Support to Develop

Introduction

The PMBOK Guide 6th edition has an appendix dedicated to the techniques and tools that are grouped together for their objectives.

In a total of 132 techniques and tools, 72 of which are grouped into 6 groups according to the intention of what should be done and the different methods to achieve that intention.

The remaining 60 tools and techniques are not grouped

This grouping is performed in a table that crosses the process and area of ​​knowledge with the techniques and tools

Groups of tools and techniques

The groups integrate a set of tools and techniques and have the following designations

- Data collection techniques - 9 tools and techniques

- Data analysis techniques - 27 tools and techniques

- Data representation techniques - 15 tools and techniques

- Decision making techniques - 2 tools and techniques

- Communication skills - 2 tools and techniques

- Interpersonal and team skills - 17 tools and techniques

 As mentioned, there are 60 techniques and tools not grouped

One of the techniques and tools not grouped, but used in all processes and areas of knowledge is meetings.

"Chronic reunit": a disease that affects many organizations

There are companies and, therefore, project managers who suffer from “chronic reunit”. 

Some symptoms of “chronic reunit”:

- Meetings scheduled at the last minute

- Meetings on everything and nothing

- Meetings without a previously defined and distributed agenda

- Meetings without support information

- Meetings where no decisions are made

- Meetings that last for hours

It is important to combat this "disease" as it affects proficiency in project management and, consequently, the results

Aspects to consider about the meetings

Before scheduling and / or organizing a meeting, check if it is essential to hold it.

If you think it is essential, organize it taking into account the following activities

- Before the meeting

- During the meeting

- After the meeting

Let us analyze each aspect in detail

- Before the meeting

Before organizing the meeting, it is important to:

• Clearly define objectives (SMART) and topics to be addressed
• Collect the necessary information to support the themes
• Identify the people who will attend the meeting
• Organize and prepare the agenda
• Define roles to be played at the meeting (time controller, meeting coordinator and minutes editor)
• Distribute in advance all the information collected
• Diagnose the necessary equipment to support the meeting
• Set the date and place for the meeting
• Convene the meeting
• Confirm the presence of all those invited to the meeting
• Check if the room is available and equipped for the meeting

- During the meeting

Ensure that:

• The topics are addressed according to the agenda and the expected times
• Moderation / facilitation allows all participants to give their opinion
• The minutes are drawn up, approved and signed before the meeting is concluded

- After the meeting

Remember of:

• Archive all information
• Check that all the defined actions are being correctly executed and with commitment
• Fix what needs to be fixed

Today, with technology at our disposal, it is possible to:

• Draw up the minutes of the meeting and ensure its signature before it is completed
• Ensure the participation of all stakeholders (including members of virtual teams)

Conclusion

Proficiency in the exercise of the Project Management profession depends on the approach chosen in relation to some techniques and tools.

What is your opinion about the suggestions covered in this article?

 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (image source)                                                                 Emotional intelligence (image source)  

In the first article in this series of 3 on the topic "Who practices the 7 Habits is Emotionally Intelligent?" I had the opportunity to write about Emotional Intelligence and the five elements of emotional intelligence

Recalling the five important elements to emotional intelligence:

1. Self-awareness

2. Self-regulation

3. Motivation

4. Empathy

5. Social skills

In the second article, I had the opportunity to write about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Recalling the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

1. Be proactive

2. Begin with the end in mind

3. First things first

4 - Think win-win

5 - Seek first to understand, then to be understood

6- Synergize

7- Sharpen the Saw; Growth

Principles contained in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In the table below I will present the underlying Principles or the essence of the 7 Habits

Emotional Intelligence and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In the table below I will present the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and the 7 Habits

Conclusion

I recommend anyone who is interested in increasing their EQ to study and apply the principles contained in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Question

A few years ago, the PMBOK Guide recommended that project managers practice the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 

Why was this recommendation withdrawn and replaced by Emotional Intelligence?   

Fontes: Inteligência Emocional - O livro que mudou o conceito de Inteligência- Daniel Goleman

                                                     Os 7 Hábitos das Pessoas Altamente Eficazes - Stephen Covey

 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (image source)                                                   Emotional Intelligence (image source)

After addressing Emotional Intelligence, we can reflect on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

From dependence to independence

Independence
The first three habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery):

1 - Be proactive
Take responsibility for your reaction to your experiences, take the initiative to respond positively and improve the situation.
Recognize your Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern.
Focus your responses and initiates on the center of your influence and constantly work to expand it.
Don't sit and wait in a reactive mode, waiting for problems to happen (Circle of Concern) before taking action.

2 - Begin with the end in mind
Envision what you want in the future so you can work and plan towards it.
Understand how people make decisions in their life.
To be effective you need to act based on principles and constantly review your mission statement.
Are you - right now - who you want to be?
What do I have to say about myself?
How do you want to be remembered?
If habit 1 advises changing your life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that you are the programmer!
Grow and stay humble.
All things are created twice.
Before we act, we should act in our minds first.
Before we create something, we measure twice.
This is what the principle is about.
Do not just act; think first: Is this how I want it to go, and are these the correct consequences?

3 - First things first
Matrix of importance vs urgency that Stephen Covey and Dwight D. Eisenhower used in deciding where to invest their efforts.
Talks about  personal vision and personal leadership.
Talks about what is important and what is urgent.
Priority should be given in the following order (in brackets are the corresponding actions from the Eisenhower Matrix):
Quadrant I. Urgent and important (Do) – important deadlines and crises
Quadrant II. Not urgent but important (Plan) – long-term development
Quadrant III. Urgent but not important (Delegate) – distractions with deadlines
Quadrant IV. Not urgent and not important (Eliminate) – frivolous distractions

The order is important; after completing items in quadrant I, we should spend the majority of our time on II, but many people spend too much time in III and IV.
If habit 2 advises that you are the programmer, habit 3 advises: write the program! Keep personal integrity: what you say vs what you do.

From independence to interdependence

Interdependence
The next three habits talk about Interdependence (e.g., working with others):

4 - Think win-win
Genuine feelings for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships.
Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten their way.
Think Win-Win isn't about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique.
It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration.

5 - Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Use empathetic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to be influenced by you.
This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem-solving.

Habit 5 is greatly embraced in the Greek philosophy represented by 3 words:
1) Ethos - your personal credibility. It's the trust that you inspire, your Emotional Bank Account.
2) Pathos is the empathetic side - it's the alignment with the emotional trust of another person's communication.
3) Logos is the logic - the reasoning part of the presentation.

The order is important: ethos, pathos, logos - your character, and your relationships, and then the logic of your presentation.

6 - Synergize
Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals that no one could have done alone.

7 - Sharpen the Saw; Growth
See also: Kaizen (continuous improvement)
Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle.

It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, good prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal.
It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

Covey explains the "Upward Spiral" model in the sharpening the saw section.
Through our conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, the spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement.
In essence, one is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in The 7 Habits at progressively higher levels at each iteration.
Subsequent development on any habit will yield a different experience and you will learn the principles with a deeper understanding.
The Upward Spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do.

One must be increasingly educating the conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral.

The idea of renewal by education will propel one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power.

                                                                      Fonte: Os 7 Hábitos das Pessoas Altamente Eficazes  

                                                                                                                                  Stephen Covey

Emotional intelligence (image source)                                                                 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (image source)

 Because it is not very comfortable to follow a reflection (reading all the comments) and because it is a relevant topic, and for the interest and participation shown I decided to create this article.

So, What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage your emotions and understand both your emotions and the emotions of people around you.
People who are highly emotionally intelligent are aware of their own feelings, what those feelings mean, and how they affect other people around them.
They also have the ability to handle other people’s emotions, which is crucial for interpersonal relationships. 

There are five important elements to emotional intelligence:
1. Self-awareness

2. Self-regulation

3. Motivation

4. Empathy

5. Social Skills

The more of these you have in check, the higher your emotional intelligence is

Going deeper into each of the elements of emotional intelligence

1. Self-awareness
Self-awareness means always knowing what you feel and what your feelings mean.

You should also know how your feelings are affecting other people in your surroundings.
You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses and be aware of what you need to to use them both appropriately.

2. Self-regulation
Next step after understanding your emotions is being in control of them.

You need to be in control of your negative feelings and use them constructively to solve problems, not to scream or be angry.
 You also hold accountable.

3. Motivation
People with high emotional intelligence are also very good at motivating themselves without needing external support.

This means that they have a high quality standard for themselves and others.
People with high emotional intelligence set goals and motivate themselves to reach those goals. They also have a great ability to motivate others by understanding what motivates them on an individual level.

4. Empathy
Empathy is very important. You have to be able to put yourself into someone else’s shoes, understand them and approach them with something that they can relate to.

Empathy plays an important role in handling conflict, making people see the bigger picture, and motivating others.

5. Social skills
People who have great social skills are good communicators both in the sense of translating ideas to the others and listening to their needs and complaints.

They are very good at recognizing problems and very open to hearing both good and bad news. They also know how to praise others and how to criticize them constructively

Resume

In this article (the first in a series of three) we cover the concept and the 5 elements of emotional intelligence

We also had the opportunity to deepen each of these 5 elements

                       Fonte: Inteligência Emocional - O livro que mudou o conceito de Inteligência 

                                                                                                                         Daniel Goleman

After collecting and analyzing the results of the self-assessment and the 360º assessment of our ability to listen, my proposal is that we opt for the lowest results, that is:

If our evaluation is higher than the 360º evaluation, I suggest that we choose the results obtained from the 360º evaluation

If our evaluation is lower than the 360º evaluation, I suggest that we choose the results of the self-evaluation

Defining the objectives

Let us imagine that the results of the evaluation we have chosen as a reference are:

Listening capacity = 3.5

We are in a position to define our improvement objectives:

Intention: To improve our ability to listen

Proportion: by 14%

Time-bound: within the next 6 months

Now it is necessary to validate our objectives so that they are S.M.A.R.T.

Two questions to ask:

- Are these objectives realistic?

- Are these objectives ambitious?

Still in the field of hypotheses, imagine that we validate the objectives to improve the ability to listen

Action plan

Having defined the objectives, it is essential to answer the question: How are we going to achieve them?

Developing and implementing an action plan that allows us to improve our ability to listen

Measures that the action plan should contain:

1. Keep quiet (don't interrupt)

2. Allow our interlocutor to expose the whole subject (idea)

3. Focus on the subject (what we are hearing) and the person (not thinking about other things at the same time)

4. Demonstrate that we are paying attention (through the language: gestures, looking, smiling and small interjections)

5. Asking questions to get more information (open questions, reformulations)

6. In the end, we repeat what the interlocutor has just said and submit it for your appreciation

7. “Undress” from any and all prejudices

8. We do not make value judgments in relation to the person or in relation to the matter

9. Do not listen autobiographically

Note: In order for us to monitor and control, it is necessary to write the objectives and the action plan

Implementation of the action plan

Once the action plan is defined, it is essential to implement it on a daily basis

It is important to analyze which measures of the action plan are the most difficult to implement and which are the easiest to implement

Let us remember that:

"A vision without action is just a dream.

Action without vision is just a hobby.

But an action vision can change the world." Joel Barker

Control and corrective measures to be taken

Weekly, it is necessary to evaluate the implementation of the action plan and think about what measures should be implemented in order to achieve our goals.

The evaluation support document can be more comprehensive or more specific (eg, a reflection on each point of our plan)

Note: It is essential to record the information collected

"Measures what is measurable and makes what is not measurable" - Galileo Galilei