Mundo PM | 06 July, 2007

Working Effectively:How You Can Make a Difference in Your OrganizationLeslie Martinich

Overview

To be effective1. Understand yourself2. Understand your relationships3. Understand your organization

1. Understanding Yourself

A. What are your strengths?B. What are you supposed to contribute?C. How do you best perform?D. How do you learn?E. How do you best communicate?F. How do you solve problems?G. How do you plan?

A.Strengths=Talent + Passion + Skills

• Talents are part of the picture

• Passions are another part of the picture

• Skills are another part

What Do You Enjoy Doing?

Swim

Dance

Solve Problems

CookManage Teams

Presentations

Complete Projects

What Are Your Skills?

PowerPoint

Drive

Software Development

Sp

eak

Mu

ltip

le

Lan

gu

ages Manage

Teams

Presentations

Manage Projects

Talents + Passions + Skills

Combine talents, passions and skills to find strengths

What do YOU Enjoy?

•Take 5 minutes to write down 10 things that you enjoy•They do not have to be work related__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What SKILLS do YOU have?

•Take 5 minutes to write down 10 skills that you have.•They do not have to be work related.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Intersection

Managing Projects

Solving Problems

Reading Literature

Sports

Managing Projects

Solving Problems

Speaking Multiple

Languages

Software Development

Your Strengths

PASSIONS SKILLS

B. What Do You Contribute?

• Who are your customers?• What do they need?• What can you provide within the next 9 – 12 months?

Your Customers

• The person in the next cubicle or office?• Another department?• Your manager?• The end users of your products or services?

What Do They Need?

• Schedule?• Quality?• Features?• Cost reduction? ?

Your Contribution

Take 5 minutes to write down1. Who is your customer?2. What does your customer want?3. What results have to be achieved in order to make a

difference?4. With your strengths, what can you do to contribute?

C. Peak Performance

• Different people perform better under different circumstances

• Some people prefer to work – alone– in groups– in large organizations– in small organizations

YOUR Peak Performance (1)

• Consider a time when you were very effective. • Were you

– Alone or in a group?– In a big organization or a small one?– Solving problems methodically or trying out quick ideas?

• How did you learn what you needed in order to be effective?

YOUR Peak Performance (2)

• I performed very well when __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• The conditions for my peak performance include________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure out where you can be the best at what you do!How can you differentiate yourself?

D. Learning Approaches

• People learn through different approaches• Some people learn by

– Reading the manual– Watching others– Trying things out– Thinking the problem through– Attending training– Asking questions

Learn to Learn

• Lifetime learning expertise• What to learn

– Significant patterns– Principles– Fundamental concepts

• Then build on those

Where to Focus YOUR Learning

• What are the fundamental concepts that apply to your industry?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• How can you build on those?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

E. Communication

• Some people communicate directly• Some people communicate indirectly• Some people communicate verbally• Some people communicate in writing• Some people communicate using body language

My Preferred Communication Style

Oral

Direct

EmailTelephoneWritten

Indirect DetailsBig Picture

Communication Styles

• Fill in the boxes with your preferred style and the preferred styles of others

What is a good way for you to communicate with others?

You Your Manager

Your Co-worker

YourCustomer

F. Problem Solving

• People have different approaches to problem solving

Quickly try many ideas

Methodically analyze problem

Both Problem Solving Approaches are Needed

• Methodical approach is good for solving problems that require deep understanding

• Rapid trial approach is useful for new, previously unseen problems that require quick action

• You need both types of problem-solvers on your team!!• Are you a “careful planner” or a “quick responder” ?

G. Different Planning Approaches

• Careful, structured planning approach– Useful for well-known problems and projects

• Flexible, adaptable approach– Useful for unforeseen problems and novel situations

• BOTH occur in many workplaces!

What is YOUR Planning Approach?

• Take 5 minutes to consider the approach you are most comfortable with.

• In what situations is this approach useful?• When might you want someone with the other approach?• _____________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Understanding Yourself

In order to be effective, you need to understandA. Your strengthsB. Your contributionC. The conditions for your best performanceD. Your learning approachE. Your preferred communication approachF. Your problem-solving approachG. Your planning approach

2. Understand Your Relationships

With:– Co-workers– Customers– Managers– Employees– Other

Departments

They can be:– Collaborative– Contentious– Cooperative– Competitive– Close– Distant– Good– Bad

Relationships

Types:– Peer– Mentor– One-way– Two-way– Multi-dimensional

They can be:– Trusting– Mistrusting

Trust

• Are you able to hand off tasks that you once did, in order to take on new projects?

• An effective project manager cannot DO the entire project alone. He or she must be willing to trust others to do tasks.

Maintaining Relationships

• Understand others’ – Needs– Goals– Fears– Communication preferences

• Know where they are now• Anticipate where they will be

Working Relationships

• Consider your manager’s (or co-worker’s)– Interests– Needs– Strengths

• Consider your own – Strengths– Contribution

Write Down What You Might Say

• I recognize that you need these particular results from me. This is what I am good at. This is how I can best contribute. These are the results I expect to deliver.

Example

I know that you need accurate project schedules. I have shown that I am good at estimating schedules and work breakdown. I can best contribute by developing the project plan and managing the details, rather than managing the people. I can manage the schedule and provide you ACCURATE weekly project status.

Working Relationships

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Write down: Your manager’s needs, your strength, your contribution, your expected results

3. Understand Your Organization

• What are your organization’s goals?• How does your organization work?

What are your organization’s goals?

• Be the best in its market?

• Succeed through innovation?

• Succeed through efficiency?

• Succeed through customer service?

These are different

strategies. Do you know

what yours is?

How Does Your Organization Work?

• Which parts of the organization are responsible for revenues?

• Which parts are responsible for quality?• Which parts are responsible for innovation?

Organizational Balance

Rely too much on empowerment

Anarchy!

Rely too much on controlLoss of creativity!

Balance Requires Both

For Future growthInnovationNew Products

You needFlexibilityEmpowermentRisk taking

ForCurrent revenuesEfficient product or

service delivery

You needSchedulesPredictabilityControl

Innovation S-Curve

Cu

mu

lati

ve A

do

pte

rs

OR

Pe

rfo

rma

nce

Innovation Chaos Standards Maturity

Need flexibility

Need control and process

Where are YOU?

• Is your part of the organization focused on delivering current products more efficiently?

OR• Is your part of the organization focused on developing

innovative products for the future?

• Do you need to focus on process improvement or on flexibility?

Alignment

• Understand your organization’s goals.• Align your goals with your organization’s goals.

• Organization’s goals __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Your goals

_____________________________________________________________

The Marketplace

• What skills, products or services are currently in high demand?– Within your organization– In the world in general

• This is the expertise for which you will be rewarded

The Golden Triangle

Passions

Marketplace

Skills

Watch for Changes in the Marketplace

Passions

Marketplace

Skills

When the Marketplace changes, you need to adapt

Where SHOULD YOU Be?

Given your strengths (talents + passions + skills)AND

your contributionAND

your peak performance environmentAND

your organizationWhere do you best fit?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Working Effectively!

• We need all types for effective problem solving, planning and product or service delivery!

• Challenge: figure out how to integrate all the pieces

Questions?

Leslie Martinichlmartinich@ieee.org or

leslie@competitivefocus.com

THANK YOU!!