Winner Vs Loser
When Awinner Makes A Mistake, He Says, "i Was Wrong."
When A Loser Makes A Mistake, He Says, "it Wasn't My Fault."
A Winner Works Harder Than A Loser And Has More Time;
A Loser Is Always "too Busy" To Do What Is Necessary.
A Winner Goes Through A Problem;
A Loser Goes Around It, And Never Gets Pass It.
A Winner Makes Commitments;
A Loser Says, "i'm Not As Bad As A Lot Of People."
A Winner Respects Those Who Are Superior To Him And
Tries To Learn Something From Them;
A Loser Resents Those Who Are Superior To Him
And Tries To Find Chinks In Their Armour.
A Winner Feels Responsible For More Than His Job;
A Loser Says, "i Only Work Here."
A Winner Says, "there Ought To Be A Better Way To Do It."
A Loser Says, "that's The Way It's Always Been Done Here."
The Choice Is Yours .. .. Choose To Be A Winner!
Hati-hati terhadap Situs-situs Berbahaya
(sumber: http://www.stopbadware.org/home/guidelines)
Hare gene.. masih ketipu oleh situs2 berbahaya?? jangan dehh... hehe :)
Beberapa tahun belakangan ini sudah mulai banyak bermunculan situs2 berbahaya,
yakni situs yg menyebarkan badware, termasuk di dalamnya spyware, malware dan adware.
Terhadap situs2 berbahaya tersebut:
jangan men-download software (termasuk wallpaper, antivirus, dll)
atau paling amannya: tidak mengunjungi situs tersebut.
Berikut ini beberapa situs2 berbahaya yang sudah tercatat di:
http://www.stopbadware.org/home/guidelines
* Italian Soccer wallpaper from http://www.EZThemes.com is badware
* http://www.ThemeXP.org contains badware. ThemeXP contains hundreds of executable files for download, ranging from desktop themes, to screensavers, wallpapers, icons, and cursors. So far, we have tested a random sampling of this ThemeXP Content. The badware behavior of these applications include the installation of additional software without the user's knowledge or consent; the installation of adware; and the installation of spyware.
* PC MightyMax is badware because it can be difficult to exit without purchasing the full version of the product; it makes exaggerated claims of system vulnerability; and it does not disclose to the user that it will periodically display pop-ads and make auditory alarms encouraging the user to purchase the full version. In essence, PC MightyMax belongs to that subset of badware that is often termed "nagware" or "extortionware".
We currently recommend that users do not install the version of PC MightyMax.
* WinFixer 2005 and WinFixer 2006 are badware.
* FunCade is badware because it deceptively advertises itself as having "no spyware," it installs a Trojan horse and adds bundled software to the Windows startup folder without disclosure, and it does not uninstall its bundled adware and spyware. Moreover, it attempts to deceptively get the user to download additional software during the uninstallation process.
* UnSpyPC is badware because it identifies legitimate anti-spyware applications as spyware and leaves behind an executable after uninstallation that could be used to reinstall the program.
* Jessica Simpson Screensaver is badware because it is bundled with Trojan horses, as well as undisclosed adware, spyware, and a stealth dialer.
* Kazaa (http://download.kazaa.com/kazaa_setup.exe) is badware because it misleadingly advertises itself as spywarefree, does not completely remove all components during the uninstall process, interferes with computer use, and makes undisclosed modifications to other software.
* MediaPipe is badware because it does not fully disclose what it is installing, does not completely remove all components and "obligations" during the uninstall process, and modifies other software without disclosure.
* SpyAxe is badware because it fails to uninstall completely, is difficult to exit without purchasing the full version of the product, and because it interferes with computer use and modifies other software without disclosure.
* Waterfalls 3 from Screensaver.com is badware because it includes components that are generally considered spyware, is bundled with a Trojan horse-like program, and modifies other software without disclosure.
Situs-situs jahat (berbahaya) lainnya, bisa dilihat di:
http://www.stopbadware.org/home/guidelines
Silahkan kasihtau ke teman2mu yg lainnya.
Semoga bermanfaat.
best regards,
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/wouw/
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/sumber-informasi/
--------
ABOUT "StopBadware.org"
StopBadware.org is a "Neighborhood Watch" campaign aimed at fighting badware. We will seek to provide reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help consumers to make better choices about what they download on to their computers. We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and to become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware.
Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute are leading this initiative with the support of several prominent tech companies, including Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. Consumer Reports WebWatch is serving as an unpaid special advisor.
John Palfrey, Executive Director of the Berkman Center and Harvard Clinical Professor of Law, and Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law Visiting Professor and Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University, are StopBadware.org co-directors. Supporting them are an advisory board and working group made up of some of the top experts in the field, including Internet pioneers Esther Dyson and Vint Cerf.
Ketenangan Jiwa dan Penyerahan diri
Kisah seorang ibu tua renta yang tabah.
Suatu ketika si ibu melakukan perjalanan dengan menumpang perahu layar dari
daratan tempat kediamannya menyeberangi lautan menuju suatu daerah dimana
anaknya sedang menuntut ilmu. Ditengah perjalanan, perahu tiba-tiba datang
badai dan ombak yang sangat ganas menghempaskan perahu, sehingga perahu
layar tersebut berjalan tak tentu arah terbawa ombak. Melihat kejadian
tersebut, semua penumpang kecuali ibu ini, berteriak-teriak histeris karena
ketakutan, ada yang mencari pelampung, ada yang saling berpelukan dengan
anggota keluarga dan teman seperjalanan dan ada juga yang sudah meloncat ke
air untuk berusaha berenang mencari pantai dilautan yang tidak kelihatan
tepiannya. Sang nakhoda tetap berusaha mengendalikan perahu layar tersebut
semampunya dengan harapan jangan sampai perahu itu terbalik dan tenggelam.
Dalam keadaan yang sudah kacau balau tersebut, si ibu tetap duduk dengan
tenang sambil sesekali menengadahkan wajah dan tangannya ke atas dengan
bibir komat-kamit. Seorang awak kapal ternyata memperhatikan si ibu tua itu
dan kemudian ia mendekati seraya berkata :" Ibu... apa yang sedang engkau
lakukan, mengapa ibu diam saja dan tidak berusaha untuk menyelamatkan diri
.."? Lalu sang ibu memndang awak kapal itu dengan senyum yang sangat ikhlas
dan tenang, lalu dia berkata :" apakah yang dapat aku lakukan disaat
seperti ini.."? Awak kapal menjawab :" pergilah cari pelampung atau
masuklah ke sekoci bersama dengan penumpang yang lain" Si ibu kembali
bertanya.." apakah dengan kondisiku yang sedemikian ini akan mampu berebut
pelampung atau mampu bertahan untuk saling mendorong di dalam sekoci yang
sekecil itu..? apakah kapal ini tidak lebih besar dari sekoci itu untuk
tempat berteduk dan berlindung.."? lalu sang awak kapal menjawab :" ibu,
kapal ini akan tenggelam karena sudah terlalu banyak air laut yang masuk"
Kemudian si ibu menjawab :" aku sangat berbahagia untuk tetap tinggal di
kapal ini, karena sekoci dan pelampung itu tidak akan pernah sampai ke
daratan yang akan kita tuju, karena mereka tidak akan kuasa menentukan
arahnya, sementara Jikalau Tuhan mengijinkan kapal ini bertahan, maka akan
sampailah kita ke daratan tujuan kita dan aku akan bertemu dengan anakku
yang kucintai yang sedang menungguku disana". Si awak kapal bingung dan
kembali bertanya :" bagaimana sekiranya kita tidak mampu untuk meneruskan
perjalanan dan kita putar haluan untuk kembali..?" si ibu menjawab :" aku
juga akan berbahagia, karena aku akan kembali berkumpul dengan suami ku
yang sedang menunggu ku di rumah.." Lalu si awak kapal kembali bertanya:"
Bagaimana kalau kapal ini tenggelam dan kita akan mati ditelan ombak
badai..?" si ibu kembali menjawab dengan tenang dan senyum :" aku juga
akan tetap berbahagia, karena aku akan bertemu dengan anakku yang telah
lama pergi menghadap Sang Penciptanya". Seketika itu sang awak kapal baru
tersadar.., ternyata ketabahan ibu ini sungguh luar biasa, lalu dengan
tangan yang lembut ia menuntun ibu tua itu untuk masuk menuju ruang awak
kapal serta berkata " Terimakasih Ibu, engkau telah memberiku pelajaran
yang sangat berharga, bahwa hidup harus dihadapi dengan ketenangan jiwa dan
terutama penyerahan diri kepada Tuhan Sang Pencipta"
Optimist vs Pessimists
Who is an optimist?
* Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
* Talk about health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
* Make all your friends feel there is something in them.
* Look at the sunny side of everything.
* Think only of the best, work only for the best and expect only the best.
* Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
* Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
* Give everyone a smile.
* Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
* Be too big for worry and too noble for anger."
Who is a pessimist :
* are unhappy when they have no troubles to speak of.
* feel bad when they feel good, for fear they will feel worse when they feel better.
* spend most of their life at complaint counters.
* always turn out the lights to see how dark it is.
* are always looking for cracks in the mirror of life.
* cannot enjoy their health because they think they may be sick tomorrow.
* not only expect the worst but also make the worst of whatever happens.
* don't see the doughnut, only the hole.
* believe that the sun shines only to cast shadow.
* forget their blessings and always count their troubles.
* know that hard work never hurts anyone but believe "why take a chance?"
* stop sleeping in bed when they hear that more people die in bed than anywhere else.
Pahami Tingkah Klien Anda
Dalam suatu kesempatan "outing", salah satu kantor yang saya pimpin, seperti biasa, saya selalu menyelipkan satu materi untuk didiskusikan. Saya selalu yakin bahwa suasana "santai" membuat materi yang lebih berat bisa dicerna lebih mudah.
Pernahkan anda berpikir mengenai suatu tindakan yang dilakukan orang lain. Ambil contoh, suatu ketika anda mampir ke suatu café, dan mendapat sambutan awal yang kurang enak seperti "Mau pesan apa?", tanpa ada bapak / ibu atau panggilan sopan lainnya dan dengan gaya dan intonasi yang "jutek"
Mungkin anda langsung berpikir bahwa memang sudah tabiatnya pelayan tsb bertingkah laku spt itu, mungkin juga anda memahami bahwa pelayan tsb bertingkah laku "aneh" karena mengalami "bad day" sehingga anda dapat memakluminya.
Menurut disiplin ilmu NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) atau singkatnya ilmu yang mempelajari penggunaan bahasa bagi pikiran kita, tingkah laku (behaviour) tidaklah sesuatu yang muncul secara acak dan tiba-tiba.
Tingkah laku, muncul terkait dengan "state" alias keadaan sesaat, dan mungkin anda paham bahwa "state" kita berubah-ubah sedemikian cepat, dipengaruhi oleh factor "psychology" (pikiran,), "physiology"(gerak olah tubuh), dan "biochemistry"(zat-zat yang ada dan diserap tubuh, tergantung pola makan, minum).
Sampai disini mungkin anda mulai paham bahwa jika seseorang melakukan tindakan yang "menyebalkan", bukan berarti bahwa orang tsb memang "menyebalkan", melainkan orang tsb mungkin memfocuskan pikirannya pada kejadian yang tidak menyenangkan sebelumnya (psychology), menampilkan gerak olah tubuh yang membuatnya tambah "kesal" (physiology) dan didukung dengan "desakan" zat-zat dari dalam tubuh (biochemistry)
Setelah anda tahu, tentunya anda mulai berpikir "Berarti, apa yang kita lakukan bukan datang begitu saja, dan yang menarik tentunya adalah bahwa kita punya "kendali penuh" atas apa-apa yang "akhirnya" kita lakukan.
Pada saat kita berbicara mengenai "state", kita tidak mengatakan mana "state" yang baik dan mana yang tidak, kita menyebutnya "resourceful state" dan "unresourceful state", yang artinya "state" yang membuat anda mampu melakukan tujuan anda, dan kebalikannya.
Sekarang coba kita pikirkan aplikasi nyatanya.
Bayangkan anda sedang berbicara dengan seorang client. Anda melihat bahwa client tsb tidak konsentrasi pada apa yang anda sampaikan, dan bahkan sempat membuat anda "kesal" karena merasa tidak dihargai.
Ingatlah, bahwa "tingkah laku" yang ditunjukkan adalah "hasil" dari "state"nya saat itu. Anda bisa mulai dengan mengajaknya berbicara mengenai hal-hal yang menyenangkan baginya (butuh pengamatan kecil dan "listening skill" yg baik), sampai disini mudah-mudahan anda sudah dapat merubah apa yang sedang difocuskannya (psychology). Kemudian bisa dilanjutkan dengan mengajaknya melihat maket atau unit contoh atau tindakan fisik lainnya yang membuat gerak olah tubuhnya berubah (physiology) dan yang terakhir tentunya yang paling jarang bisa anda lakukan, kecuali "extreme"nya adalah misalnya anda kebetulan juga sedang menyuguhkan wine, yang tentunya adalah contoh yang jelas yang akan berpengaruh cepat pada "biochemistry"nya
Apa yang disampaikan disini tentunya adalah bentuk penyederhanaan, karena hanya ingin menonjolkan bahasan kita kali ini, masih ada beberapa factor lain seperti "pacing & leading", menunjukkan empathy, dll (beberapa pernah dibahas di tulisan terdahulu).
Selamat mencoba !
Segelas Susu
Suatu hari, seorang anak lelaki miskin yang hidup dari menjual asongan dari pintu ke pintu, menemukan bahwa dikantongnya hanya tersisa beberapa sen uangnya, dan dia sangat lapar.
Anak lelaki tersebut memutuskan untuk meminta makanan dari rumah berikutnya. Akan tetapi anak itu kehilangan keberanian saat seorang wanita muda membuka pintu rumah. Anak itu tidak jadi meminta makanan, ia hanya berani meminta segelas air.
Wanita muda tersebut melihat, dan berpikir bahwa anak lelaki tersebut pastilah lapar, oleh karena itu ia membawakan segelas besar susu.
Anak lelaki itu meminumnya dengan lambat, dan kemudian bertanya, "berapa saya harus membayar untuk segelas besar susu ini ?"
Wanita itu menjawab: "Kamu tidak perlu membayar apapun".
"Ibu kami mengajarkan untuk tidak menerima bayaran untuk kebaikan" kata wanita itu menambahkan.
Anak lelaki itu kemudian menghabiskan susunya dan berkata :" Dari dalam hatiku aku berterima kasih pada anda."
Sekian tahun kemudian, wanita muda tersebut mengalami sakit yang sangat kritis. Para dokter dikota itu sudah tidak sanggup menganganinya.
Mereka akhirnya mengirimnya ke kota besar, dimana terdapat dokter spesialis yang mampu menangani penyakit langka tersebut.
Dr. Howard Kelly dipanggil untuk melakukan pemeriksaan. Pada saat ia mendengar nama kota asal si wanita tersebut, terbersit seberkas pancaran aneh pada mata dokter Kelly.
Segera ia bangkit dan bergegas turun melalui hall rumahsakit, menuju kamar si wanita tersebut.
Dengan berpakaian jubah kedokteran ia menemui si wanita itu. Ia langsung mengenali wanita itu pada sekali pandang. Ia kemudian kembali ke ruang konsultasi dan memutuskan untuk melakukan upaya terbaik untuk menyelamatkan nyawa wanita itu. Mulai hari itu, Ia selalu memberikan perhatian khusus pada kasus wanita itu.
Setelah melalui perjuangan yang panjang, akhirnya diperoleh kemenangan... Wanita itu sembuh !!. Dr. Kelly meminta bagian keuangan rumah sakit untuk mengirimkan seluruh tagihan biaya pengobatan kepadanya untuk persetujuan.
Dr. Kelly melihatnya, dan menuliskan sesuatu pada pojok atas lembar tagihan, dan kemudian mengirimkannya ke kamar pasien.
Wanita itu takut untuk membuka tagihan tersebut, ia sangat yakin bahwa ia tak akan mampu membayar tagihan tersebut walaupun harus dicicil seumur hidupnya.
Akhirnya Ia memberanikan diri untuk membaca tagihan tersebut, dan ada sesuatu yang menarik perhatuannya pada pojok atas lembar tagihan tersebut. Ia membaca tulisan yang berbunyi..
"Telah dibayar lunas dengan segelas besar susu.." tertanda, DR Howard Kelly.
Air mata kebahagiaan membanjiri matanya. Ia berdoa: "Tuhan, terima kasih, bahwa cintamu telah memenuhi seluruh bumi melalui hati dan tangan manusia."
Time Management: The Pickle Jar Theory
There's something about a nice crunchy pickle, isn't there? I mean the aroma may make some people puke, but for me it's the taste and the juice forcing itself into your mouth like a divine cascade of flavor. As a wise man once said, "It's like a taste explosion in your mouth!"
Well, this article really has nothing to do with pickles, nor does it have anything to do with eating or wise men at all. In fact this article has nothing to do with anything tangible, unless you choose to follow along. Though you don't have to, I would strongly suggest it as you could have quite the nifty little craft project by the end of this piece!
The jar
Time Management theories have come and gone. I've tried many of these and most have failed because of the sheer amount of time I needed to commit to the theory in order to save some time. The return just never seemed to justify the cost, if you know what I mean.
The latest theory of Time Management I heard has actually caused me to stop and think about how I run my entire life. This kind of thing doesn't happen very often, and no I don't mean thinking, cheeky readers! The theory that was recently taught in a Leadership course I'm enduring is called the Pickle Jar Theory.
The theory
Imagine if you will an, or for those crafty people among you just go get an, empty pickle jar. Big pickle jar, you could fit at least three of the largest pickles you've ever imagined inside of it. For those of you who don't like pickles, I apologize, feel free to substitute the words "pancake jar" for "pickle jar" as needed.
Okay, so you've got yourself a pickle jar. Now, put some large rocks in it. Put in as many as you possibly can. Let me know when it's full. Now, I know you think it's full, but put a couple more in anyway.
Okay, you've got a full pickle jar that you can't fit anything else into, right? Now, put some pebbles in. Put as many in as you can possibly fit, and raise your hand and bark like a pig when you feel your jar is full.
Now, take your full jar and take sand and, you guessed it, fill that jar until you can't possibly fit anymore in, and then add some water.
I am sure the significance of this little exercise hasn't escaped any of you. Each of us has many large priorities in our life, represented by the large rocks. We also have things which we enjoy doing, such as the pebbles. We have other things we have to do, like the sand. And finally, we have things that simply clutter up our lives and get in everywhere: water.
None of these are bad things. After all, we need the gamut of these objects-from large priorities to times of rest-in order to feel truly fulfilled. No Time Management theory should be without balance, and the Pickle Jar theory is all about balance. You make time for everything, and everything simply fits well where it is supposed to fit.
Me and my day
As an example of my pre-pickle day, my little to-do list looked a lot like this:
8:00: check and respond to email
8:30: check various community sites and respond where required
9:00: ensure all web properties are running properly
9:15: set priorities for the day
9:30: go for a walk, grab some water
10:00: do website maintenance, remove outdated content
11:00: draft an article
11:30: polish next article to go out
12:00: ensure all things web-related are handled, running well and all questions are answered
12:30: lunch
1:30: do programming on latest large project
2:30: write letters to clients to keep them abreast of changes in the last three days to their projects
3:30: check with team on progress, deal with issues
4:30: . etc., etc., etc.
Now, I may have actually accomplished a lot in this type of day; in fact, I typically did. All my websites were running properly, I'd written an article or two, I'd done actual work, I'd built client relationships, I'd ensured my team was working properly, so what could be wrong?
Well, take a look at the first five hours of my day. Between 8am and 1pm, all I manage to actually get done that couldn't fit into other times when my mind tends to wander (and I tend to do these things anyway) was a little bit of article writing.
This part of the day was really a supreme waste of time. I often went to lunch feeling like I was convincing myself that I had been productive. At the end of the day I always believed that a lot got done, but my lunch times always felt slightly depressing.
Beyond that, this schedule did not work if a client walked in and needed an exceptional amount of work done, if a site had crashed overnight, or if I had an email that required more than five minutes of attention. If anything unexpected happened, which we all know should actually be expected, my whole morning and often my entire day fell apart.
My new, improved day
In these post-pickle days, my schedule looks rather different. I now schedule in times when my rocks should get done and let my other priorities, the unexpected and little things I do all day, like surf the web, fill in the gaps. New schedule:
800: figure out rocks for the day (literally, this is what it says!) and deal with emergencies
830: article writing as appropriate
1000: programming
1300: client correspondence
Suddenly I have what feels like a more open day. I have more time for programming, I get things done earlier, I am more relaxed, my schedule is more fluid. It all works incredibly well.
In the post-pickle days I realized that I needed to really figure out what my big rocks were during the day and not schedule time for anything else in my daily routine. Email is not a rock: I can go a few minutes and, wonder of wonders, even a day or two without touching it.
Email is a lot like the phone in that even though we all have our phones on just in case an important call happens, when we look back on our year it is rare that we can remember more than one or two occasions where we absolutely needed to answer our phone or email at that precise instant.
The detractors
There are of course those in the audience who will never have practiced Time Management techniques in the past. They feel they are productive enough and get "enough" done. I'm glad, way to go, give yourselves a hand. Now, grab your jar again. Empty it.
Fill your jar with water until it is completely full. Now, try and add some sand. What do you mean it didn't work?
This is the essence of the Pickle (or Pancake) Jar Theory. By first ensuring that your large priorities are tackled, scheduled, and done for the day, you can then let the smaller but less important things in until you have somehow allowed time in your day for everything you needed to do, while still relaxing and having fun.
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/wouw/?koleksi-artikel-utk-semua
The value of water
I strongly encourage everyone to use at least one Time Management System. It empowers you to actually do instead of scurrying about without any goals in sight. Whether you choose this particular system or not, remember: eat the pickles before you empty the jar, they are so good!
Lessons from Project Management: 101 ways to organize your life
Project Management (and life) Wisdom straight from the mouths of the horses - oops, I mean project managers:
Leadership
1. Keep your approach friendly: People are not looking to make friends at work, but refraining from an aggressive approach towards your employees is a good idea. The whip - your - team - into - submission approach worked with the "Pyramids of Giza" project - but it is outdated now. The days when you could bully and scare the s*** out of your team are over. Be diplomatic and assertive, instead.
2. When taking on a new project/responsibility at work, convey to your management the extent of authority you need in order to effectively execute your project. Ensure that you have the authority that you need before you start work on your project.
3. Being people-oriented does not mean that you cannot be task-oriented (and vice-versa).
4. One-to-one: Meet regularly with your team members on a one-on-one basis. When you apply this principle to your kids, it makes each of them feel special.
5. Nobody appreciates a micro-manager: Don't sit on the heads of your team members.
6. Giving autonomy does not mean not keeping track of progress.
7. Learn how to manage people (more difficult than it sounds, believe you me!), and the rest of your job will that much easier to execute.
8. As a leader, you should have the ability to bind the team together and give them a sense of "we're in this together." For instance, as the head of your family, you can promote bonding by setting aside time for family board games, story-telling sessions, family picnics, family prayers and the like.
9. Stay visible - As a leader, you need to be visible in good times, as well as when there are problems to address.
10. Your reputation depends on your perceived credibility and integrity: A very basic item for leaders is to ensure that promises made are promises kept. If action is committed, it must be performed.
11. Personality: As a leader, does your personality influence and inspire your team?
12. Leadership CAN be learned.
http://www.allpm.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1567
Focus on these areas to improve your leadership skills:
* Initiative
* Leverage your charisma to influence others
* Lead purposefully and with commitment
* Develop a result-oriented approach
* Cultivate an attitude of optimism
* Work on your self-confidence - especially for weakness areas (for instance, if you are particularly nervous around people with an intimidating body language, create a plan to tackle that, and come across as confident and in-control in their presence.)
* Cultivate empathy so that you can encourage and nurture your team
* Learn to identify winners - and nurture them
* Learn to read between the lines to understand the underlying concern that prompted the dialogue
* The ability to motivate people so that they stretch out of their "comfort zones"
* Improve your decision-making abilities by learning from past decisions
* Learn to see the big picture
* Polish your Goal Setting skills
* Develop Personal Goals and examine them at regular intervals
* Effective Time Management
13. Flexibility: While it is a good thing to be firm and stand by your decisions, It is important that you are flexible enough to realize when plans need to change. View planning as an ongoing process. That way, you can change course midway without too much damage, if the original plan is not working. Are you open to continuous planning and updating of the plan?
Effective personnel management (Managing your team / family unit)
14. Stand up for your team. When your employees are in the right, have the guts to take up their case.
15. Don't let team members intimidate you with technical mumbo-jumbo. Don't feel stupid when you ask them to explain what they are saying in layperson's language.
16. Match assignments with skill sets: Is every team member equipped to handle his part of the assignment? If not, then you are in deep trouble!
17. Creative Solutions: A Japanese story - when a little girl kept wearing the wrong shoe on the wrong foot, her parents found a solution. There was half a smiley face on either shoe. The smiley face was complete only when she wore her shoes the correct way. Problem solved. It can be as simple as that if we use our creativity.
18. When you pressure your team to deliver faster than is humanly possible, don't be surprised to see a poor quality, bug-laden product.
19. Agree on rules: In project management, once the design has been completed, the design and production staff create a style guide for future reference. Make the rules of the game clear to all players involved, and to any players who join in later on.
20. Building Trust: Build trust within the team by demonstrating to each team member that everyone is important and creating a sense of personal value and contribution.
21. According to the book "Retaining Your Best People" (Harvard Business School Press), retention should become a core strategy. A very significant and important piece of advice from the book and something that all leaders should do on a regular basis is to "let your best people know you treasure them, count on them, and want to reward them in as many ways as possible."
22. Look beyond money: There should be an effort by the manager, project manager, or business executive to determine what the non-monetary interests of the key players are. Translated to a family situation, don't sit smug thinking that you are doing your bit by bringing in the bacon. Your family needs more than that from you - your attention and interest, for instance.
23. Say thanks, offer words of support, and show appreciation for good work.
24. Reward your key players as often as possible. People generally won't work for people who just don't care for them.
25. Provide Challenges - Encourage your team to stretch beyond their comfort zone. This will help them see just how far they can go.
Recognition
26. Rewarding works better than nagging: A reward can be something as simple as a coin or a note of appreciation - as long as your employees perceive it as a symbol of recognition, it works.
The relationship between Accountability, Empowerment, Ownership and Motivation
27. The buck stops here: You are accountable for your task / project. However, this does not mean that you do not delegate. Delegate work to your team members, let them know that they are accountable for their assignment/s, and ensure that they have the resources so that they can deliver successfully. Decide the plan of action beforehand, and decide how follow-ups will happen.
28. Ownership: Have an attitude of owning your work.
29. Minimize your supervision - Provide a sense of autonomy. Freedom is a major motivator and builds trust on both sides. (Tip: But don't tune out completely.)
30. To motivate, you have to empower. Motivation involves not only being enthusiastic and pumped up about approaching the task, but also involves being equipped with the tools and the ability to complete the assignment. When you delegate an assignment, convey to the team member that it is now THEIR exclusive responsibility that the job gets done. If it doesn't, they will be held accountable.
31. Accountability of Self: Take a couple of co-workers into confidence about your expectations from yourself. Besides making your goals clearer to yourself, this helps others keep track of your progress.
Communication
32. Clear, open communication is a prerequisite for a healthy, result-oriented work environment.
33. Keep them posted: A lack of information is a fertile ground for rumor, gossip and insecurity. Keep the team in the loop about information concerning and affecting them.
34. When in doubt, ask: Don't refrain from asking "stupid" questions - they may save miscommunication and misunderstandings, resulting in saved time and money!
35. It is bad policy to wait till your team members find out important information concerning them from other sources. That information should come from you.
36. Ask questions and listen to suggestions.
37. Feedback: Provide it often and ask for it. Keep an open mind. (Tip: Don't expect all feedback to be pleasant and positive.)
38. Listen: It's always important to listen, but even more so in tough times. Listen for undertones.
39. Be Open: While you should not be a dumping ground for grievances, you SHOULD be accessible enough for team members to openly discuss concerns or delays. (Tip: If you are not open, you'll find out about the concern or delay later in the game when there is less time to fix it.)
40. Touch Base: One-on-one and in meetings, meet up with your team members (or family members). (Sitting in front of the television with the family does not count as touching base!)
Morale
41. Pride: Have you read the Japanese story about the janitor who described his work as "Contributing to the progress of his country?" His logic - if the executives did not have clean toilets to use, they couldn't be very productive, could they? That is the kind of pride you need to have in your work / project.
42. Keep your sense of humor: It helps - especially in situations where no one feels like laughing. (Like the time a short executive stood on a chair so that she was at eye-level with her colleague, and she quipped, "Maybe now we can see eye-to eye?" The laughter that followed this lightened up the tension that everyone in the room had been feeling up to that point.)
43. Have fun @ work: It's true that all work and no play makes Jack a dull b ec638dcoy. And fun, on the other hand, recharges your batteries and lets you approach work with a fresh mind.
44. Celebrate achievements - even mini-achievements: Celebrating at every landmark gives your team something to look forward to, and lets them remember that they are making steady progress towards their goal - project completion!
45. Give praise: When a team member does something great, let them know it! Make sure your praise is sincere. Also, your praise will be valued only if it is given when it's due.
46. Help Others Help Themselves: If a team member / family member has a mental block, you can guide this individual to tear it down. (Tip: Tackle such issues early on, because a negative frame of mind can be highly infectious.)
Self-Management
47. Use impatience to your advantage: Channel the energies generated by your impatience to propel the process faster.
48. Procrastinators don't make good project managers. Find a way around your weakness (procrastination) if you want to achieve your targets.
49. 24X7 availability for the project is not the way to effective achievement of targets. It will only end up overwhelming you. "The key is to schedule and set boundaries so you don't need to be accessible 24/7." (webmonkey)
http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/01/18/index3a_page3.html?tw=jobs
50. Do you like what you are doing? If not, why are you still doing it? Money is not compensation enough for being trapped in a role you do not like. Because for every hour you spend doing something you don't enjoy, you are giving up doing something that you do.
51. Be Informed: Know not only what is happening in your organization, but also keep track of changes within other organizations that may impact your team members.
52. Analyze after the event: A postmortem offers valuable insights for future reference.
53. Ask yourself
(1) Do I know what is expected of me?
(2) Do I expect I can perform that which is expected of me?
(3) Do I expect a reward of value to me personally?
Stress
54. Use stress as an ally: Let stress work as the red flag that tells you to take action.
55. One key element in dealing with stress is taking control. A feeling of helplessness increases stress. So take some action that reflects that you do retain some amount of control over the situation - even if that little control is only over your reaction to the stressor.
Personal organization
56. Nothing beats being organized. Keep an organized filing system, for instance, even something as simple as storing documents chronologically will go a long way in saving you time and stress when you need to locate information.
57. Keep a daily journal where you jot down the day's highlights. Then, set aside an hour on Saturday night/evening to analyze your week. What did you do wrong? What did you do right? What will you do differently the next time in a similar situation? This practice will help you grow professionally and personally in the long run.
58. Make daily lists and cross things off. Keep a personal scorecard and grade yourself weekly.
59. Buy a Daily Planner; now actually use it.
Planning
60. Plan ahead: Before you plunge headlong into work, spend some time planning your project.
61. Break down work into tasks: Breaking down the project into smaller tasks (and mini-tasks if required) ensures that you have a systematic approach.
62. Keep it visible and visual: Plotting a chart or graph about work progress and tacking it in a prominent place on your soft board (or keeping the softcopy on your desktop) ensures that your progress is visible to you.
63. Infrastructure: A reliable server lays the foundation for efficient work. Good infrastructure and equipment translate to smooth functioning for any task.
64. A step-by-step plan is the best way to ensure you know where you are going.
65. In project management, the bulk of the work happens after the planning phase. How well this implementation of the plan happens depends on how thorough and specific the planning and documentation was. Bad planning translates to bad implementation.
66. Good planning alone does not ensure good implementation. Follow-through becomes vital here. As the leader, the project manager ensures that the team sticks to the plan.
67. As a project manager, you need to check that everyone is following the functional spec and style guide, that they are using the proper naming conventions and version controls, and that backup files are being saved on the server. Rules are useful only insofar as they are implemented and followed.
68. Be prepared: Know your stuff front-wards, back-wards, and every way in between. This does not mean that you need to say everything you know. Being prepared helps you to quickly answer questions and convey that you know what you are talking about.
69. Understanding the goals: A project is truly successful only when you are meeting the need for which it was created. Identifying the scope and requirements at the outset and also acknowledging that in the real world, these can change is a good starting point.
70. Getting it right from the outset: The most important part of a project's life cycle is the identification of its requirements.
Conflicts
71. Manage conflict (especially within the team) at an early stage - before it reaches crisis proportions.
72. The best way to side-step petty politics - nip conflicts in the bud.
73. Remember that no two people view the situation with the same pair of eyes - they actually see different things. This helps in understanding differences of viewpoints and eventually resolving conflict within your team.
74. Create the Team Charter; and keep it up-to-date: A team charter is a code of conduct developed by the project management team and later adopted or modified by the project team. It defines the mutual expectations of each team member of one another. As a project manager, hold yourself and others accountable to be consistent with this code.
Risk Management
75. There is no such thing as a zero-risk project: There is no such thing as a risk-free life.
76. If you want to understand a risk fully, identify its causes as well as its effects.
77. How do you respond to risks? There are four ways:
a) Aggressive responses: You can achieve avoidance by removing or changing a cause, or by breaking the cause-risk link so that the threat is no longer possible.
b) Third party: You involve a third party to manage the risk.
c) Size: You can change the size of a risk, thus reducing a threat.
d) Acceptance: You accept the possibility of the risk, and create a fallback plan to recover from negative impacts.
78. When a project is desperately troubled, first take action to contain the damage then worry about recovery, just the way a first aid or rescue teams first "contain the damage" and consider other options after the victim's condition stabilizes.
79. Checklists for risks: Trouble sometimes stems from omissions. It is easy to "forget" key components of a work package. A checklist reduces the potential of leaving out important considerations.
Work / Life Balance
Naps, Breaks and Vacations: The rejuvenation trio
80. Take a break: When you feel overwhelmed, take a break; get your mind off work for some time. Chances are, you will be able to handle the situation better after a break.
81. Get enough sleep:
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/62/71838.htm
There is no substitute for sleep. All else being equal, a well-rested person is better equipped to meet the challenges that the day presents, as compared to a person who has not had enough rest.
82. When you plan a vacation and want to really enjoy it, ensure that all the work-oriented nitty gritty is taken care of, and out of the way.
83. Manage your vacation as a project (a lot of planning) if you enjoy doing a lot of things rather than just lying around idly all day (which is also an excellent way to recharge your batteries, by the way).
What You Eat
84. Remember GIGO? Garbage in, Garbage out: Eat low-energy fast food and be prepared for irritability, mood swings, and blood sugar swings. Eat healthy, wholesome and nutritious meals to bring out the best in you.
Bonding and Loving
85. A healthy personal life translates to a well-balanced, healthy person. Make sure you are not succeeding at the workplace at the cost of your family and loved ones. Given enough time, they will learn to live without you around - without complaining about it. Tip: Pets are wonderful to shower you with (unconditional) love when nobody else will.
86. No job in the world is worth neglecting your kids for. Your kids will outgrow their strong dependence on you - the job will always be there (one or the other). If you are not there for them when they need you the most, don't count on their unconditional acceptance and love for you later on.
Your clients and stakeholders
87. Keep the stakeholders updated: Keep the sponsors and stakeholders posted about the progress. This becomes more important when there are unforeseen problems or newer risks; like when there are delays.
88. Understand the need: When working on the project, it helps if you understand what need your project will fulfill. Sometimes (make that often) your client's description the project will not match his need. Ensure that what you are doing will serve the purpose that it is meant to serve.
89. When to give in and when to hold your ground: Once a project has started, the client will almost always want you to incorporate changes and add tasks. Sometimes requests are legitimate, and it is possible to incorporate them without throwing the project off track. But when the client's demands require significant changes, you need to take a call. Michelangelo Buonarroti's ceiling of the Sistine chapel project is a classic case in point. The original project involved creating twelve paintings. By the time the project was completed, over 300 paintings had been created, costing the artist his health and youth.
90. When stakeholders do not respond to information or do not respond in an expected manner; create alternative, proactive communication mechanisms to avert trouble.
91. Don't forget to ask, "What does my client want to be able to do as a result of this project?" Translated to real life situations, every time you work on something, ask yourself what you (or someone else) hope to accomplish from that activity. The answer can be as simple as "feeling refreshed and rejuvenated" to something as complex as "moving towards my dream of contributing to a cleaner and healthier planet".
Across Borders - It's a global world!
92. Whether working with offshore teams or just a diverse group at home, today's project environment is multicultural. Be open to and aware of your project stakeholders' cultures. Not only should we respect our colleagues' cultures, but we should understand and EXPERIENCE them. Go out for Dim sum with the team or learn a new phrase in another language. (http://allpm.com)
93. Cross-cultural global relations: (courtesy Elizabeth Larson, PMP and Richard Larson, PMP)
http://www.allpm.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=48
a) Plan extra time to model requirements when working cross-culturally.
While modeling is an excellent tool for overcoming some cross-cultural communication issues, multi-cultural project management may still take extra time to get the requirements and ensure that important facts are captured.
b) It is important to plann more time for capturing requirements when working in multi-cultural environments.
c) Meeting in Person to Develop Relationships Saves Time and Money in the Long Run. In some cultures tasks are completed based on established relationships and, ultimately, trust, rather than simply being driven by schedules. Attempting to forge ahead with tasks before spending social time with clients can well lead to incomplete requirements. While it may not be standard practice all over the world, when PMs are working in some other cultures taking the time to meet face-to-face can save time and money for your project and organization.
The Zen of Project Management - George Pitagorsky's tips
http://www.pitagorskyconsulting.com/about_george.html
94. Zen is a form of self-investigation that has its roots in China and Japan. It is a merging of Indian Buddhism and Taoism. The Zen approach is one that cuts through complexity to go straight to the heart of a matter. Zen promotes knowing through inner experience. It promotes discipline from within. In the Zen way, the individual comes to fully know his or her own nature by cutting through intellectualism, cultural barriers, conditioned responses, rules and any other "extras" that get in the way of seeing the essence. One who sees the essential nature of things has wisdom. Wisdom leads naturally to compassion. Wisdom and compassion are at the heart of our essential nature.
95. What is a wise approach? It is an approach that gives us the ability to see things clearly and minimize the probability that we will be reactive and ineffective in achieving our goals and objectives. Wisdom is the synthesis of knowledge into active, practical use. A wise person moves through life with equanimity, un-phased by the chaos surrounding her. A wise person has choices. He is not unconsciously driven and reactive.
96. "Only the person who learns to relax is able to create, and for them, ideas reach the mind like lightning." Even in face of chaos, pressure and stress, relax! How? Relaxation is not the same as tuning out and turning off. It is not somnabulence. Learn to rest in the moment. Cultivate the ability to quickly focus on your breath and body just long enough to find your "center". Then engage.
97. Serve someone. Serve everyone. That is the secret of wise leadership. There is a difference between a leader who serves and one who just leads. "The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served." Such a leader asks if "those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?" When the motivation is to serve, posturing, politics and self-serving gains are replaced by useful effective action.
98. Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations . that influence how we understand the world and how we take action. " They may be useful, or they may lead to habitual, reactive behavior. What paradigms condition your behavior? Do they help or hinder you? Do you have the courage to question them? Do they provide established basis for analyzing problems, or do they limit your ability to act in the way that is best for the current situation.
99. Desiring the impossible gives rise to suffering It is also the root of many failed projects. When undertaking a project, you have the duty to question authority, to push back. Ask questions, rather than voice objections. Why is this the deadline? What if it isn't met? What do you really need, and by when? What assumptions are you making? What would you give up to get what what you really need? Will we have the right resources at the right time?
100. The Good, The Bad, The Continuous Improvement: We learn at least as much from bad experience as we do from good. Yet, blaming, fear of punishment and models like "I'm so smart, how can I make mistakes" lead us to avoid looking at and learning from our mistakes. Continuous improvement begins with the candid acceptance of the existing situation, particularly its flaws. If you don't accept what is, you can't change it.
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/wouw/?koleksi-artikel-utk-semua
101. How to Push Back when Negotiating: When pushing back to negotiate a rational schedule and budget you need solid footing. Come to the table with a well articulated plan, complete with assumptions. Use your communication, task definition, estimating, scheduling, and risk management skills and knowledge to offer realistic alternatives. Seek win-win solutions. What if you are forced to accept an irrational schedule or budget? Try to do your best to negotiate expectations that can be met given the project's scope, resources, and risks. Do your best to work within the project's real-world conditions.
http://www.projectmanagementsource.com/2006/08/lessons_from_pr.html
When Awinner Makes A Mistake, He Says, "i Was Wrong."
When A Loser Makes A Mistake, He Says, "it Wasn't My Fault."
A Winner Works Harder Than A Loser And Has More Time;
A Loser Is Always "too Busy" To Do What Is Necessary.
A Winner Goes Through A Problem;
A Loser Goes Around It, And Never Gets Pass It.
A Winner Makes Commitments;
A Loser Says, "i'm Not As Bad As A Lot Of People."
A Winner Respects Those Who Are Superior To Him And
Tries To Learn Something From Them;
A Loser Resents Those Who Are Superior To Him
And Tries To Find Chinks In Their Armour.
A Winner Feels Responsible For More Than His Job;
A Loser Says, "i Only Work Here."
A Winner Says, "there Ought To Be A Better Way To Do It."
A Loser Says, "that's The Way It's Always Been Done Here."
The Choice Is Yours .. .. Choose To Be A Winner!
Hati-hati terhadap Situs-situs Berbahaya
(sumber: http://www.stopbadware.org/home/guidelines)
Hare gene.. masih ketipu oleh situs2 berbahaya?? jangan dehh... hehe :)
Beberapa tahun belakangan ini sudah mulai banyak bermunculan situs2 berbahaya,
yakni situs yg menyebarkan badware, termasuk di dalamnya spyware, malware dan adware.
Terhadap situs2 berbahaya tersebut:
jangan men-download software (termasuk wallpaper, antivirus, dll)
atau paling amannya: tidak mengunjungi situs tersebut.
Berikut ini beberapa situs2 berbahaya yang sudah tercatat di:
http://www.stopbadware.org/home/guidelines
* Italian Soccer wallpaper from http://www.EZThemes.com is badware
* http://www.ThemeXP.org contains badware. ThemeXP contains hundreds of executable files for download, ranging from desktop themes, to screensavers, wallpapers, icons, and cursors. So far, we have tested a random sampling of this ThemeXP Content. The badware behavior of these applications include the installation of additional software without the user's knowledge or consent; the installation of adware; and the installation of spyware.
* PC MightyMax is badware because it can be difficult to exit without purchasing the full version of the product; it makes exaggerated claims of system vulnerability; and it does not disclose to the user that it will periodically display pop-ads and make auditory alarms encouraging the user to purchase the full version. In essence, PC MightyMax belongs to that subset of badware that is often termed "nagware" or "extortionware".
We currently recommend that users do not install the version of PC MightyMax.
* WinFixer 2005 and WinFixer 2006 are badware.
* FunCade is badware because it deceptively advertises itself as having "no spyware," it installs a Trojan horse and adds bundled software to the Windows startup folder without disclosure, and it does not uninstall its bundled adware and spyware. Moreover, it attempts to deceptively get the user to download additional software during the uninstallation process.
* UnSpyPC is badware because it identifies legitimate anti-spyware applications as spyware and leaves behind an executable after uninstallation that could be used to reinstall the program.
* Jessica Simpson Screensaver is badware because it is bundled with Trojan horses, as well as undisclosed adware, spyware, and a stealth dialer.
* Kazaa (http://download.kazaa.com/kazaa_setup.exe) is badware because it misleadingly advertises itself as spywarefree, does not completely remove all components during the uninstall process, interferes with computer use, and makes undisclosed modifications to other software.
* MediaPipe is badware because it does not fully disclose what it is installing, does not completely remove all components and "obligations" during the uninstall process, and modifies other software without disclosure.
* SpyAxe is badware because it fails to uninstall completely, is difficult to exit without purchasing the full version of the product, and because it interferes with computer use and modifies other software without disclosure.
* Waterfalls 3 from Screensaver.com is badware because it includes components that are generally considered spyware, is bundled with a Trojan horse-like program, and modifies other software without disclosure.
Situs-situs jahat (berbahaya) lainnya, bisa dilihat di:
http://www.stopbadware.org/home/guidelines
Silahkan kasihtau ke teman2mu yg lainnya.
Semoga bermanfaat.
best regards,
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/wouw/
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/sumber-informasi/
--------
ABOUT "StopBadware.org"
StopBadware.org is a "Neighborhood Watch" campaign aimed at fighting badware. We will seek to provide reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help consumers to make better choices about what they download on to their computers. We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and to become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware.
Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute are leading this initiative with the support of several prominent tech companies, including Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. Consumer Reports WebWatch is serving as an unpaid special advisor.
John Palfrey, Executive Director of the Berkman Center and Harvard Clinical Professor of Law, and Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law Visiting Professor and Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University, are StopBadware.org co-directors. Supporting them are an advisory board and working group made up of some of the top experts in the field, including Internet pioneers Esther Dyson and Vint Cerf.
Ketenangan Jiwa dan Penyerahan diri
Kisah seorang ibu tua renta yang tabah.
Suatu ketika si ibu melakukan perjalanan dengan menumpang perahu layar dari
daratan tempat kediamannya menyeberangi lautan menuju suatu daerah dimana
anaknya sedang menuntut ilmu. Ditengah perjalanan, perahu tiba-tiba datang
badai dan ombak yang sangat ganas menghempaskan perahu, sehingga perahu
layar tersebut berjalan tak tentu arah terbawa ombak. Melihat kejadian
tersebut, semua penumpang kecuali ibu ini, berteriak-teriak histeris karena
ketakutan, ada yang mencari pelampung, ada yang saling berpelukan dengan
anggota keluarga dan teman seperjalanan dan ada juga yang sudah meloncat ke
air untuk berusaha berenang mencari pantai dilautan yang tidak kelihatan
tepiannya. Sang nakhoda tetap berusaha mengendalikan perahu layar tersebut
semampunya dengan harapan jangan sampai perahu itu terbalik dan tenggelam.
Dalam keadaan yang sudah kacau balau tersebut, si ibu tetap duduk dengan
tenang sambil sesekali menengadahkan wajah dan tangannya ke atas dengan
bibir komat-kamit. Seorang awak kapal ternyata memperhatikan si ibu tua itu
dan kemudian ia mendekati seraya berkata :" Ibu... apa yang sedang engkau
lakukan, mengapa ibu diam saja dan tidak berusaha untuk menyelamatkan diri
.."? Lalu sang ibu memndang awak kapal itu dengan senyum yang sangat ikhlas
dan tenang, lalu dia berkata :" apakah yang dapat aku lakukan disaat
seperti ini.."? Awak kapal menjawab :" pergilah cari pelampung atau
masuklah ke sekoci bersama dengan penumpang yang lain" Si ibu kembali
bertanya.." apakah dengan kondisiku yang sedemikian ini akan mampu berebut
pelampung atau mampu bertahan untuk saling mendorong di dalam sekoci yang
sekecil itu..? apakah kapal ini tidak lebih besar dari sekoci itu untuk
tempat berteduk dan berlindung.."? lalu sang awak kapal menjawab :" ibu,
kapal ini akan tenggelam karena sudah terlalu banyak air laut yang masuk"
Kemudian si ibu menjawab :" aku sangat berbahagia untuk tetap tinggal di
kapal ini, karena sekoci dan pelampung itu tidak akan pernah sampai ke
daratan yang akan kita tuju, karena mereka tidak akan kuasa menentukan
arahnya, sementara Jikalau Tuhan mengijinkan kapal ini bertahan, maka akan
sampailah kita ke daratan tujuan kita dan aku akan bertemu dengan anakku
yang kucintai yang sedang menungguku disana". Si awak kapal bingung dan
kembali bertanya :" bagaimana sekiranya kita tidak mampu untuk meneruskan
perjalanan dan kita putar haluan untuk kembali..?" si ibu menjawab :" aku
juga akan berbahagia, karena aku akan kembali berkumpul dengan suami ku
yang sedang menunggu ku di rumah.." Lalu si awak kapal kembali bertanya:"
Bagaimana kalau kapal ini tenggelam dan kita akan mati ditelan ombak
badai..?" si ibu kembali menjawab dengan tenang dan senyum :" aku juga
akan tetap berbahagia, karena aku akan bertemu dengan anakku yang telah
lama pergi menghadap Sang Penciptanya". Seketika itu sang awak kapal baru
tersadar.., ternyata ketabahan ibu ini sungguh luar biasa, lalu dengan
tangan yang lembut ia menuntun ibu tua itu untuk masuk menuju ruang awak
kapal serta berkata " Terimakasih Ibu, engkau telah memberiku pelajaran
yang sangat berharga, bahwa hidup harus dihadapi dengan ketenangan jiwa dan
terutama penyerahan diri kepada Tuhan Sang Pencipta"
Optimist vs Pessimists
Who is an optimist?
* Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
* Talk about health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
* Make all your friends feel there is something in them.
* Look at the sunny side of everything.
* Think only of the best, work only for the best and expect only the best.
* Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
* Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
* Give everyone a smile.
* Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
* Be too big for worry and too noble for anger."
Who is a pessimist :
* are unhappy when they have no troubles to speak of.
* feel bad when they feel good, for fear they will feel worse when they feel better.
* spend most of their life at complaint counters.
* always turn out the lights to see how dark it is.
* are always looking for cracks in the mirror of life.
* cannot enjoy their health because they think they may be sick tomorrow.
* not only expect the worst but also make the worst of whatever happens.
* don't see the doughnut, only the hole.
* believe that the sun shines only to cast shadow.
* forget their blessings and always count their troubles.
* know that hard work never hurts anyone but believe "why take a chance?"
* stop sleeping in bed when they hear that more people die in bed than anywhere else.
Pahami Tingkah Klien Anda
Dalam suatu kesempatan "outing", salah satu kantor yang saya pimpin, seperti biasa, saya selalu menyelipkan satu materi untuk didiskusikan. Saya selalu yakin bahwa suasana "santai" membuat materi yang lebih berat bisa dicerna lebih mudah.
Pernahkan anda berpikir mengenai suatu tindakan yang dilakukan orang lain. Ambil contoh, suatu ketika anda mampir ke suatu café, dan mendapat sambutan awal yang kurang enak seperti "Mau pesan apa?", tanpa ada bapak / ibu atau panggilan sopan lainnya dan dengan gaya dan intonasi yang "jutek"
Mungkin anda langsung berpikir bahwa memang sudah tabiatnya pelayan tsb bertingkah laku spt itu, mungkin juga anda memahami bahwa pelayan tsb bertingkah laku "aneh" karena mengalami "bad day" sehingga anda dapat memakluminya.
Menurut disiplin ilmu NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) atau singkatnya ilmu yang mempelajari penggunaan bahasa bagi pikiran kita, tingkah laku (behaviour) tidaklah sesuatu yang muncul secara acak dan tiba-tiba.
Tingkah laku, muncul terkait dengan "state" alias keadaan sesaat, dan mungkin anda paham bahwa "state" kita berubah-ubah sedemikian cepat, dipengaruhi oleh factor "psychology" (pikiran,), "physiology"(gerak olah tubuh), dan "biochemistry"(zat-zat yang ada dan diserap tubuh, tergantung pola makan, minum).
Sampai disini mungkin anda mulai paham bahwa jika seseorang melakukan tindakan yang "menyebalkan", bukan berarti bahwa orang tsb memang "menyebalkan", melainkan orang tsb mungkin memfocuskan pikirannya pada kejadian yang tidak menyenangkan sebelumnya (psychology), menampilkan gerak olah tubuh yang membuatnya tambah "kesal" (physiology) dan didukung dengan "desakan" zat-zat dari dalam tubuh (biochemistry)
Setelah anda tahu, tentunya anda mulai berpikir "Berarti, apa yang kita lakukan bukan datang begitu saja, dan yang menarik tentunya adalah bahwa kita punya "kendali penuh" atas apa-apa yang "akhirnya" kita lakukan.
Pada saat kita berbicara mengenai "state", kita tidak mengatakan mana "state" yang baik dan mana yang tidak, kita menyebutnya "resourceful state" dan "unresourceful state", yang artinya "state" yang membuat anda mampu melakukan tujuan anda, dan kebalikannya.
Sekarang coba kita pikirkan aplikasi nyatanya.
Bayangkan anda sedang berbicara dengan seorang client. Anda melihat bahwa client tsb tidak konsentrasi pada apa yang anda sampaikan, dan bahkan sempat membuat anda "kesal" karena merasa tidak dihargai.
Ingatlah, bahwa "tingkah laku" yang ditunjukkan adalah "hasil" dari "state"nya saat itu. Anda bisa mulai dengan mengajaknya berbicara mengenai hal-hal yang menyenangkan baginya (butuh pengamatan kecil dan "listening skill" yg baik), sampai disini mudah-mudahan anda sudah dapat merubah apa yang sedang difocuskannya (psychology). Kemudian bisa dilanjutkan dengan mengajaknya melihat maket atau unit contoh atau tindakan fisik lainnya yang membuat gerak olah tubuhnya berubah (physiology) dan yang terakhir tentunya yang paling jarang bisa anda lakukan, kecuali "extreme"nya adalah misalnya anda kebetulan juga sedang menyuguhkan wine, yang tentunya adalah contoh yang jelas yang akan berpengaruh cepat pada "biochemistry"nya
Apa yang disampaikan disini tentunya adalah bentuk penyederhanaan, karena hanya ingin menonjolkan bahasan kita kali ini, masih ada beberapa factor lain seperti "pacing & leading", menunjukkan empathy, dll (beberapa pernah dibahas di tulisan terdahulu).
Selamat mencoba !
Segelas Susu
Suatu hari, seorang anak lelaki miskin yang hidup dari menjual asongan dari pintu ke pintu, menemukan bahwa dikantongnya hanya tersisa beberapa sen uangnya, dan dia sangat lapar.
Anak lelaki tersebut memutuskan untuk meminta makanan dari rumah berikutnya. Akan tetapi anak itu kehilangan keberanian saat seorang wanita muda membuka pintu rumah. Anak itu tidak jadi meminta makanan, ia hanya berani meminta segelas air.
Wanita muda tersebut melihat, dan berpikir bahwa anak lelaki tersebut pastilah lapar, oleh karena itu ia membawakan segelas besar susu.
Anak lelaki itu meminumnya dengan lambat, dan kemudian bertanya, "berapa saya harus membayar untuk segelas besar susu ini ?"
Wanita itu menjawab: "Kamu tidak perlu membayar apapun".
"Ibu kami mengajarkan untuk tidak menerima bayaran untuk kebaikan" kata wanita itu menambahkan.
Anak lelaki itu kemudian menghabiskan susunya dan berkata :" Dari dalam hatiku aku berterima kasih pada anda."
Sekian tahun kemudian, wanita muda tersebut mengalami sakit yang sangat kritis. Para dokter dikota itu sudah tidak sanggup menganganinya.
Mereka akhirnya mengirimnya ke kota besar, dimana terdapat dokter spesialis yang mampu menangani penyakit langka tersebut.
Dr. Howard Kelly dipanggil untuk melakukan pemeriksaan. Pada saat ia mendengar nama kota asal si wanita tersebut, terbersit seberkas pancaran aneh pada mata dokter Kelly.
Segera ia bangkit dan bergegas turun melalui hall rumahsakit, menuju kamar si wanita tersebut.
Dengan berpakaian jubah kedokteran ia menemui si wanita itu. Ia langsung mengenali wanita itu pada sekali pandang. Ia kemudian kembali ke ruang konsultasi dan memutuskan untuk melakukan upaya terbaik untuk menyelamatkan nyawa wanita itu. Mulai hari itu, Ia selalu memberikan perhatian khusus pada kasus wanita itu.
Setelah melalui perjuangan yang panjang, akhirnya diperoleh kemenangan... Wanita itu sembuh !!. Dr. Kelly meminta bagian keuangan rumah sakit untuk mengirimkan seluruh tagihan biaya pengobatan kepadanya untuk persetujuan.
Dr. Kelly melihatnya, dan menuliskan sesuatu pada pojok atas lembar tagihan, dan kemudian mengirimkannya ke kamar pasien.
Wanita itu takut untuk membuka tagihan tersebut, ia sangat yakin bahwa ia tak akan mampu membayar tagihan tersebut walaupun harus dicicil seumur hidupnya.
Akhirnya Ia memberanikan diri untuk membaca tagihan tersebut, dan ada sesuatu yang menarik perhatuannya pada pojok atas lembar tagihan tersebut. Ia membaca tulisan yang berbunyi..
"Telah dibayar lunas dengan segelas besar susu.." tertanda, DR Howard Kelly.
Air mata kebahagiaan membanjiri matanya. Ia berdoa: "Tuhan, terima kasih, bahwa cintamu telah memenuhi seluruh bumi melalui hati dan tangan manusia."
Time Management: The Pickle Jar Theory
There's something about a nice crunchy pickle, isn't there? I mean the aroma may make some people puke, but for me it's the taste and the juice forcing itself into your mouth like a divine cascade of flavor. As a wise man once said, "It's like a taste explosion in your mouth!"
Well, this article really has nothing to do with pickles, nor does it have anything to do with eating or wise men at all. In fact this article has nothing to do with anything tangible, unless you choose to follow along. Though you don't have to, I would strongly suggest it as you could have quite the nifty little craft project by the end of this piece!
The jar
Time Management theories have come and gone. I've tried many of these and most have failed because of the sheer amount of time I needed to commit to the theory in order to save some time. The return just never seemed to justify the cost, if you know what I mean.
The latest theory of Time Management I heard has actually caused me to stop and think about how I run my entire life. This kind of thing doesn't happen very often, and no I don't mean thinking, cheeky readers! The theory that was recently taught in a Leadership course I'm enduring is called the Pickle Jar Theory.
The theory
Imagine if you will an, or for those crafty people among you just go get an, empty pickle jar. Big pickle jar, you could fit at least three of the largest pickles you've ever imagined inside of it. For those of you who don't like pickles, I apologize, feel free to substitute the words "pancake jar" for "pickle jar" as needed.
Okay, so you've got yourself a pickle jar. Now, put some large rocks in it. Put in as many as you possibly can. Let me know when it's full. Now, I know you think it's full, but put a couple more in anyway.
Okay, you've got a full pickle jar that you can't fit anything else into, right? Now, put some pebbles in. Put as many in as you can possibly fit, and raise your hand and bark like a pig when you feel your jar is full.
Now, take your full jar and take sand and, you guessed it, fill that jar until you can't possibly fit anymore in, and then add some water.
I am sure the significance of this little exercise hasn't escaped any of you. Each of us has many large priorities in our life, represented by the large rocks. We also have things which we enjoy doing, such as the pebbles. We have other things we have to do, like the sand. And finally, we have things that simply clutter up our lives and get in everywhere: water.
None of these are bad things. After all, we need the gamut of these objects-from large priorities to times of rest-in order to feel truly fulfilled. No Time Management theory should be without balance, and the Pickle Jar theory is all about balance. You make time for everything, and everything simply fits well where it is supposed to fit.
Me and my day
As an example of my pre-pickle day, my little to-do list looked a lot like this:
8:00: check and respond to email
8:30: check various community sites and respond where required
9:00: ensure all web properties are running properly
9:15: set priorities for the day
9:30: go for a walk, grab some water
10:00: do website maintenance, remove outdated content
11:00: draft an article
11:30: polish next article to go out
12:00: ensure all things web-related are handled, running well and all questions are answered
12:30: lunch
1:30: do programming on latest large project
2:30: write letters to clients to keep them abreast of changes in the last three days to their projects
3:30: check with team on progress, deal with issues
4:30: . etc., etc., etc.
Now, I may have actually accomplished a lot in this type of day; in fact, I typically did. All my websites were running properly, I'd written an article or two, I'd done actual work, I'd built client relationships, I'd ensured my team was working properly, so what could be wrong?
Well, take a look at the first five hours of my day. Between 8am and 1pm, all I manage to actually get done that couldn't fit into other times when my mind tends to wander (and I tend to do these things anyway) was a little bit of article writing.
This part of the day was really a supreme waste of time. I often went to lunch feeling like I was convincing myself that I had been productive. At the end of the day I always believed that a lot got done, but my lunch times always felt slightly depressing.
Beyond that, this schedule did not work if a client walked in and needed an exceptional amount of work done, if a site had crashed overnight, or if I had an email that required more than five minutes of attention. If anything unexpected happened, which we all know should actually be expected, my whole morning and often my entire day fell apart.
My new, improved day
In these post-pickle days, my schedule looks rather different. I now schedule in times when my rocks should get done and let my other priorities, the unexpected and little things I do all day, like surf the web, fill in the gaps. New schedule:
800: figure out rocks for the day (literally, this is what it says!) and deal with emergencies
830: article writing as appropriate
1000: programming
1300: client correspondence
Suddenly I have what feels like a more open day. I have more time for programming, I get things done earlier, I am more relaxed, my schedule is more fluid. It all works incredibly well.
In the post-pickle days I realized that I needed to really figure out what my big rocks were during the day and not schedule time for anything else in my daily routine. Email is not a rock: I can go a few minutes and, wonder of wonders, even a day or two without touching it.
Email is a lot like the phone in that even though we all have our phones on just in case an important call happens, when we look back on our year it is rare that we can remember more than one or two occasions where we absolutely needed to answer our phone or email at that precise instant.
The detractors
There are of course those in the audience who will never have practiced Time Management techniques in the past. They feel they are productive enough and get "enough" done. I'm glad, way to go, give yourselves a hand. Now, grab your jar again. Empty it.
Fill your jar with water until it is completely full. Now, try and add some sand. What do you mean it didn't work?
This is the essence of the Pickle (or Pancake) Jar Theory. By first ensuring that your large priorities are tackled, scheduled, and done for the day, you can then let the smaller but less important things in until you have somehow allowed time in your day for everything you needed to do, while still relaxing and having fun.
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/wouw/?koleksi-artikel-utk-semua
The value of water
I strongly encourage everyone to use at least one Time Management System. It empowers you to actually do instead of scurrying about without any goals in sight. Whether you choose this particular system or not, remember: eat the pickles before you empty the jar, they are so good!
Lessons from Project Management: 101 ways to organize your life
Project Management (and life) Wisdom straight from the mouths of the horses - oops, I mean project managers:
Leadership
1. Keep your approach friendly: People are not looking to make friends at work, but refraining from an aggressive approach towards your employees is a good idea. The whip - your - team - into - submission approach worked with the "Pyramids of Giza" project - but it is outdated now. The days when you could bully and scare the s*** out of your team are over. Be diplomatic and assertive, instead.
2. When taking on a new project/responsibility at work, convey to your management the extent of authority you need in order to effectively execute your project. Ensure that you have the authority that you need before you start work on your project.
3. Being people-oriented does not mean that you cannot be task-oriented (and vice-versa).
4. One-to-one: Meet regularly with your team members on a one-on-one basis. When you apply this principle to your kids, it makes each of them feel special.
5. Nobody appreciates a micro-manager: Don't sit on the heads of your team members.
6. Giving autonomy does not mean not keeping track of progress.
7. Learn how to manage people (more difficult than it sounds, believe you me!), and the rest of your job will that much easier to execute.
8. As a leader, you should have the ability to bind the team together and give them a sense of "we're in this together." For instance, as the head of your family, you can promote bonding by setting aside time for family board games, story-telling sessions, family picnics, family prayers and the like.
9. Stay visible - As a leader, you need to be visible in good times, as well as when there are problems to address.
10. Your reputation depends on your perceived credibility and integrity: A very basic item for leaders is to ensure that promises made are promises kept. If action is committed, it must be performed.
11. Personality: As a leader, does your personality influence and inspire your team?
12. Leadership CAN be learned.
http://www.allpm.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1567
Focus on these areas to improve your leadership skills:
* Initiative
* Leverage your charisma to influence others
* Lead purposefully and with commitment
* Develop a result-oriented approach
* Cultivate an attitude of optimism
* Work on your self-confidence - especially for weakness areas (for instance, if you are particularly nervous around people with an intimidating body language, create a plan to tackle that, and come across as confident and in-control in their presence.)
* Cultivate empathy so that you can encourage and nurture your team
* Learn to identify winners - and nurture them
* Learn to read between the lines to understand the underlying concern that prompted the dialogue
* The ability to motivate people so that they stretch out of their "comfort zones"
* Improve your decision-making abilities by learning from past decisions
* Learn to see the big picture
* Polish your Goal Setting skills
* Develop Personal Goals and examine them at regular intervals
* Effective Time Management
13. Flexibility: While it is a good thing to be firm and stand by your decisions, It is important that you are flexible enough to realize when plans need to change. View planning as an ongoing process. That way, you can change course midway without too much damage, if the original plan is not working. Are you open to continuous planning and updating of the plan?
Effective personnel management (Managing your team / family unit)
14. Stand up for your team. When your employees are in the right, have the guts to take up their case.
15. Don't let team members intimidate you with technical mumbo-jumbo. Don't feel stupid when you ask them to explain what they are saying in layperson's language.
16. Match assignments with skill sets: Is every team member equipped to handle his part of the assignment? If not, then you are in deep trouble!
17. Creative Solutions: A Japanese story - when a little girl kept wearing the wrong shoe on the wrong foot, her parents found a solution. There was half a smiley face on either shoe. The smiley face was complete only when she wore her shoes the correct way. Problem solved. It can be as simple as that if we use our creativity.
18. When you pressure your team to deliver faster than is humanly possible, don't be surprised to see a poor quality, bug-laden product.
19. Agree on rules: In project management, once the design has been completed, the design and production staff create a style guide for future reference. Make the rules of the game clear to all players involved, and to any players who join in later on.
20. Building Trust: Build trust within the team by demonstrating to each team member that everyone is important and creating a sense of personal value and contribution.
21. According to the book "Retaining Your Best People" (Harvard Business School Press), retention should become a core strategy. A very significant and important piece of advice from the book and something that all leaders should do on a regular basis is to "let your best people know you treasure them, count on them, and want to reward them in as many ways as possible."
22. Look beyond money: There should be an effort by the manager, project manager, or business executive to determine what the non-monetary interests of the key players are. Translated to a family situation, don't sit smug thinking that you are doing your bit by bringing in the bacon. Your family needs more than that from you - your attention and interest, for instance.
23. Say thanks, offer words of support, and show appreciation for good work.
24. Reward your key players as often as possible. People generally won't work for people who just don't care for them.
25. Provide Challenges - Encourage your team to stretch beyond their comfort zone. This will help them see just how far they can go.
Recognition
26. Rewarding works better than nagging: A reward can be something as simple as a coin or a note of appreciation - as long as your employees perceive it as a symbol of recognition, it works.
The relationship between Accountability, Empowerment, Ownership and Motivation
27. The buck stops here: You are accountable for your task / project. However, this does not mean that you do not delegate. Delegate work to your team members, let them know that they are accountable for their assignment/s, and ensure that they have the resources so that they can deliver successfully. Decide the plan of action beforehand, and decide how follow-ups will happen.
28. Ownership: Have an attitude of owning your work.
29. Minimize your supervision - Provide a sense of autonomy. Freedom is a major motivator and builds trust on both sides. (Tip: But don't tune out completely.)
30. To motivate, you have to empower. Motivation involves not only being enthusiastic and pumped up about approaching the task, but also involves being equipped with the tools and the ability to complete the assignment. When you delegate an assignment, convey to the team member that it is now THEIR exclusive responsibility that the job gets done. If it doesn't, they will be held accountable.
31. Accountability of Self: Take a couple of co-workers into confidence about your expectations from yourself. Besides making your goals clearer to yourself, this helps others keep track of your progress.
Communication
32. Clear, open communication is a prerequisite for a healthy, result-oriented work environment.
33. Keep them posted: A lack of information is a fertile ground for rumor, gossip and insecurity. Keep the team in the loop about information concerning and affecting them.
34. When in doubt, ask: Don't refrain from asking "stupid" questions - they may save miscommunication and misunderstandings, resulting in saved time and money!
35. It is bad policy to wait till your team members find out important information concerning them from other sources. That information should come from you.
36. Ask questions and listen to suggestions.
37. Feedback: Provide it often and ask for it. Keep an open mind. (Tip: Don't expect all feedback to be pleasant and positive.)
38. Listen: It's always important to listen, but even more so in tough times. Listen for undertones.
39. Be Open: While you should not be a dumping ground for grievances, you SHOULD be accessible enough for team members to openly discuss concerns or delays. (Tip: If you are not open, you'll find out about the concern or delay later in the game when there is less time to fix it.)
40. Touch Base: One-on-one and in meetings, meet up with your team members (or family members). (Sitting in front of the television with the family does not count as touching base!)
Morale
41. Pride: Have you read the Japanese story about the janitor who described his work as "Contributing to the progress of his country?" His logic - if the executives did not have clean toilets to use, they couldn't be very productive, could they? That is the kind of pride you need to have in your work / project.
42. Keep your sense of humor: It helps - especially in situations where no one feels like laughing. (Like the time a short executive stood on a chair so that she was at eye-level with her colleague, and she quipped, "Maybe now we can see eye-to eye?" The laughter that followed this lightened up the tension that everyone in the room had been feeling up to that point.)
43. Have fun @ work: It's true that all work and no play makes Jack a dull b ec638dcoy. And fun, on the other hand, recharges your batteries and lets you approach work with a fresh mind.
44. Celebrate achievements - even mini-achievements: Celebrating at every landmark gives your team something to look forward to, and lets them remember that they are making steady progress towards their goal - project completion!
45. Give praise: When a team member does something great, let them know it! Make sure your praise is sincere. Also, your praise will be valued only if it is given when it's due.
46. Help Others Help Themselves: If a team member / family member has a mental block, you can guide this individual to tear it down. (Tip: Tackle such issues early on, because a negative frame of mind can be highly infectious.)
Self-Management
47. Use impatience to your advantage: Channel the energies generated by your impatience to propel the process faster.
48. Procrastinators don't make good project managers. Find a way around your weakness (procrastination) if you want to achieve your targets.
49. 24X7 availability for the project is not the way to effective achievement of targets. It will only end up overwhelming you. "The key is to schedule and set boundaries so you don't need to be accessible 24/7." (webmonkey)
http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/01/18/index3a_page3.html?tw=jobs
50. Do you like what you are doing? If not, why are you still doing it? Money is not compensation enough for being trapped in a role you do not like. Because for every hour you spend doing something you don't enjoy, you are giving up doing something that you do.
51. Be Informed: Know not only what is happening in your organization, but also keep track of changes within other organizations that may impact your team members.
52. Analyze after the event: A postmortem offers valuable insights for future reference.
53. Ask yourself
(1) Do I know what is expected of me?
(2) Do I expect I can perform that which is expected of me?
(3) Do I expect a reward of value to me personally?
Stress
54. Use stress as an ally: Let stress work as the red flag that tells you to take action.
55. One key element in dealing with stress is taking control. A feeling of helplessness increases stress. So take some action that reflects that you do retain some amount of control over the situation - even if that little control is only over your reaction to the stressor.
Personal organization
56. Nothing beats being organized. Keep an organized filing system, for instance, even something as simple as storing documents chronologically will go a long way in saving you time and stress when you need to locate information.
57. Keep a daily journal where you jot down the day's highlights. Then, set aside an hour on Saturday night/evening to analyze your week. What did you do wrong? What did you do right? What will you do differently the next time in a similar situation? This practice will help you grow professionally and personally in the long run.
58. Make daily lists and cross things off. Keep a personal scorecard and grade yourself weekly.
59. Buy a Daily Planner; now actually use it.
Planning
60. Plan ahead: Before you plunge headlong into work, spend some time planning your project.
61. Break down work into tasks: Breaking down the project into smaller tasks (and mini-tasks if required) ensures that you have a systematic approach.
62. Keep it visible and visual: Plotting a chart or graph about work progress and tacking it in a prominent place on your soft board (or keeping the softcopy on your desktop) ensures that your progress is visible to you.
63. Infrastructure: A reliable server lays the foundation for efficient work. Good infrastructure and equipment translate to smooth functioning for any task.
64. A step-by-step plan is the best way to ensure you know where you are going.
65. In project management, the bulk of the work happens after the planning phase. How well this implementation of the plan happens depends on how thorough and specific the planning and documentation was. Bad planning translates to bad implementation.
66. Good planning alone does not ensure good implementation. Follow-through becomes vital here. As the leader, the project manager ensures that the team sticks to the plan.
67. As a project manager, you need to check that everyone is following the functional spec and style guide, that they are using the proper naming conventions and version controls, and that backup files are being saved on the server. Rules are useful only insofar as they are implemented and followed.
68. Be prepared: Know your stuff front-wards, back-wards, and every way in between. This does not mean that you need to say everything you know. Being prepared helps you to quickly answer questions and convey that you know what you are talking about.
69. Understanding the goals: A project is truly successful only when you are meeting the need for which it was created. Identifying the scope and requirements at the outset and also acknowledging that in the real world, these can change is a good starting point.
70. Getting it right from the outset: The most important part of a project's life cycle is the identification of its requirements.
Conflicts
71. Manage conflict (especially within the team) at an early stage - before it reaches crisis proportions.
72. The best way to side-step petty politics - nip conflicts in the bud.
73. Remember that no two people view the situation with the same pair of eyes - they actually see different things. This helps in understanding differences of viewpoints and eventually resolving conflict within your team.
74. Create the Team Charter; and keep it up-to-date: A team charter is a code of conduct developed by the project management team and later adopted or modified by the project team. It defines the mutual expectations of each team member of one another. As a project manager, hold yourself and others accountable to be consistent with this code.
Risk Management
75. There is no such thing as a zero-risk project: There is no such thing as a risk-free life.
76. If you want to understand a risk fully, identify its causes as well as its effects.
77. How do you respond to risks? There are four ways:
a) Aggressive responses: You can achieve avoidance by removing or changing a cause, or by breaking the cause-risk link so that the threat is no longer possible.
b) Third party: You involve a third party to manage the risk.
c) Size: You can change the size of a risk, thus reducing a threat.
d) Acceptance: You accept the possibility of the risk, and create a fallback plan to recover from negative impacts.
78. When a project is desperately troubled, first take action to contain the damage then worry about recovery, just the way a first aid or rescue teams first "contain the damage" and consider other options after the victim's condition stabilizes.
79. Checklists for risks: Trouble sometimes stems from omissions. It is easy to "forget" key components of a work package. A checklist reduces the potential of leaving out important considerations.
Work / Life Balance
Naps, Breaks and Vacations: The rejuvenation trio
80. Take a break: When you feel overwhelmed, take a break; get your mind off work for some time. Chances are, you will be able to handle the situation better after a break.
81. Get enough sleep:
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/62/71838.htm
There is no substitute for sleep. All else being equal, a well-rested person is better equipped to meet the challenges that the day presents, as compared to a person who has not had enough rest.
82. When you plan a vacation and want to really enjoy it, ensure that all the work-oriented nitty gritty is taken care of, and out of the way.
83. Manage your vacation as a project (a lot of planning) if you enjoy doing a lot of things rather than just lying around idly all day (which is also an excellent way to recharge your batteries, by the way).
What You Eat
84. Remember GIGO? Garbage in, Garbage out: Eat low-energy fast food and be prepared for irritability, mood swings, and blood sugar swings. Eat healthy, wholesome and nutritious meals to bring out the best in you.
Bonding and Loving
85. A healthy personal life translates to a well-balanced, healthy person. Make sure you are not succeeding at the workplace at the cost of your family and loved ones. Given enough time, they will learn to live without you around - without complaining about it. Tip: Pets are wonderful to shower you with (unconditional) love when nobody else will.
86. No job in the world is worth neglecting your kids for. Your kids will outgrow their strong dependence on you - the job will always be there (one or the other). If you are not there for them when they need you the most, don't count on their unconditional acceptance and love for you later on.
Your clients and stakeholders
87. Keep the stakeholders updated: Keep the sponsors and stakeholders posted about the progress. This becomes more important when there are unforeseen problems or newer risks; like when there are delays.
88. Understand the need: When working on the project, it helps if you understand what need your project will fulfill. Sometimes (make that often) your client's description the project will not match his need. Ensure that what you are doing will serve the purpose that it is meant to serve.
89. When to give in and when to hold your ground: Once a project has started, the client will almost always want you to incorporate changes and add tasks. Sometimes requests are legitimate, and it is possible to incorporate them without throwing the project off track. But when the client's demands require significant changes, you need to take a call. Michelangelo Buonarroti's ceiling of the Sistine chapel project is a classic case in point. The original project involved creating twelve paintings. By the time the project was completed, over 300 paintings had been created, costing the artist his health and youth.
90. When stakeholders do not respond to information or do not respond in an expected manner; create alternative, proactive communication mechanisms to avert trouble.
91. Don't forget to ask, "What does my client want to be able to do as a result of this project?" Translated to real life situations, every time you work on something, ask yourself what you (or someone else) hope to accomplish from that activity. The answer can be as simple as "feeling refreshed and rejuvenated" to something as complex as "moving towards my dream of contributing to a cleaner and healthier planet".
Across Borders - It's a global world!
92. Whether working with offshore teams or just a diverse group at home, today's project environment is multicultural. Be open to and aware of your project stakeholders' cultures. Not only should we respect our colleagues' cultures, but we should understand and EXPERIENCE them. Go out for Dim sum with the team or learn a new phrase in another language. (http://allpm.com)
93. Cross-cultural global relations: (courtesy Elizabeth Larson, PMP and Richard Larson, PMP)
http://www.allpm.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=48
a) Plan extra time to model requirements when working cross-culturally.
While modeling is an excellent tool for overcoming some cross-cultural communication issues, multi-cultural project management may still take extra time to get the requirements and ensure that important facts are captured.
b) It is important to plann more time for capturing requirements when working in multi-cultural environments.
c) Meeting in Person to Develop Relationships Saves Time and Money in the Long Run. In some cultures tasks are completed based on established relationships and, ultimately, trust, rather than simply being driven by schedules. Attempting to forge ahead with tasks before spending social time with clients can well lead to incomplete requirements. While it may not be standard practice all over the world, when PMs are working in some other cultures taking the time to meet face-to-face can save time and money for your project and organization.
The Zen of Project Management - George Pitagorsky's tips
http://www.pitagorskyconsulting.com/about_george.html
94. Zen is a form of self-investigation that has its roots in China and Japan. It is a merging of Indian Buddhism and Taoism. The Zen approach is one that cuts through complexity to go straight to the heart of a matter. Zen promotes knowing through inner experience. It promotes discipline from within. In the Zen way, the individual comes to fully know his or her own nature by cutting through intellectualism, cultural barriers, conditioned responses, rules and any other "extras" that get in the way of seeing the essence. One who sees the essential nature of things has wisdom. Wisdom leads naturally to compassion. Wisdom and compassion are at the heart of our essential nature.
95. What is a wise approach? It is an approach that gives us the ability to see things clearly and minimize the probability that we will be reactive and ineffective in achieving our goals and objectives. Wisdom is the synthesis of knowledge into active, practical use. A wise person moves through life with equanimity, un-phased by the chaos surrounding her. A wise person has choices. He is not unconsciously driven and reactive.
96. "Only the person who learns to relax is able to create, and for them, ideas reach the mind like lightning." Even in face of chaos, pressure and stress, relax! How? Relaxation is not the same as tuning out and turning off. It is not somnabulence. Learn to rest in the moment. Cultivate the ability to quickly focus on your breath and body just long enough to find your "center". Then engage.
97. Serve someone. Serve everyone. That is the secret of wise leadership. There is a difference between a leader who serves and one who just leads. "The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served." Such a leader asks if "those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?" When the motivation is to serve, posturing, politics and self-serving gains are replaced by useful effective action.
98. Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations . that influence how we understand the world and how we take action. " They may be useful, or they may lead to habitual, reactive behavior. What paradigms condition your behavior? Do they help or hinder you? Do you have the courage to question them? Do they provide established basis for analyzing problems, or do they limit your ability to act in the way that is best for the current situation.
99. Desiring the impossible gives rise to suffering It is also the root of many failed projects. When undertaking a project, you have the duty to question authority, to push back. Ask questions, rather than voice objections. Why is this the deadline? What if it isn't met? What do you really need, and by when? What assumptions are you making? What would you give up to get what what you really need? Will we have the right resources at the right time?
100. The Good, The Bad, The Continuous Improvement: We learn at least as much from bad experience as we do from good. Yet, blaming, fear of punishment and models like "I'm so smart, how can I make mistakes" lead us to avoid looking at and learning from our mistakes. Continuous improvement begins with the candid acceptance of the existing situation, particularly its flaws. If you don't accept what is, you can't change it.
http://www.gsn-soeki.com/wouw/?koleksi-artikel-utk-semua
101. How to Push Back when Negotiating: When pushing back to negotiate a rational schedule and budget you need solid footing. Come to the table with a well articulated plan, complete with assumptions. Use your communication, task definition, estimating, scheduling, and risk management skills and knowledge to offer realistic alternatives. Seek win-win solutions. What if you are forced to accept an irrational schedule or budget? Try to do your best to negotiate expectations that can be met given the project's scope, resources, and risks. Do your best to work within the project's real-world conditions.
http://www.projectmanagementsource.com/2006/08/lessons_from_pr.html
posted by Discipline @ 11:31 PM
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