November 26, 2008 – Watery Lessons

I'm in the middle of a "working vacation." Those are the ones you use to catch up on all the pieces that have been dropped over the last several weeks...or months. This blog was supposed to be one of those things. I had one topic started, but ran the concept by the Computerworld Project Management Editor. She likes it, so I will be developing an article on it...which means I needed another topic for the blog.

I was considering this while swimming with my daughters here in Palm Springs. We were having contests to see who could make it across the pool underwater without surfacing. That hit pretty close to some of the projects I have been on. What I observed was:

Disorientation. Once under water your senses diminish. Your eyesight becomes limited and your ears are muffled. You think you are heading in the right direction but end up arcing away from the target. In the middle of a project your focus can wander from your objectives, flooded by the Olympic sized pool full of meetings, tasks, resources, activities and all the other objects floating around you.

Go back and revisit your project charter. Look at what you promised the business. Are you still on track? Are you delivering what you said you would? Is your critical path backing up? Check your meetings to see if they are killing time or being productive. Swimming faster won’t help until you get your project pointed in the right direction.

Urge to Quit. While trying to cover the widest length of the pool, I found myself despairing over the distance and wanting to give up. I took two more strokes and realized I could finally see the end. I kicked through and made it all the way.

I’ve bumped into a couple of project managers lately that are wondering if it is time to find another job. Frankly, if the economy was better, they probably would have been gone by now.

If you haven’t already, create your own personal list of tasks and see how far you have to swim. Then, set closer goals. Fight the urge to quit and take it one stroke at a time.

Catch your Breath. At the end of the day, it is only a job. I spent over two hours in the pool horsing around with my daughters. In the greater scheme of life, that was by far more important than the two hours I spent answering work related emails. Go ahead. Take time to catch your breath before diving back in.

October 27, 2008 – Back to the Basic: Communication – How

Once, in the midst of a long distance relationship I had the grand idea of sending a Western Union Telegram to my girlfriend. From my vast knowledge of telegrams, based solely on movies and TV, I knew that every time you put a period they say "STOP" to indicate the end of the sentence. I envisioned a hand delivered envelop with the words “Don’t STOP loving me and I won’t STOP loving you” on Western Union paper. I think they took my $20 and placed a phone call instead that incoherently said "Don't loving me and I won't loving you."

Telegrams were a great way to express you feelings in the 1800’s but by the 1980’s it was out dated. Sometimes you know what to say and when to say it but fail to be heard because of how you choose to say it.

How to be Heard. When deciding how to get your message out, you need to consider both the method and content.

The method does matter. There are the normal methods:

• Phone. Great for quick answers and to give initial direction. Not so good for detailed instructions or approvals.
• Voice Mail. Excellent for letting people know you called and for playing phone tag. Don’t rely on it to guarantee the message was conveyed or that action will be taken.
• Instant Messaging. Good tool to exchange ideas and verify progress.
• Email. Reliable for giving more detailed instructions and receiving approval. Not very personal and can lead to chaos when everyone replies to everyone else.
• Teleconference. When your team is half way around the world, email doesn’t cut it. It can take 2 days to convey a message. Scheduling a teleconference can clarify the conversation quickly.
• Webex / GoToMeeting. Web meeting tools that allow you to share your desktop information make it possible for you to run your business from practically anywhere.
• Get out of your seat. The personal touch allows you to observe the non-verbal aspects of communication like body language, eye contact, gestures and facial expressions. When other methods fail, it may be worth the trip down the hall or across the world.
• Video Conference. The next best thing to being there. Setting up a web cam on both ends of the world can be relatively cheap and net big benefits.

Sometimes you have to think beyond the normal to get your message across.

• Go Big. The company I work for owns a plotter for printing poster size images. Some statements need to be loud. Skywriting might be a little much.
• Websites / SharePoint. A central location for communicating project updates is a great means to keep the team, management, end users and other key stakeholder informed.
• Hand Written. In an age of electronic everything, sometimes the best communication is a hand written note. It can be a card of encouragement, a sticky note of thanks or a message on the whiteboard.

Content clarifies. Here are some simple things that will help get you heard clearer.

• Check the Spelling. I recently received a high glossy postcard from my insurance company. They spelled the word “their” wrong…twice. It doesn’t instill a large amount of confidence in the company.
• Reread it for clarity. Some sentences make their own nonsense…like this one. Often I review what I think is brilliant writing and find it muddled.
• Shorten it. As you reread, look for simpler, more concise ways to communicate your thoughts.

In the end, you need to merge the What, When and How to get your message across.

By the way, that long distance relationship? We just passed our 19th wedding anniversary.