Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same one a second time.
Be agile and sure-footed. It's really all about self-confidence. Overcome your fear of heights; you just might succeed beyond your wildest expectations!
Be resourceful and expect some occasional rain. Don't let wet weather dampen your spirits. The sun will soon shine again.
Smile, grin and laugh a lot. Doing so alters your biochemical balance and enhances your physical and mental health. Kacak5 Management
Program words of wisdom:- "Feedback is the breakfast of champions." To perform well, we need feedback to ensure we are on the right track of progress regardless it's positive or negative.
Frequent communication---- not the yearly appraisal -----is the answer to managing a staff performance in your Program Team. The brutal truth is everybody (or at least 80%) honestly believe they did their best and their performance to be in the top quartile!
- Constant communication and feedback about performance and praise good work to ensure goals are clear and expectation understood
- Performance management is everyday.
- Provide positive and constructive feedback to be specific and reinforcing your requirement. Never negative and critical.
- 2 way performance review and encourage staff to do most of the talking if possible.
- encourage a policy of "No Surprises". Any performance problems should be honestly dealt with immediately
- Build good relationship by delivering what you say you could. Trust is earned.
- Analyse problem, not personality, so keep them separate. You will hate some and like some people.
- Judge on the overall performance, not on some specific incidences.
- Be prepared with facts to resolve.
-Start with his strengths, encourage where deserved and move gradually to the problem area.
Program words of wisdom:- Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
Junior high school students in Chicago were studying the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of the lesson, the students were asked to list what they considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following received the most votes:
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids 2. The Taj Mahal in India 3. The Grand Canyon in Arizona 4. The Panama Canal 5. The Empire State Building 6. St. Peter's Basilica 7. China's Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."
The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
1. to touch... 2. to taste... 3. to see... 4. to hear... (She hesitated a little, and then added...) 5. to feel... 6. to laugh... 7. and to love.
The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.
May this story serve as a gentle reminder to all of us that the things we overlook as simple and ordinary are often the most wonderful - and we don't have to travel anywhere special to experience them.
Program words of wisdom:- Never takes short-cuts and assume things will resolve by itself.
To arrive at an answer, we only have to look at the most common mistakes a Program Manager (PM) can make.
1. PM don’t have the necessary expertise to execute on a specialized technology Program. The PM, especially in technology where there are so many moving parts, MUST have experience in a similar if not exact Program as the one he has been assigned. Without that experience the Program teams, and the stakeholders, will be led astray throughout the course of the Program, which will lead to turmoil within the Program team. Scope creep, that is uncontrolled changes in the scope of the Program, will result.
2. Communication is more then a weekly teleconference. PM have a tendency to rely on weekly teleconference calls to communicate the progress and discuss the hurdles the Program is currently facing. Unfortunately, often members of the team who are facing hurdles may have lost direction on their assigned tasks between conference calls. They may even not be aligned with the general thrust of where the Program is supposed to be headed. It is imperative that communication be constant, open, and honest.
3. You are the commander! Two futures face up as PM: you will either become the hero, or the captain who went down with his ship. You must have the necessary experience to ascertain any and all challenges your Program team can possibly face; that experience, coupled with constant communication, will inspire your team to follow you through thick and thin. However, if you dictate direction rather then to rely on your team’s expertise, you are doomed.
4. Openly Managers your client’s expectations. You will fail is you assume everyone is on the same page. This can happen due to a lack of communication or just simply because you believe everyone is managing their tasks as expected. Even your clients (the stakeholders) need to understand the process and which phase you are in within the Program. Even better, it is important that the stakeholders understand and agree to each part of the Program before it begins. This can become complicated if there are two PM (one client and one vendor) managing the Program, each from their different perspectives. Both PM need to be in agreement not only with all phases of the Program, but must sign off on a complete task plan.
5. You must be a leader! You must influence each Program member to ensure that he or she completes their task on time. You must also extend your leadership capabilities to the stakeholders as well: They need to feel confident of your confidence to successfully complete the Program. There is no room for indecision: Do your homework. Find out where the risks within your Program team are what the day-to-day risks to your Program lie. Without leadership skills, you will not be able to overcome any challenges facing your Program. A classic warning sign that you lack of leadership is directing blame at team members usually without cause.
6. Vendor certification is not a guarantee that you or your Program will succeed. Certification does show competency in the understanding of the methodology of Program Management, but relying on that solely is a no-no.
7. No input from stakeholders and/or Program team. Rely on the knowledge inherent within your team. Constantly circle back to them throughout all phases of the Program to ensure they are involved, and therefore automatically engaged.
8. Lack of the required documentation. I have seen my share of Programs where even the Program charter hasn’t even been signed off by the stakeholders before Program initiation. Make sure all documentation is in-line with your Program Management methodology of choice to ensure your Program team is covered in terms of deliverables, and expectations.
9. Managers Program risks constantly. Risk can occur at anytime within the Program, and your experience in similar Programs will trigger when risk is imminent and when corrective or risk adherence is required. Ensure you stay on top of the game, keep your feelers out there, and understand that even the littlest thing can turn into a big thing if not properly managed.
10. Contingency. Rarely does a Program close on-time and on budget. Plan for contingencies and ensure you have your documentation at the ready so your stakeholders understand what is happening. Be ready to both defend your and your Program team’s performance, and explain why more time, resources, or capital is required.
A best in class PM is hard to come by but I have had the pleasure of working with quite a few in my years in the technology industry. A great PM is not afraid to take one on the chin from time to time, never deflecting blame to a team member. But most of all they lead the team to a successful Program closure.
Being a PM is not easy, but you can make it better for everyone by taking some of these simple tips to ensure tremendous success in the future.
Program words of wisdom:- Program Mangement are for women who have a sense of humor and who can handle it... and to the men who will enjoy the lighter side of it.
I know some ladies might be throwing rotten tomatoes at me...but with due respect, much as I hate to admit it, it is true that men are just happier because of the way they look at life, themselves and others. Here are some examples...
NICKNAMES If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah. If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.
EATING OUT When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
MONEY A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that shedoesn't need but it's on sale.
BATHROOMS A man has seven items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, shampoo and a towel. The average number of items in the typicalwoman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.
ARGUMENTS A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
FUTURE A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
MONEY A woman insist, "What is mine is mine only and what is his is also mine!". A man will just give what his wife wants.
SUCCESS A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
MARRIAGE A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.
DRESSING UP A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail. A man will dress up for weddings and football.
NATURAL Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
OFFSPRING Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of what some short people living in the house likes.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!
Program words of wisdom:- From experience, we gain wisdom in later years.
We do know that every successful career person should have some compassionate behaviour such that due to our busy work nature are often not acted out correctly. Here are my personal observations in the ICU
DON'T - sit in on the doctor's medical briefings for the family. No doctor would invite an outsider unless the latter is a medical professional who has something vital to contribute.
- prescribe alternative therapies or MLM-type health products for the patient. By doing so, you only confuse the patient's family and put unwanted pressure on them. Let the doctors do the job they have been trained for. They are in the best position to administer the appropriate treatment as they have access to the patient's test results and know the patient's medical condition.
- visit the patient in the ICU, especially if he is under sedation. He won't even know you are there. Besides, you may be exposing him to bacterial infection and you may even be at risk of getting infected! This was a major concern of the doctors. All the more so as visitors to the ICU at this particular hospital for infectious diseases are not required to wear a facial mask. I found this rather shocking.
- pose as family members or medical doctors in order to gain access to the patient or patient's medical records. When the real family members turn up, the busy doctors are understandably reluctant to have to repeat the medical updates all over again.
- post confidential medical details of the patient on social networking sites for all and sundry to read. Only the immediate family has the right to do this, if they choose to. call up the family at odd hours to inquire about the patient, or worse still, get into an argument about the best course of action to take.
- insult family members by calling them names. This is totally unacceptable and unwarranted. The focus should be on the patient's speedy recovery, not on petty issues blown up by bruised egos.
Be agile and sure-footed. It's really all about self-confidence. Overcome your fear of heights; you just might succeed beyond your wildest expectations!
Be resourceful and expect some occasional rain. Don't let wet weather dampen your spirits. The sun will soon shine again.
Smile, grin and laugh a lot. Doing so alters your biochemical balance and enhances your physical and mental health.
