Beyond Folders : problem solving, productivity

How’s the Tunnel Coming? Tracking Long Term Projects

Community Manager — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:34:00 GMT

It took 20 years for the character Andy Dufresne to tunnel his way to freedom in the Oscar winning movie The Shawshank Redemption. While most of us will never tackle a project of this scope, we all face long-term projects in the workplace. How best to track progress?

There is no one size-fits-all answer. Large companies, with deep pockets and dedicated project managers, can avail themselves of tools such as enterprise project management software, Gantt charts, PERT (Program Review and Review Technique) and Earned Value Analysis .

Looking to learn more about the fundamentals of project management? Visit the Project Management Institute (PMI), a non-profit professional organization, for resources including the seminal A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). PMBOK is the internationally recognized standard on project management as it applies to a wide range of projects including construction, software, engineering and automotive production.

Smaller companies, or independent workers, require simpler project management tools that allow energy to be focused on completing projects rather than tracking progress. Pared down tacking tools for leaner infrastructures can include:

Online Project Management Tools (Use software or for hire-services)
Time Tracking (Critical if you bill hourly; helpful for anyone wondering "what the heck have I been working on?" Keep track manually or with software.)
Task Management (Tasks include document uploads, document versioning, notes and comments, due dates, task status, and daily email reminders about what is due.)
Milestones (Determine deliverables and deadlines, plug these into your time tracking calendar to stay on track)
Evaluate Progress, Analyze Results (Find the right evaluation method or software to analyze your day-to-day workflow and outcomes.)

The bottom line, long-term projects need to be chipped away at a day at a time, much like Andy Dufresne's tunnel. Make use of project tracking tools to ensure that you are staying on track.

How do you track-long term projects? What role do milestones and deadlines play in getting to the end of your tunnel? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

Problem Solving at Work (Part II)

Community Manager — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:37:00 GMT

My last post discussed why problems arise in the workplace and how we typically deal with them when they do. In this post, we will take a closer look at the problem solving process.

"Nothing gives one so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

A mediate.com article on resolving conflict at work cites this Thomas Jefferson quote to point up the importance of keeping calm, cool and collected in the face of a problem. As the article notes, we need to step back and try to see the bigger picture. This perspective-taking includes a candid appraisal of what we might have done/be doing to fuel the issue.

Once you - and everyone else involved - have settled down, you can address the problem step-by-step. As an initial step, it is important to pinpoint the issues by fielding and clarifying different perspectives. A next step is to brainstorm solutions that satisfy everyone's interests. To find the point (or points) of mutual interest, you need some patience and creativity. You also need good active listening skills. When you engage in active listening, you offer physical and/or verbal signs that you understand and appreciate what people are saying to you. Make direct eye contact, nod your head and say "OK, go on" or "I understand." Clarity of understanding is critical here, you may even need to repeat back, "This is what I understand and heard you say, " ---- " is that correct?"

Once you have some possible solutions on the table, you must collaborate to evaluate and select the best option or options. To facilitate this part of the process, you can answer several key questions set out in this article on How to Become an Effective Problem Solver:

How many options do you have?
Which options seem reasonable?
Have you weighed the pros and cons of your options?
Are there any limitations to your options?
Are some options better than others? If so, why?
Are there advantages and disadvantages you need to take into consideration?

One added technique working well for us at our Esselte manufacturing facilities around the globe is "Try-Storming" our options. By using mock-ups and simulations built of various raw materials, we give the team a better, more realistic view of the success of their idea. This process takes mistakes and time out of the problem solving life cycle and shortens the lead time to successful outcomes.

After weighing the options and deciding on a solution, you should memorialize the solution in a written agreement. According to this article on problem solving in the workplace, any agreement should include provisions for revisiting your solution on an ongoing basis to ensure that it still meets your needs.

If you use a problem-solving process at work, we want to know about it. Please share it with us here or on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

Problem Solving at Work (Part I)

Community Manager — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:45:00 GMT

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" - Albert Einstein

Whatever we do for a living, we usually encounter problems in the course of our workday. Large and small, they are all around us. Yet, despite their strong presence, most of us go about the everyday business of problem solving rather unconsciously. In a rush to move through or around it, we do not give a lot of thought to how and why a problem arose, how we react to it or how we resolve it. We are on problem-solving autopilot. In this mode, we usually miss opportunities to become truly effective problem solvers.

Since effective problem solving is a valuable professional and personal skill, we are going to raise some consciousness in this post and future ones so we can be better problem solvers at work and beyond.

As this about.com article on problem solving instructs, the first step is to examine the anatomy of a problem. Some primary root causes of problems in workplace are:

Co-worker conflict
Customer upset
Process dysfunction
Mechanical failure

According to this mediate.com article on workplace problem solving, when we perceive a problem, we tend to respond to it in one of three ways. We:

Get afraid and uncomfortable and wish it would go away
Look for someone (else) to blame
Feel that we have to come up with the right solution right away

This last response is the biggest hurdle to effective problem solving "because it tries to put the solution at the beginning of the process, when what we need is a solution at the end of the process."

It is important to emphasize the term process here. Problem solving is a process that takes patience and time. Nicely capturing this point is an examiner.com article that states, "You will need to do a bit of research internally - have discussions with the involved parties to really understand the heart of the matter before a solution should be identified."

We will outline the problem solving process in Part II of this post on problem solving at work. In the meantime, we invite you to share your problem solving stories and tips here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers