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7 Principles For Inspiring Employees
Situation: Your team needs a little inspiration right now. Terry Barber is the Chief Inspirator for Grizzard Communication Group. He primarily serves the non-profit healthcare segment as well as colleges and universities in the subject area of philanthropic branding. His new book is entitled, The Inspiration Factor. In times like these we all could use a little lift - which is why I wanted to share some pointers pointers from Terry's book. Hopefully they will give you some food for thought.1. Authenticity - get out of the image management business for yourself and your company. Share with the people in your organization where you are weak. Verbally express just how much you need them. Let them know that you know your limitations. Invite them to partner with you to get through these difficult times. 2. Connect with Other's Dreams - use these difficult times to uncover the latent dreams and ambitions of your key talent. Tell them you are more committed than ever to helping them get to where they want to go. Be creative in aligning their tasks for today with their dreams for tomorrow. 3. See in Others the Abilities They Don't See in Themselves - take time to be observant. Quit the craziness long enough to notice the talent in those around you. This even works if you are trying to manage up. This principle works best by breaking it down into three steps, notice, name, and nurture. After you have noticed a talent or strength in a person, let them know you noticed it and be specific about what you noticed. Don't just say "I noticed you are a hard worker." Rather, "I notice you care very deeply about making sure the details are in order or I notice you are very articulate on that subject." Look for ways to bring that talent out by providing opportunities and training to support that particular talent. 4. Speak and live with credibility - I also refer to this principle as leading with moral authority. It does not mean much for you to say "let's keep looking for the opportunity ahead" while living in fear and operating with a scarsity mentality. 5. Inspire With Great Stories - this is the principle of overhearing. This is not to be confused with the art of storytelling. The emphasis here is looking and telling stories that have a lesson. What can you learn from the story of a mountain climber? What can you glean from the story of one who has gone from rags to riches or better yet, from riches to rags? Pull your team together today and use story to inspire. 6. Help People to Live on Purpose - remind them that what happens at work is only a portion of their life. As important as that portion is, it is not all that there is to life. Help people write down a vision statement for their life first and then for their job. If work can be a conduit towards that vision for life, great! 7. Create a Culture of Inspiration - following the example of John Wooten, UCLA's iconic coach, become teachers committed to excellence and character development. Chasing numbers and making decisions by looking only at the "bottom line" causes us to be reactive and impulsive. |
Posted on: March 24, 2009 09:45 PM
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Twitter at Humana?
Situation: You think social networking might work within your business.  I recently spoke with Chris Hall, a Project Manager and a key player in Humana's Social Media Chamber of Commerce - exploring new ways that the company's employees can interact productively with each other and the outside world. If you want to find out more about Chris, I hear he's absolutely Halllcious on Twitter.Q. You’ve recently started a group within Humana, exploring the use of Social Networking tools in the workplace. Could you give us some specifics about the effort? (lines of business involved, how it started, how many people at what level, executive support, etc.) A. Definitely. The idea behind Humana’s Social Media Chamber of Commerce came about because we are trying to understand what social media means for our 26,000 person company. The prevailing thought right now is that no one organization will own "Social Media" for all of Humana. We really don’t want to create a bottleneck for any kind of communication approval process because social technologies online are real-time in nature. We’ve realized that our company is made up of individual departments with separate customers/demographics, individual social media needs, and budgets and we want to use the Chamber of Commerce as an extension of the Web 2.0 world that we all live in today. The Chamber is made up of Directors from around the company and the paradigm shift we’re trying to create is: the need to share and exchange best practices will replace the need to control. It’s a lofty ideal, but one worth striving for nonetheless. After sitting through the first two meetings, I think that we're on the right track. There has been a genuine exchange of ideas. Viewpoints are clarified and understood with the high points going out on Twitter. People actually smile. It’s great! Q. Regarding the use of Twitter as a tool to take and disseminate meeting notes, you talk about less being more. Could you expand on that? A. Sure thing. Over the past eight years I learned how to take very detailed meeting minutes. Some things definitely need to be flushed out in detail, but I feel that in most meetings, you really only have one to three big things that everyone needs to understand and focus on… Using a micro-blogging service, like Twitter or Yammer, to take down notes during a meeting really forces a person to get down to the gist of the message, and that serves as a filtration process. When everyone in the room is able to do this, and the information all rolls up into one place, then you can start to see keyword trends from the meeting. So the idea is that everyone is taking notes, in the form of 140 character thoughts, that everyone else can see and then at the end of the meeting everyone’s notes are pumped into something like Wordle and a word cloud is generated so that everyone can visualize the keywords that were mentioned the most in the meeting. I’m still experimenting with this concept, but I think it’s a cool new way to look at a boring topic like meeting notes. ? Q. What has the reaction to your group’s efforts been inside the organization? A. Bewildered enthusiasm. I work in Humana’s Innovation Center and we’re just kind of doing these things, and figuring it out as we go… which is exciting. There’s some element of “danger” associated with business and the social web that has an allure to it for most people. We just had a web and new media conference where everybody in the company who has a web presence got in a big room to talk about what they’d been doing, and our group is definitely on the cutting edge, mainly because we’re all on Twitter. What I think is really cool though is the fact that we have people outside of our company who have become fans of what we’re doing. We created the hashtag #hcoc, which stands for Humana’s Chamber of Commerce and serves as the public location of all the information we’re sharing from these meetings. The fact that people from outside our company walls are there encouraging us to keep moving forward with it is really awesome. Humana is just another evil health insurance company in a lot of people’s minds. We would like to change that perception and show that we want to be part of a solution to our country’s health crisis. Opening up and sharing seems to be a catalyst for that type of change. Q. What are the biggest challenges to starting a group like this? Who is opposed and why? A. I think that we’ve been very fortunate to have leaders in the company who accept the importance of social technologies, and challenge us to find ways to integrate them into our daily work lives. If you don’t have buy-in from the top in your organization, then you’re just spitting into the wind. The tough part at my level is figuring out what’s out there and then figuring out the so what about it. Understanding the how does this make my life or the consumer’s life easier, better faster, more motivated, and then moving forward with something that could easily blow up in my face is a constant challenge. Q. What sort of person typically wants to be involved in this group? What sort of person doesn’t? A. I would say that you have to like the internet in general, while being open to new experiences. It’s a definite mind-set, but that doesn’t mean that it’s exclusive. Anybody who wants to learn and share can be in… Q. Do you publicize the group within Humana? Are you trying to expand it in any way, or is it just a close knit group of like minded folks? A. We are in the process of developing requirements for a digital “Commons” area that everyone in the company will have access to learn and share. It’s looking like Microsoft SharePoint will more than likely be the tool of choice for our internal needs in that department. Q. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned so far? A. I think that the most important take-away so far, is that people care. It’s refreshing to be involved with a group of people who are all enthusiastic about the mountain that we have to climb together. That’s not hyperbole, either. It’s also exciting that some people from outside our company have chosen to come along for the ride. The momentum that we are building will help us through the challenges that we are up against. And let me tell you, we have a lot of challenges ahead… Access and transparency isn’t a “do it over a weekend” kind of challenge. We have a long road ahead. Q. What’s next after Twitter? How do you prioritize the tools you are exploring and why do you do it that way? A. We did the meeting tweeting sort of on a whim… We think that the results were interesting and that it was cool that other people are into it. Whether it remains our tool of preference is yet to be determined. We have internal access issues with Twitter (our firewall forces us to use our cell phones to tweet) so it may not be our final solution in the end. However, the concept of micro-blogging is catching on… I’m really interested in feeds. The thought of building the reporting into the work is something that I can get fired up about. I personally loathe having to make and manage a project plan and then make summary slides in PowerPoint. Its double work and totally unnecessary. I think that RSS is the answer but have to wrap my head around how everything fits together with our requirements. That being said, there isn’t really a prioritization process around finding the individual tools we can use. We’re looking holistically at the business of conducting business better using social technologies. It’s good times. ? |
Posted on: March 17, 2009 05:57 PM
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Can APM Save $ And Create Value?
Situation: You want to learn more about Application Portfolio Management. Recently we spoke with Lori Ellsworth, Vice President, Compuware IT Portfolio Management Solutions. Compuware (recently called a leader in the PPM market by Forrester Research) has found that APM is growing as an approach to right-sizing IT investments. We try to drill down into that a bit in the following interview, showing how APM is connected to other efforts we might be more familiar with. The goal is to give you a sense of whether it may be right for your company..Q. You describe Application Portfolio Management (APM) as a discipline for assessing applications in your existing portfolio. Is it really about tracking, prioritizing, and managing applications – or is it more about optimizing with the business functions they serve? A. Tracking, prioritizing and managing applications are the means to the end. At the end of day, IT organizations must deliver applications that perform and meet the needs of the business. But IT lives in a very disruptive environment. They are continually interrupted by merger and acquisition activity, changing production environments, new technologies, and of course, new demand for both strategic and operational investments. To keep up with these changes and demands, APM enables IT to conduct ongoing assessments of the application portfolio to measure their strategic importance and ensure they are delivering the expected value to the business. Getting a handle on the applications that exist and their current state is what allows IT to build a roadmap for optimization. Q. Enterprise Portfolio Management ties project and program efforts to the overall strategy. What are the ties between APM and EPM? A. I think the connections go “both ways”. Within the APM discipline, applications should at least be classified according to strategic value, and this presumably is guided by overall strategic initiatives. From an EPM perspective, delivering on programs and/or projects may have implications for the applications that serve the business, so these should be connected. It would be ideal to look at the enterprise program level and see the applications that will be impacted, and look at the application level and see what enterprise programs it participates in. Q. On the face of it, APM looks like a way to root out unnecessary costs and poor resource allocation. Is that its primary function? A. In the short term, APM can help IT reduce costs by reducing the number of applications, and reducing maintenance, integration and development costs on those applications that are not strategic. But, the ultimate objective is to sustain the APM initiative so that long term benefits can be realized. As you continually manage your application portfolio, IT becomes better aligned with the needs of the business and more effective at allocating both resources and budgets. Q. What leads an organization to implement APM? Are there certain events or triggers that are universal among adopters? Does an organization need to be of a certain size to benefit? A. Interest in APM has been increasing over the last several months. Certainly, today’s focus on cutting costs and running a more lean IT organization are drivers. As leaders look for opportunities to do this, they recognize that the application portfolio has grown “unchecked” over the last several years. Regardless of your size, assessing your application portfolio and eliminating redundant or low-value applications can immediately reduce costs. Other drivers are M&A activity, IT modernization initiatives and changes in management. Q. What’s the difference between APM and ALM? (both terms of the discipline itself and the results) A. Application Lifecycle Management supports new application development throughout the development process: planning, architecture, requirements gathering, development, change management, testing and release management. ALM aims to reduce time to market, improve application quality and ensure that applications meet business requirements at delivery. Application Portfolio Management analyzes production applications in the context of the entire application portfolio. It assesses each application’s current value, the costs of running them and the associated risks. With this information IT can make the right funding decisions such as when to invest in or retire an application. APM aims to reduce the size and maintenance costs of the application portfolio so funds can be put towards new strategic development. Both disciplines leverage best practices to improve IT productivity. You can think of it as ALM focusing on building and delivering the asset or application, and APM focusing on the end result – its health and how it continues to serve the business. The reality is the two are connected, since evaluation of the application can lead to investment decisions. |
Posted on: March 17, 2009 12:52 PM
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Can Mind Maps Make You More Productive?
| Situation: You Need to Organize All of This "Doing More With Less". Recently we spoke with Michael Deutch, Chief Evangelist for MindJet, who offered us some insight into how people achieve productivity gains through the use of Mind Mapping. I know from personal experience that a mind mapping approach can be very useful in collaboration, but I thought it would be interesting to get some specific examples that could generate some conversation about the way we work and how it can be improved. Michael makes some great points here. Once you read through it, please feel free to comment or start new discussions in Christine Sellers’ MindMapping GIG.  Q. I’ve found that concepts presented in Mind Map form are generally easier to understand because of the way the information is broken down hierarchically. A project WBS is naturally easy to work with in this format. Can you provide examples beyond the WBS in the project management world where the hierarchy construct is particularly useful? A. When I first learned about mind mapping, I had heard that it was mostly used for project management. One of the first applications people think of is the building of the WBS. Others take it a step further and use mapping software to also manage their schedule. Mind mapping is an excellent way to visualize your individual or team’s thinking. The visualization process helps bring to light the information that is known and the gaps that are missing. It can be used effectively to identify project risks and develop mitigation plans. Others have applied it as part of their problem solving process. Many use our software to facilitate brainstorming sessions and then organize and prioritize ideas within the structure of the map. These examples are individual instances where you’ll find utility. As part of the project management process, mapping can be used as a team process to accelerate project meetings. At a PMI conference, a customer shared his story how creating project charters used to take 5+ days before he tried mind mapping. Today, he projects a mind map and uses our software to guide the entire process in less than 3 hours. Here a list of some areas where mapping has been applied effectively: • Capturing and organizing project research • Solving problems and creating strategies for mitigating serious risks • Creating project dashboards, tying together disparate information & providing the ‘big picture’ • Drafting and writing reports and presentations • Identifying milestones and required deliverables • Gathering requirements and conducting interviews • Analyzing stakeholders and project influences • Taking project and meeting notes Q. I’ve worked with Word docs collaboratively online and its helpful, but I think that dealing with the same information is sometimes easier in Mind Map form (at least in the early stages) because its easier to see where things fit into the “visual outline”. It invites people in to add blurbs and bubbles in a way that you might not do with a Word doc because its harder to figure out where new ideas fit. What types of collaborative project situations do you see mind maps working best in? A. Working with Mind Maps collaboratively has several key benefits. Working linearly with written documents, presentations, spreadsheets and even project plans is often challenging because the details are spread across multiple pages (and even multiple applications), making it difficult to maintain perspective, see the big picture, and understand how all the pieces fit together. In the first answer, I mentioned several project situations where mapping collaboratively is effective. A general rule of thumb would be if you don’t know the answer, map it out. Throughout the project process, you can map everything from your project charter to your lessons learned report. Q. Mind Mapping can lead to more effective problem solving by helping break down the problem first so you truly understand it. Can you provide an example of how that would work in the context of a project? A. Absolutely. Project teams are constantly solving one problem or another. Using maps, teams can systematically clarify problems as they are discovered. A team can start with the ‘problem’ in the center of the map and then branch out with the following questions: a. What can you see that causes you to think there's a problem? b. Where is it happening? c. How is it happening? d. When is it happening? e. With whom is it happening? f. Why is it happening? g. What else do we need to investigate? Once these questions are fully explored and answered, it should be possible to write a clear, specific problem statement. For complex problems, teams can repeat the process above until you have described all related problems. On projects, this keeps teams focused on addressing and solving the ‘real’ problems, making incremental, measurable progress, and providing business value sooner. Q. I’ve heard that Mind Mapping is good for gathering input from folks who are coming at an issue from wildly different perspectives. Can you provide an example of that? A. Many organizations are using mind mapping as part of their requirements gathering process. This takes place in the traditional project settings (e.g. IT and R&D projects) as well as areas that aren’t always considered projects (e.g. gathering client requirements as part of a sales process). Judith Glaser of the Creating We Institute has said that within a team, mind mapping helps “create broader perspectives around ideas—to build bigger frameworks that include many peoples´ perspectives and connect them—which creates amazing inclusivity.” David Wilson, Managing Director of Elearnity, has said that mind mapping helps his team “clearly structure ideas and information from all sources, support creative thinking, structure analysis and recommendations.” Q. If you have to name a top 5 best practices for using Mind Maps to make you more productive, what would they be? A. 1. Pick up a mind mapping book or check out some mind mapping blogs to learn the basics. Then forget the rules and start mapping. 2. Let your ideas flow without judgment. You can organize and prioritize them afterwards. 3. Use keywords for your topics. You don’t have to be overly verbose. This makes it easier to grasp the big picture without getting lost in a sea of text. 4. Use notes, images & colors to provide richer context. 5. For teams, build maps together. You’ll create great ideas together, walk away more aligned, and have fun in the process! Also, one last point: maps are reflections of what’s on (or in) your mind. It isn’t always safe to assume that someone who wasn’t present when the map was created can pick it up and follow along without additional explanations. Q. What’s the best way to measure or demonstrate productivity gains from using mind maps? How would I prove it helps? A. My advice would be to not only look for productivity gains, but also at the Quality of your work and the Impact of making better decisions. In other words, if you used a mind map to arrive at a decision to cancel a project before spending millions and wasting time pursuing the wrong problem, how would that calculate in a simple survey? Demonstrating productivity for any software that improves your thinking process is a difficult challenge, especially since no two projects are alike. Mindjet has developed a survey with Forrester Research that we’ve used to collect over 1,800 responses across several global organizations. The survey took ‘before’ and ‘after’ snapshots that captured both quantitative and qualitative feedback around time spent in projects, meetings, developing communications and managing information. The results? Dramatic. Most organizations yielded 3-5 hours in savings per employee per week. Several organizations reported much higher savings. Q. MindManager Web seems to be a good environment for collaborating on issues or projects where security is not an issue. Can you provide real world examples of these types of projects (in a typical business context)? A. Our clients are using either MindManager Web or Mindjet Connect to work on maps together collaboratively from different locations, use the web conferencing capabilities to give presentations and share information across distributed project teams and share project documentation in secure workspaces. The Center Communications Director at the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) shared that collaborative mapping has helped his team, “simultaneously collaborate on maps with distributed individuals. We also used Mindjet Connect to share documents as well as share desktops. It proved to be an invaluable productivity tool when working with a distributed group of people to keep everyone on track and up to date.” Other project managers have used it to work more directly together, follow up with progress on projects, manage team "to-do" lists, and deliver presentations and hold collaborative brainstorming sessions with remote participants. |
Posted on: March 09, 2009 07:23 PM
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Why Project Managers Should Twitter
Situation: You're Tweet-curious. How many times have you heard that project management is all about communication? Communicating with your team is important, but so is communication with the outside world. The latter is one of the reasons you are on gantthead. Both are reasons you should at least become familiar with Twitter.Let me begin by saying I’ve been on Twitter for almost two years, tweeting once until last week. I never really got it until I got a few direct messages that dragged me into really trying it out. Three benefits really struck me as important. I think they could be important to most PMs who care about doing a good job AND improving their knowledge of the field. Real Large-Scale Collaboration Have you ever been responsible for a large-scale system rollout? Often there are points where you present information to a large audience and only a small percentage of people with questions ask them. In the end you have questions from 5% of the people who actually have issues with what you are doing. Imagine what would happen if you got everything out in a non-confrontational and documented way with very little overhead or cost. Twitter could help you do that. How important is “sounding smart” (or being smarter) to you? You would be surprised at how inspirational a twitter stream of random thoughts and links on PM can be. It’s hard not to spend 10 minutes running through a twitter search of something you are interested in --- say project management and not find something that interests you or sparks your imagination. Compare that to 10 minutes of TV at night or 10 minutes of waiting in line someplace. How important is being connected to you? If you want to connect to business people in general, go to linkedin. If you want to connect to other PMs, do that on gantthead. If you want to connect to people from a variety of disciplines, based on your interests, Twitter is not a bad place to do it. Again, start by searching on your favorite terms. Last night, I ended up having a brief email exchange with one of the guys on NBCs “Heroes”. No big deal, but not likely to happen without Twitter. How many PM folks do you network with? Wouldn't it be great if you knew more about them - creating easier ways to start conversation and build a closer relationship? (see video below) These are just a few thoughts on the subject. It’s not for everyone. It’s certainly not for those who have a very modest interest in networking. I just thought it would be useful to offer a couple quick ways to try it out. If you do try it, please let me know how it turned out. If you would like to follow me, I'm DaveG253. |
Posted on: March 02, 2009 04:12 PM
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