Great Expectations: How to Build Successful Teams and Projects

Many of us started off this year with a rush of new opportunities, ideas and goals. Yet, in conversations with some of my colleagues, a common theme surfaces: even though we are working at break-neck speed everyday, we still feel like we are deluged with work. Those goals seem to creep further and further into the distance. Interestingly, it’s not because of volume, it’s because of a lack of clarity surrounding expectations. 

Once expectations become clouded, no one is clear on what needs to be accomplished. And, when that happens, you might as well put your project and your team in a vat of quicksand.

I decided to observe how my colleagues were handling their schedules and workloads in concert with their day-to-day operations, on-going technological changes, reorganization and succession planning goals. Many were able to complete a variety of daily assignments, yet just couldn’t get ahead of their workload. Ever.

With the non-stop presence of technology in our day-to-day lives, it is no wonder that we loose sight of the expectations of what it is we are trying to achieve. Over the last decade (and even more so during the last few years), many people are pushing forward on projects with the solitary (and fruitless) purpose of meeting the expectation of completing on time.

Expectations, if not clearly defined at the beginning of a project, can go astray quickly, putting leadership and good teamwork at risk. 

Create a clear path of expectations:

1.  Identify upfront the goals and objectives for the project by asking these questions: 

- Why are we here?

- What we are trying to achieve?

- Who is responsible for what deliverables to meet the overall expectation of the end user (often the client)?

2. Write down the responses with specifics such as: expectations, execution, completion dates, deliverables and next steps forward.

3. Throughout the project, stay focused on the expectations of the project and the roles and responsibilities of each team member in order to successfully complete a collaborative and cohesive project on time.

How to establish expectations: 

1. Make sure the expectations come early and are realistic. 

2. Engage your team early in the planning of expectations and the individual roles and responsibilities of the project. 

Expectations are great:

1. By establishing expectations at the beginning of a project you are able to create accountability markers for your team members. 

2. Clear expectations, early, prevent derailment, confusion and a general lack of communication and unease. 

3. A more collaborative and focused team will emerge with clear communications to develop and complete a successful project. 

4. An ownership environment thrives.

Growing Your Career into a Healthy New Year

Clutter. clutter clutter. Immediately the word conjures mounds of collected, no-longer-useful material goods. Clutter is not always physical. Clutter is a concept that quickly clouds our thinking, too.

At the end of they year, clean out the clutter for new opportunities and new thoughts.  This year, don't just roll into the next one. Take stock of 2017 and step with intention into 2018. 

You spend most of your time in your career, so enjoy it! 

Before entering into the new year, stop and think about how YOU can grow yourself. So much energy is spent dwelling on someone or something else that negatively impacted our own planned steps: "My company didn't do this," or  "They decided it wasn't the right time," etc. Know that whatever you are doing, you are learning. Learn to appreciate the unexpected, like this double iris that bloomed in my garden this winter! A bump in the road, does not set you off course.

It is your responsibility to take care of yourself and know your own value. So, this December, build a strategy for the new year. Give yourself an end-of-the-year invitation to grow. Create a checklist that allows you to put away all the mental clutter from the last 12 months. Take time for a little self-examination, then refresh and refill. 

I find this daily foundation in my life to be extremely helpful: 

1) Listen to new ideas

2) Collaborate with Others 

3) Be Healthy

4) Be Helpful 

5) Be Grateful 

5) Reflect 

Staying healthy and engaging with others in meaningful ways outside of work are key elements of your happiness. And that happiness extends into your performance and, ultimately, determines your success at work. 

When is it time to move on?

In this blog, I write a lot about the balance of career, family and community with mindfulness, fulfillment, slowing down and…turning it off. My hope is to provide some sound advice and encourage continued growth on a healthy and interesting path for all.

The toughest question when I consult is: How do I decide when it is time to move on to something new?

Sometimes that work-life balance may be achieved but perhaps the path is not as happy or as interesting as it once was.

Your answers to these questions are good indicators:

- Do I still enjoy my work?
- Do I still feel passionate about what I am doing?
- Is my work appreciated?
- Do I find that I am still able to add value to the company for whom I work?

- Does the leadership reflect the core values and the reason why I joined the company in the  first place?

- Am I staying fresh in my work and growing my skill set and talents?

- Is the work still inspiring or is it just way to “pay the bills”?  

- Do I continue to add value to the well being of the company?

- Does my mission still align with the mission of the company?

How were your answers? If they were mostly negative, then it might be time for some deeper reflection.

A couple of colleagues shared that headhunters had recently approached them. Often, this is a compliment to the person and their reputation in their market sector. I shared with them that they could see what they had to offer, as it is a great way to measure your current situation and compare it with other opportunities.

I believe that there are times when we should move on…and the reason is not always monetary. It is up to each and every one of us to believe in what we are called to do and to trust in the creation of our own destiny.

The Sustainability of Endurance

Are you able to hold on and carry it through?  You can get it over the one-yard line and the thirty-yard line, but can you make it to the goal? Our greatest challenge is to have the endurance needed in this age of technology to ride  comfortably with its cycles and  its fickleness.

The utopia of a Spring garden—its newness and bloom surprises—is quickly followed by the Summer months of July and August. The garden grows double-time, basking in the vitamins from the sun and warm weather. This is the season that puts me to the test. Longer and more frequent days are are required in the garden, trying to stay ahead of the growth, the bugs and other challenges. The peak of summer gardening is all about endurance.

I often find myself asking, “Can I ever get ahead of the upkeep and care?” And, the funny thing is, after a long week of labor in the garden, I am always rewarded.   When I sit in my favorite spot over looking the garden at dusk, I relax and take in all of the joy it brings me. I know that it is never fully complete or finished. I accept that it is a work in progress. Actually, I love that it’s always a work in progress. Isn’t it all? The splashes of colorful flowers dotted across he varying hues of green are a backdrop for a very special kind of dance where humming birds and butterflies flow to the rhythm of the gentle breeze.  And it’s never the same performance twice.

We must all endure through seasons of extra work, some emotional or physical strain, and longer hours at different times in our lives. Just remember, no two days are the same. Each day is a new performance in the greatest work-in-progress of all: life.

Power Up Burn Out

Did you walk with a friend this month to relish the change of seasons?

When was the last time you called a friend without making an appointment first?

Have you dined out for a meal—without your phone on the table?

Has technology taken over your work life and your private life?

We are living through something I like to call “the conversion of the evolution of the human being.” Technology is very quickly turning us into a burned out, self-absorbed, anxiety-ridden population.

We must consciously turn it off and hit refresh. Often.

“Without personal meaning, you’ll start to wear down from relentlessly throwing yourself into the churn and pulse of things. You can’t sustain this kind of disconnected, meaningless work for very long.  – Steve Errey, “How to Tell Your Boss Your Completely Overwhelmed,” Fast Company

The more we focus on what makes us human, the more apt we are to create and innovate rather than follow; the better our relationships will be at home and in the workplace.

Better interactions with our colleagues allows for all of us to be human again.

Allow yourself to be you. Be joyful.  Have open dialogue with others. Volunteer, go to a museum, or simply say hello.

What makes us human?

Emotion, empathy, compassion memories, 

human relationships, human connection, kindness and love.

Withstanding Challenges

Civilization, companies, ideas and trends come and go. Yet a person, business or organization with a solid foundation of conviction and beliefs will make the commitment to stay fresh and grow without losing site of core values. They will withstand the challenges of an ever-changing world—and often grow to be better. 

Avoid Falling into Old Habits: How to Stay Energized Long After the New Year

Stepping into the New Year often comes with that list of promising new resolutions to ourselves, full of excitement and vigor that blossom out of the following questions: How can I improve at work? How can I improve at home? With exercising and eating? The list goes on. 

We purchase a stack of business leadership books, download apps, bookmark blogs and articles online--ready reading to give us the “ultimate” tools on how to make our day-to-day lives more innovative and productive in “just ten easy steps.”

Yet, in time, the euphoria of our resolutions fades away as the demands of our day-to-day work operations mount. Suddenly, we fall into old habits.  This process happens in our work life just as it does with a new exercise or diet regimen. We start with great commitment, begin to see changes, feel more energy, then, when the effort becomes more of a routine, enthusiasm becomes boredom from doing the same thing over and over again. Slowly, our new habits feel only like more work and we stop trying. We go back to old habits – because those habits are comfortable, not to mention easy. 

I recently shared my observations of this cycle with a client who I had worked with for several years.  We created and implemented several organizational processes and tools with his team to improve communications and enhance productivity for his department. In our conversation, he shared that he was having several challenges with his department in the coordination and collaboration of work and productivity.  We tried to determine what could be the root cause of the shift in the once-collaborative working environment we had developed the year before.  I asked him if his department was still using the tools we had implemented.  Sure enough, after a long pause, he quietly answered, “No.”  He explained that everyone was so busy catching up after the holidays on projects that they hadn’t had time to implement the tools. As we concluded our conversation, I encouraged my client to get off the fast moving treadmill and take the time to pull the team together and reintroduce the tools because I know that these tools would help them grow and be more productive in the long run.  

Just like a workout regimen or a change in diet, it takes work to apply the practical tools we create. We are made to keep moving forward in our professional and personal lives and there is always room for improvement. Let go of the tools that have outlived their usefulness and concentrate on those that improve process or productivity in order to keep moving forward. Tools should be revisited on a regular basis for improvements and efficiencies in order to empower continued growth in the individual and the organization as a whole.  

Working at new ideas and solutions builds upon enriched core values and supports the growth of wellness of any group, business or organization.