Month: August 2022

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Projects Sequencing: Ordering Your Projects to Enhance Productivity

In this week’s episode, the ProductivityCast team continues their conversation about sequencing for greater productivity, this time about ordering projects to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/136 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening! If you'd like to continue discussing Projects Sequencing: Ordering Your Projects to Enhance Productivity from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post). In this Cast | Projects Sequencing Ray Sidney-Smith Augusto Pinaud Art Gelwicks Francis Wade Show Notes | Projects Sequencing Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context. Microsoft ExcelNotionCodaLifelong learningLifelong learning institutes - Wikipedia  Tom’s Planner Raw Text Transcript Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio). Read More Voiceover Artist 0:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a fulfilling productive life, then you've come to the right place productivity cast, the weekly show about all things productivity. Here, your host Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto Pinaud with Francis Wade and Art Gelwicks. Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:17 And Welcome back, everybody to productivity cast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity, I'm Ray Sidney Smith. Augusto Pinaud 0:22 I am Augusto Pinaud. Francis Wade 0:24I'm Francis Wade. Art Gelwicks 0:25 And I'm Art Gelwicks. Raymond Sidney-Smith 0:26Welcome, gentlemen, and welcome to our listeners to this action packed episode of productivity cast, I'm just going to call it this is going to be a lot of fun. We're going to talk today about really the other side of sequencing. We talked about task sequencing in the last episode. And in this episode in this cast, I wanted us to talk about projects sequencing, why would we benefit from it? what are maybe some of the pros and cons? What are some of the examples of ways in which we use sequencing in our own productivity systems, and potentially some pitfalls, some things that we see folks around us experiencing in terms of troubles and challenges, and then we'll end with maybe just some Quickstart tips, some tips and tricks for you to be able to get started with projects sequencing, if you're not already doing it? Let's start off with why what is the reason for someone to be able to and want to sequence projects, which are different than tasks? Can you give a compare and contrast there for folks, and then we'll go from there, Francis Wade 1:32I think we've all been in that situation where we messed up a project so bad, because we thought it would be a short thing, or it would be a minor, you know, minor commitment, only to realize as opposed to two hours, it took 20. And as a result in crossed into an gotten away of other projects. And in retrospect, we look back and said to ourselves, boy, if I just sequenced it differently, if I had just focused on the one, and then decided to do the other at some point in the future. If I just applied a little bit of insight and maybe a little bit conservative, I could have saved myself a lot of heartache. So I think those who are interested in Project sequencing are those who take on larger projects, those who get asked to join lots of projects. But above all, there are people who've been burned by making mistakes by not sequencing projects correctly. I think that I'm sure that's what brings most of us that are called today.
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Why CEOs Need to Think Like Chief Learning Officers

As the top leader, it’s your responsibility to create sound succession plans. But how do you ensure that there is a pipeline of leadership talent available at all levels, such as the board and executive suite?

Extraordinary executives see themselves as developers of people. They take a 360-degree view of their world, paying attention to every scrap of expertise they can rely on to get the job done.

This perspective is an unusual one to adopt. After all, the default assumption is that by the time someone reaches the top of an organization, they should be fully ready for the role. In other words, all the training they need should have been completed.

Recent responses to recessionary pressure have not helped. Since the downturn of 2008, learning and development budgets have been cut, and have never recovered. Most companies have narrowed their focus to provide training for essential jobs only. The whole activity is now seen as an expense to be incurred only when it’s an absolute must.

This practice has affected all employees, but especially those at the top. Gone are the two-week to four-month executive development programs in overseas universities. Need a coach? That’s a personal investment. The idea is: “If you don’t have the skills needed at this high level, you shouldn’t have the job.”

But this logic is deeply flawed. Things are changing so quickly in our world, fueled by new technology, that no-one should feel secure in what they know today. Instead, their only lasting weapon is their capacity or ability to grow. How can you produce this transformation as your company’s leader?

  1. Make it safe to have gaps

If you’re the kind of leader who must demonstrate superior knowledge and skill at all times, you’ll be in trouble. Why? Your competitive nature got you the top leadership job, but now it’s preventing you from helping others.

For example, your peers may believe that you don’t have gaps (or don’t see them.) They’ll return the favor. How? They’ll follow your lead and pretend to know what they don’t, or do what they can’t. Neither response is productive. As a CEO, you need to tackle the fear people have to reveal their gaps openly.

The remedy is simple: become the most active learner in the company. Share your developmental needs with staff and your plans to close them. As you do so, create opportunities for others to share as well. Encourage them to be open.

  1. Look in All Directions

This may sound unusual, but you should also engage board members and chairpersons in their development.

If you fail to do so, expect your board to make decisions they don’t comprehend, but think they do. The fact is, much of their knowledge is probably outdated and their skills are stale. Yet, they must decide between competing proposals in board meetings the best they can.

The same, of course, applies to the occupants of the C-Suite. Realize that most companies under-invest in training at this level. Somehow, the thinking goes, smart people should train, coach and develop themselves. Apparently, they have all the time in the world to do so.

This folly leads CEOs to ignore the developmental needs of others immediately around them. When things fall apart, some seek knee-jerk solutions: firing colleagues and hiring replacements immediately upon failure. This short-term thinking mistakenly assumes that new staff members will fix the problem. Instead, they’ll become stale themselves – it’s only a matter of time.

Only consistent 360-degree feedback plus training interventions from the CEO will permanently correct the situation.

3. Become the Chief Learning Officer

The Learning and Development function in Jamaican companies was, before the 2008 recession, a highly respected role. Since then, many practitioners have disappeared, merged into Human Resource departments, becoming freelancers or migrating.

But their reappearance would not necessarily solve the problem of stale executive skills. Why? Persons in this position aren’t suited to determine the training needs of those far above them in the hierarchy. For example, few L&D Professionals can effectively guide a board.

The fact is, the CEO should step in and play the role of Chief Learning Officer. This person can coach those at the top of the organization to higher performance.

Unfortunately, most CEOs don’t have skills in this area. Yet, they must have developmental conversations with C-Suiters and also Board Members. No-one else is equipped. Failing to act is the same as allowing the company to languish.

As such, CEO’s should think like CLOs to help organizations succeed. In these tumultuous times, the need is greater than ever before.

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Why Your Strategic Plan Needs a Deep Handshake Agreement

Have you ever played a part in crafting a useless strategic plan? You thought it was a good product, but it ended up languishing on the shelf or in unread email. However, you believed in the process followed, but something was missing… maybe from the final step which condemned the entire plan to the scrap heap.

As you near the season for developing your company’s strategic plan, you already know that engaging stakeholders is important. Getting everyone on the same page is the only way to implement the plan effectively. However, you may not realize that the final group handshake at your retreat isn’t a mere formality or nicety. Instead, it creates an emotional bond no participant should escape.

Compare this to the fond memories of a wedding. Most recall the fun. A wonderful ceremony. The party after. Delicious food. Engaging people you met.

But there’s only a single short segment that was essential. The vows between the bride and groom may be different each time, but the public promises they make are the ingredients which generate a permanent difference. Without it, the activity is not a wedding.

In the same spirit, a strategic planning retreat cannot skip over the ultimate promise attendees must make to each other. Dr Richard Rumelt from the Caribbean Strategy Conference calls it the “swearing-in ceremony.” (The phrase is borrowed from basic military training.) What makes this final activity – essentially a handshake agreement – so important?
1—It’s a Reckoning

A great retreat is an exercise in “managed disagreement.” Executives from different functions bring together disparate points of view. Collectively, they forge a future none of them could create by themselves.

When the planning horizon is 10-30 years out, profound conflicts are even more pronounced. They can only be resolved via in-depth discussions, including a heavy dose of individual give and take.

But the meeting is wasted if, at the end, everyone is not on the same page. This test cannot be left to a gut feeling. Instead, someone must be brave enough to publicly ask each attendee to commit to moving forward together. In other words, to make a vow equivalent to a wedding’s “I Do”. Or similar to an oath of office. Without this clarity, prepare to declare the meeting a failure. 

2 – It’s Not Compete Consensus

While it would be nice to get total agreement on every single point of the strategic plan, that’s not the best practice. If you follow that path, expect the event to drag on indefinitely. 

Why? A lone person with strong convictions could dominate and wreck the proceedings. 

The fact is, this isn’t a debate. Or a marriage. Or a competition. It’s a business activity intended to move the company forward. With hard realities looming outside the meeting room, the organization needs a plan to fulfill its potential.

The best practice involves the use of a lesser form of agreement…”Disagree-and-Commit.” In this method, which is ideal for time-limited activities like planning retreats, participants don’t need to resolve all their reservations. Instead, they are encouraged to keep them, but simultaneously join the group in moving forward.

This technique is usually taught at the start of the retreat, but its influence is fully realized at the very end. Before everyone departs, there needs to be no daylight between participants and the strategic plan so that a united team can implement it as one.

3 – Defang Backstabbers

This approach is also intended to take power away from those who sit back, waiting to say “I Told You So” at the first signs of failure. But the truth is, if such people exist at the end, the process was defective. At some level, they were excluded. 

Prevent this from happening by checking to see whether “Disagree-and- Commit” bonds are being formed during the retreat. Use your intuition to focus on those who seem to be withdrawn or disengaged.

Also, seek to forge solutions that combine the best elements of separate points of view. By the end, each component of the plan should be identified with the team, rather than any individual.

The bottom line is that the paragraphs and diagrams in the strategic plan don’t matter as much as the human element.

When the team hasn’t stepped up as a unit to make a visible, authentic commitment to the plan, you have nothing but empty words. The true test comes when people are alone in front of their laptops. Do they execute the strategic plan when they are tired, distracted, or just plain comfortable with the status quo?

Such moments are the ultimate proof that your final handshake agreement was authentic. Your plan is ready to be executed.