I know... it's been a while since I posted here. Guess I have been too busy with work and other stuff, that sometimes I just forget thinking of work-related stuff I can share. Ah well... here's where I rectify that.

2010 (and using this year as an introduction to my blog in the middle of May just shows how long it's been) has been okay for me. I find myself busy at Accenture conducting trainings for them - more specifically, Coaching, Leadership, Project Management and other technical trainings (like Analysis and Testing)... and just to sort of play catch up, I've decided to post some work-related pictures.

For starters, here's a fairly recent Application Analysis class I handled a few weeks ago - and as classes go, this one was both a challenge (in terms of questions asked) and pleasure to conduct (the personalities were fun and funny to mix and match). In the end, they themselves knew it was an enjoyable session and they even threatened to enroll en mass to the next training on their list. Special mention to Hazel - despite being a manager (or because of that - for stress relief purposes) she was down to earth (no haughtiness at all) and even led with the funny moments.

Then we have another similar Analysis training - this time, the picture is of Lovern, conducting her very first training in both Analysis and Accenture - apparently with a little nudge from my end. How did she do? She was well received, so yeah... she seems to be a natural for this type of work.

Then there are the Coaching trainings that I have been facilitating lately as well - they are a welcome break from purely technical weeks. Here's a picture I got of my participants practicing a coaching session on each other. He he... if I did not know better, I'd think that this was a quick dating game. Of course, it would look a bit awkward to some that if this really were a dating game, what are two gentlemen doing there? I'd probably say then... "Welcome to the 21st century." - but of course, this isn't the case. Nope... this is just one of the many activities in the Coaching training.

Lastly (at least, for now) we've a coaching session I conducted just two days ago - this in tandem with Gina because of the class size (24 participants - where the normal size would be 12 pax)In other words, it could have easily been two classes - I've a slight worry regarding classes too large... as it lessens the focus, and thus lessens the quality. Ah well, despite that little fact, this session was fun to have - since the participants were likewise game.Too bad I had to leave them around 4pm - with just about an hour left of conduct time, as I was suddenly needed to help Marimel out in another training - this time, Presentation skills oriented. Over all, I worked for 12 hours that particular day... but I didn't mind. As I said - it's a welcome break form the technical stuff.

I have, of late, been posting a lot of Leadership-related articles in Facebook. I do this as a way to share what I stumble upon during my surfing the net... both as a way to keep track of them later, and letting my friends (at least, those following me in FB) in on the articles.

At first, I thought it was a relatively thankless job (although technically, it isn't a job, since I'm not being payed for doing this) - but you get the meaning of the expression. Then suddenly a friend (whom I've not yet met) asked me when my next sharing would be... and a classmate/batch mate gave me his thanks for the lessons I was sharing. Well, since then, I've made a more conscious effort to seek out these articles and see who likes them.

The point is, I learn by reading these articles - then decide if it's worth sharing - or not. If you've not been read any of said articles, try looking at my FB site... let me know what you think.

Are you a Great Team Leader? - my take on the topic

This is my reaction to Sean McPheat's article, which I posted prior to this. If you have not read that yet, you might want to scroll down and read that one first... it'll hopefully make reading this reaction (and the succeeding ones with the same focus) that much more understandable.

“Great team leaders are sensitive. They understand that everyone has different concerns, needs, and interests and they do their best to address these differences.”

Can I say ‘preaching to the choir’ on this one? Because this is exactly my viewpoint – this goes without saying – a leader knows that he leads individuals and these individuals will have different goals, dreams and aspirations. At times, they may even be motivated to do the same thing for similar reasons – but deep down, they will have different skills, capabilities and style. That is why leading them all the same way… treating them like similar items out of a processing line, will not work – as the saying goes… different strokes for different folks. Leading people will have to have a personal touch and to do this, said leader must understand where their team member is coming from… what pushes their button, what is important to them… what will make them work – what, if anything, will inspire them?

Know these needs – know what is important to them – know what inspires them… and if we can prove that what we are doing will help them achieve such goals, it will be so much easier to ask them to do their tasks, knowing they are helping themselves. That said, I obviously subscribe to this, and it may not always be that easy to do – often coming across as trial and error, but at least there is that trial. It showed my previous teams that I listened to them… understood them, and even tried helping them achieve their goals whenever possible.

My opinions and practices were not reached by simply reading this – and other ‘like-minded’ articles, and saying ‘alright, there seems to be a trend here… so this is what I’ll say as well.’ Nope… although it is nice to see such a trend, my opinion was in many ways, based on experience prior to reading such articles – say, almost two decades past worth of experience.

I was already noticing the fact that different people have different needs – myself included, and to better get their cooperation, I had to know and understand these needs; maybe even help them achieve such needs.

Did I question myself back then – oh yeah… maybe, much more than I would like to admit. However… I was, after all, leading from a perspective of ‘Do unto others…’ a.k.a. the Golden Rule, so I trusted that this would get me through many rough spots - but there were definitely times that I asked myself if I was doing the right thing. Was I being too lenient? Some of my colleagues, in some points of my career, thought so… and I would ask myself, again during those times if I was just too naïve in using this style? Should I have to be high-handed?

Back then, I did not know and since I was a relatively new lead, or more accurately, an experienced hire into a new organization, I just had my ‘technical’ skills to prove my worth. I was a star of a previous team (or workgroup) having proven my capacity to get the job done with flying colors… and it was at the suggestion of the client I had worked with, that said organization hire me to continue offering the services I had been doing. So I joined the new team with the position of Technical Staff 2 (or TS2) – a term simply meaning that I was ‘experienced’; as compared to the relative newbies or inexperienced people that were ranked as TS1. A TS2 could to get the job done with minimal supervision required.

As I was not yet a lead, I looked forward to working with my team’s lead – and I tried to keep within the role expected of me; helped my teammates where needed, and made sure that whatever needed to be done to keep the working relationship with the client and my team smooth, I would help do. If I felt that certain actions or situations might be overstepping my boundaries – as team member, I asked my lead if it was okay to do what I was planning to do.

After all, I did not want to strain a good working relationship. For his part, my lead would handle all admin work – thus freeing us to focus on our core competencies. He set simple – and fair ground rules for assignments, and did not complain about whatever was left him, as he chose last. Other than that, we’d talk when we had some free time. If we had some issues or concerns, he would listen and give advice – thus being a mentor. This, to me, was a ideal setting… and I proceeded to grow technically at a pace to my liking. I was oblivious of career advancements, as I concentrated on giving my best to the project.

My ‘great results’ and ‘positive client feedback’ were reward enough for me… and I was glad to be working in a company I admired, for a high-profile client in a field that I was good at. If I’m being vague, here… let me just mention that said company was the Institute of Advanced Computer Technology, the client was the Asian Development Bank and field or course was offering training in I.T. applications – or at that time, the PC applications – later referred to as the ‘office suite’. In that sense, James, my lead – hardly needed to supervise me. He gave me the trust and elbow room I needed to shine.

A few years down the line, I was eventually asked (if not coaxed) to lead – and I would try to emulate James style, plus add my own touch where needed. In hindsight, I tried giving people the same space I looked for – yet there were times that I had mixed results… where some people that, rather than shine, would hardly rise; or for that matter, fall from some heights, and I would ask if the fault were mine… most of these folks would even be kind enough to say it was not. But I still felt bad at being unable to help them… somewhere deep inside, I thought I could have done more – or differently… but what and how? I did not know back then.

Obviously, I was already instinctively noticing the different needs of some – and if communication were better, and needs were better understood – maybe, just maybe, I would have ‘saved’; as in ‘stopped some of my team members from being frustrated with work, and continue working with the team (and the company) So here’s one ‘had I known back then, what I do know now…’ factor. But then again, that still is a big ‘maybe’ to all this.

On the other hand, when I was in Fujitsu, I was assigned a training team and had to transform them into a high performance team. Their skills were there, the direction seemed out of synch with what Management needed – So I was hired to step in and clean shop as the team’s Manager. During the first week, I talked to my most senior staff – Eboy, and asked a few questions like the team’s morale (in having their manager replaced), their thoughts about me - which was easily bridged, since the current team had a staff (Lindsay) who used to be in I/ACT – so she knew my style and – as confirmed by Eboy, had assured the others of what type of a Manager I was in I/ACT.

Mind you, I had, by this time, read about Situational Leadership, so that was the paradigm of leading that I was practicing… not only that, I had, by then been skilled in project management by way of handling several ‘projects’ in a non-profit organization/club called the Junior Chambers a.k.a. the Jaycees. So I was a more competent leader – than compared to my first years in I/ACT. I talked to everyone – asking them what they wanted or aspired for – and realized that, like myself in the past, they just wanted to prove their worth by working hard, showing result and hopefully getting a raise after showing such a good performance. In other words, they were happy to be told what to do… but I also tried to know some of their out-of-work passions and interests, to see what made them happy. I tried to get into their ‘What’s In It For Me’ (WIIFM) switch.

So yeah, I could say that I was always sensitive to my team’s needs… sensitive to their personal wants… and at times, made sure I helped them address these through their work – as needed.

Great team leaders have awesome communication and listening skills. They know that everyone has their own set of ideas, plans, and dreams. They listen to everyone and try to find ways to incorporate those interests.

Guess this is an extension of what I was already saying, right? I said that I listened – I understood them. Maybe I could not always do this – as I certainly lacked any training that told me the importance of listening, nor the necessary techniques to use for such.

Prior to my I/ACT years, I spent a year as part of a workgroup/team, and we shared many frustrations with how we were getting the raw end of a deal between us and management. We did not disappoint the client, but we were under-manned despite management’s promise to fix things – which they probably did, but only after many months of said frustration. This opened by eyes to the need of really listening to one’s team. You see… in my mind, I knew how it felt to be frustrated and seemingly left alone – and I did not like this feeling at all. This experience made me realize that should I lead, I would take effort to keep channels of communication open to avoid said frustration form my team.

Later on, my job in I/ACT made me learn and accept the fact that I could not know everything in the IT industry – and I simply had to find my niche. That said, I also needed to trust others with what they knew regarding their niche… and – from a management perspective, I just needed to ask the right questions – based on my, ‘limited – but able to relate’ knowledge.

This was where communication was key… the ability to understand, the need to explain or expound until one person knew where the other was coming from – what they meant… what they needed or what was needed to be done.

Now, you might find this surprising, but the fact remains that just because one person was a ‘corporate trainer’, this did not necessarily mean he or she was a good communicator – it may mean said trainer talked good… explained well, but talking is just half the equation, and explaining really is important – but the other half? It’s actually called Listening empathically.

The thing is, how will one know the other person’s plans, ideas and dreams if they don’t bother taking interest and really listening beyond a superficial or surface level? I guess, I’ve my Toastmasters training to thank for this. Granted, I was already a relatively good speaker, and I must say that I was likewise a good listener – yet my listening skills were further honed, by way of needing to evaluate a fellow Toastmaster’s speech – the exercise forced me to focus… to listen.

Since this seems to be getting too long, I guess I’ll just have to cut this entry into at least two-parts (or more… I can get quite verbose).

Next up, I’ll address the following statements:

Great team leaders share their own dreams, plans, and visions with their team members. They aren’t secretive and they refrain from merely working off of other people’s
ideas.

Great team leaders are awesome delegators. They are able to trust their team members and will give those who deserve it a significant amount of responsibility.

Are you a great team leader?

I receive a lot of email– borne out of the fact that I subscribe to a lot of things covering a myriad of interests. The obvious disadvantage here is that my email starts piling up on me, and there are times that I feel like a gardener who’s gone on vacation for a month and now finds his well manicured lawn filled with a lot of overgrowth and unwanted weeds… therefore the need to start trimming and pruning – heck, at times, it’s even setting aside the careful cutting and doing a carpet-bombing style in erasing loads of unwanted email.

But one thing I really keep a keen eye on are any articles for leadership – so if your email title has that particular key word, well… you’ve got my attention and I may opt to spare it from the usual clean-up job and – if the situation permits, open it right there and then – do a quick glance and absorb things on the spot, or I make sure it’s set aside for a better , more concentrated viewing that it may deserve at a latter, less busy time.

Such is the case of this email that I had received from Sean McPheat – a management / leadership trainer from the U.K. The title of his email is “Are you a great team leader?” – and as you can see, it obviously had said key word that piqued my curiosity… so, open it I did.

Now, just because it’s opened, does not mean I may automatically like what I read – some leadership articles come across as technical (i.e. will take time to absorb), while others seem to present their ideas in a very simplistic – yet surprisingly believable manner. McPheat’s articles normally fall under this category, so they are easy to absorb. Once in a while, he outdoes himself with those bits of wisdom, and I then think of sharing such article with my friends… other times, I feel compelled to expound on McPheat’s (or other writers) words, making their message my own – relating why I feel strongly about them.

This entry is one such situation and just to let you in on the contents of said email, I’ve taken the liberty of copy-pasting it, word for word, here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Butch

From: Sean McPheat

Topic: Are you a great team leader?

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

_____________________________________________________


Do you know anyone in your company who would benefit from receiving these tips? If you do, please ask them to sign up at http://www.m-t-d.co.uk/freecourse.htm

_____________________________________________________


Hi Butch,

Some managers think they can lead by telling their employees what to do.

Others know that real leaders lead by example.

The greatest leaders, however, have special qualities that make them stand out from the crowd.

Over the course of my experience as a manager I’ve identified some of these special qualities in others and I thought I’d share them with you today.

Great team leaders are sensitive. They understand that everyone has different concerns, needs, and interests and they do their best to address these differences.

Great team leaders have awesome communication and listening skills. They know that everyone has their own set of ideas, plans, and dreams. They listen to everyone and try to find ways to incorporate those interests.

Great team leaders share their own dreams, plans, and visions with their team members. They aren’t secretive and they refrain from merely working off of other people’s ideas.

Great team leaders are awesome delegators. They are able to trust their team members and will give those who deserve it a significant amount of responsibility.

Great team leaders allow their team members to participate in the goal-setting and problem solving processes. They allow everyone to become a part of the process instead
of just telling their team members what is going to happen next.

Great team leaders aren’t perfect and don’t pretend to be. They let their team members know about their own mistakes and use them as learning experiences.

What type of team leader are you?

Do you treat your team members fairly and include them in the decision making processes that dictate what they do on a daily basis?

Do certain aspects of team leadership work better for you than others?

Please share!

Thanks again

Sean
PS Here's a link to our management open courses at
Heathrow and Manchester:
http://www.m-t-d.co.uk/opencourses.htm

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Training

Telephone
0800 849 6732
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you have it… Sean’s message in all it’s glory. Now, I’m sure that – like me, you reflected on each point he raised… doing a mental measurement of your leadership skills, and if not… well, why not? I suggest going back and really reflecting on these ideas … it’s part of the reason I posted this. So by all means, please – return to the top and reflect on them, It’s not like this post will be going anywhere else any time soon.

As for my reflection, I‘ve come up with my thoughts, and how I think I measured with Sean’s list, putting these in a separate blog entry… after all, I wanted to expound a bit – and putting these ideas and words of mine here would defocus this blog entry’s overall important spotlight to said checklist (as I’ve decided to call it as…), so no sharing of spotlights here, it wouldn’t be fair to Sean and his article.

Then again, if you’re curious as to what I have to say, then you’ll be welcome to look at my reaction and discern if I’m too full of ‘it’ or maybe – just maybe, I’ll be telling the truth. Either way, I hope you found Sean’s questions intriguing and answered them truthfully yourselves – and don’t stop there, of course… should the checklist make you realize the need for certain improvement efforts, then by all means, please make the necessary adjustments to be the best leader you can be.

I would also suggest that you find Sean’s regular updates to similar emailed blog entries. He will welcome you, and encourage you to visit his site – so do subscribe. Not everything in life may be free… but sometimes you can find golden cusps of wisdom in the internet… you just need to know where to look.

Why not look at what Sean has to share?

On thanking Mentors...

Sometime last week, I got a text message from someone I know. It was a short and simple text – and yet it gave me some unexpected validity with regard to what I’ve been doing all these years. Below is how the text went, short cut message style and all…

“good day! Am atnding a john maxwel seminar. dey askd us 2 send a tnk u txt 2 our mentors. salamat sir!”

Now when I got this, I did not pay it much heed because I was driving my car that time, but when I finally had some free time later that day, I checked my messages and got to read this – and as expected, this simple message uplifted my spirit.

I then replied something to the effect of likewise thanking the sender for thinking of me as their mentor, and was again surprised to receive another text… this time,, saying the following:

“i definitely learned a lot frm u sir. thanks!”

So there it is… a message (or two) of thanks, from someone (whom I shall not name, as I have not had the chance to ask permission to print the person’s name - and you probably notice how I am likewise protecting gender info) for something I did a long time ago, at a time of my life when I was supervising some people – and dishing out some lessons as this text might suggest.

Text messages aside, I’m beginning to get curious about this John Maxwell seminar… after all, this is the second time I’ve heard mention of it – the first time was when I had a participant compare a leadership training I was conducting with said Maxwell seminar, and how this person was all praises for what I conducted - comparing such with Maxwell’s seminar… and now this little incident.

I’ll admit to being slightly envious – after all, this is an opportunity to listen to one inspirational speaker/ best-selling author – and I wished that I could have been part of either experience.

Oh well… who knows, maybe that opportunity will open up for me some time soon. And should that happen… who will I thank? I know of at least one person… the lessons were few and far between, and we’ve had little to almost no contact these past years… but if there is anyone who might have influenced me in some way, I know who to thank, and if I’d get the opportunity to thank him, I’ll probably text him too… in fact, short of calling him – let me let everyone else know who I’m talking about… his name’s James Huang, and he was my first lead in I/ACT when we were at the ADB.

James was a friend and he basically made sure the team was not wanting for anything – and yes, he was also approachable in times of a more personal need. But what made James become more mentor than just lead was the lessons he’d impart to us by way of his experiences – many of them very practical, others… coming from his experience of being with I/ACT for several years.

When it was my turn to assume a mantle of leadership in I/ACT, I tried doing things my way – of course, but sometimes found myself deferring to James’ style. I did not always see eye to eye with all his decisions – but understood them for what they meant.

I always appreciated his being a shield between us (the team) and other management issues that need not bother us, but if handled the wrong way, would affect us in an adverse manner. I’d like to think I did the same with my team later on, when my turn came.

Between us, I was the more diplomatic – he the more direct... don't get me wrong though, he was likewise level-headed, so no brash actions from him... and being part of his team was a blessing and experience I liked back then… plus, we never argued.

When he saw a teammate do something with an adverse effect, he would ask – understand, and fill us in where the mistake happened. He also told us of more mistakes made by others in the organization, tell us why the idea or action was wrong; and he was normally correct about these too – then, when things do happen, we’d have a short laugh about it - but not forget the lessons learned… oh yeah, and we’d pitch in to help the party in trouble in any way needed.

Yeah… here’s to James; my mentor… and to all mentors… the world (I’d like to think) is better of with such people around to help others attain better goals, become better people - through many of life's lessons learned, both the hard and direct way.. and the not so hard, indirect manner.

I don’t just say this because someone said I was their mentor either – after all, in coaching, this is but one aspect or dimension of any coach’s repertoire. When one becomes a mentor, I'd like to think that it's because they are paying forward, the privilege they shared with their own mentors.

I've paid mine forward... and now, it seems my mentee(s) is/are ready to pay things forward by being mentors themselves. Cool!

My Strengths... according to the Strength Finder

I bought a book by Marcus Buckingham (and Donald Clifton) entitled "now discover your strengths" - a book I'm still in the process of absorbing. It's actually the second in a series of books; the first being "first break all the rules", which I go to read and listen to, since I bought the audio book... and was reading it while listening.

Anyway, the second book did have an online test for their readers (or should I say book purchasers - as there is a hidden code you need to scratch and see, then enter when you go to www.strengthfinder.com and register for the test. Since the book is less than Php600, I'd say that is the price for getting the test. Though remember, its not just the test you are paying for - but the wisdom within the book's pages as well.

So what does this test - seemingly worth six hundred pesos, tell me?

Well, for starters, it will analyze the plethora of answers I gave, and in so doing, score what seem to be the 5 signature themes I show a natural leaning towards. So what are these five?

Well, let me present my results...

JOSEPH ANTHONY SYYAP
Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.

A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.
Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your "top five."

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Communication

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson—to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.

Relator

Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people—in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends—but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk—you might be taken advantage of—but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.

Individualization

Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalizations or “types” because you don’t want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person’s style, each person’s motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person’s life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person’s need to be shown and another’s desire to “figure it out as I go.” Because you are such a keen observer of other people’s strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team “structure” or “process,” you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.

Strategic

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path—your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

Input

You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.

--- end of report ---

I've still got to absorb what this all means - but at least, it gives me something to start with. And as I continue reading the book, I hope to discern more. The site itself can tell me more about the rest of the other themes (from 6 to 34) but I'd have to pay more (why am I not surprised?).

Still, as discussed in "first..." and continued in "now..." these themes give me a glimpse of my strengths - and according to the authors, it makes more sense to focus on adapting to your strengths and make them work for you - than it does to focus on attacking (strengthening) your weaknesses. According to them, it makes more sense to specialize - make full use of the strengths... as it will get one farther - a lot faster, and with less effort too. Makes sense, when put that way.

Thought they also say we shouldn't just ignore our weaknesses... and when we can find time to spare, it would still be a good idea to improve on these.

At a quick glance though, things seem right. Though I'm slightly wondering if my first theme - communication, came also from the additional years of training with Toastmasters... I guess, I could say I was good to begin with... and got further honed with Toastmasters. So having said that, I guess I was naturally practicing the concept of Strengthfinder without knowing about it yet.

Project Management Pitfalls… not all PM-specific it seems

Michelle Labrose, one of 25 women recognized most influential women PMs in the world by the PMI or the Project Management Institue, had this to say about reasons why Projects fail.

Of possible pitfalls, she mentions five reasons, namely:
1) Falling victim to feature creep
2) Multi-tasking too much
3) Over-scheduling people resource time usage
4) Not eating right (healthy diet)
5) Not moving and breathing (a.k.a. no exercise)

Now as I was reading Ms. Labrose’s article , I was prepared to catch possible technical issues, concerns and maybe even a little wisdom that are purely PM-related. What I saw, instead, was more a reminder of what we, as PMs, should be doing… heck, there’s no secret to what she said – and yet… as I pondered the five reasons, I thought ‘yeah…. How often do we; in the span of getting too busy, forget these five very simple, yet obvious tips?” I certainly did a few of these things at one time or another.

The article is short (about a page and a half when printed), and it assumes readers and PMs know what she is talking about – heck, you really need not be a PM to know what she is talking about as Ms. Labrose’s areticle is not too technical – in fact, I would suspect that she writes this way to make her ideas easy to digest. It’s also short, as I suspect, she writes to a presumably busy crowd. Goring back to said article; the original text can be viewed at http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/news/column/0,294698,sid92_gci1344193,00.html?asrc=SS_CLA_306147&psrc=CLT_92 and I do hope that by sharing it here, I get more people – primarily, those not in her usual reader’s circle, to read it. I , on the other hand, will just try and expound a bit on what these five are – and maybe in the process, share some personal ideas.

Item one – feature creep, is obvious… or is it? As I mentioned earlier about the items in this list, needs to be revisited every time one talks with a client. It will be so easy for any client to ask for small favors – seemingly innocent and harmful ones, even ones that seem simple enough to do. To them, it seems simple, and yet… any PM worth their salt should first look at the project deliverable’s scope. A few questions need to be asked here before blindly committing to a ‘yes’ or ‘sure’ reply. Mind you, I’m not advocating a total stop to the practice of giving some ‘goodwill’… after all, it’s one way of building a positive relationship with our client. I just want to suggest a cautionary move on anyone’s part when confronted by this situation.

So how are these questions connected to feature creep? A) Is this task really as simple as it sounds? And in connection to that; B) what is the scope of change or adjustment to this request?; C) can the project afford to insert this change with respect to the budget and schedule – important factors both, if one is to be professional about the entire thing. And lastly (for now), D) if I can’t give it, will this really damage my working relationship with the client? These, I shall address in the succeeding paragraphs – and if I get too carried away, maybe even succeeding articles – at least I’ve got something to write.

Lets start with some obvious reminders… all projects have a schedule to keep – and these well educated estimates rely on a lot of experience to create… both from the PM, the PM’s colleagues and the project team members themselves. When does feature creep come in? Its when things have already been agreed upon, when the budget and schedule have been ironed-out… then suddenly, in the middle of the project’s execution, the client thinks – maybe it would be good if we had this . Now remember, this sometimes comes, conveniently enough, during discussions between the or a team member – and the client representative… maybe the process user/owner… and innocent the question can be, the repercussions may be anything, but innocent to the project’s agreed-to scope or timetable.

So how do we handle schedule creep? Well, as we may know – its easy to say ‘yes’ in an effort to please the client – then suffer the consequences alter on – and by doing so, we ensure that pitfall number 3 will happen. Not exactly a wise move on the PM’s part.

A) Is the task as simple as it sounds?

Here’s an idea in helping resolve this. Forewarned is forearmed – and to help warn us of just how much a task is being asked of us via this innocent request – we need to look at how much this idea’s inclusion will change our work scope. Here’s an example… a simple change of the screen’s display can be easily done by anyone – but we need to make sure that this change, when addressed, will not indirectly affect other user’s screens from the same system –and form adjacent systems that the client is using – that does not grab you, how about a different way of storing data we already have? Sounds easy to say, right? Is it easy to execute? Maybe not.

It is for this reason that PMs are expected to be ‘experienced’ – meaning they’ve hopefully had the prior experience of having done a s similar project in the past – not necessarily as a PM, but as a project member who is privy to how things went – and can repeat successes, or avoid pitfalls. But experience can likewise be a collective work – as mentioned earlier, as more progressive organizations have adopted best practices within their procedural aspects – specifically to ensure adapting best practices and avoiding pitfalls… in other words, learning from the experiences of others. In line with this, we go to…

B) What is the scope of change beings asked?

To answer this, we need to trace back how far (or deep) this change will be – what components (detailed work groupings) will be affected, and how long it will take us to do the job. If the project has some kind of requirements-traceability documentation or table (matrix)… wherein a work being done can be traced back to the necessary requirement it is fulfilling, then this can be very helpful in tracing back what tasks will be affected / added, if we accommodate one simple change or addition. If we know exactly what requirements are being asked of us and how it will affect our scheduled tasks – we will be able to see how much additional work this may entail us.

C) Can the project afford to insert this change with respect to budget and schedule?

Larger projects may have set up a steering committee – and it is the role of this committee to sift between all the wants – and separate the needs. They are a filtering mechanism, and will normally be composed of people from the client-side… specifically able to understand the project’s scope, and the priorities within the tasks being done. If a request is asked – it should be forwarded to the steering committee, who will then consider the validity and importance of said request. Smaller projects, on the other hand, may simply have to rely on an individual – but this individual must still be someone of the client-side, whom the PM can talk to about these possible additions being requested.

This is my sneaky way of saying – don’t decide. Its not your project… you’re just managing it – but they (the client) will be stuck with it later. So any changes… no mater how seemingly beneficial, needs to pass through a protocol for deciding if the suggested item is indeed important and upon realizing that… know when it is best to schedule the creation and implementation of said change. We can suggest… but it will have to be decided on their end. Keep it that way – and if approved, quite naturally, a scope and schedule change will be necessary… and this is our safe bet that changes made are essential, recognized as officially part of the new scope.

Now, most of us will probably think – well isn’t that what we do anyway? Yes… but the danger of a feature creep is that it looks so inconsequential to have to pass through such a protocol that we’d might as well just add it without the hassle of having to attend all those steering committee meetings. Again, if it’s not official and documented, it may not be recognized – and if it’s a reason for delay later, it is the PM’s fault. Lastly, if you need some encouragement to avoiding feature creeps by making sure all these things are recognized and documented, simply remember... you might not be able to ask for compensation for services rendered in connection to work not properly approved and documented.

D) If I can’t give it (what is being asked) – will this damage my working relationship with the client?

Personally – yes. At that particular instant, the client will feel disappointed – but if the non-application of such suggestion can be presented with valid reasons, I see no reason why the client will not see it as a professionally acceptable reason. Especially if it is explained to them that the item being requested is deceptively simple, and giving it will possibly affect the timely completion of the task.

Remember, it would be so easy to say yes – and in a situation where you have no valid reason to say no… you might just as easily say yes (hence the need for answering question #1). If there is a steering committee, then the committee will have a resolution - and whether it is a ‘go’ or ‘no go’, you simply quote their decision and abide by it. So you can’t be seen as responsible for such a decision.

What’s worse, in some parts of the world – like Asia, saying no might culturally speaking, be connected to being insensitive or rude. This is not true… what is to be avoided is the possible loss of ‘face’ (wherein the client is embarrassed for their idea being seen as not worthy, and in connection to that – the possible treatment of others making them feel not worthy). So one easy way to do this is to have your discussions in private – if the feature addition can’t be done, only you two know of the failed initiative. No face lost there.

If you really feel bad about it, and would want to show your client that you want to help, borrow a page from customer-relations practitioners about giving a soft ‘no’, meaning you give them the ‘no’ and the reason why it can’t be done – but… you are ready with an alternative suggestion of thins you both can do. This way, it does not feel like there was finality to the discussion, but rather than end there, you are now exploring other options. One’s where both your hands aren’t too tied down. How is this done? You might start with saying “We can’t do this… but here is what we can do…” and explain your counter idea.

Feature creep is not easy – and PMs who would love to have a competitive advantage and impress their clients are often times too cavalier in giving in to these requested items - but remember that any added feature, and additional request given may indeed score you some brownie points with the client. Just make sure that said brownie points are not used up in meetings explaining why the project is delayed or getting too expensive. Other times, giving in to the request at tone time may be seen as a go signal to give in to the same thing in the future. So remember to make sure… in case you are giving in to the addition; despite the possibility of it being a project pitfall, you make sure the client knows this is a favour to them – and not something that is necessarily repeatable in the future.

Some PMs will even say (more so in cases where there is no steering committee) that it is a business decision and they, as PMs are within bounds to approve or give such a feature creep… well, forgetting for the moment that such a thing is tantamount to a scope change (albeit, being asked by the client) I hope that the PM in this instance has appraised the team that more effort has just been added to possibly an unchanged budget, because I forsee longer working hours to catch up with the added work… or the need for more people to join the team – which includes the time heavy selection and hiring process, project and task expectations setting meetings, adjusting to the project environment, and… exactly how much time do we have? Just saying…

By the way… if this is a feature creep, be well aware that it is going to normally be ‘gratis’ work – unless a scope change is approved. So, be careful about just disrupting the project’s timely outcome on something free. Like I said, a soft no might best reconsider doing what is being asked as part of the project’s next phase (if there is a next phase).

Feature Creep more so a daunting a situation for ‘First time’ projects by your team to any particular client who really want ot make a good impression with the hopes of getting additional business. Remember this advice… you shall be well remembered for brining what you promised to do, at the promised time… you won’t be given concessions for adding what was asked for, then renege on delivering the promised product when expected, instead of that, here’s another thing I learned with some of our Eastern-bloc counterparts – they say no… (as they are known to be more straightforward there) but try to do the feature anyway. That way, the client does not expect the feature, and is pleasantly surprised to see it as part of the end project.

With feature creeps just, well… creeping in, you (and your team) will end up harassed with more work, sometimes wondering why you agreed to such a concession in the first place. What’s worse, your project team members might be wondering if it isn’t too late to abandon ship - as your record as a credible PM is tarnished. Your reputation as a good leader may likewise vanish. Your team sees you as a ‘yes’ person – not able to draw the line when necessary, and saying no when they have to.

Understandably, many people are queasy to say no to a client… but in reality, if approached in a ‘soft no’ manner, the client may be reasoned with, and may even be appreciative of the PM’s candour. Plus, said client, will feel comfortable in realizing that their PM knows what they are doing… having properly explained why it might not be that easy to grant a seemingly easy request – nor why it is not possibly to their project’s best interest to add such feature now.

So, in a nutshell, Know what is being asked, know your schedule’s realities and limitations. Be professional… chummy is good, but in business, professionalism will be an important factor for any organization trying to make a lasting impression. You want to be seen as being dependable and competent, not someone who says one thing… then does something else. So hold off with your ‘yes’ until you have a better understanding of what it is the feature creep being asked for really entails, project-wise. If your client does ask you for something not in the agreed scope, you may, in a polite way, ask to study said request first and get back to them in a few days about your answer.

Since this entry is already looking to be real long, I’ll just continue this discussion in part two… where I will focus on why multi-tasking may not be so good after all.

Practicing what one preaches

Its easy to say something... I mean, there's hardly any effort to say a few words. We do more than that everyday - unless of course, one is experiencing some difficulty to do just that, it should not be a problem to utter words.

However, some words - when put together, have special meaning... one's larger than the words themselves, for example... a sentence representing a promise from someone - just words... but the intent goes beyond the content. A promise comes with an inherent belief that the person who uttered such promise will do good on said promise's intended action. After all, why promise at all - if one won't keep said promise?

Now lets go even higher tha a personal promise... a company's credo or set of core values. These words set the company apart from the rest of the pack... it gives the company an identity... and yes, it sets the tone for what kind of company it is - and will continue to be.

The credo is its guiding light... its core values - just that... what it is, at its very core. What it - as an entity, believes, practices and adheres to. Naturally, it will - and should, take great pains to uphold these values that it holds dear. Because, once again, if it does not follow such values in principle, then it can't expect its clients and partners to trust it - after all, wouldn't that be counter to it's very own integrity?

The big problem here - specially for large companies, these credos or values are paid lip service... nice to recite; maybe even have a stylish plaque hung on the wall for all to see... maybe even make sure that H.R. has some kind of program to inculcate newbies with these values - possibly even memorize them... BUT... and here's the great but part... when push comes to shove, the leadership of this same company - or its people at some level of the organization, forget everything they preach and practice an entirely different set of values.

Therein lies the real viewpoint to such values and creeds... if a company is consistent with it's preachings... with its ideal, then it shows that it is serious with what it does - with its practices. But if people, whether employees or partners in executing some form of work or another; for said firm, feel that things are being practiced differently... then, these same people - and their circle of friends... will realize that this organization's leadership, its people, its practice and yes... its credo or values... are all just one big hypocritical mass of pretenders.

Unfortunate... since there are, I am sure, at least a handful of people who take these values to heart... yet are equally affected by those that do not. Now... I understand that when a crisis happens, change is needed - and people get affected. That, and the actions to help survive the crisis, is inevitable. But as i mentioned before, and read in the book 'Leading at the Edge', how the leader (or leadership) thinks and acts, will best determine whether they talk one way and act another - and the people do get to glimpse at their leadership's integrity - or lack of.

As I used to work with a large company... one well known for its stability, profitability, growth.. and yes... integrity - that latter word being one of several core value this particular company upholds, I appreciated the fact that said company had such values ingrained into its workforce - heck, I had my share of doing the inculcation of how important such values to the company were, and therefore, how its newbies had to adapt to such a culture.

I even had my share of dealing with jaded participants - those that came from a not too ideal corporate climate, and thus had to question or cast suspicion on things that may be too good to be true, and my message to these people would be -insert company's name here- is different, and they really do respect their workforce - after all, they value their best assets... which of course, are the people working with it.

If you read carefully between those lines in the paragraph right above this one, I have subtly inserted what are two more of said company's core values.. aside from the previously mentioned 'Integrity'.

Going back to my point... Leadership's actions - specially in a crisis, will reveal a lot about whether the organization does indeed practice what it preaches... or simply preach... and practice - but only when things are comfortably happening the way they expect things to happen. Otherwise... to hell with the preach part - this is survival, and only the strong (or well-positioned decision maker) survive.

So much for core values, credos, mission statements or visions - these are just words to preach to the masses - but come real problem-solving crunch-time issue-handling late-night emergency meetings - those are just words... and only the foolishly ideal individuals cling to such words... and only the naive cling to these concepts - believing that all will be handled as expected - by making hard decision based on these core values, credos, mission statements and visions.

But aren't the idealistic and naive those who are truly and genuinely practicing and championing the organization's values? Aren't they those who are truly respected? I'd like to think that at times like these... it should be these individuals who should be the organization's compass to any and every decision to be made affecting each individual.

Pity... really. A chance to prove one's integrity - to prove that his (or her) integrity is aligned with that the company preaches... and they - this company, failed to do just that.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have removed people in the workforce - though that, in itself is likewise debatable. But the way they handled the problem - the way the let go of their people - and their 3rd-party partners... the way these people were treated... well, one has the feeling of being an unwanted wet and dirty rag... easily discarded after its usefulness is done.

I've heard stories, and have experienced some 'anomalous' actions - and by anomalous, I mean, actions not aligned with the organizational 'core values'... and from where I was standing, not all decisions were made with Integrity to all, and with Respect to each Individual... and yes, suddenly, this organization was presenting a different face, than what was expected by its 'best' people.

Again, I'm not saying all the leadership acted in that way - at least, I can't be certain. But an apple just needs one worm to become unwanted by any person to eat - it loses it value as a fruit... and just like said apple, this company that I used to help, has lost its value, its prestige, and yes... its integrity.

At a time of crisis... at this time of crisis, its leadership failed to Lead at the Edge. Don't get me wrong... survival is an organization's right - and if laying off people is a necessary resort, then so be it... but there is a good - and not so good way of doing this... and this is one time where industry best practices were not adhered to.

We must be better than that. We must practice what we preach.

This is done, the actions of the past... history - and as this organization is fond of doing, it must think of all the 'deltas' in its handling this particular situation, and learn from it's mistakes... or this - the concept of continuous improving by finding areas to change - will turn out to be just another 'practice' being preached.

Obama's Victory... lessons we can learn from it.

I know that there's been a lot of articles about now President-Elect Barack Obama, but there is one in particular that gives a good scrutiny of the successes of Barack's campaign - and the mistakes of the McCain campaign.

What makes this even more believable are two facts:

1) the writers still beleived that McCain would have been a better President... though they accept and hope that Barack will be up to the challenge... and

2) the writers are known in the publishing world for their many books about business... I'm of course referring to Jack and Suzy Welch.

They break the lessons down to three simple considerations...

A) Clear, consistent Vision
B) Execution done right
C) Well-placed allies

I could give some explanation, but I thing it would be better to lead you to the original article, so you can read it in its full glory. So click away.


Obama Victory Lessons for Leaders

Learning while surfing in class - Possible?

I've been surfing the Net (no surprise there) looking for new ideas - either for my personal perusal, or for possible sharing purposes in my next training conducts. and in my aimless wandering -I stumbled upon another blog that I would like to try to monitor from now on - why so?

http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/reading-to-find-rip-mix-classrooms/

The above site by Will Richardson touches on a few training or education topics - and though the subject is more geared towards high school, it still can be applied to any learning environment... including corporate training... after all, don't we sometimes act like children? ;-)

How did I find Will's blog? I found it at another article... one about Facebook being used for learning... and since I've been an advocate for using Facebook - color me curious, but I had to check the article out. You can too... by copy-[asting this site address:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9122241&taxonomyId=16&source=NLT_NET&nlid=27

Apparently, there is a name for what I was doing when I stumbled upon this site - and its not just 'surfing' the Net either... well, it is, but there's another - you might say, more specific name. "Rip-Mix" Huh? Never heard ot it? Okay, here's a description of Rip-Mix - its when you transfer from site to site by clicking on certain inetresting topics or sub-topics... all because I was interested in certain context. Call it a speed- comprehending (just like speed-reading) style, wehrein by hoping form topic to topic, I eventually read and absorb enough ideas to understand the big picture discussion without having to read each and every... well, in this case, entry.

I hop from idea to idea - from argument to argument - from site to site - from writer to writer - from viewpoint to viewpoint, and in that manner, form an opinion of what I'm reading. It may not be the most systematic, nor may it be the more efficient manner - but it lets me read by way of following my interests.

I won't reccomend this in reading books - though I may readily sugest it as a form of surfing the Net... in fact, its how I've always been 'attacking' the internet and it myriad sites... even when doing research for just about anything. Sure I start out with a Google search, then I work my way from article to article - until I start getting carried away 'wherever the web takes me'. But that's not all... the author then takes the idea to the possible next level - Rip-Mix workshops, which mean we could have virtual workshops as we all search and share what we read or learn about... forming a sort of community of learning for a particular subject matter.

Rip-Mix... a not-so-new idea. But now its got a name... and possibilities. If only schools would catch up to this idea.

When training becomes boring:

Make no mistake, there will be times when training seems boring... this would be because the topics covered may not be new to the participant, the facilitator is boring, or maybe both. There are other possible reaons, but it is really not the intent fo this article to enumerate them all - hell, its hardly the intent to even talk about the training being boring from the participant's viewpoint.

So what am I alluding to? What if the conduct of trainings are atarting to get boring to the facilitator? What would be the usual reaons for such sitiations? Well for starters, the training (or trainings) could be routine - in ohter words, conducting them becomes routinary in both content and execution that there might come a time when the facilitator will start to feel mechanical - hence, bored.

This does not atutomatically mean the training in particular - one being conducted by a bored facilitator, will be equally boring (though the possibilities of such happening are higher than when handled by, say, an inspired facilitator). After all, it was Leah Salonga who once quipped that in her near routinary rendition of Kim in the stage musical Miss Saigon, she had bouts of boredom and inspiration - who in the audience could tell one state from another? Far as they were concerned, Leah seemed not to have a bad night.

How'd she get away with it? Sheer discipline - and yes, really good muscle memory. After all, routine can be remembered until it becomes an internal process - one done subconsciously... like Tiger Wood's great swings (at least, to Tiger). Poetry in motion - and he makes it look so easy... just as Leah makes msucals look so easy and effortless. What has this got to do with a facilitator? Similarly, if the things one does becomse routinary... including training, then it can be done in auto pilot mode - even in non-inspiring days (or nights).

Four paragraphs down... what am I trying to say? I sometimes get into such a mood - or phase, and in recent weeks, this has seemingly increased in frequency. Yet its not just the routine that I notice as reason for this... it could also be the fatigue. Having a heavy load... averaging around 100 hours of work in a month - guess that can be tiring, and non-restful weekends do not help the cause either.

Yes, it can get tiring... yes it can get boring... so why do I still do it?

Trainings help individuals directly, and despite how I may feel, I still find this an altruistic exercise. I like helping people, and in trainings I help them improve - be it be learning a new skill, adding to their knowledge... or even just looking at (and accepting) a different way of thinking. I meet a lot of people, and even logn after the training is done, these people still remmeber me. That does nto happen if you did not have some kind of impact in their lives - whether professional or personal.

To me, upon seeing how I've helped - and these can be seen at the end fo the training itself (instant feedback can be had), which can really just erase the 'feeling bored, nothing new' feeling... and I just think, 'yeah, this is still worth it'.

Question is... how long before 'what is worth it' finally gets overcome with 'this is boring'? Guess I'll know when that time comes, since it would be the day I stop trainings and pursue other things. In which case, I might just give myself a few months before I start getting the itch to train again. Its happened before, it cna happen again.

Meanwhile, I just need to look at trainings in a different perspective, or find new ways of approaching the same training, to keep things fresh... and maybe, just maybe... I need to have more rest days... this way, I don't burn out.

Leading at the Edge

I've just finished reading the book titled "Leading at the Edge" by Dennis N.T. Perkins, wherein he introduces 10 Strategies for Leading at the Edge. By Edge, the author means highly demanding situations - wherein life's normal challenges, as we see them (or feel them) are felt in much greater impact when survival may be at stake... where one's actions may very well be the basis for continuing... or disappearing on the face of this Earth.

In giving us these 10 strategies, Perkins uses, as an analogy, the adventures of a famed explorer Earnest Shackleton and his Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition. Let me list out these strategies, just for posterity...

1. Vision and Quick Victories - Never loose sight of the ultimate goal and focus energy on short-term objectives.

2. Symbolism and Personal Example - Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors.

3. Optimism and Reality - Instill optimism and confidence, but stay grounded on reality.

4. Stamina - Take care of yourself; Maintain your stamina and let go of guilt.

5. The Team Message - Reinforce the team message constantly: "We are one - we live or die together".

6. Core Team Values - Minimize status differences, and insist on courtesy and mutual respect.

7. Conflict - Master conflict - deal with anger in small doses, and avoid needless power struggles.

8. Lighten Up - Find something to celebrate and something to laugh about.

9. Risk - Be willing to take the Big Risk.

10. Tenacious Creativity - Never give up - there's always another move.

If you wish to know more about these 10 strategies, I strongly suggest purchasing (or borrowing) a copy of this book... in fact, I would advice the earlier option, since the book has self assessments that one can use, and return to at latter dates to see how he, or she, is doing regarding leading at the Edge.

Want to know more? Here's a PDF from www.syncreticsgroup.com showing a 4 page interview with Perkins. It shed more light on the topics - and should be a good enough teaser for anyone wondering if the book is really worth getting. I've provided the link to where I found the file:

http://www.syncreticsgroup.com/pdfs/Interview%20with%20
Dennis%20Perkins%20about%20Leading%20at%20the%20Edge.pdf

I shall be posting my results on said assessments in a separate entry.

Trust Activity

I recently facilitated a 'trust activity' for a Building High Performance Team session, and since we were limited with the available equipment we had within the training area premise, we just had to make do with strategically positioning the tables into a maze of sorts - careful not to harm anyone. In line with this, I or my partner, Mon, had to make sure that our participants had to be monitored by their partners, and by us - as we had to see potential pitfalls, lest they literally fall down.

Naturally, since this may entail some confidentiality, I shall not mention the company, nor the names of our participants... but as you can no doubt see in their faces, our participants were really enjoying themselves. They gamely followed instructions, took up the challenge and went through the trust activity with gusto (and worked up an appetite in the process, it seemed). You will also notice in these pictures that even when blindfolded, some of the partners seemed to strike the right pose for the camera (so much for candid shots).

To start with, we would come from our lecture room, travel a short distance through the training center's corridors, then enter the breakout room where the tables would be arranged into a maze (guess using the word labyrinth would be too grand).

I've included some pictures of this trust activity, as you can no doubt see... nothing too spectacular, and since I was not using a flashbulb (so as not to alert the blindfolded particpants that I was taking their pictures), some of my pictures would poorly capture movement - hence the blurred effects at times.

The activity entailed forming pairs (or trust partners) and blindfolding one partner in said pair; who would then have to follow instructions of their partner guide. These blindfolded people had to literally trust that their partners would guide them properly.

Interspered within the maze were whiteboard marker pens lying on the carpet; which the blindfolded participants had to pick up - again, just relying on their guides for instructions. In at least two places, there were chairs located, and the blindfolded person would have to once again trust their partner to guide them properly, and let them sit down.

Lastly, before the maze ends, they would have to pick up the last marker pen, position themselves facing the wall - which happens to be made of whiteboard materials, and write their name, while blindfolded, of course.

Overall, it was a fun activity, and I have to confess that this was much more active than previous trust sessions I've had the priviledge to conduct before where the mazes were simply just that - with no added frills of needing to sit or write their names. THough in the past, I'd instruct the partner guide that their blindfolded partner would need to touch a strategically located electric fan or phone.

Next time? I'll try to experiment with texture - see how the blindfolded participants feel through a rubber snake or feather duster and the likes. See how vivid certain imaginations could turn out to be. Who knows, I mught just get a squeal or shriek form a participant, once they realize (or think) they are holding some animal. I will have to make sure, though, that no one would be adversely affected due to sudden high blood pressure from an anxiety attack.

This trust factor is just a short activity - yet many facilitative teachbacks can be borne out of this one activity. For one thing, its main "Aha!" point for this particular run, was to show the need to trust each other, and by extension, their team mates - specially if they are the leads. The consideration being that with delegation of work, one must be ready to impart some authority as well, so their staff can do such work successfully.

Note: I originally intended for this post to appear in another blog where I post most diary-related activities. But after some thought, i realized that the post was more facilitative-focussed. Hence its finding its way inot this particular blog. After all, this is my facilitating focussed blog.

Team Lead School

I just recently finished conducting a 'Team Leads' training, and basically, I was relatively surprised to go through it as easily as I did - considering that it was my very first time to conduct this particular course.

Why was this so? First of all, most of the ideas of said training were covered elsewhere - and in greater detail; specifically with several trainings I've covered in the past. Second, it touches upon leadership, and I can say that I've got a lot of stories (based on experiences - both mine and others) to share, articles I've covered and can expound on and concepts I can present.

End result? I was able to cover the topics given me at record time, as we finished an hour ahead of schedule, and that is without any shortcuts, and without really any need to stretch things (or make up stories). With the ability to explain everything properly, clearly and completely, I felt that I was able to impart what concepts and ideas need to be touched upon.

Now... for some strange reason, this month of July seems to be the month where I needed to show the fact that I could conduct - not one, but three different trainings that I've never conducted before. Granted, I had to go through some manner of 'sitting-in' as preparation time, and it helped... just a bit. See, the aspect of 'sitting-in' is to understand the concept, to see the conduct proper and study the flow of the topics. But can anyone absorb all these things in the first try? Doubtful... not impossible, mind you... just doubtful. Too many things to capture and absorb - all at the same time.

Now, this wasn't all just natural talent, mind you (though soem of that did help me too), as I admit to having had to spend some time preparing for this conduct by reading and absorbing the slide topics... for adopting the idea, and seeing how I could present it. Connect it to my experience - and barring that, to use someone else's experience. But it wasn't that much work - as the concepts were easy to understand and relate to. I strive to be able to explain the 'What's in it for me' a.k.a. W.I.I.F.M. factor for each topic, with respect to my explanation.

I may not be so lucky next time though, hence the need to still prepare some more. But at least, in this particular case, I was successful... and success does breed (or sustain) confidence.

How do I know if I did right? Simple... I knew my goals, I met expectations - both mine and my participants, and I felt that I was able to help and contribute to their (my client's) knowledge (or skill). In the end, it may be them (my clients), who will determine my evaluation, and this can come off as a formal evaluation - but my inner-self will be the one I need to listen to... hence I don't take too much stock in the evaluation's importance.

Not to sound too proud or boastful, but I've not taken stock of my evaluations for quite some time... If my participants may think if its good, well then good. If its bad, I assess the reasons. Sometimes, if these items have merit - and this is looking at such in an unbiased manner, then I'll consider - and make adjustments. If not (meaning no real merit - as the participant may be missing the mark) then I just chalk it up to experience, or (bad) luck and look forward to the next conduct.

In the end, if my inner-self says I did good... who's to say otherwise? I'm confident enough to know that I did good, and that is what is important. Having said that, I know I did good today.

The A-E of having an Optimistic attitude:

'No one can really be an optimist all the time'
'Anyone can be an optimist sometime'

What's the difference with these two statements? Aside from the obvious differences in the sentence usage, is the message any different? Technically, it describes the same thing... that of optimism not always being the case for anyone. Yet (and this is not from the viewpoint of anyone supremely gifted with grammatical rules, mind you) I would think that it bears scrutiny with respect to who might utter such phrase, or use such words.

The latter of the two sentences may be used more often by optimists, while the previous statement would, of course, be used by the more pessimistic-inclined. Its basically the same philosophical debate as having the glass being half full or empty... the pessimist will insist it is half empty, while the optimist will point out it is half full? Difference? Viewpoint.

Why is this important to know? Because people with the right (i.e. optimistically inclined) attitude tend to be more motivated, more inclined to success. The problem is... what if I'm not 'normally' inclined to being an optimist? How does one get out of the rut? Here's one option.

In the book 'Leading at the Edge', Dennis Perkins and company suggest a five step process, as introduced by Martin Seligman, a psychologist. This is as follows...

1) Adversity - identify it, when was this last encountered;

2) Beliefs - be aware of them, question them - specifically, your thoughts or beliefs of the event;

3)Consequences - recognize the actions or effects of your beliefs;

4) Dispute - question, challenge your negative beliefs about the item or action being considered;

5) Energy - generate what is necessary to overcome negative consequences.

This 5-step process is likewise called the Learned Optimist's approach, signifying the fact that anyone can learn this skill, and it will help them focus on what it means to be thinking and talking optimistically.

Graveyard Shift Trainings Anyone? Not me...

Just last night, I did something I had not done in the past two decades - namely, stay up until the morning for work. Oh yeah... I had my share of this experience early in my work life as a data encoding supervisor for the graveyard shift - specifically to help encode Voters Registration Forms for several regions of the Philippines. Back then I found it boring, and it was really a strugle to stay awake; after all, how interesting was data-encoding? Another hassle with working late was the fact that I had to get home by jeepney at the wee hours of the morning, and try to sleep of the morning - considering the temperature of the hot sun as the morning turned to noon.

Back then, I definitely empathized with vampires who - seeing the sun, seemed to have a psychological effect. Of course, to them it was more a life and death thing; to me when I saw the sun rise before I hit my bed, I felt weaker... and this was true whether the reason I stayed up was due to work or a late night out with friends.

I would always notice how it seemed to take me at least a day - or two to recover from the excess (as I would think of it back then) hours of wakefulness. Ah well... my respect for all the BPO people and contact-center agents is renewed with how I felt. I'm sure they're used to the life they lead... but I bet there was a time they were likewise experiencing the same adjustment period... and I'm not fully satisfied with the fact that their awkward lifestyle has no underlying effect on their health.

In short, its an experience I won't want to find myself in. So how'd I end up repeating the experience (one that I have to do again this coming evening, by the way) that I had forsworn not to do? Simple economics, plus the proper timing, it seems. Confusing? Not really.

The company I work in has a pool of facilitators on tap to conduct certain trainings... in economic parlance, I'd call this the supply capacity. On the other hand, we have the client - a company known to be large and still growing in its BPO and ACCS business. It has people in need of training, and again... for economics sake, I'll call them the demand side - but since they are evening-shift employees, trainings that we usually conduct in the mornings are a sacrifice for them to attend.

So the demand side has been clamoring for the needed trainings - but cannot get said trainings in the mornings when most of the supply and scheduling otions are presented. Obviosuly, there is a mismatch of needs vs. supply capacity. Our organization decides to cater to this demand, but not all facilitators in the pool - myself included, were inclined to deliver training at night. I'm not sure what others' excuse are - but mine is simple... I'm not that young, and if I had some issues two decades ago with such practice - even given the fact that I was much healthier way back when, I sure as hell will have a lot more issues now. Plus, it runs counter to my having to drive Barbie to her office every morning. But, there were facilitators willing to do the deed anyway - so no problem. I jsut had to take a bye with said experience.

However, due to some glitch in schedule mix, one particular need was unfillable by the evening team. Apparently, our scheduler asked for help and the only people capable of meeting said need were Naira (Orbeta) and I - and as circumstances had it, we were conducting said Leadeship training at that partucular moment.

Now, as I said, I don't usually accept such assignments - but the pleadings of our scheduler... and the fact that Barbie had a trip to Cebu, hence my not really having the need to bring anyone to work in the morning, all conspired to get me to say yes. After all, what's two days - or in this case, nights?

Well, let me just give a glimpse of how night one went. For starters, we survived of course... but I noticed that Naira was struggling to stay awake, and we were not in our peak; for example, I had some difficulty thinking of what to say, my thought process was slower than usual - lucky for me, this is a training I am used to conducting like the back of my hand (and it helped that Naira and I came fresh from it), it also helped that the training was activity intensive - so there was really no dull moment.

I would even say that there was a certain peacefulness in the place - one that normally teemed with activity due to the organization's seemingly constant hiring process, and training schedules.

The corridors were almost empty, with exception to our (the participants and I) traveling to and from the pantry, rest rooms and our training room. Aside from us, I just noticed our facility's guards, some maintenance people and late night (early day) workers doing repair work. But these encounters were few and far between. By the way, I would use these walks to keep myself awake.

Now, the psychological hour seems to be 4AM - and as I looked at the watch, I noticed that the night was happening with no hitch (thank God for that) beyong 4AM - but I could really feel wanting the hours to happen faster, so we could really call it a day.

Though feeling a bit disoriented, Naira and I were able to keep track of the timeliness of our conduct, by looking at it from the scheduled break's perpective... these served as our milestones inletting us know we were right on time, as far as the conduct's timeframes were concerned... again, I can attest this to Naira and my experience with said training. Guess it validated tha fact that we were comfortable with each other's capabilities - and this helped soothen any possible aprehension on our parts, in accepting the graveyard shift training to begin with.

The participants were pleasant and active, cooperative and willing to learn - and that has to be a plus. It certainly made our evening less traumatic. I also had a friend in the list - Arthur Uy, an old role playing game collegue.

I came prepared by bringing Coke zero, as I knew I'd be needing the caffeine. But as I feared, the effects still happen, and the payback time was actually after the training.

Now... I was contemplating whether to bring a car or not - I decided to bring the car, as I was not too sure of the availabilty of taxis when it cane time to leave... a false apprehension it seemed, since on my way to the car, I saw a lot of them bringing employyes to work. As I was driving home after work, I had to be extra careful I did not bump anyone or fall asleep. My usually instinctive driving skills were dulled - so I had to really be careful. I've decided not to bring the car later - don't want to tempt fate after all. I'll just have to make suer I've enough change for the cab fare.

When I got home, I had some difficulty sleeping in the morning since the room was too bright, outside noises did not help, plus my body clock was out of synch. Bubbles, our dog was also guilty of waking me up from time to time, and the aircon helped in making suer I was comfortable - but this did not lull me to dreamland.

All I could get were many short naps - so yeah, I'm still recovering from day one - and I have to prepare for day two. My stomach also seems to be rebelling a bit - but that was expected. I also did not want to take caffeine at the later time of the trainings (4 to 5 AM) because I might not be able to sleep at all... so I had to wait out the hours and do my modules - thankful for rests in between (when it was Naira's turn to control the training). I have to say that those alternating facilitator assignments are a real blessing during graveyard shifts.

I'm glad to say that I was up and about the entire time. Naira, though, was more in energy-saving mode... preferring to rest (sit or when possible slouch in her chair) whenever possible, so I can just imagine that she was having a harder time to cope... not becasue she can't, but more likely, she was a lot more tired that day than me.

Bottom line, I am reminded as to why I don't want this particular schedule. I can't function in optimum more, and I feel the effects after. I'm glad tonight is the last night, as ( another facilitator who's shown preference for conducting at night too (Jingo Zara) will finally finish his sit-in mode with Leader's Window - and be scheduled for a teachback, so he (and Alain Nicolas) can conduct Leader's Window in the evenings form now on... besides, they're at least a decade younger than me so they can hack it better. Naira is likewise glad they'll be doing it form now on.

We were doing this as a favor to the organization - but we wouldn't want to make this a regular shcedule. I'll be glad to get home tommorow morning and go through recovery again... happy with the knowledge that we're done for (and with) this particular training.

Despite the friendliness of the particpants, I will definitely not accept future graveyard shift trainings. They simply take too much energy from me - and I don't see this as a long term option.

An Uplifting Comment!

Nothing too profound this time around... just wanted to share a comment from a participant of a training I recently conducted. This was in Accenture and the training was about John Beck's Leader's Window, which I conducted with Naira Orbeta. The comment came from one of our participant - Jon Aves, one of the company's (up and coming) project manager.

I quote what Jon said: "I attended two trainings this week , both by Johns - the first one, was by John Maxwell, and the second by John Beck, and I must say that between these two, I learned a whole lot more with Beck's Leaders; Window - as conducted by both Butch and Naira, than from Maxwell". WOW!!!

Jon then confirms to the rest of his fellow participants that his comment should not be taken lightly, since the company spent millions to have that one day training with Maxwell. Though I'd have to consider the backgrounder of said Maxwell training, I can't deny that I did feel energized by said comment.

But let me put things into perspective - at least, from my end. Credibly conducting Beck's training was never an issue to me - I know that I'm very competent, and as Rory mentioned while said training was happening, 'I seem to know it like the back of my hand' - well, I do... this is not hubris, but just plain and simple fact.

I would not normally be moved by comments saying that I'm good, or the training I conducted was great - 'been there, done that', so what else is new...

Make no mistake though, I still appreciate these type fo comments, and appreciate the genuine gratitude accompanying it, but nothing really move me to remember such comment beyond the training. Perhaps because I realized early on that I can't afford to rest on my laurels, so I set these aside and focus on my next assignment.

Jon's comment was different, though, he:
a) indirectly stated that the Maxwell training was less effective than Beck's;
b) likewise stated, in the same breath, that Naira and I gave him more value for his time (never mind the comparative cost) with the training we conducted, than Maxwell personally conducting his course in Manila.

Make no mistake, I respect Maxwell very much - and would hope to be as successful as the man in the talk circuits, someday. I've several of his books, and would consider his as one influence when it comes to my taking in ideas that I often pass around and use in my talks. He's up there amongst the authors I admire, together with Covey and Blanchard... so imagine how such a comment would impact me. Heck, lets just say that I envied Jon that he was able to attend such a course through company sponsorship. I'd love to sit and listen to John Maxwell talk.

That said, it would also be hard to dismiss said comment as fanciful, as I gauge Jon Aves to be a person who says what he thinks - not one who fancies exaggerations, nor does he seem to be one to conduct white washes. Jon can epitomize what an Accenture leader is, so I don't think he was just playing on the audience for spotlight time, nor was he being political in talking favorably about those in front of him.

Jon's comments would have to be seen in a credible manner - at least, as credible as its source... and Jon seems credible.

So yeah... great comment. It may not add to my financial surplus - it definitely does nothing else but add to the many accolades I've received; most of them forgotten. But this particular comment falls uniquely into the category of my having been compared - well, sort of... to John Maxwell and his works.

Jon's comments strongly validated the Leader's Window - and it likewise validated both Naira and me with it.

More informative (and in that sense, getting better value for money) than John Maxwell's talk... wow.

Thanks, Jon. Great validation.