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PMTimes_May28_2024

That One Project You Aren’t Sure You’ll Survive…

Written by Paul Gouws on . Posted in Articles.

We all had that one project—the one that made us question our career choices, doubt our sanity, and consider a swift exit from the world of project management. It took me a moment to recall mine. The late nights, the endless meetings, and the creeping feeling that I was steering a ship into a storm without a compass. Yes, that project—the one that left me pondering whether I had accidentally signed up for a one-way ticket to project manager purgatory.

But here is the twist: I survived. And not just survived—I emerged wiser, battle-tested, and armed with insights that no textbook or certification could provide.

So, why am I sharing this? Because somewhere out there, another project manager is teetering on the edge, contemplating surrender. Maybe, just maybe, my journey can offer a glimmer of hope—a lifeline to keep them afloat.

 

Lessons from the Trenches

What follows are my personal revelations from years ago, working on that one project we all know. I am not advising or guiding here; I am merely sharing my experience throughout the life cycle of the project. You might share similar experiences or see something completely new. Luckily, the project world has evolved over the years, but nothing can match up to the real project experience. Hard-won tricks, battle-tested strategies, and yes, confronting the dreaded burnout head-on.

 

The Burnout: A Dangerous Undertow

Now, let us delve into the next chapter of my journey—the one where burnout took center stage. It was not merely a buzzword; it functioned as a silent assassin. Picture this: nights devoid of sleep, days fuelled by caffeine, and a to-do list that multiplied faster than rabbits in spring. I had been there, but I was fortunate to be surrounded by top talent, including a mentor who guided me throughout. Together, we navigated the treacherous waters of that one project, skillfully avoiding the siren call of burnout.

As a naturally spirited individual, I have always approached life with unwavering positivity. To me, there existed nothing on this earth that could not be rectified, no challenge too daunting, and no issue too tangled to unravel. I excel at solving problems, whether they are complex or simple—until one day, I hit a wall. Wait, was I failing at something? Impossible. I resolved to try harder next time, right? But two weeks later, another failure. It dawned on me—I was caught in a loop, akin to a sales pitch endlessly replayed during an infomercial:

  • Are you perpetually failing on a project?
  • Are you working extra hours and days to evade failure?
  • Are you feeling utterly worthless?

 

These symptoms became my daily companions. I would gather myself overnight, only to wake up to the same emotional hangover the next day. I soldiered on, convinced that this was normal and that I would eventually power through. But stress insidiously crept in—I smoked more, drank more, and hoped it would all magically vanish. The harsh truth? It did not. Burnout was lurking, and I did not even recognize it until it had me in its grip six months down the line.

Burnout does not announce itself with fanfare. It tiptoes in, whispering exhaustion into your bones. And I, the sprinter—the one who thrives on daily victories—was suddenly running a marathon. You see, there are sprinters and marathoners in the project management world. Sprinters excel in short bursts, while marathoners maintain a steady pace over the long haul. Me? I was a sprinter on a six-year project. Sure, you can break down a colossal project into smaller goals, but it is not sustainable. The sprinter craves daily wins, not a development cycle that spans years. The funny thing is, I only realized that I had burned out after the burnout had already taken its toll, which could be six months down the line. The crucial lesson? Recognize burnout while it is happening, not after the fact.

Below were the three fundamental areas that I needed to improve on to survive:

  • The first thing I did was to start exercising; even if you just run for a bit, it needs to be for a minimum of 40 minutes at least. If you are in the habit of exercising, just check that you are not swapping out your exercise time for work. There will always be work, so making time for exercising will not cause any harm.
  • Watch full-on action movies with a lot happening in them at full volume.
  • Replace bad coping mechanisms with healthy ones.

 

Strategic Funding Approach for Ambiguous Requirements

In the realm of project management, grappling with vague requirements is a familiar challenge. When faced with this uncertainty, consider a strategic funding strategy that not only brings clarity but also optimizes your company’s resources.

 

Phase-Specific Funding

Rather than seeking the entire project budget upfront, focus on securing funds exclusively for the requirements phase. By doing so, you establish a clear boundary for the initial work.

Once the requirements phase is successfully completed, you can confidently request additional project funds. This approach minimizes financial risk and aligns funding with tangible progress.

Yes, I did hear we are following agile, agile, agile, and we will request funds as we go. It is all good… Please add all the funds that you have spent so far and link them to what has been delivered. I will stop there.

We followed a hybrid approach here, waterfall the requirements, and then you can follow any framework or methodology you prefer for the rest of the phases. We monitored a few aspects of the budget continuously:

  • Approved Budget – How much money did the company approve for the project or phase?
  • YTD actuals spend – How much money have you spent already to date?
  • YTD planned spend – How much money are you planning on spending for the remainder of the project?
  • Quality Check Spend – How much money did you spend, according to the finance team?
  • Variance – How much money will you have left at the end of the project?

Oh, and on a side note, do not think you will be called a hero if your budget ends up in a big positive, that is a sign of poor planning. We worked on a 5% variance either way to be good, and I thought it was fair.

 

 

Poor Planning: The Quicksand of Project Execution

Let us discuss the BRS—the unsung hero of projects. BRS stands for Business Requirements Specification—a fusion of the BRD (Business Requirement Document) and the BSS (Business Specification Spec). Think of it as the Rosetta Stone that translated business needs into design blueprints. We hired Business System Analysts instead of your run-of-the-mill Business Analysts (BAs) to save on funds. The BSA crafted an all-in-one document, weaving requirements and designs into a seamless tapestry. We did encounter scope creep where the business would sneak in extra requirements, citing the “we missed it at the start” clause.

Armed with the BRS, we generated work packages—bite-sized tasks that our team could chew on. It was like breaking a colossal chocolate bar into manageable squares.

We tracked the progress of each BRS in the war room (you will hear about this later) with a card like this:

 

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Development Without Design

Imagine constructing a house without blueprints. Initiating development without clear designs or requirements documents is akin to erecting a skyscraper on shaky ground. It is a recipe for chaos. With the solutions architect on your right and the business analyst on your left, create the as-is and to-be designs, with the plan in the middle—it is that straightforward. The solutions architect must advise you on any risks that might arise as you progress on your project journey, while the business analyst must keep you laser-focused on the customers’ requirements.

 

Untamed Timelines

Committing to timelines without consulting your team is like setting sail without checking the weather forecast. A big no-no. Involve all stakeholders, assess risks, and adjust your course accordingly. I am not talking about adding a buffer based on your experiences; I am just saying that if you are not a developer, then do not put estimates down for a new website to be built; ask the expert.

 

The War Room: Where Strategy Meets Unity

The term “war room” conjures images of battle-hardened generals huddled over maps, plotting tactical maneuvers to outwit the enemy. But in the context of this project, it is less about combat and more about collaboration. Allow me to demystify the war room—a sacred space where ideas clash, plans take shape, and unity prevails.

 

As a die-hard team player, I thrive in the war room’s charged atmosphere. Why? Because it compels us to gather, discuss, and align. Team meetings become our compass, pointing us toward shared goals. Unity emerges—the kind that transcends job titles and department silos. We are no longer lone warriors; we are a battalion with a common mission.

Picture it: four walls, each adorned with a whiteboard. This is your canvas. Now, let us map out the headings—the battle plans—inspired by the V-Model of testing:

  • Low/High-level Designs: The blueprints. Architects, developers, and UX designers converge. We sketch, iterate, and breathe life into concepts.
  • System/Business Requirements: Here, we decode the client’s vision. What problem are we solving? What outcomes matter? These requirements anchor our journey.
  • Development: Our troops mobilize. Timelines, milestones, and resource allocation take shape. It is the heartbeat of execution.
  • PDT/AIT/SIT/UAT: The litmus test. Testing engineers scrutinize, validate, and ensure our creation stands tall.

Sounds straightforward, right? But remember, the war room is not just about strategy—it is about camaraderie, resilience, and the art of turning chaos into cohesion. In the maze of project management, requirement cards served as our guiding leads. But these are not ordinary cards—they are color-coded keys to complexity, dependencies, and progress.

We created these cards to help us keep track of how each item is progressing. Each of the cards will represent a specific requirement, and each card will have the following on it:

  • Traceability number – Once you have completed your designs and have them up in your war room, you will be able to number every change required to the design. That number will be inserted in this block so that you have traceability between the requirements and the design. This card is only for business requirements, not interface requirements; there is a different card for interfaces. This means that when you walk into the war room, you can easily spot what part of the system you are touching and where it is based on the design.
  • Dependency number – Some items are codependent. They need each other to thrive. This box holds the magic number—the item that must precede another. Dependencies, untangled.
  • Phases from left to right – BRS, DEV, SIT, UAT, DEPLOYED. depending on which team currently owns this ticket, the indicator will move from BRS to DEV or to whichever stage it is in now: same ticket, different owners… We were busy with a custom version of Kan Ban, or whichever version you prefer… Survival was the key word here.

 

Something like this:

 

Card Color System –

  • Red Card The crimson flag. These cards represent the most complex items—the uncharted territories. None of your team members have ventured here, and their experience is limited. Brace for challenges.
  • Amber Card: The caution signs. These items have been glimpsed by 1 or 2 resources. Familiar, but not routine. Approach with vigilance.
  • Green Card: The Oasis. These cards signify easy items—your team has danced this tango before. They have mastered it and executed it multiple times. Smooth sailing ahead.

Remember, this card is exclusively for business requirements. Interface requirements have their own dance floor. Keep them separate, like parallel universes.

So, when you step into the war room, eyes scanning the system’s blueprint, these cards whisper: “Here is where you tread; here is where you leap.

 

Development (Crazy Stream)

Where Requirements Take Shape

  • The Quest for Requirements: Picture it—a developer picks a ticket and vanishes into the coding abyss, only to reappear days later, battle-worn and seeking aid. Sound familiar? We have all danced this tango. But fear not; we devised a remedy.
  • The Senior-Junior Alliance: We paired senior developers with their junior counterparts. Mentorship duets. It eased some challenges, but yes, development time took a hit. Still, the defect rate waned, and after three months, we found our rhythm.
  • Scope Creep and the Unseen Impact: Alas, scope management is our Achilles’ heel. Product owners, blissfully unaware, kept adding tweaks. “This button’s off,” they would say. “That field’s too snug.” The result? A deluge of tickets drowned our team.
  • The Cricket Field Strategy: Desperation breeds innovation. So, we turned to cricket. A whiteboard became our field. Each developer chose their cricket idols. The rules? For every ticket completed, a run is scored. But for every defect found, a wicket fell. Morning stand-ups played out on our “cricket field.” The results? Astounding. Quality soared, spirits soared, and our team hit sixes daily.

The Peer Review Revolution

  • Passing the Baton: As soon as a developer finished, they would pass the baton—the code—to the next in line. Peer reviews ensued. Quality improved, and knowledge flowed. It was our secret weapon against mediocrity.

 

User Acceptance Testing

More than halfway through the project, we decided to permanently move key users into the project team permanently. This ended up being the right call. As it was a complex project, by the time we got to user acceptance testing, the users permanently assigned to the project could act as super users in the UAT environment and did assist greatly with fast-tracking any testing that needed to be done. We would also assign a business analyst and a developer to each UAT session to resolve any questions or concerns on the spot.

The second value added to assigning permanent business users to the project for the duration is that they are part of the team, and they will fight for the project in other business forums. We did have a big gap between the project team and business when we started, but this move changed it really into a positive.

On a big, complex project, it is easy to get stuck in the testing cycle due to the business aiming for a bug-free system. There is not one single application that is bug/defect-free; if there is one that you know of, they are not sharing it with you. Coach or guide the business users to log defects but also prioritize them based on financial, reputational, and legal impact. Well, this is what we used. Low-level cosmetic bugs should not stop you from going live. Get a product out by fixing all the high and medium defects, and once live, the low defects can be fixed. But it’s super important to get something out. These days, they call it an MVP (Minimum viable product); we just call it and get it into production so that we can start making a difference.

 

The Operational Handover post went live.

Like the UAT team, it worked best for us to include one or two operational resources permanently on the project, as they would end up supporting the product once it was live. They also assisted in documenting all the information in the operational handover document. You will not be so lucky to do this on all the projects, but at least put it in place on strategic projects.

 

I trust the above will give you motivation to continue your project management journey and never give up.

Managing the Present Moment Even If You Don’t Like It

Written by George Pitagorsky on . Posted in Articles.

A project manager asked what she could do about not liking the present moment.  She was learning to do mindfulness meditation and was finding that when she was being mindful of the present moment, she found it stressful.

She was bombarded by problem after problem experiencing anxiety centered on the fear that her project was going to fail and that she would be fired.

The stress was getting to her. She was experiencing stomach pains and a torrent of thoughts about the impossibility of meeting her schedule commitments and what would happen if she failed. She ruminated about what she could have or should have done differently.

 

Being Present – Here Now

“I find it much more helpful to drop all our ideas, concepts, and beliefs and return again and again to the openness of not knowing and the immediacy and simplicity of this moment, this living presence Here-Now.”[1] Joan Tollifson

From Here-Now you can do whatever needs to be done, say whatever needs saying. The process is simple – note, accept, analyze, act, repeat.

 

Mindfully Present

I practice, write about[2], and teach techniques for being present, to live attuned to the experience of the present moment – mindfully self-aware. That is the objective of mindfulness meditation, breathing techniques, mindful movement, grounding, awareness of physical sensations, and all the other mental and emotional wellness techniques.

Being mindful is being present – fully engaged and aware of your body’s sensations, emotions, thoughts, the environment, and the others you share it with.

Being present fuels healthy relationships and helps to manage stress and anxiety. It is a foundation for emotional intelligence and is linked to the ability to be focused and able to choose the most effective course of action.

Being present is the opposite of being spaced out, distracted, reactive, and in denial. Focus and objective choice enhance productivity and creativity.

 

Accept and Let Go

So, what can you do when the experience of the present moment is unpleasant?

The answer is simple, though not easy – accept and let go into Flow.

To accept is to take note of the unpleasantness and your feelings about it, acknowledging the present moment for what it is. To let go into Flow means to see if you can do something to manage a change skillfully.

 

Common Sense Wisdom

If you know you don’t like the present moment and can ask what you can do about it, you are being mindful of your experience and conscious of the possibility of taking action.

Common sense wisdom lets you know that you cannot change the past or the present moment and that you can influence (but not control) the future. You can accept the feelings and the situation that has triggered them.

Alternatives to that are denial and suppression.

Denial is making yourself believe that the present feelings aren’t happening. It is sticking your head in the ground like the myth of an ostrich hiding from a predator.

Suppression is medicating or meditating yourself to relieve stress symptoms. This is a better tactic than denial. Relieving the symptoms can be healthy if it is a conscious choice used to be more effective at managing your emotions and making change.

 

Manage Your Emotions

Denying your feelings and the situation is the least skillful approach. It offers no way out of the situation. Your project is still going to be late and at some point, you will be confronted with reality.

Suppression is a way to moderate the effects of your stress. Medicating or meditating away the symptoms can be helpful if you do it as a conscious choice to put yourself in a better position to address the situation and avoid the damaging effects of stress, depression, and anger. Suppressing your feelings as a knee-jerk reaction is a form of denial that leads to habitual or addictive behavior.

Acceptance gives you a choice. You can choose to suppress the stress responses, or not. But most importantly you can choose practical options for handling the situation.

With mindful self-awareness, you can manage your emotions. That means you can fully experience your emotions without reacting or being driven by them.

 

Analyze

Then, analyze to see what about the present moment you dislike, why you dislike it, and what you can do about it.

Without analysis, you are reacting. With it, you are responding.

Analysis is using your intellect to break the issue down and objectively consider alternatives. It includes the assessment of your gut feeling, criteria, priorities, and facts.

 

Act – Do Something, Or Not

If it is feasible, do something to make a change. Remember that doing nothing is a choice, though it is usually not the best in the context of projects.

In any case, accept that you can influence the future, but you cannot control it. The outcome is uncertain, and you may not like it.

 

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Application – Manage the Project

Applying this process of noting, accepting, analyzing, and acting in the real world of projects is what skillful project managers do when faced with unpleasant situations. They apply the technical skills of planning and controlling.

For Julie, our project manager, schedule overrun began as small incremental slips on critical tasks. Then, about halfway into the project, a key team member left for a better opportunity. Replacing him took two weeks followed by a learning curve and the work of integrating a new team member.

After an initial bout of panic, Julie took a few breaths and observed her feelings. Stepping back, she took an objective stance and considered her options – let stakeholders know what was going on, work faster, rescope, accept that the project would be late, and take action to minimize the damage.

She realized that hiding from the reality of the situation is a no-win approach. She also assessed her fear of being fired and realized that if she was fired because of events beyond her control, it would be an indication that her superiors were not particularly skillful.

 

Bottomline

The message is that if you don’t like the present moment, accept what you can’t change, analyze the situation and your options, and take action to influence the future. And while you are doing that become comfortable with adversity and uncertainty.

 

[1] Tollifson, Joan, “Death, The End of Self-Improvement”
[2] Check out “The Peaceful Warrior’s Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living” https://a.co/d/97LpYib . It addresses the mindset and techniques to cultivate sustained wellness by accepting and letting go into Flow.

 

PMTimes_May15_2024

Focus – A Critical Success Factor

Written by George Pitagorsky on . Posted in Articles.

The ability to focus is a critical success factor for project managers, business analysts, and anyone else who is in a task-oriented position.

On the project level, it is costly when resources divide their attention between multiple projects. Stop, start, and stop again performance has an overhead. The same is true for individuals. Without focus as a power of mind, you are like a straw in the wind, randomly blown here and there.

The more you can focus without being distracted, the more likely you are to succeed at whatever you intend to do – whether it is to pass a test, get a job, complete a project task, write a proposal, get the most out of a meeting, or paint a picture.

 

Distractions

To be focused means that you can stay with or come back to the “object” you have chosen to focus upon in the face of distractions. Life is full of enticing distractions. They may be thoughts, feelings, sounds, images, or other people’s behavior.

Pleasant or unpleasant distractions grab your attention. When you are taken away by a distraction you go on a trip, a mental journey. If your ability to focus is strong, you can skillfully choose to go on that trip or stay focused on what you are doing. Alternatively, you may be unable to choose.

 

Train of Thought

Imagine being on a train heading home. The train pulls into a station and there is another comfortable-looking train across the platform. You get off your train and jump onto the new one, and off you go. Then you realize that this train isn’t as comfortable as it looked. You get off at the next stop just in time to get on another enticing train. Off you go. Until you become attracted to another even cooler train and off you go again.

You may never get home. But, maybe, you don’t care because you like riding trains or are having fun and seeing new sites. Or you get on a train that takes you on an unhappy trip into a dark and dreary place and you can’t get off until it reaches its last stop.

That is how the mind works. A thought comes up, you keep it going by thinking about it, adding details, and thinking about what should have or could have happened. You make up stories about the future or dwell on the past.

 

What Happens at Work

Take a more project management-specific example. You are assigned to write an explanation for why your project is late. You start writing and your phone pings notifying you of a text message.

It’s from a friend and you read it. Then you respond and are off into a conversation. You realize ten minutes later that you have not been writing your explanation. You go back to it but must remind yourself of where you were when you popped out and then get back into a “groove”.

Any interruption during the performance of a task is costly. There is the effort of winding down and ramping up. The less winding down the higher the cost of ramping up. That is why multitasking is frowned upon.

 

Sustain Focus

If the ability to decide what you want to think about and do is important to you and you are willing to do what it takes to give yourself a choice, then you need a method.

You can reduce distractions by finding a quiet space free from interruptions. Shut the door if you have one. Ask others not to disturb you. Turn off the phone, or if you can’t because you are on call, do what you can to filter calls and alerts.

But, even in an ideal workplace, your body and mind are still there to disturb you with thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. Even the work you are doing can face you with opportunities to go down a rabbit hole. For example, you might dive into levels of detail when writing a summary or think about an interesting, but irrelevant concept suggested by some aspect of your task.

 

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Concentration and Effort

That is why cultivating concentration is so important. Concentration is the mental capacity to focus, to choose and stay with an object, overcoming the urge to follow distractions.

Concentrating to sustain focus requires resolve and effort. You must intend to maintain your attention on an object and make the effort to do it. Don’t expect it to be easy. You may be addicted to being distracted. It may be a deeply ingrained habit.

I am told that staying focused is even more difficult for those born into the age of the internet and social media than those who grew up without them. People have become addicted to short “hits” of attention-grabbing content and the immediate gratification of texts. Engineers and marketers have worked together to sustain this addiction to distractions and profit from it. They want you to get “hooked” on distractions.

Even though I was born way before the Internet Age, I can attest to how easy it is to get lost down a rabbit hole on Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube. One thing catches the eye and mind, and, after a few minutes, one thing leads to another and another. Before you know it, an hour has passed before something pulls you out of the rabbit hole.

It is hard to get unhooked – breaking habits is not easy.

 

How to Strengthen the Mind

To break the habits that keep you from focusing the way you want to focus, apply intention, effort, patience, mindfulness, and concentration.

Make the intention to apply the effort and patience required to cultivate the mindfulness that lets you know that you have been distracted and the concentration power to bring your attention to the chosen object.

Taking on meditation practice is a prescription for cultivating focus and choice. Go to https://self-awareliving.com/videos for videos on how to meditate. However, meditation is not a cure-all. People become discouraged when they start to meditate and are confronted with a “monkey mind”, the mind jumping from thought to thought. The meditation practice makes that quality more apparent. That is where persistent patience comes in. Keep observing the mind and coming back to a point of concentration and the monkey will be tamed.

Check out my book “The Peaceful Warrior’s Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living” https://a.co/d/97LpYib for mindset and techniques to cultivate sustained focus and optimal performance.

 

PMTimes_May14_2024

Mastering Time Zones: Strategies for Leading Global Teams to Success

Written by Caprice White on . Posted in Articles.

In today’s interconnected world, project managers often find themselves leading project teams spread across different time zones. While this presents unique challenges, it also offers exciting opportunities for collaboration and diversity.

In this article, we will explore strategies to effectively manage global teams, foster communication, and promote team bonding to optimize performance, which will in turn ensure project success.

 

Time Zones. Help!

Ok. Here it is. You are managing a project team (or new team members), and with the new ways of working (remote, hybrid, or in-office), these team members all just happen to live in different time zones. Some are located across the country; some can even be across the ocean. YIKES!!! Your challenge is to keep the team connected and working towards the same project goals and outcomes. How do you do this?

Let’s start by saying that modern technology is pretty fantastic at keeping us connected no matter the distance; however, working on a project with members in multiple time zones can be challenging. Here is where great online tools such as world clocks or online converters can help you plan meetings and visualize overlapping work hours.

*Hot tip: Be mindful when booking meeting times and recognize that what’s morning for you might be late evening for someone else.

 

Communication Is Key – It is all about the channels.

Email vs. Instant Communications

While email is still essential, consider other platforms, as different team members may prefer varied communication tools.

  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • WhatsApp

Lights, Camera, Action!

Regular video meetings (teams, Zoom) build rapport and allow face-to-face interactions. Appointing certain meetings as “camera on” will help to cross the miles and make the meetings more human.

Project Management Tools

Platforms like Jira, Trello, Assana, and MS Teams facilitate collaboration across miles and time zones.

 

Setting Expectations

  • Clarify Message Response Times.
    • Note all team member’s off-hours (unless they are on an “On Call” rotation) and make it clear that immediate answers aren’t necessary.
  • Encourage Asynchronous Communication.

Use tools that allow team members to contribute when it suits their schedules.

  • Set up group channels as well as project-specific channels, so there are several ways for teams and sub-teams to connect and collaborate.
  • Organizations usually have a channel they promote or prefer, such as teams, Slack, or Discord.
  • Set up one tool and don’t use too many, as communications may get missed or some team members may feel left out.

 

Embrace Flexibility | Be mindful and agile.

  • Overlap Hours

Find common working hours for critical discussions or decision-making.

  • Flex Work

Allow team members to adjust their schedules to accommodate personal needs or local holidays.

Understand that life happens. Being open and flexible to meeting and scheduling changes goes a long way in building trust and strength with the team.

Cultural Awareness

  • Holidays and observances
    • Be aware of local holidays and cultural events.
    • Adjust project timelines accordingly.
    • Be curious about national and local holidays and traditions.
  • Language and Tone
    • Understand language nuances and adapt communication styles to avoid misunderstandings.

 

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Project Management Tools

Some helpful Project Management tools

  • Trello: Organize tasks, assign responsibilities, and track progress.
  • Jira: Organize tasks and responsibilities, assign responsibilities, reporting and track progress.
  • Google Docs: Collaborate on documents in real time.
  • Time Zone Converters: Use tools like World Time Buddy or Every Time Zone to coordinate meetings.

 

Lead by Example

Respect Boundaries

Demonstrate that you value work-life balance by not expecting instant replies outside of working hours.

*Hot email tip: Delay sending emails to align with other’s working hours.

Model Communication:

Use various channels and encourage open dialogue.

Support Team Bonding

Schedule informal team and 1:1 chats to build camaraderie.

During or after meetings, have some informal team-building exercises.

  • Show an interesting TedED Talk
  • Have a topical and fun online quiz hour.
  • Pecha Kucha share-outs: Team members take turns creating and sharing a Pecha Kucha on a topic of their choice weekly.

 

Celebrate Diversity:

  • Embrace different perspectives and learn from each other. Encourage the team members to take turns and share a bit about themselves and their interests.
  • Embrace the variety of cultures and experiences team members bring to the project team.

 

The role of a Project Manager for a global team across multiple time zones requires adaptability, empathy, effective communication, and the ability to be agile. By leveraging today’s available technology, being aware of time zones and cultural nuances, and respecting work-life balance, you can successfully lead a team that transcends geographical boundaries.

Remember, the sun never sets on well-coordinated projects.

PMTimes_Apr24_2024

Managing Well When Your Project is Falling Apart

Written by George Pitagorsky on . Posted in Articles.

In chaos, we can retreat alone to a safe place behind it all.

Safe and alone.

And from there respond as best as possible.

 

Project In-crisis

Imagine that you are in the last month (at least what you planned to be the last month) of a time-critical project and your principal team leader/designer walks out in a huff when the client decides she doesn’t like the design and changes her mind about some key product features. Further, she insists that her changes are trivial and should not affect the end date or cost.

You are in a state of severe anxiety, envisioning a serious blow to your bonus and career, since your upcoming review will hinge on how well you managed this project to the satisfaction of this important client.

What do you do?

 

Retreat

Of course, the quote above gives away the answer. “You retreat alone into a safe place behind it all.”

This answer opens some questions. What does “retreat” mean? Who has time for one? Where can you find such a place? How do you get there? What do you do once you’re there?

When faced with insurmountable forces, a wise general often chooses to retreat to live to fight another day. Retreating, in an orderly way, makes it possible to regain strength, and replan to renew the battle or go on to the next one.

In another sense, a retreat is a personal choice to take time to relax, reflect, and gain a fresh perspective. In effect, retreating is stepping back onto a platform from which you can think clearly and plan your next steps. A quiet, comfortable, secluded place is ideal, but not necessary.

 

Who Has Time for It?

You might be thinking, “Who has time to retreat?” The answer to that question is easy, you do! Make the time. Depending on the situation it might be only a minute, an hour, days, or weeks.

In our project in-crisis scenario painted above, the PM could take an hour or, better, a day to retreat, to calm down before doing anything else. Then with a clearer head, the PM and team can decide what to do next.

 

Where Can You Be Safe and Alone?

That place behind it all, like the eye of the storm, is not a physical location. Even if you could find a cabin or cave, your anxiety would be there with you. The quiet solitude could make it worse since you’d have more time for obsessive thinking and worry.

Retreat to a calm center that is always available, though often unseen, and unfiltered. It is not a specific physical place. It is a felt sense of presence, relaxed, objectively observing, accepting, and letting go. It is more of a feeling.

 

Benefits

Consider that thinking that there is no such thing as a calm center is just as much a belief as thinking there is such a thing. Consider taking on the positive belief as a hypothesis and seeing what happens.

The hypothesis is that by finding your peaceful “retreat place” within, you cultivate the ability to become increasingly responsive and less reactive. And the more responsive you are, the better your performance. The better your performance, the greater the probability of success.

 

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How You Get There: The Peaceful Warrior’s Path

While some have it naturally, for many, it takes courage and patient skillful effort to overcome reactivity and cultivate responsiveness when faced with emotional and intellectual challenges. The effort applies concepts and techniques to remove the obstacles to responsiveness.

Concepts, for example, models like servant leadership, process awareness, and systems thinking, address mindset. Mindset is the way we think, feel, and believe. Your mindset affects your performance and emotions.

The techniques include meditation, breath awareness and control, and any exercise that combines mindful self-awareness and physical health. It might be running, lifting weights, walking, or playing a sport while using the activity to hone your mindfulness and self-awareness.

 

Courage is needed to confront deeply held beliefs and uncertainty and to accept the discomfort of challenging physical sensations and emotions. Patient persistence is needed because it is hard to change habits and it takes time and practice. Target perfection and accept imperfection as part of an ongoing improvement process.

The good news is that as the concepts and techniques are contemplated, practiced, and integrated, it becomes easier to accept and let go, it becomes your natural way of being.

 

What Do You Do Once You’re There?

This “place”, the calm center, we refer to is a felt sense, a dynamic state of mind, in which you are objectively observing, relaxed, energized, making conscious choices, and performing optimally. “There” refers to this state of mind, some refer to it as Flow, or being in the Zone.

From there, the PM and his team would analyze the situation and revise the plan to reflect reality. They would consider the impact of this project running late on other projects or programs. They would consider how best to communicate the results to clients and sponsors and manage expectations. The PM may determine if the team lead who quit might come back to finish the project.

Anxiety, fear of failure, and fear of confronting superiors with unwelcome news contribute to overly optimistic plans. These create more stress and anxiety later. The skillful manager retreats, stepping back into the calm at the eye of the storm, and plans with objective clarity while managing his emotions and expectations, and the emotions and expectations of the team and all the other stakeholders.

 

The Process is Its Own Reward

In my most recent book, The Peaceful Warrior’s Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-aware Living, I quote Amelia Earhart:

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity . . .

You can act to change and control your life;

and the procedure, the process, is its own reward.”[1]

 

The procedure and process she refers to is the application of the concepts and techniques that cultivate your ability to optimally manage whatever comes. The reward is priceless, it is the increasing self-confidence that leads to acceptance and letting go into optimal performance and wellness.

[1] Pitagorsky, George, The Peaceful Warrior’s Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-aware Living, 2023, Self-Aware living, p.1