I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself, Oh Wait I Did

Have you ever sat in a meeting and heard someone say something you said as if it was their own idea? Or have you ever watched someone else get credit for your hardwork? While most of us have probably had this occur at some point, how many of us actually do something about it? How many of us stand up and say something? Or take action so that it doesn't occur again? Today's blog is about making your voice heard, whoever you are, wherever you are.

So what can we do?

Documentation, Documentation, Documentation
As mentioned in some of my previous entries, documentation is incredibly important to the success of your professional career. What documentation does is put a stake in the ground, it creates a record, an account of your activity, your thoughts, your ideas in a form that can be retrieved and undisputed at a later date. While documentation does not provide any guarantees, it does allow you to depend on something more than memory and hearsay.

Say It Loud, Say It Proud
We all have a voice, so why not let people hear it? Whether you are the CEO or the summer intern, we all have our own unique experiences and knowledge to bring. Sharing your ideas is what distinguishes you from everyone else, its what sets you apart. On the flip side, asking someone for their opinion is probably one of the greatest gifts you can give them, it shows that you value them and what they can bring to the table. As Winston Churchill said, "No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered."

Do Onto Others, As You Would Have Them Do Onto You
This final concept is something that I like to practice in my own life and it is about treating people the way that I would want to be treated. In reference to the subject of this blog, just as I would want to be valued and credited for my thoughts and contributions, so too, I try and make sure that I always appreciate everyone around me. Whether you stayed late, came up with a solution, reviewed my work...if you were involved in any way, I try and make sure that not only you, but that everyone involved, knows.

This blog discusses the concept of intellectual property and ensuring that your contributions are noticed and in turn that you notice the contribution of others. The importance of this concept is incredibly significant. Recognition, if done correctly results in a sense of appreciation and self worth, while lack of acknowledgment can lead to low self-esteem and accelerated employee turnover. As we move into 2008, my resolution is to neither fear nor apologize for who I am, to be true to myself. After reading through this entry, my hope is that we can all recognize our own self worth and the value that we can bring to the table.

"If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself." ~ Rollo May

If A Tree Falls In A Forest And No One Is Around To Hear It, Does It Make A Sound?

The philosophical question "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?", is a question that I'm sure we've all heard before... it is the idea of whether or not something can exist without being perceived. However, for today's entry, I would like to put my own spin on this age old question, and ask "If a person communicates and no one is around to see it, did the communication really occur?"

This entry isn't about the importance of communication or best practices on how to communicate (to find out more about communication read What We Have Hear Is A Failure To Communicate) ...but rather it is assuming that you already know this and our practicing the art of communication on a daily basis. No, today's entry is about how to "appear" to be communicating.

Frankly speaking, one of my greatest struggles both personally and professionally has always been communication. In working on trying to improve my ability to communicate, I have found that perception is often as important as reality (if not more so). That being said, the following are a few tips on how to create the "perception" of communication:

• Document, Document, Document ~ I cannot emphasize enough, how important documentation is. Without documentation of communication you are left with an endless battle of He Said She Said. What did you agree to? When did you say it would be delivered? Who is responsible for delivering it?...There's a famous quote which says that "a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on", meaning that words are just words, without documentation you have nothing. That being said, the practice that I've taken on lately is to send a follow-up email after a call or a meeting, in which I always start with the following words "As discussed...", this not only provides physical documentation about what you communicated about, but also establishes that there was both an oral and documented form of communication.
  
• The Loop Is A Good Place To Be ~ I know that when I first started working, I worked on a very "need to know" basis. If I thought you needed to know something or be involved, I would tell you, otherwise, I would handle everything on my own. I thought that cc'ing people on emails or doing daily status reports, showed a lack of trust or ability. But I've come to learn that keeping people in the loop is a result of working in a team, it doesn't mean that you can't succeed on your own, it means that people want to be involved and share in your experiences. That being said, I've taken on a new outlook, which is to share everything! If people don't want to be cc'd on something they can delete your email. If they don't want to come to a meeting, they can decline your request. Basically, put the onus of being involved on someone else, plus by keeping everyone in the loop, they can see when, how, and with whom your communicating, so really it's a Win Win situation.
  
• Get Physical ~ This tactic of creating the perception of communication, is by far my favourite, and is one that I have just recently adapted into my own personal practice. It is the idea of creating a physical appearance of communication. For example, it is very easy when you have a question to pick up a phone, send an email, shoot over an instant message...but what does this do? It gets you your answer, it fulfills your need of communicating, but it is very private. It is a practice of communication only apparent to yourself and the other party involved. But what happens, when you physically get up and go sit at someones desk? All of a sudden, everyone around you sees that you're communicating and after all, that is the key focus of today's entry.
  

Hopefully, the above tips will help guide you in your own personal journey of communication... and remember we live in a world where we judge based on appearances and therefore if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, we know that it still makes a sound, we just have to work extra hard in proving that to everyone else.

Do You Trust Me?

“Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation upon which more can be built. Where trust is, love can flourish.” (Barbara Smith)

Today's blog entry is about trust and how, just as it is crucial to the foundation of a good relationship, so to, is it crucial to good Project Management. In my experience as a Project Manager, I have come to realize how critical trust is, to delivering a successful project, not only with regard to your client relationships, but in respect to your internal relationships as well.

Looking first at the relationship between you and your client, we see that the component of trust is apparent from beginning to end. In fact, by your initial meeting, your client has already taken that first leap, in that they are trusting you to develop a successful solution that will not only answer their immediate needs, but that will benefit their company in the long run as well. That trust then continues to grow through the life cycle of the project, in that both parties trust each other to work in an open and honest manner, with respect to communication and deliverables. And finally, the project comes full circle with your client trusting you to deliver on what you initially promised, and in turn you trusting your client to be appreciative of your final deliverable.

And then there is the aspect of trust and the internal relationship. Now, it is in my opinion, that it is this trust that is ultimately the more important of the two relationships, since it is this internal trust which can affect how one perceives themselves and without self-trust, all other types of trust are unattainable. So how do we see trust in internal relationships? Easy...between you and your superiors, there is the trust that you will successfully sustain your relationships with your clients. Between you and your colleagues...there is the trust that you can depend on one another to be supportive and help guide and answer questions that you may face on your corporate journey. Between you and your team...that they trust you to successfully manage and lead the project from start to finish and that in turn you trust them to work together and deliver a final product that not only meets the original goal but if possible exceeds the client's expectations.

So how do we develop this trust? How do we get to a point where we trust others, that others trust us, and that most importantly we trust ourselves? The answer as I'm sure you've heard before, is that trust isn't just given, but rather it is earned. So in order to earn our trust, I've listed below a few helpful hints...

• Do Your Homework ~ True to any relationship, you need to do your homework before jumping in. In a personal relationship, it might be the type of music that she likes? In an internal relationship, it could be what type of personalities are going to clash when working together? In a client relationship the questions are deeper, what is the client's background, what are their needs, who are their competition... Doing this type of research shows that you are not in the relationship for a quick win, but rather that you truly care and are in it for the long run.
• Pay Your Dues ~ As mentioned previously, trust is not given, it is earned. Don't expect to gain someones trust right off the bat, but rather put in the work, make the effort, and over time you will see the trust begin to develop. Keep in mind, that earning someones trust is a long and often uphill battle, but one that is well worth it in the end.
• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate ~ If trust is the foundation to a relationship, then communication is the foundation to trust. When trying to gain someones trust, good communication is the best way to go. Be honest in your relationship, come clean if you are at fault and stand your ground if your not. Share your opinion, let the other people involved know that you bring value to this relationship, that you are here to listen as well as provide insight. (For more on communication please read my entry "What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate")
• Follow-up ~ I just attended a networking event a couple of weeks ago, which was being run by a group called "Follow-up Systems" and basically what they spoke up about was the importance of following-up and how a simple phone call or email can make a huge impact and that it is often all it takes to set you apart from your competition. This point goes back to what I previously mentioned about doing your homework, in that it reinstates the fact that you care. Taking time to follow-up shows the other party that not only do you value the relationship, but that you are invested in it as well.
• Walking The Walk ~ All of the other tips mentioned are great in building up a sense of trust, but the the true test isn't whether you can "talk the talk" but whether you can "walk the walk". Do you deliver on your promises? Do your end results equal or surpass your original goals? No matter how great your PR is, if you can't deliver, that sense of trust disappears quickly. As they say, "the proof is in the pudding"!

My hope is that wherever you are working, and whomever you are working with, that you have already established a sense of trust and that this entry was nothing more than a light read to help pass the time. But if you are still searching for that trust factor, than I hope that the above tips will help guide you in your quest. And remember...

"Self-trust is the first secret of success." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

What We Have Here, Is A Failure To Communicate

Today's entry is not merely a reference to the classic film Cool Hand Luke, but rather a stumbling block that occurs in every aspect of our lives, from personal relationships through to work relationships, with Project Management being no exception. I cannot recall how many times I've personally received the "communication" speech, let alone delivered it to someone else. So what is the problem? Why is communication so difficult to master? While I'm sure that there are a lot of possible reasons, below are my thoughts on this age old dilemma.

Vulnerability ~ As human beings, I think that we all tend to be vulnerable on some level. Nobody wants to open themselves up, for the fear of getting hurt and therefore we go out of our way to put up a shield of protection, to close ourselves off from the rest of the world. So how does this tie into communication? By talking out loud and sharing your concerns or your need for help, you have now opened yourself up, allowing people to see your weaknesses. The key to overcoming this, is to recognize that we are ALL vulnerable and that opening yourself up to others is simply another progression in life and that sometimes it will be hard and sometimes it will be easy, but in the end we exist stronger as individuals when we open ourselves up to being part of something greater.

Hero Complex ~ Continuing on the same train of thought as the issue of vulnerability, though from a completely different angle, there is the hero complex. Not only do you not want to open yourself up, but you don't want to be dependent on anyone else either, you want to do it all yourself. Now the reasoning behind this could either be as I just mentioned, the idea of not wanting to be dependent on anyone else for fear that they might not always be there, or it could be that you want to claim all the fame and glory for yourself and therefore don't want anyone else involved to share in it. Looking at the first possibility, where you are scared of being dependent on others for fear that they might not support you continuously, I think that this is a valid concern, but a risk that should be taken, for even the smallest amount of support is often better than no support at all. As for the second possibility, of wanting all the fame and glory for yourself, I think that this is a very dangerous type of attitude and one that will end up limiting your growth in any type of relationship, both personal and work related. The amount of knowledge that we can attain ourselves is in no way comparable to what we can learn from others and shutting yourself off and choosing that path of solitude, is choosing a static lonely life in a world of endless possibilities.

Fear ~ "There's no such thing as a stupid question..." a phrase I'm sure we've all heard at some point in our lives, but truthfully, how many of us actually believe it? I cannot count how many times I've personally witnessed a project blow up, simply because someone was too scared to admit that they needed help, that they didn't understand, that they couldn't do it alone... Playing again off the theme of vulnerability, people are afraid to show their weaknesses and therefore go out of their way, not necessarily to strengthen those weaknesses, but rather to strengthen the appearance of a lack of weakness. The downfall is that there is only so much you can do on your own, and no amount of pretending is going to change that. Asking for help doesn't show your weakness, but rather it shows your strength in accepting the fact that there is ALWAYS something to learn and someone out there to learn from!

Discomfort ~ This last possibility for lack of communication, I hope is a unique one, but I figured that I would mention it as I have personally come against this one in the workplace. So, discomfort, the idea that you can't talk to someone due to personal reasons. A simple solution would be to move to a different department or job thus avoiding any type of awkwardness or discomfort, but if you're like me, giving up and avoiding confrontation is rarely a solution that I am going to take. So, what can you do? Face the issue head on, work past your differences, and move forward together. While this is often easier said than done and will definitely take some time to accomplish, the outcome, tends to be well worth the effort.

Looking at the above reasons, while they are all completely valid, they do seem to share the same major flaw, and that is that they overlook the concept of a TEAM. What is a team? According to Wikipedia, a team is comprised of many people with complementary skills, which generate a synergy through a coordinated effort for a common purpose. So how does communication play into teamwork? Simple, communication is the glue that holds a team together, it is what keeps us all on the same page, moving in the same direction, towards the same end goal. Without communication, all is lost, and that end goal drifts further and further away from being a reality and becomes more and more some good idea that someone once had.

So in the end, my suggestion to all those out there who have trouble communicating, all I can say is make the effort, take the risk, the reward that comes from good communication, is priceless.