Tag Archives: lessons learnt

What is in the heart …

HeartJudit Estrin stated the following about Silicon Valley: ” What happened over the last couple of years is the Valley lost its association with being the place where you were in love with technology and innovation, and became the place where you are in love with getting rich.”  This statement so often represents how we feel about projects. At the starting out of a project the project gets the necessary focus from the executive team, the project manager is highly excited and the team is motivated.

However as time goes by we lose that initial excitement and it gets replaced with tracking of money spent, changing requirements of the user audience and detriment about the deadlines we missed. And so the big picture got lost in the detail of the day.

The challenge, to kindle and protect the initial passion and purpose of a project, remains. The first step towards conquering the challenge lies in the vision of a project. Richard N Bolles writes: “The clearer the vision of what you seek, the closer you are in finding it. Without properly understanding the purpose and vision of a project, and the constant communicating of that vision to the team and all involved, the easier it is, to lose sight of it half way through.

The second step is to personalise the vision. Why does this project matter, why are you involved and how does it help you to achieve your purpose in life. Sure thing we all want money so that we can live more comfortably and so we often choose careers that can give that to us. But at some time in our lives we realise that the small things actually became the big things.  We are bigger than the job we do and the salary we pocket every month, and by realising that we can achieve fulfilment in the everyday life.

Thirdly it is important to create intervals in the project life cycle where we stop, mentally get out of the project and re-evaluate. Some questions we need to ask ourselves are:

  • Are we still in alignment with the goals we set out to achieve?
  • Is the project still relevant, or has the environment or the needs of the users changed significantly?
  • Can we do this better?

These pit stops will help us to refocus on the game plan ahead and will allow us the opportunity to confirm the vision of the project both on a business and personal level. It would keep the passion that is within our hearts for the project also in our work.

Written By:  Lizette Venter

Thought Friday

Friday afternoon always ends up to be a lazy time for me, where I rage a battle of mind and will. There is normally two ends to the stick, a desperate need to work off my “to do” list for the week and my total lack of motivation. I can relate very well to a quote by Medea that stated: “I am dragged along by a strange new force. Desire and reason are pulling in different directions. I see the right way and approve it, but follow the wrong.”

During these battles I came to realise that we can still produce some amazing stuff during these off beat times, that has nothing to do with what is on the proverbial to-do list. In all honesty they are quite necessary for survival. It requires the following material…a high back chair that has one of those foot rests (in the absence of a foot rest, use the desk surface, it works just as well)…a nice cup of tea and a do not disturb sign for the door. Once you have all of the above, ensure the sign is up at the door, the room is nice and quiet and your chair and feet are in the right position while you enjoy the cup of tea.

Now here is what you start thinking about:

  1. What went well in the week that passed? Anything I am proud of or feel I did well?
  2. Ok so what did not go well?
  3. What should I do to continue on my winning streak, and how should I improve the areas identified that did not go so well?
  4. From all the things I identified, what do I need to work at that would benefit me the most?
  5. Who can I ask to help me this week with to help me change things?

There is a big correlation between these 5 steps and what needs to happen at a team review meeting, with the one exception of a 6th step that relates to motivation. We tend to use team review meetings as blame and shame sessions with no real proactive mechanism to change. The only effect this approach has is to de-motivate the team and reduce individual morale.  By following the simple recipe above, we might be able to create an environment where we support one another more than breaking each other down. An environment where we can think about the project we are undertaking in a proactive, positive and relaxed way.  Let us know how this worked for you by leaving a comment!

Written by Lizette Venter

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net