Haiku for project managers - effectiveness
From the Haiku for Project Managers Blog
by Robert Prol
Because sometimes poetry makes the point better than a long story.
To learn more about Haiku, read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku
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Categories
accountability,
agile,
ambiguity,
attitude,
blamestorming,
candor,
career,
change,
chaos,
clarity,
communications,
competence,
Complexity,
conviction,
defects,
delegate,
effectiveness,
ego,
elaboration,
Excel,
failure,
flexiblity,
focus,
haiku,
happiness,
health,
issues,
job satisfaction,
judgment,
last line contest,
Leadership,
Lessons Learned,
LinkedIn,
Manage expectations,
meetings,
motivation,
notes,
perspective,
planning,
PMO,
positivity,
priorities,
productivity,
reporting,
risks,
schedule,
scope,
skills,
stakeholders,
team,
tenacity,
thankfulness,
that person,
tools,
tough love,
transparency,
trust,
urgency,
vacation,
vendors,
work life balance
Date
You're not effective /
with countless unread emails /
learn how to triage
Posted on: July 13, 2016 12:00 AM |
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Comments (7)
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Mike Frenette
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Email is Hades /
Use collaboration sites /
To reduce in-box.
Robert Prol
Project Manager| KPMG LLP
East Sandwich, Ma, United States
I was consulting at a company a few years back. A few of the IT directors didn't reply to my repeated emails. When I visited their work space, I saw in excess of 2,000 unread emails. I no longer wondered why the company was in such bad shape.
Mike Frenette
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Communication is so key to everything. Any employee who ignores emails should find that this sort of lack of communication leads to a lack of advancement... or worse. As you point out, such behavior will likely drive any organization into the ground.
However, just to be the devil's advocate, some will say that the thousands of unread emails in their in-box are from marketeers, or aren't meant for them or are from people who poison the email environment by sending useless emails. Think of those those that have subjects unrelated to the content, or are Reply Alls but are for one individual really, that are To: multiple people, but are unclear who is supposed to action what, that contain Victorian novels, so no one would ever get through them anyway, that carry on conversations that could have been finished in five minutes with a phone call or in-person visit, but last hours or even days as a result... and so on and so on.
At the risk of being accused of writing one of those novels, I better stop. :)
Robert Prol
Project Manager| KPMG LLP
East Sandwich, Ma, United States
I once had a job where I had too many emails. I set up a rule that moved all messages where I was in the cc line, to a separate folder. This allowed me to focus on the ones to me. I'd review the cc folder periodically. Another technique I utilize is to open, review, flag for follow up, and categorize every email. This way I am always working to my priorities. I also don't live in my inbox. It's a communication tool, not the focus of my day.
Mike Frenette
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Yes - there are ways to manage email, although good practices on the part of those sending emails reduce the need for having to closely manage your in-box. Good tips there, though. I use Gmail generally these days, and tend to tag messages with one or more tags. Gmail does a pretty decent job of relegating unimportant emails to less captivating tabs. :)
These days, there are so many other communication tools that I think email is becoming obsolete. Text, Whatsapp, Slack, BBM, FaceTime, Skype/Lync, Zoom and so on. I think email is becoming a tool for communications that don't require a fast response.
Mike Frenette
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Avoid email comms /
Instant/portals are better /
Often more than not.
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