Elizabeth as always is a great resource.

Another great resource that I have been ignoring for a while is Ramit Sethi. I read the partial free download of his book and his blog and loved it, so I signed up for the newsletter years ago. Honestly, I have almost never read his newsletters till last week. I didn’t want to buy stuff and thought his newsletters were informative, but I didn’t know if it was for me.

Till last week, I clicked on his newsletter and saw his tips on having a great resume- that got my attention.
I read the whole thing including the links and downloaded all the videos and information. The material was great. It was stuff he was giving away to registered newsletter subscribers that he usually sells as a course.

From all that I have read and heard (still have 3 more videos to go), here are some amazing things he said:

•Resume’s should be very specific (in everything). Pack in details, research your company (where you would like to work) and your job profile well. Don’t just randomly apply to jobs (and through job boards) and then blame the system for not having a scope for you. True- my last 2 jobs have been through referrals.
•Use LinkedIn as a Tool.
•Every month, keep a percentage of your salary for meeting other interesting people.  While it may not be flying to the other side of the world, meet people in your locality who can be your mentors, career advisors, or just a great contact. Invest in yourself and your growth.

So, instead of signing up for all kinds of newsletters, look for those that helps you. De-clutter your inbox and focus on the thing you should be doing.

That is my goal for December. I have moved continents, lived in 2 cities commuting every month and postponed a lot of personal goals for tomorrow (the one that never comes).

This December, I am re-planning my life and my goals. I want to be happier, do things I have always wanted to do and find time for myself and my hobbies. Learn something new twice a year that isn’t part of my professional life (like Tennis and rock climbing).

Time to de-clutter and find yourself.

(Image Courtesy: Google Images)

Newbie?

Just because you are an intern and newbie:

•Observe your boss to imitate them as much as you can and want to- you will get a feel of what they like.
•Be you, it matters even among the more experienced crowd.
•Ask questions, see document libraries, gather as much information you can from meeting, conversations etc.
•Don’t back out during all conversations and fault findings. Hold your own.
•Don’t let others tell you how much you are worth, you know better than that.
•No one has the right to make you feel inferior without your permission. Dont let that happen.
•When nothing seems to be working out, don’t loose hope. It happens, instead focus on things you can do. Get a certification, see the requirement, ensure your work is around fulfilling those requirements.
•Be careful about what you say in the office. And your social networking sites.
•Even if you feel nothing is working out, stay. Stay for 4-6 months to let everything fall in its place.
•Quitting is good, but not without a plan.
•Amidst all the chaos, try finding a mentor. She/he will guide you to navigate the mess.
•Try to keep a happy face, makes you look friendlier.

Here are some awesome links that might be interesting:
Best agile Books
More on Kanban 
No such Thing As Bad Decision

CPR Technique

This post has been taken from http://www.dhavalpanchal.com

The software world has misused so many terms from the medical profession that one more would not hurt.

CPR – Categorize, Prioritize, Resolve.
This is simple mnemonic that aids me to be methodical in my approach towards uncovering and resolving impediments.

Categorize:
How do you view your world?
To me lack of impediments is like moving in a frictionless environment. This state exists when
a. No work is being done
b. It is an ideal theoretical context

To challenge myself and my teams to look beyond business as usual, I look to creating a categorization mechanism that people can relate to. Lean concepts of load, flow and waste are very simple to understand and use.

There are other categorizing perspectives such as
1. process, tools, technology, culture
2. Not enough time, Takes a lot of time
3. Personal, Team, Organizational
4. Stop, Stall, Go!
5. One off, Always, Sometimes
There are no limits to how you may slice your world of work, expose perspectives and uncover impediments that were hidden.

Prioritize:
The purpose of prioritizing is two fold:
1. Identify impediments that have most negative impact on having ‘fun’ at work
2. Select a handful of impediments that should be worked through resolution.
For impact assessment, ‘dot-voting’ could be a technique to bubble up impediments that sap most energy from your team. (As has been done on the picture above)
Many impediments get treated as ‘Business as usual’  - often times because people are not sure how to influence or act towards resolution. Impediments that get ignored or not addressed fall through the cracks and ignored and accepted as norms for team/organization culture.
Recognizing where the team can take action, where they can influence and what is ‘the soup’ is very important to focus on what can be done over what should be done.

As a self directed exercise, the team members move impediment stickies to into an appropriate zone. Items that they feel they can act upon and attempt to resolve within the team fall into the ‘me’ circle. Items that can be influenced and require assistance from managers, organizationals, other teams etc fall into the influence zone. Items that can’t be acted upon or resolved via influence are in the soup. Many organizational scale impediments tend to fall into the soup.

Resolve:
Take action on resolving impediments that are in the ‘me’ zone. Act towards influencing others in your organization to assit with impediments in the ‘influence’ zone. Expose impediments that are in the soup to senior management, as they are best positioned to address these.

Identifying problems have a negative impact while resolving problems have a positive impact.

Videos that teach, not preach.

This video speaks for itself.

Steve Job’s biographer’s interview in 60 minutes.

Part 1 and Part 2.  

Lots more happening in the PM world these days, to watch Elizabeth’s diary click here and here . 

Challenge Accepted!

This is a guest post from Josh Nankivel from PM Student. If you are trying to begin your path in project management or are into it, Josh's blog is a treat. He also reached his half a million visitors this year! Congratulations.

This road sign is pretty much what the path forward looked like to me when I started my venture into formal project management.

Sheesh!

Perhaps you can relate. Since then, I’ve combined what I’ve learned in my own journey with the things I wish I would have known to start with and try to help other people who are starting out.

These are the steps you can start taking today to de-mystify your project management career.

Step 1 - You Are Here

If you don’t know where you are starting from, it’s pretty tough to move forward.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ advice for starting or advancing your project management career. Imagine a GPS system in your car that has no knowledge of your current location. It doesn’t work, does it?

You can leverage your background, skills, and interests in different ways to get started. If you have a technical background, there are tons of strategies to use that to your advantage. The same is true if you come from a general or operational management background. Even if you are just starting out and don’t feel you have much experience or background to leverage, it’s very important to acknowledge that and use your interests and natural talents effectively.

Write it down. In the course I teach worksheets are provided to help you clearly define your ‘current location’ as a foundation from which to move forward. You can even start with a blank page and just do a SWOT analysis of your current position. Going through this process will help generate ideas about what you might be interested in pursuing and how you can parlay what makes you unique into opportunities going forward.

Step 2 - Define Your Destination And Plot The Course

Imagine that same GPS unit knows where you are currently at, but has no idea or only a vague notion of where you want to go.  Again, pretty hard to get there...

I recommend researching organizations to eventually target 3-5 companies that you would really love to work for, who have clear indicators they value project management as a discipline, are in an industry you love, and with whom you can leverage your starting point to quickly achieve your initial goals.

Aside from targeting the right organizations, this is the step where you start to examine how you should augment your tool kit with certifications, education, and above all gaining experience with projects in ways that will make you more competent and appealing to those target organizations.

Step 3 - Build Professional Relationships

Almost anything worth doing requires more than just one person.

When you get lost you want to have a circle of friends who know, like, and trust you that will help put you back on course. Networking is a scary word for most people, but I’m talking about building relationships here. And now that you have a clear set of routes planned for, you know exactly what kind of people you should focus on building strong professional relationships with.

The most important factor here is giving, giving, giving. If you want to get people to know, like, and trust you it’s all about being indispensable to them. Most people go about networking all wrong. They come across as a nuisance, expecting someone who barely knows them to spend time, effort, and social capital to fulfil a request.

You shouldn’t be requesting anything until you’ve delivered so much value to someone they feel obligated to repay all the favors you’ve done for them. Every person is going to be receptive and value different things, so you really have to know the people in your network if you want to provide them with real value. This isn’t something you can do halfway; do your homework and be specific. Set up whatever you are willing to do for them to make it so easy for them to say yes.

In fact, all they should have to do is say yes.

Here’s an example.  In September a local recruiter who is part of my network of friends reached out to me because I’ve always been willing to point him to qualified candidates, and he knows he is going to get a quality referral from me.  I have built up that trust over time by demonstrating my willingness and ability to deliver value to this recruiter.

It was a position for a Junior Project Manager position, and as it happens I knew someone else in my network who I thought would be a good fit. I made the connection between the two.  Here’s what happened:

•The recruiter gained a high-quality candidate referral.

•The candidate got a nice recommendation and referral for a position he’d love to have a chance at.

•I reinforced my status with both of them as someone who loves helping other people get what they want, without any expectations or hassle.

Voila! The virtuous circle is complete. All 3 parties here gained value. This is my style of networking and it’s a continuous process, not an event. Will I ever ‘get back’ the value I gave to these two individuals? Perhaps not. It doesn’t matter. If you do this often enough over time, you get to be known, liked, and trusted. Pay it forward, and you’ll be amazed what opportunities open up for you at some unexpected time in the future.

Step 4 - Drive With Confidence

In the last part of my course I get to the logistics of the job hunt; resumes/CVs, coverletters, portfolios, interviews, and dealing with offers and rejections. If you’ve done steps 1 and 2, and are constantly doing step 3, this is the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, most people think this is the cake. It’s not!

(When did Josh switch from car to cake analogies? Just go with it people, I’m eccentric like that :-)

The goal of the previous steps is to never go into this phase of the process cold. You will be better prepared than the majority of candidates for whatever position you are applying. The vast majority of people do not know what I teach or actually take action to implement this stuff. They do what everyone else does instead; apply and pray.

If you’ve done your homework and put sincere effort into the process described earlier, the hiring managers will already know who you are and will be excited to interview you.  Imagine that!  

In the best cases the clear ‘vibe’ I’ve gotten when I did this well is that the whole application and interview process was just a formality; they already knew they wanted to hire me. In fact, you’ll notice I didn’t mention anything about searching the job boards online. This isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but if you are doing the rest of what I’ve outline well you should never have to. The goal is to hear about new positions from someone in your network who knows, likes, and trusts you... and wants you to come work with them.

My Weekend

Saturday was well spent.

Awesome lunch with friend over white lily tea, dumplings and peking duck. We did a bit of window shopping and some shopping and bought few movies to watch at home.

Among those was Eat, Pray, Love- I have the book and have watched the movie. Since the movie inspired my friend to travel around the world, we bought it to watch at home again together.

She actually met the real medicine man in Bali; during one of her trips.

We watched it later at night. It’s fun watching all about India while in India. It struck a chord to think that people travel to India because it awakens them spiritually, or calms them down and its said- life’s never the same ever after visiting India.

It was nice seeing India through my friends eye (she is from New York).

It’s been around 10 months since I have been back and I had plans and things to do when I return. Isn’t that why I returned? All I have been doing is getting sucked in work and life is the same. I had additional plans for my blog, spend time on a business goal I have been nurturing for a while and travel more. None happened.

And then I read and it reminded me of mine.

I have 2 out of the 5 checked! It’s a shame, though I have a little more time on my hand.

So, today I am re-working on my goals and things to do to keep me happy. It helps that I have a new haircut too.

Tools

I have had it for a year now. I seldom used it.

Until now.

Evernote has changed the way I read. I have it pretty much everywhere- web, desktop application, Iphone and even the web clipper (chrome extension).

I have to say, I use the web clipper the most because I like to remember the sites or article I enjoyed reading. I used to save links before in notepads or Google tasks, now I simply clip it and tag it.

The sync takes care of the rest. So, I can read them later at leisure say from my phone.
I also have been keeping the business cards virtually with Evernote, take a pic, attach it and write a note to remind yourself where you met, why should you connect and save it.

I haven’t used SpringPad, but it seems like a good one too.

Another new find has been Linoit. I have been looking for a Kanban board that I can use and Linoit just does that! You can use it the way you want. Like a reminder board with stickies, or simply stickies that come with a reminder and alarm feature, a mood board or a kanban board. And it’s free.

If you want to see the list of similar board applications click here . 

5 steps to project scheduling

This is a guest post from Sam Palani. Find out more about him at his site or connect with him on twitter.


5 Steps to get your Project Schedule Correct

When I was asked to come up with a guest post for Stepping Into Project Management (SIPM),
I wanted to come up with something that was close with the central theme of the blog, which
is helping Project managers on starting their journey on the project management space. As a
newbie project manager (or for that matter even as someone who has been managing projects
for sometime) getting your project schedule correct early on is critical as this will be one of the
important baselines against which you would track your project execution.

I also want to call out one common myth / misconception here - A Project Plan is different from
a Project Schedule - no matter what they tell you. I will not go into details on this post, but to
summarize - A plan will include your strategy on how you will get there i.e. the end goal (scope)
whereas a project schedule is as the name suggests a schedule of tasks along with their
respective

So it is critical that you get this correct as you take your first steps into project management.

Here are five simple but important steps that will help get your schedule correct:

Start with the WBS - First things first. Start with decomposing your scope into a work break
break down structure. While there are multiple rules around this, the general thumb rule is break
down your scope to work packages where each package can contain around 5-10 individual
tasks. Again this is a just a rule of thumb, the level of the WBS would largely depend on your
individual program or project. The idea here is to be able to tie back the individuals tasks that
will make up your schedule to the capabilities listed in the project scope.

Hint - Do not over do this to a level where you end up adding more complexity and management
overhead.

Get your estimates on track - The next logical step is to estimate the individual tasks that
make up your work packages. How many resources you will need and how much time it will
take take for these resources to get the task completed. Avoid doing any fast tracking or
crashing at this stage. This is based on the assumption that you will be doing a bottom up
estimation, that is starting from the individual tasks and rolling up at the work-package level.

Hint - Make sure your estimation process & model is communicated and transparent to the
project stakeholders.

Analyze your dependencies - Most certainly your individual task will not be executed in silos.
They will have dependencies. These dependencies and constraints can be in different forms.
Example a task may have a dependency on a particular task getting started or completed as
well as there may be tasks that are constrained to start or end on a particular date.

Hint - Don't attempt to do this alone, get your SMEs involved in this exercise.

Calculate your critical path - Once your have your tasks,estimates and the dependencies in
place. You are now ready to to get the critical path. You either do this manually or through an
EPM software that you are using. It does not really matter. It is also likely that you may end up
with more than one critical path. You will need to pay attention to all the critical paths identified.
It is also important to note that during the course of the project your critical path might change
so your schedule is more of a living document and not static.

Hint - Often there may be tasks outside your critical path that will influence your project
outcome.

Communicate - Now that you have done all the good work and have the project schedule
in place, publish it. Your project stakeholders including your team need to be aware of the
project schedule. The schedule would help little just sitting out there on your hard drive. again
a reminder that your schedule is a live document and gets revisited during the course of your
execution for instance every time you do risk assessment or change management

Hint - Include a link to your schedule in your project status communications.

So that’s it, you now have a schedule baseline against which you can monitor and control your
project.

Work and Jason Fried

Why work doesn't happen at work- agree anyone?

PMChat

PMChat has been gaining popularity and is a great way to stay updated, interact and learn more. Today's post is all about PMChat- details, where to join and what to expect.


This is a guest post by Robert Kelly;  Founder and Managing Partner of Kelly Project Solutions.  He has over a dozen years of experience leading complex, enterprise projects at companies including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Lenovo and currently at Red Hat.  Robert’s blog, Kelly’s Contemplation, was shortlisted for Computer Weekly’s Top 10 Project Management Blogs for 2010, named a Top 10 Up and Coming Project Manager on Twitter, and contributor to ‘A Peek Into The Life of Project Managers’.

Regardless of their experience level, Project Managers are always on the hunt for new ways to grow, learn, and stay on top of their profession.  It may be learning a new technology to join a new project.  Some are looking to break into the field of project management and want to learn the basics, while others are PMPs and need PDU’s to remain that way.  Wherever you may be in your professional career as a Project Manager, I would like to introduce a new medium to your development portfolio...#PMChat


Project Management Chat (#PMChat) is a weekly discussion hosted by Robert Kelly and Rob Prinzo each Friday from 12-1pm (EST).  The topics focus on Project Management & Leaderships techniques, best practices, and so on.  In addition to both Rob’s being named to the Top 10 Up & Coming Project Managers on Twitter, their partnership offers nearly 30 years of diverse experience to the #PMChat participants.  To further add value to this platform, they will invite thought leaders from a range of project management and leadership arenas to co-host the forum.  Additionally, KPS hosts a #PMChat Pre-Game show, via KPS Chatter on BlogTalk Radio, every week from 11:30-11:45 am (EST).  During this quick, 15-minute radio show, you will hear both Roberts and their guest for the week discuss the topic that will be discussed during the Twitter chat.


Here is what folks are saying...
·“Thanks for inviting me to the #pmchat. Great stuff, SMART people! Have a good weekend!”
·“It was fun! This was my first-ever Tweet Chat. Went very well and learned. Excellent use of time! Thanks for hosting it.”
·“Thanks @rkelly976 & @robprinzo for an interesting #pmchat today. Great topic! Wish I’d had more time to participate. Next time!”


The #PMChat is truly a great opportunity to talk with some tremendous Project/Program Management professionals about leading challenges in this space.  While other hashtags have become 1-way communication and retweets, #PMChat is truly a collaborative environment where people are sharign ideas, networking, and developing relationships. 


Join us and see what all the talk is about!