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By Margaret Meloni Leave a Comment

One Small Change Equals One Big Deal

“How could changing a few words in one simple sentence lead to such an uproar?” June thought, incredulous at how upset some of her members were with her. All she had done was update a sentence or two in one of the high-level requirements. It had been a last minute change that she included just before she sent the document off for approval. Her only purpose in making the change was to improve the document. As the project manager, she did not think that she needed to run every single word she wrote by her team.

June had sent the final version of the document out last evening just before she went home. It was now barely 10 am the next day, and she had received negative feedback from more than half of her team members. It was not until Peter, her project sponsor stopped by that June began to understand that perhaps her improvements were not such a great idea.

“June, part of me wants to sign this charter. “ Peter said. “But I cannot sign it with a clear conscience because you and the team cannot deliver what you promised.”

“What do you mean?” asked June.

Peter outlined the problem for June:

“The draft that we agreed upon made this statement: The project team will answer business unit questions related to product enhancements and investigate potential issues reported to them by the business unit during the product roll out.

You changed that to say: The project team will answer all product-related questions and provide full support to the business unit during the product roll out.   Do you understand the difference?”

June replied that she thought that the updated sentence was more concise and better-expressed support of the product and the business unit. Peter agreed that the updated sentence indicated better support of the business unit. In fact, it expressed support that June’s team would not customarily provide. The reason that June’s team was freaking out was that her updates placed them entirely into the product support role. The business unit owned support of the product; the team helped them with questions and issues as the business unit became comfortable with the enhancements.

It was then that June had an epiphany. In her attempt to put her stamp on the requirements, she had changed the meaning and the intention of those requirements. No wonder her team was so upset by her updates. If Peter had signed the document, her team would have been committed to providing services that they could not and should not provide.

June thanked Peter profusely and went off to call her team together to offer her apologies.

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Filed Under: career, Communication, Job Performance Tagged With: document improvements, high level requirements, requirements

By Margaret Meloni Leave a Comment

Please Take a Break!

“Sometimes it is important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it’s essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.”
– Douglas Pagels

 

If taking time away from work and errands and being productive and busy is not something you do on a regular basis, please reconsider! In today’s world, many of us consider taking time to do nothing as the ultimate luxury. Who can afford to talk a walk in the middle of the workday? Who has time to sit and just breathe? You do!

The challenge for many of us is nagging feelings of guilt. You have so much to do and you cannot figure out the solution to this one specific problem. You do not deserve a break until you know how to resolve the problem and you know that you are going to make your deadline. This is the exact time when you should take a break. Don’t feel guilty if you look at pictures and videos of puppies and kittens. Research has shown that participants performed tasks better AFTER looking at pictures of baby animals.

Don’t trust me trust science. Taking a break will actually help to ensure that you are working on the right priorities. Taking a break does not take you off course it actually keeps you on track.

University of Illinois psychology professor Alejandro Lleras explains:

“…Deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused,” he said. “From a practical standpoint, our research suggests that, when faced with long tasks (such as studying before a final exam or doing your taxes), it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself. Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task!” (www.open.buffer.com/science-taking-breaks-at-work)

When you take a break, your mind is not totally idle. So if you are still worried that taking a break is preventing you from problem solving, it is in fact the opposite. Taking breaks helps with problem solving. Some of your brain activity increases when you daydream and when you let your mind wander. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley states that while we do need to focus, we also need to enter a state called the diffuse mode. Focusing blocks us from this mode. Relaxing allows us to enter this mode and it is while in the diffuse mode your subconscious mind chips away at the problem that you are trying to solve. (www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/08/inquiring-minds-barbara-oakley-learning-neuroscience)

At a higher level consider more than breaks during the workday. Consider taking an entire day off. No housework, errands, homework or work. And as an added bonus, perhaps even take a break away from all of your devices. Or at least stop checking your work messages!

So please, take a break and definitely take a day off. It’s good for you – personally and professionally.

Filed Under: Job Performance, Lessons Tagged With: mental breaks, take a break, taking a break

By Margaret Meloni Leave a Comment

One Bad Habit Away from Performing

“The only proper way to eliminate bad habits is to replace them with good ones.” – Jerome Hines

Joan was shocked. It was her first morning back from vacation and she returned to discover a note from her project manager, Mary Carol. The note said, “Before you do ANYTHING, come see me. Seriously, do not get coffee, do not open up your laptop and check emails, just come to my office.”

Joan could not imagine how she could have gotten into trouble. She had been out of the office on a scheduled vacation for the past two weeks. What could be so important that Mary Carol needed to see her before she jumped back into her work routine?

Little did Joan know that while she was away Mary Carol had been thinking about Joan and her work habits and how to change them. Joan was basically a good team member. Each morning Joan started out by walking to the break room for coffee. That was not an unreasonable routine. MOST of the team started off with coffee. Some walked in the door with coffee in their hands. The problem with Joan’s habit was that it also involved her starting conversations with just about everyone she met along the way. Joan’s morning cup of coffee was the equivalent of lunchtime for others. It took a big chunk out of Joan’s day and it was disruptive to those who crossed her path. Mary Carol had pointed this out to Joan on more than one occasion. Yet Joan failed to change her habit of chatting away her morning.

Mary Carol hatched a plan. Every morning she would make sure that Joan had an assignment that was due within the first ninety minutes of the day. She knew Joan well enough to know that she was excellent at meeting deadlines. If she could focus her attention on work BEFORE the extended coffee break began, she just might be able to get Joan to break her habit.

The first thing that Joan said to Mary Carol was, “I will get started as soon as I get a cup of coffee.” Mary Carol quickly replied, “You don’t have time for that now, let me bring you a cup of coffee.” For several days Mary Carol kept Joan on the same schedule. As soon as she arrived she was given an assignment and a tight deadline. After a couple of days, Mary Carol stopped bringing Joan a cup of coffee. Instead she walked with her to pick up the coffee while discussing the pending assignment. After a few more days she encouraged Joan to get cup a coffee and advised her that she would in fact be waiting for her at her desk. After ten days of no extended coffee breaks and on time assignments, Mary Carol presented Joan with a gift card for coffee. Out of habit on the eleventh day, Joan stopped by Mary Carol’s office first thing, without even being asked. On the twelfth day, Mary Carol left Joan a note about her assignment, but did not require her to come to her office. This new approach really helped Joan to get back on track with her work habits. She came in and got right to work. She did have a day or two where she fell back into her old habit, but when her colleagues asked her what she was working on that day, she remembered that she needed to get back to her desk and back to work.

You might wonder why Mary Carol went to all of this trouble for Joan. Why didn’t Mary Carol simply chastise her or threaten her with a poor performance review? Joan was an otherwise strong team member with a bad habit. She was worthy of the effort and investing time in her was well worth it. She simply needed help replacing her bad habit with a good one.

Filed Under: Job Performance Tagged With: bad habits, replacing a bad habit with a good one, team member with a bad habit

By Margaret Meloni 1 Comment

The BEST Way to Deliver Bad News

“Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.” Colin Powell

Delivering bad news does not have to be scary.
Delivering bad news does not have to be scary.

Unfortunately your best customer who is the sponsor for the project you manage just placed a freeze on all future project work. This is a big deal. One quarter of your organizations projected earning for the next six month is tied to those projects. You are upset and you know your management will be upset too. You also know that it is your responsibility to deliver the bad news.

This is not your favorite type of communication, but you have skills and you are going to handle it. The first thing that you do is take some time and process this information yourself. Then you schedule time with your manager for a discussion. This helps to ensure that you will be calm and your thoughts will be organized as you deliver the bad news.

This is an example of you preparing yourself emotionally.

 Before your appointed meeting time, you see your manager walking toward the cafeteria. You could tell her the bad news right now. But you know better, this is not the right time and place for the discussion. You simply advise her that you have set aside some time on her calendar for that afternoon.

This is an example of you paying attention to timing and setting.

As you prepare to deliver the bad news you decide to present three other very qualified customer leads who have the potential to bring in new business within the next few months. In this way you are not just dumping bad news on your manager, you are also bringing some potential solutions. Perhaps together you can go into problem-solving mode.

This is an example of you identifying solutions.

As you walk into her office, you search for something positive to say. You hate to just jump into the bad news (even though you have brought potential solutions). You do not butter her up to improve her mood by saying something like, “You can really tell that you have been working out.” You also do not go for a laugh by making jokes such as “Good news, we can cut back on overtime.” In this instance you realize it is not time for making up positive news.

This is an example of you appropriately deciding how to focus on the positive.

 In the past you would have been much more upset about this news. Right now, it is not as upsetting to you as you know that you will be leaving the organization very soon. Despite this, you are not insensitive to the feelings of others. As you discuss this challenge with your manager you do note that you understand just how upsetting this news is for her.

This is an example of you being genuine.

And if above approach looks a bit familiar, it is from our previous discussion on delivering bad news, where you took the short quiz on how to handle this exact situation: https://www.margaretmeloni.com/you-have-bad-news

What you just did was follow five recommended steps for delivering bad news:

Step 1 – Prepare yourself emotionally.

Step 2 – Identify solutions.

Step 3 – Pay Attention to Setting and Timing.

Step 4 – Be genuine.

Step 5 – Where appropriate, focus on the positive.

Way to go!

For additional help on how to deliver bad news (and earn a PDU), check out

‘How to Deliver Difficult News’ over on eLearning4PMs.com, there is an audio version: http://elearning4pms.com/how-to-deliver-difficult-news-audio-program/ and a video version: http://elearning4pms.com/how-to-deliver-difficult-news/

Filed Under: Communication, Job Performance, Leadership, Lessons Tagged With: Bad News, deliver bad news, delivering bad news

By Margaret Meloni Leave a Comment

Picture Perfect: 3 Attitudes that will Advance YOUR Career

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Filed Under: career, Inspirational, Job Performance, Personal Development Tagged With: 3 attitudes for success, act professionally, leadership qualities, Personal Development

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Being a project manager is no easy endeavor. You have to master BOTH the hard skills and the soft skills. You have to know how to create and manage project quality, project scope, schedule and budget AND create a high performing team. That is NOT easy. AND keep your certification current (or pursue your certification).

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