Project Shrink » personal development http://www.basdebaar.com Projects Are About Humans. Deal With That! Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:50:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 It's Not Always Easy Doing The Right Thing All The Time http://www.basdebaar.com/its-not-always-easy-doing-the-right-thing-all-the-time-2208.html http://www.basdebaar.com/its-not-always-easy-doing-the-right-thing-all-the-time-2208.html#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:32:28 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=2208 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

It's Not Always Easy Doing The Right Thing All The Time

]]> We all know what we “should” do to run a project. Putting the right structures and processes in place. Getting the proper authorizations and doing communication and stuff.

But sometimes we are operating in unknown organizations. Sometimes we think we have the right authority, but in reality we don’t. Sometimes we just get a team assigned without any real influence in the selection process.

That’s ok. It’s our job to fix it. Deal with it. Or leave it.

But that’s easier said then done.

When our project sails under a clear sky on a smooth sea, you have no problem following the right procedures. This gets a lot harder when shit hits the fan, you are under pressure, dodging bullets and running for your deadline.

Not good. But human.

There is no instance fix. But this is something you can work on.

Perhaps something for the new year?

Train mental flexibility and communication skills.

This “mental flexibility” thing is nothing more than “thinking outside the box“, “seeing other point of view” and “knowing your own assumptions and biases”.

There are exercises you can do to train this. Like “Six Thinking Hats For Project Management” , “Project Potion: Meshups” and “Team Metaphor Game“. And here are 25 more ways.

Training communication skills is so easy these days: start engaging online. Start a blog, start commenting on a blog, get a twitter account, just choose your own tool and have fun with it.

Free training. Wow.

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

It's Not Always Easy Doing The Right Thing All The Time

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/its-not-always-easy-doing-the-right-thing-all-the-time-2208.html/feed 0 Mastering Three Spaces: Personal, Reputation And Project http://www.basdebaar.com/mastering-three-spaces-personal-reputation-and-project-2066.html http://www.basdebaar.com/mastering-three-spaces-personal-reputation-and-project-2066.html#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:57:42 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=2066 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Mastering Three Spaces: Personal, Reputation And Project

]]> Do you remember last years “The Four Dharmas Of Project Management“?

“I learned that you cannot jump from the PMBoK directly to topics like “mental flexibility” and “emotional intelligence”. I am sorry to tell you, but most people cannot make that jump that fast. A path to “project enlightenment” has to be defined. Conveniently, I think I have one… In Buddhism teachings are presented in Turnings of The Wheel Of Dharma. Each turn builds upon the previous one and brings the student to a higher level of consciousness.”

I have been going back and forth this year between “Second Turn: Structure For Resilience”, “Third Turn: Global Pool” and “Fourth Turn: Flexible Mind”.

While writing, talking and discussing about these levels, I have found a more effective, easier to explain version of the 4 Dharma’s. The message doesn’t change. But the emphasis and words are slightly different.

Three Spaces: Personal, Reputation And Project

Basically, I just went from 4 to 3. :) I currently talk about:

  • Personal Space
  • Reputation Space
  • Project Space

The idea originates form the Social Media presentation I’ve been giving this year (see slide 24). In order to use social media skills on your project, you have to learn and master them on a personal and professional level first. The elements of Project Leadership require strong personal and interpersonal knowledge and skills:

“Goals and Means on individual, project and organizational level
Alignment of goals and means on all levels by communication”

Or as I conclude my presentation on Project Leadership: “Develop Project Leadership Skills To Get Your Team To Self-Organize.”

So, you work on your own stuff, you master the skills before you can help your team.

Mastering Your Personal Space

If you are communicating clearly, without fear of expression and with respect for the conversation partner, under all circumstances, you have truly mastered you own personal space. Within your space you get to know what you are about, what your thing is and how to shift the mental models of your mind.

Mastering Your Reputation Space

The topic of this blog is running projects. The network that knows about you in this context is your Reputation Space. You can view this as your professional network, your community of practice or just your local office.

Your Reputation Space is your training ground for professional interaction. You practice communication skills, you get knowledge and provide knowledge back to your network. You use skills from your personal space to participate, and you use insights provided by the interaction to enhance your personal skills.

While doing this, you build your reputation (hence the name). This reputation becomes important as it is used in communication with people that don’t know you, or hardly. Reputation is used to “create trust”. Reputation is used to get an idea about what you are about. As creating an audience is also a form of self-actualization, there is a direct link to the Personal Space.

Mastering Your Project Space

In the context of projects, the essence is captured in the earlier described notion of Project Leadership. For details, check out this presentation on Project Leadership.

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Mastering Three Spaces: Personal, Reputation And Project

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/mastering-three-spaces-personal-reputation-and-project-2066.html/feed 0 The End Of The Human Cannonball: Project Leadership In Today’s World http://www.basdebaar.com/the-end-of-the-human-cannonball-1983.html http://www.basdebaar.com/the-end-of-the-human-cannonball-1983.html#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:41:59 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1983 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

The End Of The Human Cannonball: Project Leadership In Today’s World

]]> In the remaining months of this year I have some exciting speaking engagements coming up (stay tuned for updates).

Here is the slidedeck for one of them: The End Of The Human Cannonball: Project Leadership In Today’s World.

The End Of The Human Cannonball: Project Leadership In Today's World
View more presentations from Bas de Baar.

“Sometimes you end up doing everything in your project yourself. You become the center of control. But sometimes changes happen so fast, it’s hard to keep up and in control. It seems lately “sometimes” is more often then we would like.

One of the approaches to deal with the new world we do projects in is to let the team self-organize. But how do you get your team to do this? How do you know this is actually going to work?

Bas de Baar argues that now is the time to put more leadership into your Project Management. You have a clear role in this new world. But it requires strong communication skills, dedicated personal development and for some, old habits to brake.

In this presentation he will present the alignment of goals and approaches between organization, project and individuals as the central task of a Project Leader.”

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

The End Of The Human Cannonball: Project Leadership In Today’s World

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/the-end-of-the-human-cannonball-1983.html/feed 0 Project Shrink Rerun: Knowing And Promoting Yourself http://www.basdebaar.com/project-shrink-rerun-knowing-and-promoting-yourself-1782.html http://www.basdebaar.com/project-shrink-rerun-knowing-and-promoting-yourself-1782.html#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:53:24 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1782 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Project Shrink Rerun: Knowing And Promoting Yourself

]]> On “Project Shrink” a recurring theme is “knowing and promoting yourself“. The following postings are among my favorites within this topic:

Marketing: Tech People Hate It. Boy Are They Going To Need It!

“If your are into software project management, you are into marketing. If you are planning to keep on working on software projects in the years to come, you better get darn good at it. It seems to be a dirty word among technical people: “marketing”. But it’s not about selling your soul to the devil. It’s not about tricking people into buying stuff they don’t want.”

Dear Project Manager: Why Should Anyone Want To Work For You?

“If it’s not your reputation that’s going to kill your job, it’s your poor, old school skill set. Project organizations are getting more and more distributed over our globe, team members are becoming more mobile. The project manager will have to deal with an increasingly multi-cultural, global and mobile environment, in which the employees are working on more fragmented tasks. You desperately need to update your skills.”

Define Yourself As A Professional With Margaret Meloni

Earlier this year I had an interview with Margaret Meloni in which she answers the following questions:

  • Why is it important to define yourself as a professional?
  • How do you get to know what you bring to the table?
  • How do you broadcast that to others?

Other people who liked this article liked these too

Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Project Shrink Rerun: Knowing And Promoting Yourself

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/project-shrink-rerun-knowing-and-promoting-yourself-1782.html/feed 0 Personal Productivity – The Power Of Slow http://www.basdebaar.com/personal-productivity-the-power-of-slow-1727.html http://www.basdebaar.com/personal-productivity-the-power-of-slow-1727.html#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:23:33 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1727 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Personal Productivity – The Power Of Slow

]]> In episode 21 of The Project Shrink Podcast I am talking to Christine Hohlbaum. She is the author of “The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World”. We are talking about personal productivity, time management, the art of delegation and expectation management.

You can watch the episode below or follow this link.

Subscribe with iTunes to “The Project Shrink Podcast”
Full Video Version of Project Shrink videocast

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Personal Productivity – The Power Of Slow

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/personal-productivity-the-power-of-slow-1727.html/feed 0 Project Managers And Blogging With Stephane Grenier http://www.basdebaar.com/project-managers-blogging-1225.html http://www.basdebaar.com/project-managers-blogging-1225.html#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:13:24 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1225 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Project Managers And Blogging With Stephane Grenier

]]> I have said it before: every Project Manager should start a blog. It creates the right skill set for virtual and global project management and it helps your personal marketing.

In this episode of The Project Shrink I have the pleasure of talking to Stephane Grenier, author of “Blog Blazers”, a fabulous book for every type of blogger. He also runs a software company and has his own blog (of course).

I asked Stephane the following questions:

  • Most of my viewers are Project Managers and other professionals. How would you convince them to start a blog?
  • What are your personal 3 favorite tips you encountered during the book interviews on how to write successfully blog posts?
  • If people have one day of spare time, have the desire to start a blog, how would you recommend they arrange their day?

You can watch the interview below or follow this link to YouTube.com.

New: Subscribe with iTunes to “The Project Shrink” episodes

You can subscribe to this (and all other) video(s) using iTunes. It is available as a full video version or audio (mp3) only.

Subscribe with iTunes to the full video version of Project Shrink videocast
Subscribe with iTunes to the audio only version of Project Shrink podcast
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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Project Managers And Blogging With Stephane Grenier

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/project-managers-blogging-1225.html/feed 0 Define Yourself As A Professional With Margaret Meloni http://www.basdebaar.com/professional-margaret-meloni-1147.html http://www.basdebaar.com/professional-margaret-meloni-1147.html#comments Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:59:06 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1147 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Define Yourself As A Professional With Margaret Meloni

]]> I recorded this episode of Project Shrink on this lazy Sunday afternoon; a great time to think about how you want to be perceived as a professional. It’s the kind of knowledge that can really make a big difference in your career, but also in life.

I am delighted to talk to Margaret Meloni on this subject. She consults with individuals and organizations on the topic of conflict resolution and she coaches professionals in advancing their careers. She used to work as a Project Manager, so she knows our profession.

Margaret answers the following questions:

  • Why is it important to define yourself as a professional?
  • How do you get to know what you bring to the table?
  • How do you broadcast that to others?

You can view the video below… or follow this link to YouTube.com.

Special Offer For Project Shrink Readers/Viewers

Margaret has provided us with a great offer: her course “Define Yourself, Define Your Life- Develop clarity around – the real YOU at work” (which covers the topics discussed in the video chat and much, much more) will be available with a 30% discount until March 6, 2009.

To make use of this offer, go to the product overview (and read what you get, it is course nr2), and use the code ‘Bas’ at checkout. You will receive $23.70 off the regular price which is $79US.

You might also want to check out…

Intersection Between Personal Development, Change Management And Project Management
Alignment Of Individual And Organizational Objectives With Andrew Meyer
Successful Virtual Teams With Jessica Lipnack

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Define Yourself As A Professional With Margaret Meloni

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/professional-margaret-meloni-1147.html/feed 1 Intersection Between Personal Development, Change Management And Project Management http://www.basdebaar.com/personal-development-change-management-1134.html http://www.basdebaar.com/personal-development-change-management-1134.html#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:23:49 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1134 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Intersection Between Personal Development, Change Management And Project Management

]]> In this new episode of Project Shrink my guest is Maria Gajewski of the Never The Same River Twice blog. She writes about personal and organizational change. Personal development and change management. You know, the people stuff.

As I am trying to infuse Project Management with some much needed “human stuff” a chat with her would be very good idea: the intersection between personal development, change management and project management.

Subscribe with iTunes to “The Project Shrink Podcast”
Full Video Version of Project Shrink videocast
Audio Only Version of Project Shrink podcast

The questions we address are:

  • What does personal development have to do with changes in organizations?
  • Why is it useless to plan for anything longer than a year?
  • How can anyone bootstrap his own personal change?
  • and more :)

You can view the video below… or follow this link to YouTube.com.

Tell us what you think about the intersection between personal development, change management and project management.

You may also want to check out…

Alignment Of Individual And Organizational Objectives With Andrew Meyer
Successful Virtual Teams With Jessica Lipnack
Self-Organization In Teams With Esther Derby

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Intersection Between Personal Development, Change Management And Project Management

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/personal-development-change-management-1134.html/feed 0 Be The Expert: Stay On Top Of The News http://www.basdebaar.com/be-the-expert-stay-on-top-of-the-news-1077.html http://www.basdebaar.com/be-the-expert-stay-on-top-of-the-news-1077.html#comments Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:24:52 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1077 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Be The Expert: Stay On Top Of The News

]]> If you want to be competitive in a global market you need to be on top of developments in your area of expertise. You simply cannot afford being out of the loop.

I said it before: Every Project Member Needs To Be An Expert.

Following the latest news and blogs is one way of enhancing your expertise. Of course, there is more to being “an expert” … but this is an essential part you can start right now.

I have created a small video that explains how I personally manage to keep track of more than a hundred blogs and how I find out about new Project Management blogs.

Those of you who are completely new to RSS and Google Reader, you can check out this post which explains RSS feeds.

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Be The Expert: Stay On Top Of The News

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/be-the-expert-stay-on-top-of-the-news-1077.html/feed 0 Working Virtual: Get Over Your Fear To Express Yourself Online http://www.basdebaar.com/working-virtual-get-over-your-fear-to-express-yourself-online-1018.html http://www.basdebaar.com/working-virtual-get-over-your-fear-to-express-yourself-online-1018.html#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:07:57 +0000 Bas de Baar http://blog.softwareprojects.org/?p=1018 Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Working Virtual: Get Over Your Fear To Express Yourself Online

]]> If you show up for a meeting in the office, people will notice because they will see you. Online, if you just “show up” nobody will notice.

On the internet the fast majority of people is just lurking around, reading and watching stuff other people create. Just a small percentage is contributing by creating.

Who will people notice? Who will have a better conversation? Who will be the better virtual worker?

scared

Within a community or team communication among the team members is essential.

If you want to succeed in a virtual team, you have to learn using social media. You have to start conversing online.

The easiest, smallest, first baby step is by commenting on blogs. Under every post are the comments of readers. Nothing big. Start small.

Fears About Speaking Online

You might have some hesitations. Some fears to express yourself in this digital world.

Havi Brooks has some great articles addressing these fears. Her topic is blogging, but it applies to almost every online conversation.

Take your time. No hurry.

Why not start your exercise here? You are among like minded people. There are no stupid questions. There are no stupid answers.

So, it’s ok to have fears and reservations. It’s human. Why do you think you are reluctant to comment on blog posts sometimes?

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Bas de Baar is an independent consultant based in the Netherlands. He uniquely combines over a decade of project and team leadership with nearly a decade online presence in the area of Project Leadership in a global and virtual world.

Working Virtual: Get Over Your Fear To Express Yourself Online

]]> http://www.basdebaar.com/working-virtual-get-over-your-fear-to-express-yourself-online-1018.html/feed 0