Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 03:39 AM
Career Saving Tip #80:
The next time your meetings begin to go off topic, try using a statement similar to the ones below to get the meeting back on track.
Statement 1: "That is wonderful dialogue, but it's a little off topic from what we are currently discussing. Let's table that discussion for now, and come back to it later. If we run out of time today, we'll start with that topic during our next meeting."
Statement 2: "Thank you very much for bringing that potential issue to the team's attention. Right now we're talking about [insert the topic]. In interest of time, let's finish discussing this, and then we can begin discussing the issue you mentioned in more detail."
Statement 3: "I believe you brought up a very valid point and want to make sure we have enough time to address it. So, I've written it down and if you'll allow us to finish up this discussion, we'll move right into discussing your topic."
Statement 4: "We have a very full agenda today, and I want to be respectful of everyone's time. Let's try to get through the agenda first, and depending on where we are with time, we can discuss your topic before the end of our time together."
NOTE:
The sample statements above are for situations when the topic brought up is a valid one for the project, just brought up at a poor time during the meeting. If you have a situation where your team members are discussing something completely unrelated to the project, you must redirect in a much different manner.
Some steps you can take to get your meeting back on track when dealing with team members who are either having "side bar" conversations or who bring up topics for discussion that are clearly irrelevant to the project are:
Step 1: Ask in a very calm and professional manner that the person(s) hold their conversation/topic until after the meeting.
Step 2: In a more stern, yet professional and still calm, manner remind the person(s) that you are all there to reach a common goal and that in interest of time they really need to hold their conversation until the meeting has ended.
Step 3: Cause the team to go to break (depending on how long the meeting is you may have to cause the team to reconvene at a later time) and speak with the person(s) directly regarding their disruption and apparent disregard for the team's time and success of the project. You may also need to involve the persons' supervising manager at this point.
Step 4: If you've gotten this far and the behavior continues you should pursue the replacement of that person(s) on your core team.
Be sure to document everything, so that it does not come back to bite you later.
Talibah Adenouga, PMP
Founder of JANOP
tadenouga@janop.com
www.janop.com
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Saturday, October 6, 2007, 12:25 PM
One of the greatest stress relievers in life is laughter. So, here is a joke for those days when you need a quick relief.
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Joke 1: Quoted from unknown author
A project manager and two programmers are working on an urgent project. One day they decide to walk to the nearby beach during their lunch hour. Halfway up the beach, they stumble upon a lamp. As they rub the lamp a genie appears and says “normally I would grant you 3 wishes, but since there are 3 of you, I will grant you each one wish.”
One of the programmers says, “I’d like to spend the rest of my life living in Hawaii, in a huge house, with no money worries and surrounded by beautiful women who worship me.” The genie grants his wish and sends him off to Hawaii.
The next programmer says, “I would like to spend the rest of my life living on a huge yacht cruising the Mediterranean, with no money worries and surrounded by beautiful women who worship me.” The genie grants his wish and sends him to the Mediterranean.
Then finally the genie asks the project manager, “And what would your wish be?”
The project manager replies, “I want them both back after lunch."
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I thought that was absolutely hilarious. I hope you enjoyed it too. Kudos to whoever came up with that joke.
Talibah Adenouga, PMP
Founder of JANOP
tadenouga@janop.com
www.janop.com
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Saturday, September 15, 2007, 11:57 AM
After you have developed your project requirements, determined and received approval for your project budget, developed your project plan or timeline, developed an issues or status log, as well as a risk document and contingency plan, executing the project is gravy and pretty uneventful until launch. However, before you kick your feet up, you should hold a “Go / No Go” meeting. This is a meeting where you sit down with your team and get a vote from each team member on whether to move forward with project implementation or delay launch.
You should hold your Go / No Go meeting at least 2 weeks prior to the launch date of your project. You should document the time and date of when this meeting was held, the name of the persons who attended, each person’s Go / No Go vote, and each person’s role or the group they are representing. On the meeting invitation for your Go / No Go meeting, you should request that those who cannot attend reply to your e-mail with their vote. Then keep the response provided or follow up with that group if no response is given.
You can use the Go / No Go Register example, accessible via the "related link" below, as a tool to help you record the votes from team members on whether you should move forward with the launch of the project.
Remember to document the votes of the project team members, and their role during the project. The last you want is for a team to get upset with you about something you implemented and not be able to show them that their team's representative was fully aware and agreed to move forward with the project.
Talibah Adenouga, PMP
Founder of JANOP
tadenouga@janop.com
www.janop.com
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Thursday, August 23, 2007, 11:27 AM
Once everything is said and done, the project has been launched and all post implementation issues have been resolved, it is important to formally close out the project by creating a close out binder. If you create a close out binder, you can refer anyone to that binder when a question arises about the project. This will allow you to separate yourself from the project after you’ve implemented it.
At a minimum, the project binder should include the following:
- Project team roster or a list of individuals on your core team, including their role during the project
- A copy of all the detailed meeting minutes you created
- Requirements Document
- Issues or Status Log
- Project Timeline
- Risk Document
- Project Budget
- Lessons learned
- Go / No Go Document
- Outcome of the project
- Post implementation issues and resolution steps taken
- Any additional documents or information you feel necessary, such as exceptional activities taken that were "outside of procedure/process" but necessary for implementation of the project and clear executive/leadership approval of such activities.
Formally closing out your project with a close out binder is very important if you want to seperate yourself from the project after it's been implemented. It is also important for those times when you have to quickly explain why you did certain things that may seem questionable at first glance.
The last thing you want is for someone to ask you a question about the project three years down the line, and you either cannot remember or have to spend hours, even days, trying to find supporting documentation for what you did and why...especially if there is a potential legal issue.
So, be sure to take a little time to create your close out binder. You'll be glad you did.
Talibah Adenouga, PMP
Founder of JANOP
tadenouga@janop.com
www.janop.com
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007, 06:22 AM
Conflict arises when two groups or individuals have strong views that are in opposition, and neither wants to abandon their position. When it does arise, managing conflict is not always easy, but definitely achievable.
Healthy conflict, such as disagreements, can be beneficial to your project, because it can bring to the surface new and innovative ideas that may not have been identified otherwise.
Conflict becomes a problem the moment it stops being a discussion where two parties are sharing differing opinions based on fact, to two parties having a heated argument based on emotion.
Conflict should not be suppressed. However, both healthy and negative conflict should be addressed immediately.
Whether you encourage those involved to share their conflicting views in a respectful manner or you have to step in and resolve the conflict before it becomes counterproductive, make sure you acknowledge and address the conflict in some way.
The first step to resolving any issue is a proactive one. So, you should strive to reduce the risk of unhealthy conflict arising by maintaining an environment of respect, trust, and open communication.
Since conflict may still arise, even in an extremely positive environment, here's how to handle it.
You should intervene to resolve conflict:
- before the persons involved begin to personally attack each other
- when the disagreement begins to turn into an emotional debate
- when it starts affecting the project and the other team members in a negative way
When you intervene to resolve a conflict, you must:
- listen carefully to both sides
- remain neutral
- ask open-ended questions to encourage dialogue
- observe the emotions of the persons involved
- help the persons involved see things from each other’s perspective
- help the persons come to a compromise that suits both parties
Although you may have to address conflict during your meeting, to prevent it from escalating, make sure you follow-up with the persons “offline” by speaking with them when there is no audience. Remember, your objective is to encourage an environment of team work, not to embarrass the team members.
Consider speaking with each person individually, and then talk through the conflict with them collectively. This will make your efforts to resolve the conflict much more effective.
Remember to maintain an environment of respect, trust, and open communication, in an effort to reduce conflict. When conflict does arise, be sure to intervene quickly and respectively.
Talibah Adenouga, PMP
Founder of JANOP
tadenouga@janop.com
www.janop.com
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