Tips for Success

3 Comments

1. Robin LampertNovember 4,2022 at 4:58PM UTC

   I try to ask open ended questions of the people performing critical path tasks about their progress at times when corrective action is still available. If you ask, will the task be done on time (yes/no), you tend to get an automatic "yes". But if you ask "how far along are you?" or "when do you think this will bo complete?", you get more accurate answers. For a task that was scheduled for 2 weeks, I'd probably check in at the end of the first week. I'd adjust based on how quickly the task can be crunched and how many other projects the people doing the work have.

2. Dawn FeltnerNovember 13,2022 at 3:33PM UTC

   Well, 2 things come immediately to mind! I aim to keep things as simple and transparent as possible. This way folks can do the work, see the work progress, and feel a sense of ownership and pride.

   This starts with establishing (and agreeing to) roles, responsibilities, and expectations in every project & workstream kickoff. Visual dashboards across the workstreams (transparency) show the project progress or areas of risk so we know where to celebrate the wins along the way, or band together and focus our efforts. The dashboards also serve as a communication & accountability tool, coupled with weekly stand ups (only if needed- many meetings could be emails or slack - thus giving back time to do the actual work = keep it simple).

3. Robin LampertJanuary 2,2023 at 9:53PM UTC

   Figure out whose contributions will be needed and when. Alert/remind them with plenty of warning. Remember that some (many?) of the project participants have other claims on their time too.