Tag: Training

Developing a PMBOK Inspired Career Plan

Written by John St. John on May 10, 2022. Posted in Articles.

Running Projects is Like Raising Kids – They Need Your Full Attention

So, we project managers move heaven and earth, ensuring project success happens.

By nature, we are happiest when projects are on track and green.

And as a fellow project manager, I know this work can be challenging with:

Constant organizational changes
Budget cuts fear or reality
Project team turnover
PMO demands for data or compliance
Seemingly aloof decision-makers (not purposely, just busy with their day jobs)
Technology issues

And, “We’re going Agile – eventually.”

So, you apply Agile tools and techniques for a lift on your waterfall project to manage current and future states of work.

Often, we work so hard on our jobs that we neglect our personal and professional selves.

The Best Time to Be a Project/Product Manager is NOW!

Let’s focus on ourselves and our careers for a moment.

Because our work is transformative and impactful, the demand for project managers is through the roof with no signs of stopping (Ex. Salaries, Challenges, Growth Opportunities, etc. – all rising).

FACT: PMI estimated project-oriented work may top $20 trillion by 2027 and put 88 million people to work (HBR.org Article Written by Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez)

However, it would help if you STILL asked yourself these critical questions about your work:

Do I feel like the work gives me Purpose?
Is this work fulfilling?
Do you love problem-solving?
Is organizing things in your DNA?
Do you look forward to aligning people’s strengths to do great things?
Are you excited to learn new technologies and concepts to get more out of your day?

Can you answer each question with an emphatic “Yes?”

If so, you are operating in or near your life’s big “Why” or Purpose.

Check out this video for more on finding your life’s big “Why.”

As project managers, the work we do should be an extension of our reason for existence, in service to others, at this moment in time.

If not, revisit your career path because there may be a far more lucrative and fulfilling path than project management.

Beyond Market Demand, Does Project Management Help You Fulfill Your Purpose?

Not sure?

STOP – Read John Coleman’s Article: To Find Meaning in Your Work, Change How You Think About It.

John’s article appeared on HBR.org, and it’s legit!

Here’s a key point John makes that will help you frame up your WHY:

Remember why you work. Please identify the person or group of people in your personal [and professional] life that your work is in service for, and keep them in mind when you work through even the most tedious of tasks. A purpose isn’t magic — it’s something we must consciously pursue and create. With the right approach, almost any job can be meaningful.

Yes – You CAN find Purpose in any work, but it does not guarantee fulfillment.

CAVEAT: However, the most fulfilling work emerges from a clear sense of service that transcends self and targets impacts for you and those you serve with what you do best.

Bonus: the most fulfilled, financially free, and divine aligned beings on the planet figure out their “Why” and then strike out to touch the sky!

Is Project Management an extension of your why?

Well, it should be!

Is Project Management Your Jam?

If you are still reading, you must love what you do, so here’s a question for you:

How would your career change if you applied Project Management rigor to transform your career?

Listen, Jim Rohn – motivational speaker and businessman, once said:

PMTimes_May11_2022 — *Credit: Google Images*

Do You Have a Job Or A Career?

Working on yourself means your life purpose gets integrated with your career.

A purposed career takes reflection, decision-making, and work creation that ensures work is more fun and lucrative than you could imagine.

Now ask yourself: Do you work harder on your job than you do on your career?

Wait – What’s the difference between a job and a career?

Simple: Careers are fulfilling because they work on you. Jobs are not fulfilling because you work on them.

You’ve heard of the great resignation.

The great resignation is partly fueled by retirement.

And, many post-pandemic workers slowed down long enough and realized their life and life’s Purpose was more doable with a flexible, remote environment where their best and most fulfilling work could be done.

And an unfulfilling job is like getting a root canal without anesthesia – it hurts too much and should never be done.

You need work that fills your heart, wallet, and purpose-driven needs for being alive at this point in time.

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Take a Page Out of PMBOK (Career Style)

Remember, we use PMBOK to transform our work.

Why not use the same rigor to transform our careers, too?

Let’s discuss the triple constraints as they apply to your career’s development.

You will focus on developing your first career phase, which takes approximately 6 – 12 months.

After that, you will revisit your plans, reassess them, and schedule another 6-12 month sprint until you reach career nirvana or something close to it.

Triple Constraints Blended with Project Phases

As with any project, the goal is to add value.

Your career project is no different. Your career project is about adding fulfillment and value-adding capability to your career.

Let’s start with your scope, which breathes life into your life’s big “Why” with “What and How.”

INITIATE AND PLAN

Scope: Start with a career project charter and plan to initiate/solidify your career project:

First, suspend all logic and hold nothing back, so you won’t get in the way of getting what you deserve!

BUSINESS CASE/OBJECTIVES:
1. What project work, people, places, and things give you the greatest fulfillment?
2. What would doing this work look like each day?
3. What short- and long-term benefits could you realize if bullets 1 and 2 came true?
  - Please be detailed with your descriptions.
4. Finally, write a DESIRED STATE narrative summing up bullets 1-3 or create bullet points using the same rigor and diligence you give at work.
CONSTRAINTS: How does your CURRENT STATE differ from your DESIRED STATE?
- Make a few notes about the key differences, then burn them! Acknowledging the old will help you move forward toward the new. Its history and focusing on it will keep you stuck.
RISKS: What things must change about YOU AND THE WORK YOU DO to achieve YOUR DESIRED STATE career?
- What must you change personally and professionally to reach your DESIRED STATE career?
- Create bullet points using the same rigor and diligence you give at work.
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS: What stakeholders must you assemble to gain clarity on your best way forward?
- List your stakeholders, the input you seek, and the input you receive. These stakeholders can be just about anyone you trust, like a:
  - Career coach
  - Mentor (video)
  - Someone further along in the career journey than you
  - A trusted advisor and Truth Teller
  - Spiritual wisdom from your Source

EXECUTE, MONITOR, AND CONTROL

Time: Develop your career project plan and time box your steps:

What three steps or tasks must you first execute, monitor, and control, to deliver on your 6 to 12-month career development project:
- Think Start, Stop, and Continuing certain behaviors related to:
  - Professional Development (Ex. Continuous Learning)
  - Personal Development (Ex. Mindset Management)
  - Networking (Ex. Real relationships with other doers – not just LinkedIn connections, meaningful conversations with people behind, beside, or ahead of you in their career journey).
- Distill your “Start, Stop, and Continue” into tangible steps:
  - Take a certification or online/live training course
  - Do volunteer work for experience
  - Watch personal development videos, so you are not the barrier to your success
- Add some details and time boxes.

Remember, the three steps or big things you must do will encompass no less than six months but no greater than 12 months.

As the phrase goes, “You must count the cost.”

Cost: Pencils down. It is time to revisit your scope activities and consider what it will cost you to deliver on this 6 to 12-month career project.

For example:

Have you determined how you fund your personal or professional development where needed?
Are you fully committed to making this project move forward regardless of the obstacles?
Have you accurately estimated how much time and effort you will expend each month reaching project completion?
How will you socialize your plan, gain support, and keep your career project on track?
Have you considered most likely project disruptions and accounted for contingencies to them?

You are compelled and equipped to navigate this massive career lift and shift ahead if you do your homework.

Fast forward.

You’ve successfully counted the cost and dove into your career project.

And you remain on track to complete your three initial steps.

You must properly close out those steps that transitioned from DOING to DONE.

CLOSEOUT

After completing all three steps, you ensure they delivered on your expectations or receive sufficient evidence to do something different next time.

Here are a few examples:

Did steps add work/life fulfillment? If not, what should have happened or been done differently?
Did steps add value? If not, what should have happened or been done differently?
What were your personal and professional lessons learned?
In what ways did the project grow you personally and professionally? If not, what should have happened or been done differently?
Did you connect and benefit/serve someone behind, beside, or ahead of you on the same/similar career journey? If not, what should have happened or been done differently?

If everything went according to plan, you close out your final step before moving on to the next step(s) in your 6 – 12 month career project.

Conclusion

Remember, project management isn’t for everyone, no matter how well you do the work. The work must be fulfilling, tie into your big “Why,” and help you thrive, not just survive!

After noodling your big “Why” and choosing a project management career desired state or path to begin leveraging the Career “Triple Constraints” concepts, develop your unique journey, and decidedly fulfilling career path.

Call to Action

The world needs us – get equipped for a world of projects producing exponential value! Finally, Global demand for Agile/Scrum/Product Management expertise is heating up for PMs with this experience and may be the key to you prospering in the new remote economy.

It’s only a matter of time before it intersects with your work or influences your opportunities.

About PMI Central Illinois Chapter

Visit PMI Central Illinois Chapter to Learn More. And check out a few more articles by other PMI CIC contributors.

5 Tips to Employee Engagement for Remote Teams

Written by Andre Oentoro on February 15, 2022. Posted in Articles.

After hiring candidates, companies often ignore the importance of their employees’ well-being. If you’re wondering why some companies can have a high turnover rate, regardless of how popular they are among giant names, the percentage of employee engagement is one of those contributing factors to this situation.

While managers can set up a fun activity to keep their employees engaged at the office, they can’t really do the same now due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This dreadful situation has forced many to put employees’ safety first. Hence, working from home isn’t that odd anymore.

That doesn’t mean managers can’t initiate an employee engagement program on remote terms. This article will dive into how businesses can thrive by improving employee engagement even though they are working away from the office.

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The Importance of Employee Engagement

Employees are companies’ biggest assets. Keeping them happy at your workplace will greatly benefit your business. After all, happy employees will do their best at work, resulting in better outcomes.

Here are a few benefits of getting your employees engaged.

Reduce turnover rates

Turnover is often one of the manager’s biggest enemies when it comes to ensuring a running project. Sometimes employees can quit at a time when companies need them the most, and that’s something managers can’t avoid or hold them to stay longer. This is where employee engagement plays a big part in avoiding this situation.

When companies pay attention to employees’ difficulties at work and provide them with a solution that helps overcome the situation, employees can put more trust in the organization. More trust means higher loyalty, which decreases their consideration to move out.

This can be done if the company provides a number of onboarding processes via training videos to help employees get the experience of what they can expect from the company. The onboarding also improves the communication between the company and employees so that they get engaged from the get-go.

Improve productivity

Productivity has been linked to employees’ ability to finish a task and handle a situation in a timely manner. But when said employees are unable to concentrate at work, whether it’s from internal or external problems, they may lose their performance. If companies have engaged with employees well, things that may potentially reduce productivity can be identified and avoided quickly.

Better customer service

Enthusiastic employees at work bring such a positive vibe around them. This can often be seen in the way employees treat and communicate with customers. Highly engaged employees don’t see work as an inevitable responsibility as an adult. They consider getting up every day to work to ensure they provide solutions to customers they are communicating with while also benefiting from working.

5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement for Remote Team

1. Encourage two-way communications

Communication is key in every part of life, including the workplace. Make sure to always have clear communication with employees, so you can get rid of misunderstandings at work.

After all, the workplace is one of the common areas where people get misunderstood easily. If you can’t initiate direct, two-way communication with people working in your organization, they may feel left out and consider you don’t provide the solution they are facing at the moment.

2. Listen to them

Make sure your employees don’t get left out even though they are working on a remote term. While they don’t often show any difficulties because of the distance, managers should ensure if they are doing okay in the first place.

Many won’t initiate a conversation due to location and time differences. That’s why employees keep almost everything about work themselves—asking if they face a certain problem while remote working can improve their connection with you and possibly open up for more conversation in the future.

3. Recognize their efforts

Companies often don’t see what their employees have done in maintaining their performance at work. Managers only see the result without considering how much effort one has put into gaining such an outcome.

Make sure to recognize your employees’ efforts and appreciate them for what they do. After all, everyone’s hard work has made it possible for the company to thrive in this difficult time. So, show them that you acknowledge their work.

4. Reward your employees

The act of acknowledging someone’s work may come in many forms, including giving a simple ‘thanks’ and round applause. While these are common and relatively inexpensive, you can go as far as giving points or a bonus as a reward for their hard work.

Your employees will surely appreciate it if their boss shares gifts or free coupons to the nearest villa when they achieve a goal. It shows that companies take care of their employees by giving them a reward after working hard.

Knowing how companies take little things, such as small wins matter, will improve how employees see their workplace. This convinces them more that they are working in the right place.

5. Create fun activities together

Sometimes working from the home policy can greatly impact employees in terms of getting burnout quickly. Compared when working in the office, employees could say hi to each other and wind down a little bit when the tension was too serious or when the workload was so heavy.

Remote working means the ability to communicate with other teammates is limited, which often causes more stress to employees. In order to avoid a quick burnout, managers can provide fun activities or games virtually. Getting into games can reduce stress and boost the employee’s motivation to work after it’s done.

Takeaway

Remote teams are prone to having burnout because they are limited to doing certain activities like they used to. When employees are easily stressed out without a quick handle from the company, they will feel excluded from the entire organization.

In the long term, such condition may reduce their performance and ownership as they don’t feel connected at all. Managers can handle this situation by taking into consideration what makes these employees engaged again.

It’s crucial to introduce exciting activities to boost up their mood. Make sure to listen to their voices and create a safe space for a private conversation. These will help remote employees engage in the company they are working.

Own Your Own Professional Development

Written by Lawrence Dong on January 18, 2022. Posted in Articles.

This year (2022) is the best time to talk about something interesting – that is professional development. Why do I think you may be interested in this topic? Well, a recent (Sep 2021) survey conducted by HR Platform Employment Hero ^[1] via about 1000 survey respondents found that 48 percent of Australian workers planned to look for a new job in the next six months. That’s 1 in 2 people Down Under, a huge number, isn’t it? No wonder people in the US are talking about the Great Resignation^[2]!

If you are still reading this article, you are potentially interested in investing your time, energy, and money in your professional development, so that you can seize the chance to progress your career sooner. You may want to ask me, “where should I start?” Well, Richard Branson once said: “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” So, my first advice is for you to check if your employer’s career paths and progression programs are in place that you can take advantage of. It is probably the easiest way for you.

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However, if the existing solution is not in place, the next best solution is to have a private chat with your people manager, see if he or she can create a bespoke solution for you, based on your circumstances. Check out this article from the job search portal Indeed and follow the 9 steps^[3] to prepare your talking points before your meeting with your boss to show your commitment.

My personal experiences have been that most employers do care about their people’s career plans, especially when you have made consistent and visible contributions to their business. However, I admit there are organizations where staff hasn’t been provided with sufficient career progression opportunities. If unfortunately, this has been your experience, keep reading and I have a piece of good news for you – you can own your own professional development.

Here is how (3-Steps Plan):

Set your career goal – If you like what you do, do you want to work at a more senior level? If you don’t like what you are doing, use your imagination superpower to determine your dream jobs. Talk to your family and friends to understand your strengths and talk to a trusted industry connection to understand which roles will match your strengths.
Analyze the gaps – How can you get there? What skills will be required from your future job? What skills have you already got? What are the gaps? This step may sound difficult, but there is a short path – check out your current & future jobs on seek.com and write down the required skills.
Bridge the gaps – Prioritise the skill gaps based on importance, urgency, and logical sequence. Now you may ask, is there a learning model that I can follow to upskill myself? The answer is yes! Let me tell you a bit of the 70-20-10 learning framework.
- 70% of your new skills can be learned from doing. You can ask for new tasks at work, apply for a secondment or participate in professional volunteering. These activities can help you accumulate the required experience for your future.
- 20% of your new skills can be learned from others. Coaching, mentoring, and attending industry events are widely available options to you.
- 10% of your new skills can be learned from formal learning. Courses and certifications, if chosen wisely, will give you a decent return on investment.

To help you best bridge your skill and experience gaps, I have created a 1-pager diagram for your kick-start. It is based on my own professional development experience and the successful mentoring sessions that I have provided to my mentees in the last 7 years.

If you follow the 3 steps plan, make sure you set up regular checkpoints to reflect your progress. Adjust your approach as required. If you show your commitment, I don’t see why you cannot achieve your goal after a reasonable period of time. So, I wish you good luck and be part of your own success in the year ahead.

Reference:

Australia’s version of the ‘great resignation’ revealed as staff swap jobs, Sydney Morning Herald, https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/australia-s-version-of-the-great-resignation-revealed-as-staff-swap-jobs-20211111-p5984f.html
Who Is Driving the Great Resignation?, Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2021/09/who-is-driving-the-great-resignation
How To Talk To Your Boss About Career Advancement in 9 Steps, Indeed, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-talk-to-boss-about-career-advancement

Improving Project and Engagement Management Performance

Written by George Pitagorsky on August 3, 2021. Posted in Articles.

Project management is a business process. Like all business processes, it is subject to improvement.

This article addresses the relationship between project and engagement management and the improvement program that seeks to optimize their performance to satisfy stakeholder expectations. Wise organizations and teams seek to continuously improve processes to optimize performance. That is what assessments, coaching, consulting, and training are about. Wise individual practitioners also seek to continuously improve processes to optimize performance. They learn new skills, keep an open mind, and cultivate adaptability and resilience. Both organizations and individuals understand the need to define their performance values and indicators so they can measure improvement success.

No Process is an Island

No business process is an island. Project management is performed within an enterprise. It is integrated into engagement management, new product development, maintenance, facilities management, or other processes. While improving a process like project management, be careful not to sub-optimize other related processes. Pay attention to the “system” as a whole and its goals and values. See the article Vision and Systems View to Improve Performance.

Engagement Management

Engagement management encompasses the full range of activities from the initial contact with prospective clients, through the identification and qualification of opportunities, proposal development/quotations, portfolio-level decision making, negotiating and closing the sale, delivery and managing the ongoing relationship, including billing and the extension of services over time to serve the client’s evolving needs.

Engagement management is not limited to business-to-business organizations like consulting and engineering firms that sell services. In-house software development groups and other groups that perform projects to serve operational departments within their enterprise can gain from taking an engagement management approach.

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Improvement Is a Program

To improve any process, treat improvement as a program. If sustained optimal performance is a goal (if it isn’t, think about that!), then coordinate assessment, consulting, coaching, and training to achieve the results you want.

This means going beyond courses and a training curriculum to a formal performance enhancement program with acknowledged leadership, a plan, multiple coordinated improvement projects and training, and regular assessment and review to measure progress and adjust accordingly.

Focused skills training is a vital part of any improvement program. However, unless it is part of an overall program it is likely to go to waste or be far less effective than expected. For example, training a cadre of project managers on how to schedule and manage risk more effectively may make those managers better at performing those tasks but can lead to conflict with management, staff, salespeople, and clients. Training salespeople in contact and closing skills can bring in more sales. But organizational performance can suffer unless the participants have learned about and are accountable for a “sale’s” profitability and that they understand delivery pipelines.

A program to improve engagement performance includes project management courses for both hard-core PMs and other stakeholders, sales training, methodology training, emotional intelligence and mindfulness training, relationship and communications training, performance assessments, regular facilitated reviews, and team and individual coaching to better enable putting skills to work collaboratively.

Evaluating Results

The Kirkpatrick training evaluation model is as applicable to projects and client engagement as it is to training. The model rates training in four levels – Reaction (Did participants like it? Are stakeholders happy?), Learning (Were skills and concepts learned? Were objectives met?), Behavior (were learned skills applied? Was the product used?), and Results (Were desired performance improvements realized?).

The reaction is easy to measure. Learning is a bit more complex but still not so difficult. These two are measured at training time, or, in the case of projects, upon project or phase completion. Behavior and Results require assessment over time. Behavior assessment is easy if leadership understands that for skills and products to be useful, they must be used. To determine if they are used requires resources, assessments, and reporting.

Results are the bottom line. Measuring results is not so easy and is frequently not done. It requires clarity about performance indicators, a baseline, regular and ongoing review, and recognition that multiple interacting factors drive results like greater profitability and higher quality.

Desired Project and Engagement Management Results

When we focus on projects, the desired results are outcomes that consistently meet stakeholder expectations (including benefits realization) by delivering the agreed-upon product or service, on-time and within budget.

When using the term “stakeholder”, remember that it refers to anyone who may impact or be affected by the project, including project performers. Optimally, a project results in a viable product or service that makes a positive difference in terms of cost and effort reduction, improved quality, profitability, and healthy client and staff relations.

To determine if an engagement is successful, it is necessary to look at relationships over time and across multiple projects with the same client. Measure financial and social impact regularly. Recognize that the value of many, if not most, products and services are the result of sustained use and the effectiveness of maintenance, enhancement, support, and customer service. Measure the degree to which project and service staff are happy, healthy, and can sustain effective performance without burning out. Assess attitudes, turnover rates, productivity vs. effectiveness, and the degree to which conflicts are effectively resolved.

Optimizing Performance

Achieving optimal performance requires an improvement program that combines assessment, coaching, consulting, and training to ensure that desired results are achieved consistently over time. Because improvement occurs through a program its success is measured in the same way any program is measured – have desired results been achieved?

Optimal performance relies upon healthy projects within a well-oiled engagement management process in which success boils down to achieving value and stakeholder satisfaction. An improvement program is essential. Success requires a “contract” and a governance process. The contract (we use the term to include any agreement) provides the objective criteria for measuring success. The governance process makes sure that the flow of improvement and operational projects is moderated to satisfy client expectations, maximize value, and not overburden the performance staff. It considers success from an enterprise perspective.

Training Your Mind to Stay Focused

Written by George Pitagorsky on February 10, 2021. Posted in Articles. 11 Comments on Training Your Mind to Stay Focused

Do you find yourself distracted, jumping from one thing to another, unable or unwilling to stay focused?

This “monkey mind” phenomena occurs at meetings, when reading, watching a video, writing, or creating a product, when in conversation, when meditating to cultivate calm and clarity of mind, or when relaxing and trying to fall asleep.

When working a project, staying focused on the tasks that will satisfy objectives is a critical success factor. Focused attention on a single task leads to greater performance effectiveness than popping from one thing to another.

The tendency to become distracted by monkey mind is not limited to project work. It occurs in every aspect of life.

One can exercise the mind to reduce the effects of “monkey mind” in meditation and in daily life, at work and at play.

Monkey Mind

“Monkey mind” is a mind that jumps from one thought to another, often unconsciously. Thoughts are triggered by the experience of another thought, a feeling, sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch. Something ‘interesting’ comes along and the mind is off and running. It spins a web of thoughts, elaborates on the experience; repeats. Some thoughts lead to actions, others to obsessing about some fantasy, worry, experience, or any concept and the feelings it brings up.

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For example, here is a sequence that took place over half an hour, moving from observations to feelings, thoughts, activities, more observations, feelings, thoughts, etc.

Objective – verify when a new policy is to begin by emailing Amanda, the administrator
Go to the email program to compose the email
Notice a new batch of emails
Feel annoyance about the number of junk emails
Obsess a bit about the “junk” proliferation
Review and delete junk emails
Notice an interesting email with a quote from Ram Dass’ Words of Wisdom
Contemplate the wisdom (this could set the mind off on a major diversion)
Deciding to not take the diversion, copy the quote into Evernote for later reading
Tag the note to a writing project
Return to the email list
Notice an email from one of the writing project team members
Respond to that email
Write a short email to the writing project team about the quote
Return to the emails and finish reviewing
Write and send the email to Amanda
Create this list in Evernote
Write notes about the list and the concept of monkey mind.
Create this article.

Distractions

This tendency for thoughts to proliferate and to become entangled in a web of feelings, mental commentary and actions is natural. Everyone experiences it from time to time. There are distractions and we are often easily distracted.

Sometimes a message comes in that starts another chain of events that may go on for hours moving from one thing to another. Then there is the break for coffee or conversation with a co-worker. Or, any number of other things.

The initial objective may be forgotten for days or until something comes up to trigger a need to get back to getting it done. If the wisdom quote in step 7 triggered writing an article about the content of the quote, instead of putting the quote aside for later use, the diversion could have taken many hours.

The chain from the initial objective through its accomplishment took a half hour. Without the distractions, writing and sending the email to Amanda would have taken less than five minutes, with no risk of getting lost in the chain. Further, process quality and project management wisdom, including Critical Chain/Theory of Constraints, tells us that productivity and the quality of the outcome are enhanced by staying focused on one objective at a time – minimizing distractions and their effects.

Reduce Distractions

To minimize distractions and their effects, you have two challenges, 1) reduce the number of distractions and 2) better manage the distractions that will not go away. Yes, you can minimize the number and frequency of distractions, but you cannot eliminate them.

You can reduce the number and frequency of external distractions like pings and rings, by turning off notifications and devices (if you dare take the risk of missing something really important). Treat your solo work sessions as if they were meetings with an important stakeholder. Do not allow interruptions for the length of your work session.

Unless you are a “surgeon” who must respond to emergency calls to action, you can be “off the grid” for an hour or so without fear of the world ending unless you take the call or respond to the text immediately. If you do have emergency response responsibilities or high priority callers, set up your devices to filter out everything or everyone else.

When it comes to internal distractions – thoughts and feelings – reducing the distracting events is not so easy. It is hard to stop the mind from thinking or stop yourself from feeling angry, sad, frustrated, when triggered.

Train the Monkey

The second challenge is to better manage distractions. It begins by seeing the monkey mind for what it is and to train it to think and decide before jumping. And, to do that in a way that enables the kind of adaptive flow that promotes creativity and ease of being.

When you train the monkey, you can just go along in a stream of consciousness or pull back and stay on a chosen object – the task at hand or the content in your conversation or article.

The monkey is not some primate that lives in your mind. It is the habit of grasping at the next “interesting” thing (thought feeling, sound, image, etc.) that comes up. It might be something pleasant or painful. The more interesting it is, the stickier it gets. Sticky thoughts attract and adhere to other related thoughts and feelings. A momentum builds and the mind is off in a new direction. The more momentum, the stronger the new chain. The stronger the chain the more difficult it is to break it and get back to the chosen object of your attention or the chain of thought that you were on before the distraction.

To break the habit, apply the effort required to cultivate mindfulness and concentration. That effort begins with the intention to be more in control of where your mind goes and what you do with it. Then you find a meditation discipline to use to exercise the part of your mind that decides what to do. You use formal and informal meditation techniques to confront and quiet the monkey mind. You increase your mindful awareness so that you can recognize distractions as they occur and get back to your chosen object before the distraction takes hold.

What are the techniques?
Check out the videos at www.Self-AwareLiving.com/videos.

How long does it take to train the monkey?
As consultants and project managers say, “It depends.” The factors are strength of your intention, the effort you put in, the monkey’s willfulness and strength. With practice you can see some results in a few weeks, but don’t be impatient, taming the mind, like keeping your body in shape, is a process.

How much time and effort do I have to spend?
Not as much as you may think. It can be anywhere from five to twenty minutes of formal practice and intentional attention during the day, integrated into the daily routine so no extra dedicated time is needed.

You may want to checkout my past PM Times article, How to Mindfully Manage Emotions at https://www.projecttimes.com/george-pitagorsky/how-to-mindfully-manage-emotions.html. It contains an instruction for a formal mindfulness practice.