A Solid Launch Consulting

A Human-Centered Approach to Leadership & Team Development

Project Management

Does That Mean…Yes? Or No?

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The other day my husband Steve asked if I was ready to go for a walk. I replied, “And the dog’s more than ready!”

He said “that’s not what I asked. Are you ready?”

This tends to happen to us. He’ll ask a question. I’ll read into it and give a reply that assumes the answer.

But if he doesn’t hear the actual answer, he can’t interpret what I’ve said. And that is frustrating for both of us.

If I’d simply added 1 word, if I’d answered “Yes! And the dog’s more than ready!” he would have understood and been able to receive the further information. Instead, I assumed he understood that my “and” covered the answer.

We all know what happens when we “ass-u-me”.

As I have a tendency to do this at home, I need to be extra careful to avoid “assuming and extrapolating” at work, too.

Communication with our stakeholders should be concise, as we all have full plates already. In an effort to be brief, to not waste our reader’s time, we naturally make assumptions in our emails, documentation, reports, etc. However, being too concise increases the chance of misinterpretation.

Here are three key methods to keep your communication clear:

  • Answer the question first. If you’re replying to an email or writing a summary report, there was an initial question or intent you’re responding to. First answer the question, and only then add relevant information
  • Use formatting techniques. Specifically, use bullet points to group together information. But here’s the key: use a header topic to explain the information. (For example, these bullet points are under a header topic that says the grouping is all about clear communication.)
  • Re-read your document for assumptions. Do you remember your elementary school teacher telling you to write like you’re explaining to “someone who has never heard of the topic”? That remains good advice! Especially in our distracted world, our team members don’t always pay attention to the details. This is a good way to orient them to the subject before you give them important information

Clear communication takes effort. It’s a balance between data and human nature. If we are going to respond to a question, we must answer it in a way that the person asking can understand and absorb. No assumptions.

Am I ready to walk the dog? Yes. Is he excited, too? Absolutely! Time to get his leash…

Practice Makes…Perfect Practice

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Last week I wrote about starting to run Facebook Lives and how uncomfortable they feel. But, knowing that this is the only way to get better at them, my attitude must be “practice makes perfect” and press on.

Well, I had a comment about my post from Brent, who said that “practice actually makes perfect practice.”

He clarified that practice can only take you so far. You need the experience in a real-world situation.

I agree!

When you lead a meeting, for example, you can prepare for every contingency you can think of, but you just can’t predict everything your team will ask or what objections they may have.

Here’s another example: eventually need to stop running scenarios and actually go Live with your project. There is a point at which you stop reducing technical risk and simply increase the cost of delay. No project is perfect. Something unexpected will happen!

My take is this: when we practice, we eliminate the biggest risks. When we prepare for questions or complete all required testing, we take those issues right off the table. Then, when we’re in that real-world situation, we can focus our attention on the smaller group of unknowns.

So it is actually your practice that makes it possible to better deal with the unknown.

At the end of the day: prepare, execute, adapt.

Prepare as much as you can to eliminate risk.

Execute as you prepared.

Adapt to resolve new issues.

What Are You Having For Dinner Tonight?

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Imagine this: it’s Tuesday night and you’re making dinner – spaghetti and a salad. No big deal.

You take the sauce out of the freezer (you’re Italian. There’s no way you’re opening a jar). You meant to take it out in the morning to thaw, but forgot till right now.

You decide you will take the chance on microwaving plastic because your family is really looking forward to pasta. So you pop it in for just a few minutes then plunk it in a pot to finish heating.

Okay, onto the next thing…

You boil the water and go to the cabinet…there’s 1/2 a box of spaghetti left. Argh! Decision – make something else, order takeout, or go to the store?

You already started defrosting the sauce and your family is counting on spaghetti so you turn off the stove, hop in the car, and head to the store. They don’t have your favorite brand. Another decision – different type of pasta, another brand, or scrap it and head home empty handed?

You decide call your spouse because they’ll have a strong opinion. They want another brand… you stay on the phone with them while you figure it out (you’re not taking a chance the 2nd brand will be out of spaghetti!).

You head home, then start the water boiling again and open the refrigerator. You take out the salad ingredients but…you’re out of cucumbers. @#$%^! You were just at the store!

This time you make the executive decision: forget the cucumbers. You’ll live without them.

In the end, you got dinner on the table and everyone is happy…sort of: it’s not the brand of pasta they were expecting and your daughter loves cucumbers. Oh, and all those little mishaps meant dinner was over an hour late and that messed up the rest of your evening plans.

What’s the moral of the story?

A LITTLE PLANNING GOES A LONG WAY.

I don’t mean you need to plan a week of dinners every Sunday (if you can, kudos – I’ve never had that skill). But maybe the night before would have been enough. You’d have taken the sauce out to thaw and checked your ingredients… you could have planned to go to the store earlier or picked something else for dinner before your family was counting on pasta.

Let’s turn this around now and talk about leading your team.

Teams – like dinner – run a lot smoother with a bit of planning and organization.

Do you make sure they have the tools they need to be efficient…and to succeed? Are you thinking beyond “this meal” and helping plan their workload so they don’t get crushed next week?

If you’re in charge of a team, you can make the difference between on-time & efficient and late & stressed. So please – take a few minutes to think things through in advance before plowing ahead.

And…ummm…sorry about the craving for Italian tonight! 😉

Practice Makes Perfect

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I started doing Facebook Lives recently and I am completely out of my element! I did my first one on the Stages of Team Development (you know, Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing)…and I said the acronym wrong! Not only that, but I said “ummm” entirely too much and there’s a distracting glare from my glasses!

Now, I know I need to run these Live Streams to get my leadership message out to a broader audience. I can’t make a difference if people don’t know about me! So I gather my courage and go Live.

I know that the way to get better is to just start. If I keep practicing then I will improve. I make mistakes, fumble around a bit, and continue to teach about project leadership.

Do you remember your very first project? Maybe you were a BA or perhaps a business resource. Did you know what the heck you were doing? (I sure didn’t!) Think about it for a minute. Perhaps these sound familiar: “What’s a requirement?” “Why do I need to write down every single step I test?” “How am I supposed to know how long it will take me?” “Why is it so important to hit my task’s date?”

What seems so obvious to us now was once unfamiliar and intimidating.

No one starts out knowing all and being good at everything. It can take some experience and more than a few mistakes to become proficient. And hopefully we were helped along by someone more experienced – maybe a Team Lead or our Project Manager – so lessons were learned more quickly.

Like it or not, every level of expertise we achieve is just a plateau to the next one. Wherever you are in your career – Junior BA or PMO Director – there are always avenues of growth that open up before you.

I encourage you to take a good look in the mirror: what have you mastered already? What skills do you need to hone in order to reach the next level of your career? And what opportunities can you take to start practicing them?

By the way – I am serious about my novice attempt at a FB Live – the information is good, even if my delivery is bad! Feel free to check it out for yourself: FSNP

Can I Get A Word In Edgewise?

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Remember the days of being in the same room as your team?

Most of the world has been remote for a long time. But I’ve heard rumblings that some people are heading back to the office…and some aren’t.

While I don’t bring this up to comment on the state of the world in the coming months, I do want to talk about the difficulties managing a team that’s only partially remote.

One particular time sticks in my head. I was on a conference call with my Core Team. Usually, I was in the room and could keep the meeting on track. But this time I was one of the team members who dialed in, while others were in the office.

WOW. That was one tough meeting.

I felt like I was “on mute” the whole time – I couldn’t get a word in without someone talking over me! It was as if the people in the room felt like they were the only people involved in the project – those on the phone were on the outside looking in.

As the leader, I struggled to communicate with the folks in the room. It was a really big reminder of how my remote team members feel whenever I held a meeting from the main office.

The reality moving forward may be a partially remote team. That’s so much more difficult than everyone remote!

So what’s the solution? How can we make sure everyone feels involved?

One way is what I call “All On or All In”.

That means, if everyone isn’t in the room, everyone dials in from their desk. I realize that “all on” can be challenging, as some people work next door to each other in the office.

But there are ways to handle that. The most obvious is to use headphones so you don’t hear audio from the cubicle next door.

What it does not mean is “cheating” and having 3 people in a conference room looking at 1 person’s projection on the wall.

Make it a level playing ground. If no one can have a sidebar conversation, the whole team feels included. And that makes team bonding a whole lot easier.

Stay safe, stay healthy – and lead on!

My office is a mess…

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My office is a total mess. Papers on the floor…and the chair…and the counter tops. Stickies with reminders…and notebooks, regular books, pens & pencils. It’s driving me crazy!

It’s not always a mess. In fact, I’m generally a very neat person. But I’m at a point in my project that demands so much time and attention that filing and straightening up are just not a priority right now.

Can you relate?

Project Managers are used to the swells and troughs of workload on a project. I know that soon I’ll be able to take a step back and literally clean house before the next surge of work hits.

We need to remember that not all our team members understand this. And they may go a little extra crazy when the wall of work hits. When their stress level soars, they don’t have the comfort of knowing that there really is an end to it…at least until the next milestone.

It’s our job as leaders to teach our team the realities of project work. We warn them when a surge is coming, support them when it’s busy, and make sure things really do calm down when the storm is over.

How do we do this? I have a few approaches to share with you:

  • Periodically, review the high level project plan with them. Explain the milestones. Let them know when to expect surges so they’re not surprised
  • As a heavy workload time approaches, don’t just remind them about it. Start strategizing on how to cope with the impact before it hits
  • During intense times, keep them focused on what’s real. Help them to prioritize their workload. Make sure they know they’re not alone
  • Know what you will be able to cut out if you need to. Understand when to be flexible and when you need to draw the line on workarounds that are inevitably suggested
  • Once you achieve the milestone, make sure they take some time off, or at least work more relaxed hours. A burned-out team member isn’t good for anyone

Most importantly, show your appreciation for their efforts before, during, and after the intense times. It may not be possible to do something extravagant, but I’ve found that the best received form of a thank you is an honest one.