Articles and Tools: Five Lessons from Music You Can Use Immediately for Project
Success
The following observations were made by two seasoned project and program
managers who shared a love of music, jazz and the drum set. They sum up
insights that apply to music which provide some very sound principles
for effective collaboration.
1. Know your outcome
Have a clear idea of your ultimate goal and why you are putting
forth the effort. This ensures that you can address the next point. …
2. Preparation
People need to be prepared. Sometimes that means having a plan,
sometimes it means doing "homework" ahead of time before
a meeting or presentation. If there is something to be built, measure
twice, so you only have to cut once. The idea is that diligence prevents needless
oversights, and thereby improves efficiency and effectiveness.
3. Balance
Structure and flexibility can compliment one another. Plans and processes
help coordinate everyone's efforts and interactions. They can also free people
to adapt to changing circumstances. One must guard against the extremes of either structure or flexibility. The extreme of structure can undermine your ability adapt and reduce your margin for error in some situations. The extreme of flexibility (also called chaos) can keep people moving in endless circles
without progress.
4. Accountability
Everyone must know what he or she is expected to do. It must be clear
to everyone who is responsible for getting specific results, when those results are needed, and how it will be known they have been realized.
Taking this one step further, everyone
must play their part. The idea is not to limit one's self to a specific
role forever - it is to ensure that one first addresses top priorities before reaching
out into other areas.
5. Effective Communication
The exchange of large quantities of information is sometimes confused with the concept of effective communication. The former does not ensure shared understanding, while latter requires listening and understanding on one hand, and the conveyance of information in a meaningful way on the other.
To put it in other terms, it is one thing to publish a book, but getting people to read it and be receptive to your ideas is another matter altogether.
Without effective communication, you risk everyone moving in different
directions, working against each other and undermining success.
Effective communication helps you benefit from others insights and experience, and it
ensures issues can be spotted, and important details don't slip through
the cracks.
Click here to learn about eRealize tools for communication.
|
