Category Archives: Information

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Decisions – What they tell about you!

At so many times we hit a cross road in our lives. A choice we need to make, or an important decisions that can alter the course of our future. Sometimes it is not as earth shattering in our opinion and consider as small or easy choices we make. But whether big or small, every choice has a trade-off. Now a trade-off is normally seen as the opportunity costs of a decision. So it relates to the choice you did NOT make, the options you did NOT choose or the opportunity you missed because you did not make such or such a choice. Very little of us reachoiceslly think about the trade-offs in the decisions we make, and if we do, they normally relate to only the big decisions and the direct implications of our choices. There are however plenty of indirect trade-offs’ to our decisions that affect our relationships with others and will follow us unknowingly.

A decision made provide clues to who you are, what your values/priorities are, what is at the core of your character and what you are willing to sacrifice. It provides a glimpse into the unspoken world of individuals and either lead to a confirmation or a changed view of character. It sheds the light on areas that we might not feel so proud of, or alternatively areas that we need to exploit more often. Whether positive or negative, the trade-offs normally have a ripple effect socially that is often ignored.

Does this now imply we need to be afraid to making a choice? No, it just means that when you choose, know that the choice you made gave a message to those around you and will be an unspoken witness to the person you really are. Therefore choose wisely.

The Office Move

My Office space

My Office space

For those of you that attended some of our Microsoft Project courses, would be reminded of an example we use, called the “Office Move”. This exercise allows you to create a schedule for a project to move offices and entailed having a proper work breakdown structure implemented with dates and resource assignment the toot. Well in May we decided to move office and as we specialise in Project Management, attached the project in a structured and purposeful way. We had to think of moving our telephone lines, cancel the short term insurance for the PABX and make sure we can fit into the new space with all of our furniture. Decisions were to be made as to what had to go and how to move, who would be getting some office hand me downs and who would be involved in the actual move. Simple right?

In the middle of it all however, was this one item, a cupboard that was the origin for plenty a debate. From the start it did not conceptually fit, but some on the team felt that, seeing we were moving into a smaller space, could do with the extra packing space. We did not reach a decision and left this so called elephant in the room. We had those that supported the cupboard to be moved, and those opposing the idea.

So after plenty of planning the big move day, the 1st of May 2015 finally arrived. As we did not have much to do, the family had to step in. So early the morning they were literally pulled from the bed to be on their post. The fact that I got them to do this was short of a miracle as the last time we moved offices they vowed never to help again. We had all the boxes packed and it was literally just a matter of dissembling and loading the furniture, move it and assembling it at our new offices. All but for that one cupboard…

The trailer arrived to pick up the last batch of furniture at our old office and there we were once again confronted by this one thing we could not reach a consensus on. After another debate, and being pushed by fatigue a decision was made to leave this cupboard behind and make a call later. Needless to say that the monument of indecisiveness is still at the old office.

In everything there is always a lesson to be learned, and so in this long story lies the realisation that indecisiveness can be quite costly. Sometimes you need to just make the call and live with it. So for those that have been to our offices in the past, find attached a few pictures of our new place. Pop in for some coffee. We would love to welcome you.

Scatter cushions: A need or a fallacy

I do not know about you, bScatter Cushionsut I fell into the trap of buying scatter cushions for our bedroom. Wow was I impressed with the new modern look it gave to what was once a very old and historic view of our main bedroom. The excitement lasted for a month or two until I realised that what I bought only goes with certain of the bedding I had in my cupboard. Every time we changed the sheeting I had to rethink the arrangement and every morning what seems to be a quick job in getting the bed made, turned into an extended artwork. This might be slightly over exaggerated, but what once was the cause of excitement, turned into an obligation literally overnight.

In project management, we tend to do the same. We start off strong with excitement and establish rules and regulations that according to us add value, and will help us to manage our projects properly. Very soon we realise that the rules we have laid down at the beginning was really unpractical or did not suite the need of this particular project. Well it looks great at the onset, and definitely portrait a competent project manager, but in reality it adds red tape with very little value. Some then have a kneejerk reaction and end up doing the opposite or getting rid of all rules, necessary and unnecessary. For others, the continued suffering through what was once a brilliant moment in an ill-advised project.

Don’t get me wrong, project governance is necessary, but needs to fit both the environment and the requirements of the project. You should be creating balance between control and execution and allow sufficient flexibility in your organisation to be able to fast track projects that has a limited window of opportunity. It is better to set fewer rules at the beginning, and drive compliance into what can be later become habitual behaviour for your team. You can then always add more as you go along, and so create a team than can cope within the rules set. Remember less is more!