Seven Habits of Effective People

Effectiveness - do right thing right the first time

• Habit 1: Be proactive - choice

the power to choose

"can do" attitued

"I decide to..." not "I have to..."

repond by principle not emotion

• Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind - vision

live by design not by default

develop a personal mission statement - values, principles, talents, roles, responsibilities
Templeate:

The things that matter most to me are:

The principles I will use to guide my life are:

I will make a contribution and enjoy life by using my talents of:

I will live with purpose in the following roles:

As a [role], I will [responsibility]

create a work-back plan from the vision

• Habit 3: Put first things first - priority with integrity

schedule your priorities, not prioritize your schedule

focus on top priorities

urgent vs important

do more planning

• Habit 4: Think win-win - mutual benefit attitude

win-win or no deal

emotional bank account - deposit:

seek first to understand

show kindness, courtesy, respect

keep promise

be loyal to the absent

set clear expections

apologize

give feedback

forgive

• Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood - active listening skill

"talking stick" - speaker seeks to be understood before passing it to another person

empathic listening - reflecting what a person feels and says in your own words, avoid advising, counselling, solving, probing, questioning, interpreting, evaluating, judging, disagreeing or agreeing

• Habit 6: Synergize - 1+1>2

Begin with common goal/purpose before discussing different viewpoints

• Habit 7: Sharpen the saw - renewal, balanced self-satisfaction in body, heart, mind and soul

Regain "production capability" by engaging in carefully selected recreational activities

The Tech Disaster Awards: What You Can Learn from IT's Biggest Project Failures

By Jake Widman

1. IBM's Stretch project: Try to salvage something of lasting value from the wreckage, even if you don't meet your project's main goals.
2. Knight-Ridder's Viewtron service: Sometimes you can be so far ahead of the curve that you fall right off the edge.
3. DMV projects -- California and Washington: (a) Don't place your future in the hands of one supplier. (b) When a project is obviously doomed to failure, get out sooner rather than later.
4. FoxMeyer ERP program: Make sure your operation can survive the failure of a project.
5. Apple's Copland operating system: Keep your project's goals focused.
6. Sainsbury's warehouse automation: Problems that go unaddressed at rollout will only get worse, not better, over time.
7. Canada's gun registration system: Define your project scope and freeze specifications before the requests for changes get out of hand.

Effective Meetings (last installment)

Helping behaviors

• proposing - "How about ..."
• building - "To build on John's idea ..."
• seeking information - "Please describe ..."
• seeking opinion - "How do you feel, Ken?"
• giving information - "Here is my report ..."
• giving opinion - "My opinion is ..."
• disagreeing - "I disagree with Rob because ..."
• summarizing - "To recap the issue ..."
• testing comprehension - "I heard you say ..."
• testing consensus - "How many agree?"
• encouraging - "Say more about that idea ..."
• harmonizing - "What do we agree on?"
• checking performance - "How close are we?"
• setting standard - "We need to decide by ..."
• relieving tension - "The humor in this is ..."
• paraphasing - "What I heard you say was ..."
  

Processing strong feelings:

(1) acknowledge feelings

(2) remain neutral

(3) seek first to understand, then to be understood

(4) process feelings by:

• observing silence
• taking a break
• silently brainstorming issues on cards
• sharing concerns
• identifying areas of conflict and commonality and ideas for bridging gaps
• suggesting ways of resolving conflict

(5) refocus conversation on original topic/goals

Dealing with hurtful behaviors

• late arrival - start on time, don't update
• side conversation - stop, look at offenders
• dominators - ask them to scribe
• rambling - use parking lot if point is relevant
• negativity - ask group to comment on negative opinions
  

Building consensus (= agreement + support)

• test for consensus by verbal polling or written vote
• use consensus to determine team functions (meeting frequency, ground rules, roles, etc.)
  

Recognizing symptoms of conflict

• ideas get attacked before they are fully stated
• comments are personal attacks
• win-lose pressures
• members take sides

Six attributes of successful project managers

[by Meridith Levinson]

1. risk management - ability to anticipate and head off problems

2. organization - ability to stay focused on the big picture and to prioritize competing responsibilities

3. leadership - ability to motivate team and influence stakeholders

4. communication - ability to discuss the project in the context of whatever is most important to the audience

5. practical - focus on getting work done with the resources available

6. empathy - ability to understand stakeholders' concerns, take them seriously and address them

Effective Meetings (continued)

Active faciliation strategies

• set ground rules, for example:

1. challenge ideas instead of individuals
2. start on time/stop on time
3. one conversation at a time
4. confidentiality
   

• appoint roles, for example:

1. facilitator
2. note taker
3. timekeepter
   

• use parking lot for items important but irrelevant to the issue at hand
  
• involve all participants at the start, for example:

1. 5-minute informal conversation
2. paird interviews
3. roundtable sharing of good news

• assign pre-meeting tasks (only if necessary), and

1. explain why it is important
2. give adequate lead time
3. provide clear instructions
4. emphasize need to complete it in advance
5. plan a process for using assignment at meeting
   

• separate presentation from discussion, and ask reflection questoins at the end, for example:

1. What points did you agree/disagree with?
2. How could the proposal be improved?
3. What new questions does it raise?
   

• use flip charts - tips:

1. write the words that people say if possible
2. share scribe role among multiple members
3. keep all information visible (hang charts)
4. clarify with team when you add your ideas
5. seek permission to paraphrase ideas
6. use color
7. print clearly