Collective Wisdom from the Experts 75
When that happens, various symptoms start to appear, one cascading upon
the next:
- The manager becomes visibly distracted and starts to feel out of control.
- Not feeling in control, he/she doesn’t feel empowered to stand up and do
what is needed to protect the project. - The unprotected team starts to experience communication breakdowns.
- Communication breakdowns lead to slipped (not aligned with the origi-
nal project baseline) tasks. - Slipped tasks, and a manager unable to bring things back under control,
lead to team despair. - Team morale fails, adding further complexity to a project that is already
out of control.
I personally take time on a daily, weekly, and semi-annual basis to review
where I am in my life. My daily and weekly reviews help me keep on track as
far as short-term goals are concerned. My semi-annual retreat (white space
planning, as some people call it) provides me with an opportunity to assess my
long-term goals, personally and professionally, to make sure I am still on track.
While life will always throw curveballs at all of us, having short- and long-term
goals helps provide us with targets that help us realign our personal and pro-
fessional course after the turbulence has passed. With such a plan in hand, we
are enabled to focus more on the tasks at hand, including managing our teams,
to empower them toward success.
The oxygen masks have fallen—who are you helping first?