One Day Training Blog

Training weekend reflection

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 03:40:00 GMT

PowerTalk Training Weekend - Reflections

Recently I attended a weekend training workshop. It was more of a sharing of knowledge than a very formal workshop where the learning objectives were clearly laid out and there were nuggets of information that would make my life easier.

It was more about getting to know others in our community group, creating a sense of purpose. On reflection is was some of the key ingredients that we might expect from a group of people with similar interests and a desire to improve their skill set. It had the following:

We all knew and were keen on doing a good job e.g. sharing our knowledge and helping others to achieve improvements in their presentations and speeches.
We had a focus on making a contribution to each speakers self-development. Feedback was provided in a constructive, formal/guided way so that there were areas for improvement and action to be taken.
We created a supportive environment – attendees knew the struggles they had previously experienced from their time ‘at the front’ so were able to acknowledge the presenters situation. IT was an experience that fits not only the work situation but also your personal life.

For more information on PowerTalk you can view the website . Its a great community of people who really want to improve their skills. There is challenge in getting a speech done, satisfaction in getting constructive feedback about your speech and above all there is a community of people who want to improve each presentation - just like you!

Carol

carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

October 2022

C's of Social Media

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 04:16:06 GMT

Who knew? The 7 C's of Social Media

I've been asked to prepare a short workshop on Social Media. Where to start is the main problem! There is so much of it about and used widely everyday, for major events and minor events. I need to have some sort of structure to the workshop so, as is usual I researched what others have to say about it all. Believe me there is a lot written about the topic. However, I have found some useful stuff.

Here are the Seven C's of Social Media, adapted from Elizabeth Harrin's book: Social Media for Project Managers.

Community
Content
Collaboration
Communication
Constraints
Connectivity
Channels

Community : Creating a space to interact with each other.

Content : THE most important - is it relevant, up to date and of interest to the readers?

Collaboration : Working together, sharing, the many-to-many model of communication.

Communication : Sharing information via one to one channels or as above in collaboration.

Constraints : There are expectations for online talk and behaviour - after all it is the public domain.

Connectivity : being able to use the wi-fi and accessing all the tools and resources you need, both at work and at home.

Channels : The way the information gets delivered, which software platforms you are using.

So there it is, seven ways to think about and ponder how you are using your social media apps.

Carol Speirs

carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

September 2022

Reference: Harrin, E. (2010) Social Media for Project Managers , PMI. USA.

Three good things

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sat, 04 Jun 2022 22:19:13 GMT

Random thinkings* about things. A few recent observations and my thoughts on them.

PowerPoint – love it or hate it – its here to stay.

Sure, I can hear you say – there are other tools that you can use to create a presentation. OK I know that, but in general, whatever software you use its going to be ‘misused’ at some point.

When thinking about a presentation, use more pictures than words. Your slides should never carry the whole presentation. Start by creating your slides with all the key points on the slides, keep this as your handout version i.e. it has the fuller explanation of everything you need to get across.

Next, slash and burn most of the words, use headings, colour, graphics, photos to get the message understood. Of course, you may not be able to eliminate everything, but be ruthless. People have come to hear you, not see a bunch of text on screen that they could have read at their own desk.

What good is the B button?

While I’m on a rant about PowerPoint, (actually I am a fan of the software), did you know that you can use the B button on your keyboard to make the screen black? So, imagine if you will, that you want the group to discuss a point, or take a break, then press the B button and the slide is no longer visible. Yay, we can rest our eyes.

Did you know that the W will do something similar? Only it makes the screen white! Using these buttons gives you more control and allows the focus to go from the large screen back to the presenter.

Special Effects?

Animation and sounds may make your presentation “cutesy” and could negatively impact your credibility if they are overused. Think about the impact you want to create. Also think about your audience – are they children – then go ahead a use a lot of animation.

One last rant: Use good quality images that have been sourced either from free sites or you have paid for, nothing worse than seeing the image large on the screen with the copyright symbol or the graphic of the copyright owner showing – this tells people you don’t know what you are doing. Buy the image or get a free one. This will also ensure that your image maintains its impact and resolution when projected on a larger screen.

*OK I now the plural of thinking is thoughts, but I wanted to capture your attention!

Carol

July 2022

How to decide what the gems are in a project

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 15 May 2022 21:59:06 GMT

How to decide what the gems are in a project – using MOSCOW to prioritise requirements

You start on a new project. You are presented with a long list of the requirements, wants and needs that the customer says are essential for the success of the project. You sigh, read through the list a few times. You look at the exit door longingly. You may start to wonder if this project was such a good idea.

There is a way forward. You decide to get together with the customer representative, project team members, the sponsor and others who have a major stake in the project.

You explain that the purpose of the meeting is to prioritise the requirements so that you know which is the most important and must be included. The way to do this is to provide a thinking framework. You decide MoSCoW is the way to go.

You start by explaining the meaning of MoSCoW:

M – must have this requirement – the project will fail if we don’t get this.

S – should have – this item is highly desirable or important, but it is not a must have.

C – could have – nice to have this item, and will only have a small impact on the product if it is left out.

W – won’t have right now , this item won’t be included in this iteration or work package but may be considered again later.

You have a whiteboard and put up the headings at the top. Then using sticky notes with the requirements listed, you work with the group to discuss and decide where each requirement fits. Be prepared for passionate (read: heated) discussion on some items.

Finally, you have a more manageable list of must haves and should haves that you can work into the list of product requirements.

As the project progresses, you decide to hold another MoSCoW prioritisation meeting to work on the requirements list again. This will help work out the must have and should haves for new requirements and any requirements on the could have and won’t have lists.

Very rarely the stakeholders will say that everything this a must have. You could test this by asking “Would you put the product into use without this?” You are checking for viability. For example, Would you sell a new build home without a roof? Would you sell a new build home without a garage? Would you sell a new build home without a dishwasher?

The answers will demonstrate, from the client’s point of view, what is a must, what is a should and what is a could have. It will depend on the budget and expectations of the end user.

Tips:

Before running a MoSCoW analysis, a few things need to happen. First, everyone needs to be aligned with the project objectives and overall benefits. Also it’s a great idea to discuss how the group will settle any disagreements in prioritisation.

If you can establish how to settle disputes before they come up, you can help prevent those disagreements from holding up progress.

Carol Speirs

August 2022

carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Facilitating Groups

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sat, 07 May 2022 23:15:45 GMT

Facilitation Techniques to use with Groups

It can be hard, it can be challenging, but it can also be uplifting and rewarding. Facilitation of a group to work through a problem or gain insights, solve a problem or just to communicate better is both a science and an art.

Is it a process; how you do something. It is needed to generate the next steps for the group, so the facilitator acts as the guide. Through collaboration and cooperation everyone in the group can participate in the solutions or decisions to be made. It’s about getting the group unstuck, discovering the real problem, looking for assumptions and working on agreed solutions.

A useful definition is: “Facilitation is a purposeful, systematic intervention into the actions of an individual or group that results in an enhanced, ongoing capability to meet desired objectives.”

So what tools might a facilitator use to get the group collaborating? (some of these you will already be familiar with)

Paraphrasing – using your own words to check that you have understood the situation or question.

Summarising/reflection – providing a short break with a quick summary of the key points so far. Repetition will help ensure that everyone is agreed on what has been agreed.

Including quiet people – Ask for their opinion, or advice. Use their name to encourage them to speak. Ensure that they are in a small work group where they have the chance to speak up and not be overpowered by a stronger team member.

Probing Questions or reactions – work out the mood of the group, ask for a thumbs up or down to see what people think of an idea. Probing questions are intended to help the group think deeply about the issue. If a probing question doesn’t have that effect, it is either a clarifying question or a recommendation with an upward inflection at the end. Watch out: if you find yourself asking “Don’t you think you should …?” or “What would happen if …?” you’ve gone beyond a probing question to giving advice. The facilitator often doesn’t have an answer to a genuine probing question.

Being positive – not everyone is comfortable speaking in a group situation, but when they do offer some encouragement and praise for their engagement. Showing someone that their participation is valued helps them feel more confident.

As the facilitator you will need a range of skills, from simple – managing the time, to more complex like managing conflict and energy levels in the room. Research these skills via YouTube and online articles, many books are available too, either from libraries or downloads.

Carol Speirs

September 2022

" Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. "

- Dalai Lama

Reference

https://cupdf.com/document/masterful-facilitation-model-facilitation-ladder-basic-facilitation-skills-tot.html

resources for probing questions:

http://schoolreforminitiative.org/doc/probing_questions_guide.pdf

Illustration Reference

https://www.freepik.com/vectors/people'>People vector created by rawpixel.com

Gravity Works

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 03:48:44 GMT

Gravity Works

If you live with tile floors you know that at some point you will drop something like a cup or plate. Gravity works. You could plan for this by only having plastic or rubber cups and plates or you could have a series of mats, or more expensively change the whole flooring type.

It’s a great way of thinking about being prepared for what might/will happen on your project.

Think about when you are starting a project – what are the gravity works moments:

The end user or client is going to want to change something about the thing you are creating.
People on the team, doing the work, know stuff you don’t as project manager. They have skills, and can adapt and adopt new skills as they work.
The cost, time, quality, scope (insert any other factor) will cause you to worry, re-plan, add, delete or make a change to what is delivered.
Unexpected changes to upper level management, the technology, the environment, the pandemic levels will cause a gravity works moment.

Using Agile Project Management techniques will help. Only planning in small bursts (sprints), having a great feedback loop built in with the customers will help. Experimenting, demonstrations and user involvement in the product description and outcomes needed will go some way to mitigating the ‘gravity works’ moments.

Kanban is more than just a board on the wall, it works to limit work in progress so that you can plan what’s to be done and not stretch beyond breaking point. Again, it’s a technique to minimise the impact of gravity working.

Carol Speirs

1 September 2022

Free Project Management Guide

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 22:35:41 GMT

A free guide for July and August 2022

Project Management Course

I have been preparing for a course this week. I thought I could summarise the learning for my participants, so I created an A3 double sided handout. It's yours for free , if you email me your details. Just use the "Send us a Message" section at the bottom of this screen.

Carol Speirs

August 2022

Illustration credit: www.freepik.com/vectors/business

Using Journals for Self Development

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 23:21:12 GMT

Using Journals for Self Development

Do you ever take time to reflect on the events of the day? Do you think that it might be worthwhile recording what has happened and how it made you react or feel? There is benefit in doing this. It can help clear your mind, it can help you make sense of the impact, it can help you to take a breath and see if there might have been a better way to deal with the issue.

Writing a journal, it doesn’t need to be daily, helps you to reveal your thoughts. It is a piece of writing that is personal and unstructured. It is a tool that helps leasers undertake the reflection process to learn and grow in their leadership roles.

It shouldn’t just be a log of events. You need to uncover the impact of the issue on you. Spend some time thinking deeply about the ‘so what does this mean to me’ and ‘what do I need to do now’ and ‘how could I have done that better’. By writing things down, you get time to analyse your intentions and the outcomes of your actions.

A journal is not just a record that I go angry or frustrated, but explores why I was angry, what the triggers were, and whether I was justified in being angry.

The writing process becomes a powerful tool through which you can gain a clear view of yourself, behaviours and an explanation for events that occur around you.

Get yourself a journal, it doesn’t need to be fancy, just a writing book will do. Make the time to write and reflect.

Where to start?

Here are some useful prompts:

What is on my mind right now?
What do I need to get off my chest today?
What feels like a struggle at the moment?
As of today, what is my vision for my work or live in the next 2 years?
Record what makes you happy, your successes, and what you enjoy in your role.
Record your behaviours and thinking habits.

Do you keep a journal? What benefits have you seen for your self development?

Let me know: Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Cow Pats and Positive Risk

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 04:33:18 GMT

Cow Pats and Positive Risk

Let’s go back to basics. The international standard on risk management, ISO 31000, defines risk as “the effect of uncertainty on objectives”. You could argue that it is based on the fact that we live in an uncertain environment, of course we can’t predict the future or the impact of change.

As Project Managers we may have a tendency to think “what’s going to go wrong?” As we have all had projects go off the rails. However, we do need to remind ourselves that not all risks are negative. A risk could have a positive outcome. A good definition is: “a favourable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances”.

A positive risk in project management is actually a good thing for projects.

Before I go on, what is a positive risk?

We know that a a risk in project management is any unexpected event that could occur and impact your project’s objectives. Risks can be planned for – identifying, analysing and setting up mitigating actions. And we know about issues! The unknowables that turn up unexpectedly. They are happening now and need to be addressed. Someone once said you need to think of risk like cow pats (manure) you can plan ahead and wear suitable footwear (risk mitigation) but if you don’t and you step in a cow pat then that’s an issue.

Examples

Here are some positive risks in projects:

· A change in policy that could benefit your project.

· Change in Government could mean more funding for projects, or an easier path through the red tape.

· A technology currently being developed that will save you time.

· A request for additional resources, materials, tools, or training that will make your project more efficient if provided.

· A project deliverable is ready earlier than expected, or can move to testing/review earlier.

· Maybe your final deliverable might have more uses than you thought.

· Price changes that could benefit your project.

So finally, during a kick off meeting ask the question: “what could go better than expected?” This constructive mindset makes positive risks more obvious.

Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Risk Identification - should stakeholders help?

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 23 May 2021 00:38:59 GMT

Risk Identification - should stakeholders help?

Some say that risk identification and mitigation is one of the worst implemented project management processes within their organisation. Let’s face it; it’s time consuming, if a project risk register is actually created – no one keeps it up to date, some events are too generic and difficult to plan for and other risks are hard to quantify.

Then there is the question of how many people should the project manager consult or collaborate with to identify the risks? Should she get all stakeholders together to work through the ‘black hat / worst case scenarios’?

“A pessimist is an optimist with experience.” – Colleen Wilcox

The answer is: ‘it depends.’ How risk averse is the organisation? How willing are they to gamble their reputation, money or outcomes on the project? If they are willing to take the risk then go with just a few key stakeholders in a small risk workshop. If not, cast your net widely to get a broad coverage of people to ensure a variety of views. However, do watch out for redundant participants, you don’t need two people from the same department.

Think of the risk identification and mitigation workshop as insurance. You will think about, then describe the risk, decide on the likelihood and impact and give it a score. Then work on the mitigation activities. Getting input from others is valuable when trying to work out what to do about a risk to minimise either the impact or likelihood. Kiron Bondale says “The very definition of a project favours things to go wrong as we are trying to create a unique product, service or result.”

Another benefit of having stakeholders present at a risk workshop is that you will get more information about their attitude and belief in the project. Are they a supporter or detractor from the likely outputs of the project? They will share more in a workshop than a one-to-one conversation about their involvement. Pay attention to their words and stance as they discuss a risk strategy – are they leaning forward and interested or sitting back and disengaged? This will tell you a lot about their bias.

Do you agree?

Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Bondale, K. D. (2021) Easy in Theory, Difficult in Practice. Tellwell Talent, Canada

Image credit: Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

What do you value at work?

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 21:35:38 GMT

What do you value when job searching?

I’ve been running a series of short workshops for people to get ready for work. They are folks that are looking for a new role. They have previous work experience and want to get a ‘better’ role. We had a discussion about what people value in a job. It was a wide ranging discussion from employee benefits, ease of access to the work site, who they know that works there and their opinion of the employer. It got me thinking about what else might be important to either attract you to an employer or keep you working for them.

Have a look at my rough list and see if anything strikes you as a reason you would want to work for an organisation.

What do you value most?

Easy to get to e.g. bus or train connections or free parking.
Independence and empowerment.
The opportunity to learn and grow.
Positively impact people's life.
Subsidised lunch and/or health care.
Good professional relationships.
Recognition and increased responsibility.
Delivering results.
Having a defined role and processes.
Stability and security.
Working in a team, the social aspect of working with others.
Problem solving.
Setting and steering the direction of the team, department or organisation.

Then have a think about how that organisation might attract new staff. How could they advertise that they have ‘stability and security’ or will provide you with opportunities to ‘get recognition’? Its an interesting dilemma for both the prospective employee and the company to try to word an advertisement correctly.

Beyond the list above, what do you value most at your place of employment? How do you feel if you are not getting your valuable items addressed?

Leave a comment or email carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Encouraging Responsibility

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 21:27:11 GMT

Encouraging Responsibility

Nothing can deflate people’s confidence faster than telling them they are not doing something right and then doing it yourself. Conversely, when you provide support to get the job done, you build people’s sense of ownership for the task well as the confidence that they can accomplish it.

When encouraging responsibility remember to:

Help others think and do the work.
Resist the temptation to take over – keep responsibility where it belongs (with the task doer).
Be realistic and keep your commitments.
Supply the resources people need to do their jobs and work to remove barriers.
Explain the background/context and the why. Don’t just tell someone what to do without checking they understand why that task needs to be completed. You may even want to explain why you’ve selected that individual for the job. Give the job context in the bigger picture of your operation.
Let them choose how to do it. Whenever possible, let your employees decide how to achieve the task you’ve assigned. Agree upon what constitutes a successful outcome; what does ‘done’ look like and what quality standards they are working to.
Delegate authority, not just work. Give employees a leadership role in some of the meetings they attend. Leadership skills develop over time, and they require practice.
Trust them before you need to. Trust builds over time, know that sometimes it’s worth the risk to trust them before a crisis point to make a decision or step into a role that stretched their abilities. Your trust in them will give them confidence, and that confidence is important to their personal development.

What you might say:

• “I know this is unfamiliar to you. What would help you become more familiar with the process?”

• “Would it be helpful if…”

• “What do you need to be able to….”

• “What kind of support do you need……”

And finally

Encourage your team members to solve their own problems; listen to their problems but don’t immediately provide the solution. Try asking probing questions that will lead them to work out the right answer.

For help with delegation and encouraging responsibility contact Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Problem Solving – Expert and Novice Approaches

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 21:55:32 GMT

Problem Solving – Expert and Novice approaches

I’ve been helping out as a volunteer at a local charity. It involves selecting good quality, donated clothes for people who are going to a job interview, so that they look smart and provides them with a confidence boost. I was helping a young man with choosing a business shirt and corporate looking pants. All was going well. I said he needed a belt to finish the look. We managed to find one in his size. I asked him to thread it through and do it up. He was holding the buckle end and could not figure out how to get it through the small belt loops. I stood by for a minute or two thinking to myself “why is he hesitating?” Then it dawned on me that he had never worn a belt and didn’t know how to use the non buckle end to start with the treading process. I provided the solution, but should I have done that?

This incident has caused me to reflect on several things. Firstly, can it be possible that people now get to age 19 or 20 without ever having worn a formal look including a belt? Secondly, do parents not show their offspring how to wear clothes? But thirdly, how do people go about solving problems?

Research [1] done in the 80’s and 90’s suggests that ‘problem solving abilities often depend on specialised knowledge in a discipline’. Experts approach problem solving by drawing on that knowledge, they are good at figuring out what sort of problem they are dealing with and have a stored knowledge of similar problems (mental models) that they may be able to reuse for the current problem. Experts are likely to review how the mental model worked or did not work, they can be the problem solver and the critic of the process.

We can assume that a novice problem solver does not have previously stored knowledge to apply to a problem, therefore cannot process how to tackle something new. They may have memorised how to solve specific problems e.g. multiplication, but lack the ability to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

What have you noticed about people and their problem solving abilities? Are they determined to get a result, to work through and apply previous experience to the current issue, or do they give up and wait for someone to solve it for them? Should I have left the young man to work out how the belt goes through the loops?

Carol Speirs

April 2021

___________________

[1] Bransford J. & Stein, B. (1993) The Ideal Problem Solver: A Guide for Improving Thinking, Learning and Creativity. Freeman, New York

Technical Debt

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 01:53:07 GMT

Does Technical Debt exist outside of IT projects?

Technical debt has been around for a while. It’s not new. You may have come across it without knowing it. It is the theory that in software development it is the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy/quick solution now, instead of using a better approach that would take longer and may produce a better, more robust result.

Let’s imagine that if technical debt is not repaid, it can start to accumulate 'interest'. The interest could be stored up to make it harder to make changes later. Of course, I can hear your say: “if we do a ‘proof of concept’ – it is a draft, a tester, to see if the client likes the general direction. It was never supposed to be the end product.” I understand, I’ve done it myself.

Other consequences of technical debt could be: underperformance of the end product, frustration, rework, many defects, increasing the time to delivery, rising costs for support and fixes, and worst of all; decreased customer satisfaction.

If we step away from the software development example, does technical debt exist in other areas of your work?

What if you are creating a report or doing some analysis ... are there things that you can’t answer or write about now? Do you plan on getting back to them later? What if you work out a rough figure on something and expect to get that checked or finalise the numbers later on? (But, may not get back to.) Could that be classed as technical debt?

For projects, this is where your quality standards and “what does done look like” conversations come into play. At the beginning of the project it is hard to work out what quality standards you may need, and what ‘done’ is. Generally, as the project progresses you will know what poor quality looks like and be very aware of what is not good or acceptable. It is worthwhile during project planning phases to spend time asking these questions:

What will satisfy the customer requirements?
Who is ultimately responsible for the quality sign off of the deliverables?
Specifically, what characteristics will make the deliverable fit for purpose?
How often will you check that quality standards are being adhered to?
What actions will you take to ensure that quality standards remain on track during the project?

I’m sure there are more questions to be asked. The idea is to plan ahead, work the plan and make adjustments as needed. Take an agile approach to quality, be open to new ideas late in development.

So, yes technical debt can occur in projects and work other than IT software development.

What's your thoughts?

Carol

carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Project Red Flags

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 02:45:51 GMT

Project Warning Signs (A.K.A. What the h*&^ is happening here?)

Red flags; unfortunately don’t pop up on your computer to say “Hey, you have a problem with your project!” you have to be able to recognise those yourself. So, what are some signs that you should watch out for? I am sure most project managers will have a long list of “avoid this,” “never to do that,” “when this happens, you need to…”

H ere’s my list:

Red Flag: One of the tasks you planned to get done in the early stages of a project has a major hold up or was hopelessly underestimated. Maybe you came in as a contract project manager and the plans were done or not done and everyone said “Just get started, we are agile here, we don’t plan in too much detail.” This red flag needs immediate attention. Check out what went wrong; was it a one off or is this the way things are done around here? Replan, collaborate with others on the expected durations to see if they are realistic. Escalate the issue to the project sponsor.

Red Flag: the project sponsor or business owner is MIA (missing in action). They have lost interest, they don’t have time, they are not attending scheduled meetings or their emails are being forwarded to others. Find out what is going on. It may be some crisis is taking their time, or some newer, shiny project, either way you need to have certainty of continuity.

Red Flag: scope is changing rapidly. Make sure you have a change control process in place to keep pace with the requests or error. Find out if there are changes in direction or strategy that may make your project output redundant.

Red Flag: People are getting sick or not working to full capacity. Check in with the team on stress levels and workload. You will probably need to make adjustments to the schedule or get more resources to help.

Ref Flag: communication is poor between the project team members and others. This needs to be addressed early, it will not come right on its own. Find out what the causes are or the blockages and act to fix them.

What red flags have you experienced? What actions did you take?

Email me with your thoughts.

Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Who gets the benefits

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 21:46:36 GMT

Who gets the benefits?

Recently I was running a workshop for new project managers. The discussion was about project benefits and who would be likely to ‘receive’ the benefits of the projects they were working on. Some did not know who or which groups were likely to receive benefits, but after some thought they managed to identify the benefit owners.

Benefits are determined at the outset of a project through the creation and definition of a benefits realisation strategy. During the early phases of a project, this high level view of the benefits should be one of the deciding factors for governance boards to make a decision on ‘go’ or ‘no go’ for the project.

So, what should a benefit owner do – what is their role?

The benefit owner may be more than one person, it could be a group or even as wide as the general public. Think about a new public pathway or civic amenity. However, for clarity in this article I will refer to a group within an organisation e.g. the sales team or the operational team.

The benefit owner should work closely with the project manager and sponsor to identify, track and document benefits aligned with the strategic goals of the project. They should also ensure that the measurement methods are in place and that the measurement and analysis occurs from the start of the delivery phase of the project. Sounds easy, right? What could go wrong?

Some projects have the benefits identification piece missing, some have it so poorly worded that it would be hard to track or create a measurement criteria. Some mistake the deliverable for the benefits. So here’s some tips for your project start up phase:

Extrapolate from the problem statement, what the benefits of the project will be.
Get agreement that those are the benefits.
Set some criteria that will be used for measurement. How will you know that your project deliverables actually will lead to a benefit or benefits? Note that the benefit may be some time in the future e.g. 1 year or 2 years so the measures need to be workable in the long run.
Decide who will be the benefit owner and get their agreement.
Take a baseline now, before starting the project, of the measurement. For example if you want to improve client satisfaction, what is the current rating now and what do you expect to have as a result of putting all the project work in? Decide when you will get the benefits e.g. 6 months, 1 year etc.
Decide on a tracking method e.g. spreadsheet or dashboard. Decide on who needs to see the results – this is usually the governance board or senior leadership team. Work out how often the reporting will be done.
Document all of this in a benefits realisation plan.
Get approval to start the project.

For more on benefits realisation, contact Carol at Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

I wonder ....

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 02:49:18 GMT

I wonder ... (questions to which you don't know the answer)

When you have an issue or a challenge ask yourself: What am I paying attention to? What does the end user or client think is needed? What is driving this problem or issue? Like being in the sea, your challenges are changing all the time, sometimes easy to deal with – a calm sea, other times rough and unpredictable. Get help.

Waking up to the need for change can be painful. You probably realise you are stuck; you need to change something to get moving. You might have a project problem, a problem with a staff member or any type of issue where you can’t seem to see a way out. This is where it can be great to get someone else to give you some coaching. In fact, several someones might even be better!

Here’s a technique that I recently came across that could provide some help.

Get two or three people together. People that are going to provide valuable feedback. You can even do this via an on-line meeting, it doesn’t need to be in person, but the meeting does need to include all the people at the same time.

Describe your issue or problem, or even an aspiration of something you want to achieve.

The ‘coaches’ can ask you to clarify the issue by asking questions, but they should not attempt to offer solutions or their views or opinions at this stage.

Then you need to sit quietly for four to five minutes while the coaches follow their curiosity and ask questions they don’t know the answers to. You can’t respond to the questions. Your role is to listen for insights, actions and any extra value that the coaches can provide. An example might be:

Coach 1: I think this is a big challenge, I wonder if X has tried to break it down into smaller chunks to deal with each piece separately?

Coach 2: I agree it is a big issue and there is risk too. I would like to check to see if the risks highlighted are able to be mitigated and if so at what cost?

Coach 3: I had a similar situation with my project last year. What I should have done was to raise the issue with the project sponsor. Do you think that X’s sponsor would be able to help with this issue?

There could be several rounds of questions asked by the coaches. While I have suggested a time frame it may be that there is a lot to be curious about, therefore lots of questions.

Once the questions have been asked (but not answered), then you can respond with your thoughts about what is actionable and what you may want to try out as a result of the session. Be careful not to be dismissive or negative towards the questions. These coaches have the intention of helping and trying to explore all avenues to address the challenge or issue.

Try out the technique, you never know what might happen!

Carol Speirs

January 2021

The End - Lessons Learned and Retrospectives

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 22:23:21 GMT

You've finished your project, but there is more to do.

The end. You have finished your project, bring on the party! While it’s a great feeling to finally get the project done and off your desk, you have some activities to complete before it is actually ‘done’. As the project manager you have to complete an end of project report. Check to see if your organisation has a template that you need to use. If so, get a copy and start working on that.

Part of your final activities should be a lesson learned workshop. This is to gather up the people involved in the project and get their views on what went well, what was poorly done and what could have been done better.

The purpose of a lessons learned workshop is to identify what was learned during the project. These lessons can be handed over to new projects so that they don’t repeat the same mistakes, or plan for things that may occur during their execution phase. The lessons learned are discussed with stakeholders and what they believe was done well and what could have been done better. Note that these are their opinions, and you should not be defensive or try to deny their opinions, but to listen and try to understand the issue from their point of view.

Usually, the lessons learned workshop is held during the project closure or review process. However, for a larger project or programme, workshops to collect lessons learned can be scheduled and completed at the completion of each major phase or deliverable completion.

The meeting can be held with the entire project team, various stakeholder groups, and/or one-on-one. Make sure you allow plenty of time for discussions and remember that it is not a blame game – you are not looking to blame people for what went wrong, it is all about finding out how to avoid difficult situations in the future.

Pro Tip:

As soon as you get appointed to be the project manager or scum master, start a document and call it Lessons Learned.

As the project progresses add your thoughts to the following three questions:

•What happened?

•What went well?

•What could have been better?

It’s hard to remember everything that goes on during a project. So record as you go, then you will have your notes to help you at the final lessons learned workshop.

For more about project lessons learned or retrospectives check out the E-Book on this website.

Carol Speirs

January 2021

Projects are about creating value

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 22:34:27 GMT

Projects are About Creating Value

It seems to me that a lot of work is now being classed as a project. In fact, the work is just work, not really a project in the true sense of widely agreed meanings. However, people want to use the components of project management to help them get through the work. So, they get some training, learning about the tools, techniques and templates. All of these things can help them be more productive and efficient.

Before you actually launch into a project though, it’s worthwhile to ask a few questions. If you are the project manager, your life will be consumed with questions (and hopefully logical, actionable answers). Here are a few to kick off with the project sponsor or whoever commissioned the project.

Basically, you want to know that the business will be better off when the project is completed:

How will completing the project and realising the benefits help achieve higher revenue?
How will the project reduce costs for the business?
How will finishing the project and implementing the new thing improve the service to customers?
Will the completed project contribute to getting more market share or new customers?
How will the completed project and its deliverables meet the requirements of a new regulation or new law?

If there aren’t answers to these questions, then maybe it’s not a project. You can still use tools to help you work the problem, but you won’t need the formality of a full project management methodology.

Of course, your project may be part of a programme of work that contributes to a larger, longer term business objective or long term change programme, but all projects need at least one business objective of their own to fit with the bigger picture.

Ask questions to get clarity, then you will be able to plan accordingly.

Carol Speirs

December 2020

Risk Registers and why you need one

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 21:58:46 GMT

Even for small projects, a risk register is a must

It would be fun to think that we can remember everything about a work project. All the details about the scope, schedule and costs. Most of us have no hope of remembering the details. This is why good project managers create and maintain a register of some sort for the various management activities throughout the project lifecycle.

A risk register is a really useful one. It captures the details of the identified risks, the output of any qualitative or quantitative risk analyses, risk response/mitigation and allows a process to be followed for deciding on the impact and likelihood of the risk happening.

Typically, each risk would be giving a number so that you can track it. The risk is described in detail. You may even want to provide detail on the likely causes and effect of the risk. Included in my risk register is a person assigned as the risk owner, mostly me as the project manager, but on occasions it may be someone else in the organisation.

For each risk, an analysis is done using a grid, impact and likelihood is discussed during a risk workshop to establish the importance of each risk. Next, we brainstorm the likely mitigation or risk responses for each risk. Usually there is more than one mitigation activity. Once we have exhausted all the useful mitigation ideas, then we re-score the impact and likelihood. Sometimes we can make a change to the impact other times it can be a change to the likelihood. We list our final risk rating as the last part of the risk register.

Here’s an example of the headings I would use in a MS Excel spreadsheet risk register:

Number / Risk Owner
Risk
Detail
Likelihood
Impact
Initial risk rating
Mitigation Activities
Post Mitigation Likelihood
Post Mitigation Impact
Final Risk Rating
Status (Open, Closed)

I know there are systems out there that are specifically designed to help with risk recording, but for most simple projects a spreadsheet will do the job.

Here’s an example of a risk scoring table. Note that there would also be an accompanying risk dictionary (an explanation of what each of the headings means specific to that company or industry).

For help running a risk workshop, contact Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Your role as an interviewer

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 20:53:47 GMT

Your role as an interviewer

One of the most important roles you will have as a manager is to hire new staff. You will need to firstly think about the role requirements, the person requirements and lastly, the fit into the team. It's a lot to think about. Here's some thought starters to get you onto the right track:

Your tasks as an interviewer:

1. You understand the business need. You ensure that the job description accurately reflects the work to be done and what a successful employee does in this role.

2. You help the candidate get prepared. (date, time, location, who they will be meeting with)

3. You prepare by researching the candidate. It’s OK to use various sources of information to learn more about the person before they arrive for an interview.

4. You make the candidate relaxed and have a conversation – an interview is not an examination.

5. You talk only 20% – 30% of the time.

6. You describe the next steps, at the end of the interview.

7. You provide closure for every candidate. This is done by following up and providing an answer about whether they have the role or where they could improve their style of communication during a formal interview.

Checklists can be helpful, along with an interview guide and scoring matrix.

TOP TIP: be prepared for the unexpected - if the candidate asks a question you are not prepared for, or if something unexpected happens e.g. fire drill.

For more help on the hiring process, how to use an interview guide, look under e-Books there is a resource called Interviewing Skills for Managers.

Carol Speirs

Meetings - more to learn

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 06:37:18 GMT

Meetings - more to learn

I’m sure over the last few months you have attended more meetings via video conferencing than you thought possible or necessary!

What is it about meetings that frustrates you? Is it the fact that the agenda is not provided or that the meetings go off topic? Is it that it feels like a waste of your time, where you could be doing something more productive?

If you are a meeting leader then it is important to run each meeting effectively:

to get the decisions and outcomes you need and

to not waste people’s time, but also to

build or maintain relationships

So, how do you go about all of that?

Firstly, you need a clear plan and direction (this is called an agenda). State the time frames for each item to be discussed. Make sure that the topics are relevant to the people attending the meeting. If the topic is not relevant to most of the people there, then take it off the agenda and communicate in a different way.

Next make sure you have the right people in the meeting, don’t waste people’s time by asking them to come along ‘just in case’ there is something they might be able to contribute.

Get the minutes and action points circulated well before the meeting too, so that you don’t waste time going over them but just do a check in to ensure everything was done as expected.

Lastly meetings are a social gathering, spend some time building relationships. You could do this by initiating the meeting with brief introductions and a thought provoking question – the key here is to keep it brief – it’s not the main focus of the meeting, just a warm up and rapport building opportunity.

If there are new people joining your regular meeting, make sure to introduce them and encourage good attendance by making the meeting relevant, efficient and collaborative.

Learn to listen for signals, such as people dominating the conversation or going off track or derailing the meeting with their own views. Strong meeting management skills are often overlooked but are essential for effective meetings.

For help with making your meetings more effective contact Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz . Training on effective meetings via facilitated sessions or online.

Managers coaching their employees

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 22:27:47 GMT

Managers can be a coach for their employees

Probably everyone at one time or another has wanted to help someone else improve at what they were doing. Parents watching their children grow, supervisors and managers on the job, friends supporting each other etc.

Coaching involves expanding people's capacity to make a difference with individuals, the company and their world. It involves impacting their vision and values and will help them make changes to their behaviours. It is about them achieving what they want to achieve, and you being there to encourage and support them to reach their goal.

Coaching is a journey, and I encourage you to practice and practice, to review what you are doing so that you refresh your skills and employ new methods. As you coach more people on your journey, you - as a coach - will continue to grow. Make sure you keep your knowledge up to date.

Why coach people?

Coaching will help to:

· improve performance

· identify goals to work towards

· help them achieve their goals

· retain top staff

· develop leaders for the company

· develop a person for the talent pipeline

· ensure success for new employees

Coaching can also improve teamwork, relationships between peers, lead to more job satisfaction and may also reduce conflict in the workplace.

What is coaching?

A quick Google search suggests 1,800,000,000 results in 0.56 seconds to that question. Quite an array of answers - and not all of them helpful! One of the better ones from a respected source is this:

“This intervention helps managers and executives to clarify their goals, deals with potential stumbling blocks, and improve their performance. It often involves a one-on-one relationship between the coach and the client and focuses on personal learning that gets transferred into results and more effective leadership skills.”

(Cummings & Worley, 2005, p. 47)

As with most things in life there are several 'varieties' of coaching: personal, life, career, business, team, executive, sports, youth, retirement.

Want help with adding coaching skills to your management role? Contact me carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Adult Learning

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 22:04:35 GMT

How to start thinking about course design

As adult learners are likely to be more task and goal-oriented (Knowles, 1984), it is important to frame their learning (set the context) in such a way that they can see the benefits as directly relating to their current skill or knowledge gap. If they don’t see the relevance of the new learning to their current situation or likely future situation, then they may discount the need for learning. Incorporating workbooks, discussions, examples and scenarios can be strong tools for encouraging the adult learner to see an immediate benefit.

As course designers we incorporate:

Why – people need to know why learning is important and how it can be immediately useful.

Previous knowledge – we demonstrate how the new learning builds on their current knowledge. What participants do now, and how participants will change what they do. We will build in practical, relevant examples. We enjoy interactive sessions – we don’t save up questions until the end, if it important for the learner to ask a question, we address it immediately. We enhance content with visuals to make the learning stick.

Readiness to learn – using scenarios that will help them identify the learning applicability to workplace proficiency.

Internal motivators – how the learning will improve their work processes and ultimately benefit the organisation. Practice makes for good learning, trying out something in a safe environment will help people reflect, review and absorb the new processes.

For help with your instructional design, contact carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Knowles, M. S. (1984). Andragogy in action. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass Publishers.

The Outcome - Radio Interview

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 04:31:11 GMT

Radio Interview - all about Technology in Presentations

Here are links to the radio interview I completed on 8 August 2020.

Introduction - explanation of the challenge of public speaking and presentations .

Part 2 - Technology used for presentations

Part 3 - More on technology used for presentations

Part 4 - Final part about technology for presentations

Preparing for a Radio Interview

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 22:27:31 GMT

Preparing for a Radio Show

I’m preparing for a presentation. It’s not your usual presentation, its for a local radio station. Hutt City FM has invited me to discuss a topic, live on the air this Saturday. It’s exciting to be invited and a bit worrying – I want to get it right and convey just enough information but not blab on about stuff that is not interesting. So, I need to get the balance right.

For most presentations the speaker needs to prepare. Firstly it's about defining my objective. Do I want to inform, persuade or sell something? Do I want the audience to understand something learn something new, sign up for something or make a change? The answers to these questions will determine how my presentation will flow. Next, I'll need to learn more about my audience. Is the topic something they are familiar with or is it all completely new? I'll need to understand how well informed they are and what they might expect from the presentation. Should I assume a particular persona that is listening to the radio show?

Luckily for me it is a topic I am very familiar with so the preprepared questions that the host has sent me are very easy for me to answer. However, I want to make it interesting, lively and fun to listen to, so my plan is to add in personal anecdotes that can add a richness to the conversation.

I will need to set the context; the “ why ” of why it's important to listen. And give some information about “ when ” they would they use these skills and techniques. Next I'll need to set the scene, I'll use this by asking the audience to use their imagination to put themselves into the situation I am describing. As it is a general topic about using MS Powerpoint in presentations many listeners will be able to relate to it. Then my plan is to give them the information – sharing tips and techniques. Here is where I intend to share a personal story about my experiences.

This radio show is in the form of a conversation, so there will be a bit of ad libbing and a bit of back and forth discussion with the host. It will seem that the interview or presentation is more of a conversation between friends.

The host of the show has promised to record the session. Later I can download it, edit it and make it into a podcast; so watch out soon for a podcast addition this website.

Carol Speirs

carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

TLDR: team communications

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 05:12:09 GMT

TLDR (Too long, didn't read): team communications

Some say that you will spend up to 80% of your project management time communicating with others. So making sure you use that time efficiently is well worth putting in some planning and preparation time.

Whether you have an on-site team or virtual team make sure you:

Keep your emails short and to the point. It’s a good idea to ask the recipient to call you or message you back if they need clarity on any points raised in the email. Avoid the TLDR - too long, didn't read it - people's attention span is probably shorter than you think! Also don’t get into a debate or long-winded discussion via email – pick up the phone or dial into a quick video conference.

Stay connected – seems obvious – but in the rush and pressure to get stuff done your team maybe feeling neglected. Set up a regular chat up with each team member individually as well as your regular, all team meetings. Having an individual meeting will build rapport and you will learn more about the issues or questions your team have. Its also great to give praise and recognition individually too. Not everyone wants to be under the spotlight at the all team meeting.

You may need to follow up calls and face to face meeting with summaries via email or notes (or even minutes and action points from the meeting) so that people will be able to act on their assigned tasks, don't assume people will remember everything.

Vary your channel – it doesn’t always need to be email. Could you use a chat/messenger note or video call, or messages in MS Teams or some other communication channel? Tried Loom ?

Catch them where they mee t – this could be in the breakout or kitchen area or a local coffee shop.

Use your video camera if you are using on-line conferencing – it helps create the personal connection.

Projects have a unique problem - people are under pressure, they may have this project and others or their normal day job to be doing too, so you may not have their full attention. Be mindful of their competing priorities when communicating.

For help with Project Management email me for more tips and guides: carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

The Goal of a Project

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 03:46:55 GMT

A little about project communications

Some would say that every project has three main goals:

1. To create something new – a product or service, building or other tangible assets.

2. To complete that within a specific timeframe and budget.

3. To get benefits from the new ‘thing’.

Now it could be that the thing you are creating is not new, but an update, a refresh or a tweaking of something, let’s go with a broad understanding of the goal. All projects create change – if you have been in business for a while, I am stating the obvious here!

The major, and some say only, tool is to communicate why your world will be better as a result of developing, planning and implementing the project. If you are the project sponsor or project manager always focus on the expected benefits – the ‘what’s in it for me’. Of course, having the objectives well defined and scope inclusions and exclusions helps with clarity too.

From time to time I have had to have my messages sent to the corporate communications teams for editing. That’s OK, we are all on the same team and I want this to be right. However if the comms teams begin to edit it in such a way that it loses the core meaning, you may need to do a better job of explaining what you are trying to accomplish and educate them to the benefits and objectives of the project. You may even have to go further to explain the consequences of a miscommunication.

When preparing a communication via email, newsletter, website or any other channel, keep in mind these key points:

Think of your audience – generally they will be short of time and may skim read articles.
Keep it as short as possible, if people want more information, then direct them to a fuller document or discussion forum that you manage.
Put things in bullet point lists so that key messages stand out on the page/screen.
Long paragraphs may not be thoroughly read.
Avoid the jargon and highly technical words that only you and your team understand.
Each person will have varying understanding about the project and one approach to communications will not fit everyone.

Learn more about project communications during a workshop: Project Management Fundamentals. See the Home Page for the latest dates and locations.

Carol Speirs

One Day Training

Adaptability

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 00:38:02 GMT

Adaptability - a soft skill that can be hard to master

We all want to be seen as open and flexible when presented with new ideas. Employers value adaptability in their work force. In general adaptability means to have the ability to change something or oneself to fit to changes around you.

What does it mean in practice? It can mean a way of thinking and behaving:

Remaining positive in the face of setbacks
Saying 'Yes' to challenges and things you haven’t done before
Dealing with changing priorities and workloads – and trying to be calm at the same time
Trying to anticipate what might be an obstacle and preparing for that change
Persisting when facing difficulties

Some of these might be hard to address, but with some self-reflection and self-awareness you may be able to slowly make some changes.

Change your thought process – ask more questions to get a different view

This means being open to the thoughts and opinions of others, i.e. different views and ideas. Ask questions to see how the new way could be better or could expand on what you already know. Ask for support to make a change.

Take elegant risks – be willing to try

You may make a mistake by taking a risk, but plan ahead, if you do this is there a way to mitigate the risk? I call these elegant risks – you have a plan B or some strategy in place to turn to, if it goes really badly. Taking small, manageable risks is part of being adaptable.

Can you encourage others to be open to new ideas?

One of the best ways you can develop an open mind is to encourage others to do the same. This can create a more open atmosphere. It also acts acts as a way to minimise the thinking: “Well, that’s how we do it around here.”

Do you admire how the person from finance consistently delivers monthly results with a positive message for the future, even if targets have been missed? Or perhaps you like how a particular Team Leader brings in members of different teams to brainstorm solutions to the team’s challenges? Copy their style and maybe your team will be more open to ideas too.

Embrace exploring new techniques

You may already know that people who are curious and stay current tend to be adaptable. This means you need to embrace curiosity about new ways of working. Read or listen to podcasts or videos about new technologies in your area, go to free seminars or online events to learn about what others are doing so that you and adapt them to your needs.

It’s a skill that takes practice and commitment, but it is within reach for most people. Consider adaptability a must-have soft skill if you are aspiring for a leadership role at your organisation.

Sometimes the boss needs managing

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:33:34 GMT

Four tips for Managing Upwards

Let’s face it sometimes it’s hard to connect with people. You know what needs to be done but there is a mess of processes and approvals to go through. One of the stakeholders you probably need is your manager, you need that person to help straighten things out and provide a line of sight to the goal.

You will need some managing upward skills to help untangle the way forward.

Here’s a starter pack of four things to think about to manage upwards (they could also work sideways!)

1 Understand their communication style - Think about how the boss likes to communicate; does she prefer written emails or verbal discussion? Does she like detail and facts in a list? Does she like structured one-on-one meetings or informal chats? Get a clear understanding of how your boss likes to engage and adapt your style to her style. If you are new, ask around about how the boss likes to work.

2 Stick to the facts - When presenting information avoid biased assessments. Sure, you will have worked hard to nurture this baby (project) and you may have put your heart and soul into it but sometimes it’s just an ugly baby and it can’t go on. Be straight forward and factual about the issue and deal with it sooner rather than later.

3 Come up with some solutions: Don't dump problems on their doorstep that you should be solving yourself - Yes, your manager has greater accountability than you, probably gets paid more than you, and most likely has more influence than you. That doesn't mean you avoid thinking – come up with at least one viable option so that the discussion has somewhere to go. Handle the problems that you're paid to deal with and enlist your boss for the stuff that requires influence or a final decision.

4 Be specific about what you need - Whether it be money, resources, a way forward or some other form of assistance, be very specific about what you need, and why you need it.

Plan ahead for managing upwards: make some notes before you go to the meeting so that you cover all the areas that you need.

Carol Speirs

carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Project Control

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 00:16:08 GMT

Project Management Control and Reporting

Just like on a flight deck you need to have control; you need to know where you are heading and make course corrections as time goes on. During project execution phase you will need a range of controls to help you navigate to the desired end point.

In the past I have used a range of documents and spreadsheets including downloads from the financial system and tried to jam them altogether into some sort of order for the monthly report.

Most large company Project Managers are using systems (Cloud based or in house) to get everything into one place. These PMIS (project management information systems) have world of features and tracking, was well as work flow management. And all of of this certainly helps with reporting and getting the data into a format that can be customised for different audiences. But what if you are a smaller company without the fancy systems or access to the latest software? Well, the answer is an Excel Project Control Book.

The “book” has several tabs:

risks
issues,
change requests,
budget,
actions,
decisions,
change,
document log,
dependencies,
schedule,
RASCI (responsible, accountable, support, consult, inform),
stakeholder list,
lessons learned,
and a handover log.

It also as the risk matrix and explanations about the consequences and likelihood so that the Project Manager can be consistent about which level of risk is being selected depending on the circumstances. RAG (Red, Amber, Green) also has a tab page so that the descriptions of the benefits, scope, schedule, resources, issues etc are again consistent.

How handy is that – all the info in one place! I know its slightly weird being excited about a spreadsheet! You can even have the information ‘pulled through’ from the tabs to populate a monthly report. Once you have the report completed, add commentary and then save that page as PDF. Job done.

If you need help with your Project Control Book, or a free template email me carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Positives from Lockdown

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Wed, 20 May 2020 03:04:16 GMT

The bright side of Lockdown

Can we do it? Can we find a ‘bright’ side to the lockdown? I know that is has been hard work for some, particularly those with children to teach, a house to keep clean and tidy, and an employer expecting a reasonable amount of output. It has also been devastating for the economy, for businesses and for so many individuals. So today, I thought I might look at some good points:

Connecting with people via House Party, Skype and using Zoom to keep connected – and for those more formal meetings being very structured and really quite a good use of time.
While I don’t have to commute too much, the removal of the need to be on the road at all, battling traffic is also a good thing.
While it’s not true for everyone, the weather in Wellington, has been good while in Lockdown – I got out on my push bike and did a lot more walks than normal and have started to get back to swimming.
Downloading the Lockdown cookbook and trying out three of the recipes. The Pandemic Pack was great for inspiring me to try something new. Thanks Wellington restaurants.
A cut back on café purchased coffee – this is a plus and a minus. Saved money but missed out on the experience and great coffee.
The challenge of keeping busy and avoiding boredom. Someone once said “Only the boring are bored.” Not sure if that is totally correct, but I found plenty to do each day and now the garden looks great, the old books and clothes are sorted and even the PC filing system is tidy!
Seeing lots of families out for walks and bike rides.
Not feeling guilty about watching a movie during the day.
Donating my time and some materials to a favourite charity – Boomerang Bags .
Time for thinking and planning and creating new work stuff. (I count it as a positive as sometimes being busy is just that – busy, without the time to think deeply about something new or to explore a new concept.

Do you have any small or large activities that you consider positives from lockdown?

Carol

carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Thoughts on customer interactions

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Mon, 04 May 2020 00:16:25 GMT

The FLOW of customer service

As we, as a country, start to prepare for the new ‘normal’ after our lockdown, I am thinking about how to make the most of my marketing activities and how to engage with new and existing customers.

Some time ago I attended a full day seminar and it introduced me to some new reading about marketing. So, over the last few weeks I have been trying to implement the ideas. One of the things to follow up on was existing levels of customer service. I found that in one of the ebooks shared, was an interesting interview with a small business owner: David Staughton (Australia) he had this to say about customer service:

A useful analytical tool for customer experience is FLOW:

• F is for ‘ First ’ – look at how you can make a better first impression and ultimately improve your service.

• L is for ‘ Last ’ – the last impression is based on the last interaction you have with your client – a meeting, your farewell, an event, a newsletter or even an invoice.

• O is for ‘ Ouch ’ – this is where customers have been slapped around or have had a painful experience. Most customers are far more aware of the painful interactions than the pleasurable ones.

• W is for ‘ Wow ’ – things that would normally impress the clients and make them go ‘Wow!’ The wow-factor will result in more word-of mouth referrals

While I hope that I haven’t provided Ouch moments for my clients, and I can certainly say that I have never slapped any of them around (although I may have been tempted!) I do hope that the Wow will result in more clients looking for learning and development and making a booking. Alongside social media updates, videos and free resources available, I have been working on new course development and learning new software tools. So feel as if I have been reasonably productive during the lockdown.

It’s something to continuously work on; the FLOW of customer service and engagement.

Contact me for customised learning and development for your staff.

Carol

Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Beaumont, D and Tregeagle. S. (2007) Secrets of Small Business Owners Exposed , Staughton, D. – Create and Communicate. Dream Express Publishing, Australia.

Collaboration

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 00:11:36 GMT

Working with others on solutions

Whether you are collaborating with a group in an office or workplace setting or having to work with a group via video conference, there are several things you can do to make the collaboration work well. Even if you are not the ‘leader’ or the project manager you can guide the conversations to be productive if you work out some ground rules. Agree with your group what the ground rules are, just like a meeting or committee might have.

Collaboration is based on mutual respect, empowerment, reciprocity, a sense of shared responsibility and especially role clarity. Make sure you have the right people in the group. Don’t get more people just like you, get people from other business groups or people who see things from a different perspective to join the group. Make sure they all know what the objective of the group is – the WHY of what you are trying to achieve.

One thing that often confounds a collaboration activity is that people will leave a meeting early, not show up or be distracted with other pressing matters. Make sure you have time and space to really spend quality time working on the issues. If you are working virtually make sure everyone knows the tools and can access the right files.

Early on during the collaboration it will be beneficial to have a roadmap and milestones – expectations about what will be achieved and where you want to get to. Set this up and share it with the group. The roadmap will evolve, it will also help people keep oriented to the task.

If you are the leader of the group, you will need to know when allow a conversation to flow and when to call a stop to it. Being dictatorial or inflexible in any collaborative or team situation only serves to alienate the contributors, and can threaten the achievement of goals or even the entire project. Ensure that you exercise good judgement in relation to both people’s capacity and methods, so that your project can progress no matter what obstacles pop up along the way.

Carol

e: carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

A useful, life long skill

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:09:12 GMT

Why touch typing is a great skill

The photo with this blog shows an Underwood typewriter, it’s pretty much the same as the one I learned to touch type on at school. I enjoyed my typing classes over several years. I started at age 13 and continued learning for about 3 years. Our initial lessons seemed slow and repetitive. To add to the ‘fun’ the teacher used black paint to cover the letters on the keyboard, so you had no choice but to learn the keys and the correct finger positions.

My ambition at the time was to be a secretary. Of course, one of the main skills was to type, another skill used was shorthand and Dictaphone typing. Shorthand is probably not taught now as there are other fast ways of recording conversations, meetings and letters.

Dictaphone typing or audio typing was a skill that needed to be mastered too. This is where the author of a document spoke into a Dictaphone machine and gave the secretary the tape to play back on her machine and type as she heard the voice. I say ‘her’ because this profession was mainly women back when I started work in the late 70’s. The skill was to get the foot pedal – which made the tape play – at the right speed. A skilled typist could type continuously while operating the foot control at just the right pace to keep up with her typing speed.

So, touch typing has been an extremely useful skill over the years. I would highly recommend you invest your time to learn how to do it. Luckily there are many free tools to use to teach you how to type. Have a look at www.typingclub.com – its free and fun to use.

The benefits : you can be faster at typing, quicker to notice a typing mistake, type almost as quickly as a person can speak and it helps you get your notes down in some sort of sensible order so that you don’t have to spend time re-thinking what you wrote down in a note pad.

Stay safe.

Carol

Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

There is no Business As Usual

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:57:01 GMT

Actions for Leaders and Managers

As leaders and managers, we are all having to find new skills or draw on past experiences to navigate our way through these difficult times. We may have to adapt ourselves to face difficult questions and help others understand the impact of the Covid-19 changes that we are having to make to our business.

I’ve been thinking about what leaders and managers need to embrace through this time, here’s my stab at what I think is important.

Review your income sources – what is likely to happen with income streams – can you rework your estimates for income over the next 3 – 4 months? Its obvious that you need to minimise business expenses. Everyone is cutting out or cutting back on subscriptions, supplies, and other items.
Put the well-being of your staff first – that includes you. Make sure you are following the guidelines and rules.
Lead by example: if you need to take time away from the conference calls, video chats and productive work to tend to children or oldies, then do that and allow others to do the same.
Remember this is temporary – now is a good time to think quietly and plan for the future. Can you put together a ‘back to black’ plan: marketing, sales, production, staffing levels. Is it time for a refresh of your current approach to how you do business?
If possible, work in collaboration with staff to work out the best way to proceed, they may have some great ideas. Take a balanced approach to what is being requested and what is realistic.
Some say to embrace uncertainty, navigate complexity and ‘run towards the fire’ but my approach is to avoid the corporate speak and do what you need to do to get through this difficult time. From my point of view, is that it is pointless saying ‘embrace uncertainty’ – I’m more of an action-oriented person so want to do practical things that will move by business in the right direction.

Stay safe.

35 Things to do in Lockdown

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 23:17:00 GMT

New Zealand is in Lockdown - so what can you do?

We all know the rules and what we can and can't do for the next few weeks. So I was thinking about what I can do to keep busy and doing stuff. Here's my list:

35 Things to do during Lockdown

1. Clean the kitchen cupboards inside and out.

2. Bake something new.

3. Tidy the stuff in the garage/loft/under the house.

4. Have a picnic on your own lawn.

5. Finally get around to vacuuming the inside of the car.

6. Gardening.

7. Clean out the guttering and spouting.

8. Learn a new language via on line resources.

9. Write a short story and publish it on line.

10. Scrap-booking.

11. Sort out old photos.

12. Paper filing – your records and documents. Or scan everything.

13. Back up your computer.

14. Deep clean the fridge and freezer.

15. Start a diary of your daily exercise.

16. Take a virtual tour of an art gallery or museum.

17. Download a book from your local library.

18. Listen to a podcast.

19. Find and listen to a talking book.

20. DIY – painting or decorating.

21. Take plant cuttings and hope that they strike in the next few weeks.

22. Sort out your book shelves ready to donate books to charity.

23. Re-arrange the furniture.

24. Find some intellectually stimulating games with friends on line.

25. Plan out all your meals for the next few weeks to ensure healthy eating.

26. Follow along to an exercise programme on TV or You Tube.

27. Tidy up your file system on your computer.

28. Read as many books as you can.

29. Gather details of your neighbours for an emergency phone list.

30. Store your summer clothes or sort out stuff for charity.

31. Watch “how to” videos on You Tube to learn/improve your musical skills/art.

32. Spend 20 minutes listening to the birdsongs.

33. Sort out your music system – create a new playlist and remove duplicates.

34. Download some new fonts to play with via Google Fonts.

35. Binge watch programmes on Netflix, Lightbox or the programmes you have recorded.

Facilitator's Questions

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 02:56:22 GMT

Facilitating via video conference

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 01:22:07 GMT

Notes on How to Hold an Interactive Session via Video Conference

Below are my views on this process. Note; not everything will work for all teams that you work with, it is a matter of being adaptable and flexible.

1. Get people on the video conference to turn up early to ensure the technology works for them e.g. test the sound and picture quality. Many people will be dialling in from home so may have background noise and other distractions, so a test is a good way to remove or minimise any unwanted background noise.

2. Welcome people as they ‘arrive’ on the video conference. Nothing worse than not hearing anything and thinking the sound system is not working.

3. Some cameras are now by the keyboard of the laptop which results in looking up noses etc, so if that is happening ask people to reposition the screen/camera. Similarly, some cameras are too high resulting in looking at a little of the top of the head and a lot of the ceiling!

4. As any good facilitator would do - kick off with a summary of your video conference rules -- something along the lines of: only one person speaking, wait until they have finished before jumping in with ideas.

5. Ask people to stay on the call from start to finish. Some systems will announce that someone is leaving or entering the call which can be very distracting. While being ‘fully present’ ask that participants have someone else handle any day-to-day business. They need to be fully engaged with the conversations.

6. A general tip: be conscious of your “air time” – ask for the thoughts of others who may not be contributing enough.

7. If you are doing a dot voting or sorting exercise: ask someone (note taker) to gather the comments or votes from the VC people, while you handle the people in the room. Summarise the outputs from each exercise so that everyone knows the end result (they may not be able to see the final position of sticky notes or dots.

8. If you are lucky enough to have 2 – 3 people in one location, they could do a short discussion and feedback the output to the entire group.

9. If you have a chat facility or DM (direct message), ask that people type in their questions or issues if someone is talking, so that the speaker is not interrupted. You can also share links on these message boards. Watch that people don’t get a bit silly with inappropriate comments here – it can derail the meeting.

10. I find it helpful to have the names and locations of the people on the video conference, e.g. it is easier to say “Hey Jim, what is the view of your group in Auckland?” Then we know that we are talking to a specific person and others know which region/city is being asked for an opinion.

11. Some video conference software allow you to share screens, powerpoint slides, move to a whiteboard etc– if you intend to use these tools, practice beforehand so that it looks slick and professional. If you plan to share a document e.g. MS Word or Excel, it may look quite small on the screen. Ensure that they can get their own copy or that it is clearly visible. Watch your font sizes – bigger is better.

12. Some people are naturally quiet speakers, ensure that they sit close to or directly under the microphone, do ask them to repeat or speak up so that everyone can hear.

Need a help guide written for your organisation? email us carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Lists, lists and more lists

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 23:02:32 GMT

A list of reasons to have a list

They are easy to do
Bring some order to the everyday chaos
Help you to remember stuff
Relieve stress
Help you get stuff done
And be self satisfying when you tick things off

Be enthusiastic to create lists.

Creating task lists of items you need to get done—both personally and professionally—is a great way to organise and prioritise the stuff you need to do.

It is pretty simple and quick. Just grab a paper and pen, or go for something fancy and pre-printed with TO DO at the top. Many people overlook this simple organisational tool . I find that one of the most productive times to write out your to-do lists is at the beginning of each day, when you mind is fresh, you haven't opened up a bunch of emails and you can play the tasks of the day and really get stuck in to sorting out what is important. Once done, open up the emails and work through them. Add new tasks to the list. Don't forget to think of the urgency and importance of each task. Make a note of what needs to be done first. Creating your list during this peak productivity time will allow you to be more relaxed, and even become aggressive with tasks and timelines.

Another positive result of creating lists is that you won’t have to rely on your memory for these items. Not having a task list can cause you to mentally cycle through items over and over, which is a way to drain your focus on items you are currently involved in.

Having a detailed list with completion dates will stop that procrastination —and free that thinking time to concentrate on what's important. If you find yourself getting into that cycle or jumping about from task to task, stop and ask yourself "Is this the best use of my time right now?"

While you are creating your habit of list making, have a look around you ... is it clutter free? Having clutter causes chaos. If you live and surround yourself with clutter, it will in some way hold you back from getting stuff done. You may not be able to find information you need, or you will spend a lot of time getting things moved from one place to another. Have a system and use it to file stuff, or scan and save important documents.

Set time aside each day or at least weekly, to ensure your work area is clean and free of items that cause clutter, or any type of negative distraction.

Get into the habit of sorting out clothes, shoes, bags and anything else. Put them in the garage or shed - if you haven't needed to go in to get them in 2 - 3 months then you didn't need them and they can be recycled or given to a local charity.

Why Attend a Facilitated Training Course?

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 01:17:36 GMT

Should you attend a training course in a corporate classroom?

Training isn’t just important to any company, it is vital.

Training presents a great opportunity to expand the knowledge base of all employees. For some organisations find development opportunities expensive. Employees attending training sessions also miss out on work time which may delay the completion of projects and tasks. However, the skills gained and the new on-the-job techniques will help to improve productivity, avoid unnecessary risk and speed up project activities. The return on investment from training and development of employees is really a no brainer.

Training in a classroom can add an extra dimension to training – attendees get to share their experiences and allow others to learn from their development journey. Building networks is important so that you know who to contact when the need arises to solve problems or seek advice.

Need help with making interesting, engaging training workshops? email us for a free consultation: carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Facing a Challenge?

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 22:40:55 GMT

How to get started thinking about resources to solve problems

Here’s a quick exercise to think about what you might have to offer in a challenging situation.

Firstly:

Grab a pen and paper, draw two lines – roughly equal so that you have three columns.
Think of what is required to tackle the problem. E.g. knowledge, skills, personal qualities, tools or equipment.
Write these down on the left side of the page and leave the spaces on the right hand side blank.

Secondly:

Think about where you might get the requirements: e.g. your own background experiences, knowledge, learning or abilities. This is a list of all the things you can offer.
Write these down in the middle section of the page.

Lastly:

The last column (right-hand side) will be for the contributions that you think others can make. E.g. will you ask a friend or colleague? Look on the internet or a book or video clip to help with ideas to solve the problem. Find out what has been done in similar situations - is there a group or community of practice that could share insights?
Make a plan for contacting the people in the right-hand column to see if they are available to help and have the capability to shed light on your challenging situation.

Sometimes it’s the simple things that will help you map out an approach to a challenge. Sometimes its just the act of getting started and identifying the ‘who has expertise’, will encourage you to move towards a solution.

Talk to us about other ideas for problem solving: email carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Adapted from: Pedler, M, Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (2010) A Managers Guide to Leadership . McGraw-Hill, USA

Four Letter Words

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 00:23:22 GMT

The words you use

My mum has a tablet which she uses to order groceries and look at craft projects that she wants to undertake. She also has email, but refuses to give people her email address as then she will have to answer them via the tablet. She is 85. She types with one or two fingers so things like replies, take a while to produce.

While I have never heard her swear, she does use four letter words frequently. Her current go-to word is “can’t”. As in: “I can’t do that”. Sometimes its replaced with “I don’t know how to do that.” Or more directly: “I won’t know how to fix it”. This phrase is trotted out when there are items to be searched and pop up windows appear with adverts or annoying flashing boxes.

We have spent multiple sessions together talking about what is on the screen and clicking on tabs and discussing how to get rid of unwanted things, but when I next spend time with her, she uses more four letter words. Is it learned helplessness? Is it a failure of memory to recall how we solved the problem previously? Or is it an easy excuse, a sabotage of learning or a worry that she might break something? Or that she likes to be dependant on her teacher to rectify things that are going wrong? Recently she even asked neighbours to help out fixing a problem on the tablet!

Bishop’s book: “ Stop doing that Shi*t ” has been a must read over the last few days and I greatly enjoy his approach to ‘ending self sabotage and demanding your life back’. He talks about auto response triggers (p. 43) that you ‘barf’ up to yourself to give a reason not to do something or to take action.

Mum has it in spades. So every time I hear a four letter word; I offer encouragement, saying “of course you can, you did it last time” and we progress a small step forward to make the change to the tablet screen. We edge a little closer to the next challenge. It’s not that she can’t or won’t learn. She loves craft projects and is always on the look out for the next new thing and she challenges herself with how creative and inspiring she can be. She even runs a class or two for her peers to teach them something new.

After I have finished with my copy of the book, I will pass it onto her with pages marked for her to consider. Maybe she will stop going that sh*t!

If you need help to start coaching others – we have a workshop for that: email carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Book reference: Bishop, G. J. 2019. Stop doing that Sh*t, end self-sabotage and demand your life back . HarperOne, New York.

Fish and Plumbing

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 01:23:21 GMT

Fish, Plumbing and Problem Solving

Let’s face it; we all have problems. Some are easy to solve and you have tried and true methods to solve them. Take a simple leak in the pipework coming into your property. You call a plumber who can sort out the problem. You may have done some simple analysis to check that the water is not from another source or the valve (toby) is not faulty. Once that is done you get into problem solving. The plumber can provide the best option, or in some cases the only option to solve the problem.

But what if there are more challenging problems – ones with less obvious causes and solutions?

This is where you may need to kick it up a gear and use a different problem solving technique.

One that I have had good success with is a Fishbone or Ishikawa diagram. It allows you to do a deep dive into the issue without committing to addressing only one cause. The diagram is a great thinking tool that you can do on your own or with a group of people.

Draw a horizontal line on the middle of the page. Next draw between 4 and 6 spokes from that centre line to the outer edge of the page. Next draw a circle (or fish head) at the extreme right of the page. In that circle write the problem or issue that you are facing. At the outer edge of the spokes, add a box or circle – in it write the types of causes that may be impacting the poor result or problem. Each of the spokes should be labelled differently e.g. people, process, environment, or materials could be examples.

Next comes the thinking part: for each of the spokes do some analysis and thinking about what is causing the fault or issue. List each of these down on a separate spoke.

Once you have had a chance to really do this deep dive – it may take some time and you may need to come back to it to review. Then the next step is to take a highlighter pen or red pen and mark out all the things that you can impact or make a change. Do those changes. For the things you can’t change ask for help, get in some experts, check with the boss to see if that person knows how to tackle that part of the problem.

For some examples: have a look at

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/ishikawa-diagram.asp

For more help with management skills: contact us: carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Graphic example from: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/fishbone-method-of-learning/

Motivation – can you really motivate others?

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 04:22:17 GMT

Motivation – can you really motivate others to complete tasks?

Some say you can, others say you can’t – what’s going on? You may have told your staff member to “hurry up”, “just get on with it”, or “stop mucking around” etc but these comments may only introduce resentment and frustration for the staff member and for you as a supervisor. Let’s look at some theory to begin: Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, or motivation theory says that there are two factors that companies can adjust to influence motivation in the workplace.

1. Motivators, or

2. Hygiene factors

If we are going to motivate people then we first need to ensure that the hygiene factors are addressed; these include the following: job security, a good salary, good work conditions, holidays, status – these are considered maintenance factors, they must be in place for people to be satisfied with the role.

Next, we need to look at the motivators: e.g. challenging work, advancement opportunities, responsibility, work that is matched to skills, recognition, and opportunities for achievement.

As a manager or leader can you have an impact on the hygiene factors? Could you make your place of work more appealing? Could you provide more benefits? As I write this, the news agencies are covering a story of a major New Zealand company that will allow its workers to leave work at 2pm on a Friday, until the end of February. What do you think this act of generosity might mean for the employees?

What can you do about the motivators? You need to think about the employee’s skill sets; what would be challenging and what the next steps on the career ladder might be for each person.

How would you do that? Have a chat, find out what they want to do and what is important; this can all be done in a development planning session. Which is good to do in January – being the beginning of a new year, but isn’t just a one time thing. It should be reviewed and discussed regularly.

Thinking about development planning and goal setting? Let me know and I can design and deliver a course tailored to your organisation’s process. Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Herzberg, F.; Mausner, B.; Snyderman, B.B. (1959). The Motivation to Work (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.

First things first for 2020

Fri, 10 Jan 2020 00:19:50 GMT

First things first for 2020

I hope you had a great break over the Christmas and New Year period. We travelled around Japan and Asia – it was a great trip. More on that later.

One of the things I noticed while travelling was a supervisor or team leader watching her team at work. It got me to thinking about performance management. Why did she feel the need to watch what the team were doing with such close surveillance? She was clearly in charge by her stance and the way she was eyeing the workers. Had things gone wrong in the past? Had the team not worked to the required standards?

There are four steps to take to get the right performance. Sure, providing feedback is one but is the close oversight necessary on all occasions?

The four steps:

Set performance expectations: what needs to be achieved, by when and to what standard: these need to be agreed and achievable by the staff carrying out the job.
Measure the results: did everything meet the required standards? If not was there some issue or supplies or information missing from the sources expected? Was the employee trained to the right standards and did they do what was expected?
Provide feedback: this needs to be a two way system, get some feedback from the employee – did they find it easy? What obstacles did they overcome? What would they do differently next time? Feedback from the supervisor/team leader needs to be given as soon as possible and in such a way that leaves the employee in no doubt about what went well and what needs to be improved.
Reward or Correct: Make sure, as a supervisor that you provide the right reward for the job done, it may be as simple as a ‘thank you’ and a 'well done' or it could be something more substantial. If the job needs to be corrected, again this needs to be done as soon as possible and to work through the problems and consequences so that the employee knows where they went wrong, and how to put it right.

Performance on the job relates to competency (the ability to do the job) and motivation (the willingness to do the job) and the opportunity (support, suitable timeframe and responsibility) to get the whole job done.

If you need help to work through how to manage staff performance, we will be running the 5 Critical Skills for Supervisors and Team Leaders (half day course), check the website for dates and locations.

Contact: carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Four Steps to Solve Problems

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 07:07:47 GMT

Problem solving can be simple.

Got work problems? Well, who doesn’t? Many problems are minor and easily addressed by a thinking of the solutions and then deciding on a course of action. Then doing that action. Of course, some mid-course evaluation will help you to reflect on the fact that you have indeed taken the right course of action. Stop if you haven’t – don’t persist with the ‘wait and hope’ strategy that things will come right. Take a different action and move to do that.

For some problems you may need a bit more time and effort to work out what to do. Also sharing the problem solving with others can lead to new insights and other points of view to assist you in getting a clearer picture.

Here are four (simple) steps to help you be more effective in problem solving in your work environment.

Gather information – get as much as necessary so that you know what the problem is and what the likely causes are. You could ask a series of Why questions to really get to the bottom of the problem.
Develop and evaluate alternatives – this can take a while, but it is time well spent on thinking about options then without dismissing them immediately, work through the implications or consequences of taking each approach. Decide which of the alternatives will work best for you and for the other stakeholders.
Select that ‘best’ alternative. Consult with people you trust to get their views. Make a plan to put it into action, if necessary, take small steps then evaluate. Make course corrections as you need to.
Follow up. Did it work? Was the action worth the effort and time commitment?

Watch out for your own bias: do you move too quickly or delay too long to make decisions? Check in with others that know you, to find out if they can help you identify whether you have a bias.

Want to learn more about goal setting and problem solving: contact us about Five Critical Skills for Supervisors and Team Leaders. Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

A good close to a meeting

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 03:43:36 GMT

Meetings - what happens at the end?

It all seems straight forward, you chair the meeting, you chat to people, you decide on things to be done, you learn what has happened through the progress reports; then everyone goes about their work. You may even have had a discussion about when to meet again. Sounds OK. But what if things didn’t get done between meetings. You had thought that the people allocated the tasks knew what and when they were supposed to do. But nothing happened or they did the wrong thing?

Closing a meeting is a bit of an art in itself.

Summarise decisions and draw the meeting to a close by listing out the items newly added to the ‘actions list’. Ensure that there is a date and a person responsible for getting that thing done.

Some folks like to have the AOB as the last item on the agenda – is that a good idea? The Any Other Business topic could introduce a whole new or unforeseen item. It could add a lot of time to a debate or decision that you were not prepared for. Try it next time, leave off the AOB – hopefully this will encourage people to actually bring up items to be put on the agenda as soon as they see the agenda circulated before the meeting.

Don’t forget to thank everyone for attending and their input. Follow up later with a ‘thanks’ and a reminder of the action items list so that there is no chance of forgetting the commitments made.

Make sure you circulate the agenda for the next meeting in plenty of time so that people can raise issues to be put on the agenda. On the agenda make sure you set time aside for debate or progress updates - allocate a time budget for each of the topics so that you can control the amount of time spent on each discussion.

Want to learn more about running an effective meeting? One Day Training can help: contact carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Behaviours of Managers

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 08:06:18 GMT

Something to ponder on -- over coffee...

Last year Google updated their 2008 study of what behaviours make a great manager ( Project Oxygen ), here is part of their list:

1. Is a good coach and

2. Empowers the team and does not micro-manage.

Being a coach means: exploring the options about a goal, working with someone to figure out what is important to them and how they might go about putting that into action. It can sometimes cross over into teaching and instructing – drifting over into ‘telling.’ Not where a coach should be heading. The coach needs to be in the 'coach role' and use a questioning methodology to explore the goals and how to get there, it doesn’t involve telling; so the coach needs to remember what their role is.

Being a good coach means: working through all of the questioning, probing and exploring through a series of conversations and listening to the results and modifying the next set of exploratory questions. It means providing insight – sharing experiences. Which suggests that they have some experience of life, business, being a manager and that those experiences are relevant to the person they are coaching.

Coaching also involves holding the person to account for their actions. Especially if actions are dropping off the radar and not getting done. The coach will have a positive mindset and encourage the employee to re-evaluate if that goal was important and why there is no willingness to make a change.

Item 2: How would you go about releasing control and empowering the team? Should you just empower some individuals and see how that works out? Or do you go for the big bang approach and just say “Right – from today on, you are all empowered to make the right choices, plan and do your work to the standards and quality you think is right.” Would managers be able to cope with this level of employee freedom? What’s the worst that could happen?

Or, should that second statement be – the manager needs to empower the team to do certain parts of their work. The employees don’t need micromanagement for tasks that they have a superior, more practiced knowledge of the job to be done. Step back Ms/Mr Manager and let the employee do what you hired them for.

What’s your thoughts on empowering teams? Have you tried it?

For a workshop for managers on how to take a coaching approach, email us to find out more: carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

2020 is almost here

travellingcarol@hotmail.com (Carol Speirs) — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 23:17:39 GMT

Thinking about the New Year – 2020 is almost upon us

You are probably thinking more about Christmas and a break over the festive period to recharge. It’s a good time to review 2019 and to plan ahead. Do some fuzzy thinking. Wonder ‘why’ and ‘what if?’

We know that goal setting is difficult, but necessary to make a change or even a start on change. Goals, of course need to be specific, but let’s put that to one side and start with some fuzzy thinking – some might say dreaming, but call it whatever you want – just start. Fuzzy thinking is not the same as a goal; you just need to have a feeling for the place you want to be in. It’s not precise or defined. It’s a sense of how you want things to be rather than an exact outcome.

Once you have that feeling, then you can start shaping it up to create a goal. Ask yourself some questions – Why would it be good to have made the change? What will I be feeling when I am ‘there’? What might I need to do differently to get me to ‘there’? It’s also OK not to know all the answers, you are just in fuzzy thinking mode – spend some time there and settle on one or two things you want to feel or do differently. No need to overload yourself with too many things at once. Start small.

Next, probe a little more into the ‘how do I get from here to ‘there’? It may be small changes over a longer period or one big change or a combination of things that need to happen. List out as many things as you can think of in terms of actions to take. Put them all down, then draw a line through the ones that you just can’t face, know you are never going to sustain or frankly; just hate.

So you should be left with a list of things to undertake that are palatable to you and that energise you into taking action.

Now comes a real challenge; can you write it in a SMART format? Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realistic and Time framed? (I can hear you say, “A doesn’t stand for that, it is usually for Achievable or Agreed” – hey, make it work for you – If you want one of those words then use it!)

An example; I want to feel fit and enjoy an active lifestyle (my fuzzy thinking) so I have worked my list and I think I can live by: I will exercise in some format three times a week and eat a balanced diet, so that by the mid point of 2020 I will be ready for a winter ski holiday. I will feel fit and my ski pants won’t be ridiculously tight! Do you think that is SMART enough?

One Day Training can work with groups of employees to think and plan their year’s goals – we can help with time management too. Email us for more information carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Language doesn't always translate

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 01:31:26 GMT

Sometimes language is used metaphorically. This might create images and emotions. Other times, and in particular in a workshop, we need to use precise language. We need to use as much direct correspondence as possible between the words being used and the reality being described. Words are the carrier of ideas, the vehicle of concepts. Unfortunately, language is also the source of misunderstanding and confusion.

Consider this example provided by Nickerson (1986, Reflections on Reasoning):

Nothing is better than eternal happiness.

A ham sandwich is better than nothing.

Therefore, a ham sandwich is better than eternal happiness.

Think about how the word ‘nothing’ changes its meeting from the first to the second idea, thus leading to a weird conclusion.

In workshops its important that the facilitator is clear about how words are being used. Words that we are familiar with our culture, don’t always translate to other languages and cultures. I was running a workshop in Caracas, the capital and largest city of Venezuela; it was a two day introduction to project management course. We discussed how deliverables would be decided on, how they would be scheduled and who would sign off acceptance criteria. Then, someone bravely asked me to help them understand what a ‘deliverable’ was – apparently there was no direct translation of this word into Spanish.

What an eye opener it was for me. These were bright, intelligent people but they waited for a suitable time to ask a fundamental question. I had assumed that everyone knew what I was talking about as it was obvious to me and other English language speakers.

So as a result of that lesson learned, I don’t progress on a workshop until I am confident people know the meaning of the word and how it corresponds to the context of what we are discussing.

For more on project management and a workshop for your organisation, contact me; carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

https://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Reasoning-Raymond-S-Nickerson/dp/0898597633

What’s a beach clean up got to do with Project Management?

Sat, 26 Oct 2019 21:54:54 GMT

Once we have wrangled them into groups or phases, then we work out the order in which we will do them. This involves moving them around so that the group is happy with a logical flow – it creates a great discussion about how the project might be delivered. Once we can live with the order of the notes, then we move onto adding in names of the people doing the tasks, then we have a guess at how long each task might take. This part also involves some discussion and estimating of the durations; taking into account some of the risk factors for the project.

Still wondering where the beach clean up comes into all of this?

Instead of doing some dry ‘done that before’ type exercise, we use a case study of planning a beach clean up at a local beach. This is something most people would agree is a good idea – regardless of whether you plan it in some detail or not. There is good debate about what ‘done’ looks like and what needs to be carried out before the day and during the day and after the rubbish has been collected. All good project management discussions.

The technique above is called a work breakdown structure, some call it a product breakdown structure. The project team plans the tasks, the order of doing them, the who, the duration and the linkages between tasks. By standing back and having a look at the overall sticky notes plan we can view it all at once and ponder on it to see if there are gaps or things we have missed.

To practice this technique, talk to us at One Day Training, we can help you work through the detailed planning for your project.

Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

Corporate Classroom Training - is it dead?

Sat, 26 Oct 2019 21:52:05 GMT

Secondly, the learning experience needs to be more of a facilitated discussion with the participants actually taking part in the conversation in order to solve problems and work through issues that they are facing. Sure, the use of theory and models can help with looking at things in a different way. They help explain a way to plan or prepare for something.

Thirdly, the classroom training needs to add something new to a learner’s tool kit of information – this may not be the obvious learning outcome or template or technique, it may be something unexpected – the learner may make a connection with someone who could act as a mentor or help work on a project issue. The value of the time spent in training may be immeasurable.

We know that people are busy, so making sure the workshop holds interest and is worthwhile is both the job of the tutor and the organisation that ensures the participants know why they need to be there and what they will get out of the investment in time.

With so much information now available from a variety of sources, you can generally get the answer you need, what you can’t get is the time to do a deep dive into a problem or issue and get the wisdom of people who work at your organisation, those who really understand the politics and background and ‘what works around here’. Sure, there are websites where you can seek answers but do those responders really know your company culture?

Training is not a party either, it is a time to get the mind around a new process or software or work out how to plan an interaction in the future. Talk to us about a customised workshop that is interactive, engaging and gets the message across. Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

“Oh, is it 4 o’clock already?”

Sat, 26 Oct 2019 21:51:59 GMT

Here’s a few thoughts of what might work to help you focus and really get some traction on the work:

Break down larger tasks into smaller parts, focus for 20 – 30 minutes on one small part to get it done. Giving you a quick fix – a sense of achievement for getting one thing done.
Turn off all beeping things, notifications, pop-ups. If you can, get some noise cancelling head-phones – just put them on and don’t even play any music. The quiet might help you concentrate. I know, I know, some like the background music to help them concentrate – use whatever works for you.
If you use an electronic calendar (who doesn’t?) put time in the day to spend just on one task. Don’t multi-task – that is really distracting.
If you get interrupted get back to where you left off as soon as you can – so that you can pick up your train of thought as quickly as possible.
Limit the number of tasks on your list. If there are a lot – spread them over several days, or if they are smaller tasks, do them in one burst. Get the biggest jobs done first.
Track your time: use a piece of paper to record what you are doing. You could use an app, but that might be more time consuming, than picking up a pen to make a note of “7 mins answering 2 emails at 10.15am.” At the end of three to four days add up how much of each task you are doing and how often. You may find it best to spend two blocks of time responding to emails rather than doing them constantly during the day.

Time management isn’t new, it isn’t hard. What is hard, is developing a new habit or two to help you work more efficiently.

Need some coaching or help to get those tasks into order? Talk to us at One Day Training – workshops customised for your organisation. Email: Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz

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