Archive for September, 2009

So much to do, so little time…

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Prioritization – an indispensable skill for all individuals in every sphere of life, but of particular advantage to a project manager. As practicing professionals, we not only work our way through a host of activities in a day but also face the widest variety of time parasites – tasks that raise their heads out of nowhere and demand our attention and effort. There are various examples of projects and individuals that have stumbled, even failed simply because the team and the manager tried to do too much at the same time and ended up doing little of importance to the project success.

Whether it is because doing too many things portrays us as busy or that we simply lack prioritization skills, it is amazing how many managers suffer from the illusion that the more tasks they get done in a day, the more successful they are in time management. They could hardly be far from the truth; time management is not only about efficiency, but also about effectiveness. At the end of the day, it is about how much value your activities have added to the project and the organization. And difficulties in achieving this value are compounded by the fact that time is a scarce resource. Hence managing time effectively as well as achieving the desired value calls for prioritization skills.

Just as most skills do, prioritization has a certain personal aspect to it; what works for one person may or may not work for another. Most managers work with a daily planner and a to do list that could be anything between a few lines scrawled on a piece of paper and a sophisticated software enabled calendar. While these tools are helpful, I think they are simply lists of what needs to be done. These say nothing of the criticality or value add of any task. Without taking these factors into consideration, we are again drawn into trying accomplish everything on the list and may end up doing almost nothing of significance.

There is a gamut of literature available on the different techniques of prioritization. At the core of each of these is an evaluation of each task on parameters that are vital and crucial to the project. The entire process can be built upon this base by following some simple steps.

1.Start with a simple To Do list that includes all the tasks that you think need to be completed in the day. Things that come up during the day also need to be added into this and planned for as the day progresses.
2.Identify the significant parameters for yourself, your project and your organization. Remember these are the factors on which you will evaluate your tasks and so they need to be significantly important and measurable. Another point to bear in mind is that you cannot have less than two or more than six such parameters. Any number outside this range calls for deeper analysis.
3.The ideal situation would be that you come up with two key parameters, the most common ones being importance and urgency or value and effort. Although the members of each pair are commonly mistaken to be interchangeable, more often than not a distinction is required. All that is important may not have to be completed within the next few hours. Likewise all tasks that may add benefits to the project may not require a great deal of effort.
4.A 2×2 matrix with one end of the scale representing Low and the other High can now be easily used to slot each task into a suitable compartment. Once this is done, it is easy to identify the sequence in which one should go about their tasks (High urgency, high importance or High value, low effort followed by others). Notice how this not only ensures that you get tasks done but actually ensures that the more valuable tasks get done.
5.In case of more than two key parameters, one would have to employ a rating of each task on each parameter and arrive at a cumulative or weighted score for each to decide on how to order them. Personally, I find this actually takes long and may actually end up being another task that you have to prioritize! Too many peas in this pod may mean similar and confusing factors that should be further rationalized. For me, the Urgent – Important matrix works best and has gotten me through some of the toughest projects.

Of course, in the end, you need to be careful that this carefully done exercise does not remain on paper while you give into the urge to carry out activities as you wish or as your boss wishes of you. Also make sure that you do not spend more than the necessary time on this exercise (depending on the volume, I would suggest 10 minutes at the start of the day followed by 2 to 3 minutes for each new task). Over time as you get comfortable with the process, you will use it without even thinking twice and in most areas of your life. However the few moments you spend on this simple exercise will offer long lasting benefits of better results and less scope for burn outs.

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Happy at work?

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

I came across this PMI Community Post the other day whose title was just a question – Are you happy at work? Sound silly? Well, just try answering it and you will find that it is a lot more difficult than you expected. Research from across the world shows that there are indeed people who will confess to being unhappy at work. The actual numbers depend on a host of factors but the fact remains that there are individuals who are unable to derive any pleasure or satisfaction from their job.

Why does that matter? – you may ask. The most obvious reason – any logical human being wishes to be happy in his or her life. Happiness not only feels good but also engenders more successes, good health and an overall positive experience of our existence on this planet. And what keeps us busy for most of our time here? Our jobs of course! Simple back of the envelope calculations reveal that we spend close to a third of our lives doing what we do at our jobs. Think about it – unhappiness at work translates to unhappiness for a third of our entire life span. Surely that is something we should all avoid?

I know what you are thinking. “This is supposed to be a blog on Project Management. Where is she headed with all this talk on happiness? Why is it important for me, a project manager to know all this?” Here’s why – studies into project teams reveal that happier people are more productive while discontented workers are expensive. As project managers battling a variety of hurdles while trying to ensure on time, on budget quality deliverables, who would you rather have on a team – one who is happy and therefore effective or one who adds his or her misery to the already long list of problems that you are facing? With your own happiness dependent on the success of your endeavors, it definitely makes sense to analyze and put in place solutions that elevate the happiness quotient of your team. A project is defined as an endeavor to produce a unique result, so at the end of the day all project teams and their managers should have a sense of accomplishment.

Which brings us to what is it that we, as managers and team members can do to develop happier project teams and thus ensure that our projects survive in the most rewarding of environments as possible. In my experience, all of us work because we expect to receive something in return. It could be a fat pay packet, a promotion and a raise, an oversees trip or something at a level more social or esteem oriented – recognition, friendship, fame. The first step is to accept this reality and evaluate your own requirement. Ask yourself “What am I looking for?” and narrow the list down to a single or at most two items.

Once that is done, concentrate all effort and means to achieve your goal. Set your vision and then focus on turning that vision into reality. I should warn you though, most of the times it is not going to be smooth sailing. You may stumble, fail even miserably. So always carry a positive and optimistic outlook. Visualize your success, smell it, even taste it. Never underestimate the power of these simple delusions; they go miles in honing your positive perspective and thus steering your efforts in the right direction. Have patience. No, this is not easy for me to say because I can never count patience as one of my virtues. But on those rare occasions that I have tried it, I have found patience to be an excellent means to turn around my negative thoughts into creative ideas.

Gratitude is another valuable virtue. Whether we realize it or not, the truth is that we actually live in better times today than our forefathers. I had attended this motivation workshop once where we discussed how easy and convenient our lives have actually become. Gone are the days when a phone connection took months, today it is a matter of minutes. We need to recognize and appreciate this comfort. And lastly, a mantra that will help not just in your work, but also in life – This too will pass away. No matter how miserable and painful the current situation feels, remember that it is a passing phase. Very soon, it will give way to happier and more successful days. Even in a professional sphere, that is what really matters – your tenacity in fighting the odds or your disappointment at the first hurdle. What are you going to choose?

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