Dot Connector Blog

You either tell your story or someone is going to tell it for you.

- Old Saying

It happens to all of us…at different points in our careers, we feel our creativity is stifled.

It’s happened to me, and it’s happened to people on my team. In fact, I’ve had project managers seriously questioning their career choice, since they were so stifled creatively. When dealing with project issues, budgets, and deadlines, I totally understand how this can happen.

Here’s the bottom-line: You don’t need to be on the “creative” team, be a “creative director,” or be a “designer” to be a creative person. The opportunity to be creative is right “under your nose” every single day!

Here are my top 3 ways to seize the opportunity to be creative!

#1: Get Creative when Reporting Metrics

• Many of us manage and launch projects to meet a company’s goal: more leads, more sales, more interactions with the brand, etc. Every single time you give an update on a project’s metrics, you have the opportunity to be creative.
• Think about it:the people who are reading your update (probably an email) are senior leaders in your organization who care about such results. You have their attention! Use this to your advantage. As Avinash Kaushik says, “don’t puke data out.” Always intepret what you think is happening in the data you are providing. And go beyond that: propose new ideas based on what the numbers are telling you.
• Your leaders want you to step up, they want you to “read between the lines,” they want your new ideas! Get creative and drive your new ideas to fruition!

#2: Get Creative with Your Communication

• From Tip #1, and my previous post on telling your story, you already know you should be thinking about your “message” when giving project updates. But have you ever really pushed the boundaries of what you can do? As Picasso said: “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Be sure to check out The Positivity Blog for Picasso’s Top 7 Tips for Creating an Exciting Life.
• Here are just a few real-world examples to spark your creativity for giving a project update (I’ve seen people do each of these, and yes, I know some of these are a bit crazy!):
• Shoot a video: with video cameras and editing software within reach of everyone, use that to your advantage! Shoot a video telling your story and send it to your team, leaders, Clients, etc. Make it fun and engaging – people will remember it!
• Create your own soapbox: literally take a box you can stand on into a meeting, group of people, etc. and deliver your update “town crier” style! Again, people will not forget it, or you!
• Write a song or rap: Write your own song or rap about your project, and deliver your update that way. Some of the most memorable ones I have seen spoofed popular songs/raps people know. Combine this with video, post it on YouTube, and send the link to your entire team!

#3: Get Creative with Your Project Management

• When you manage a project, are you being productive or active? Just because you’re active, it doesn’t mean your being productive.
• Look critically at what you are doing: are you procrastinating and not dealing with an issue by staying active? Have you fallen into the “old ways” of doing things and not realized it? Challenge yourself to be better than that!
• Are you defining the world around you in such a way that you either: have a negative view? can’t see ways to get things done? or disregard new ideas? Be very careful of this trap! By doing so, you not only limit what you can accomplish, you limit what your project team can do too. If you’ve fallen into this way of thinking, you probably cannot see new opportunities to get things done.

I hope these ideas help you get creative, think differently, and manage projects more successfully!

As I’ve mentioned in my other posts on leadership, leadership is a choice – how you make decisions, trust your instincts, and allow yourself to learn from failure determines if and how you will become a leader.

My past week was filled with leadership development lessons to share with you. Some were lessons I learned myself, others were lessons I watched others learn around me.

Here are my top 3:

Leadership Development Lesson #1: Giving Feedback

• By having an honest feedback session with each person you lead, you have the opportunity (and responsibility) to share the positives about their progress, as well as the areas for them to improve.
• As Wally Bock says in his Three Star Leadership Blog, feedback is really the breakfast of champions. By not hesitating to give constructive criticism, you give people the opportunity to grow and learn faster than they would otherwise.

Leadership Development Lesson #2: Having the Right Attitude

• Giving constructive criticism is always easier when a team member has the right attitude. If you have an open mind and a true desire to constantly get better, you will be open to feedback that can help you get there.
• No one is right all the time. Everyone has times where they need to be redirected, coached, or talked “off the edge of a cliff.” Allowing yourself to accept feedback like this can only make you better.
• Feeling down? Need some inspiration to boost your attitude? Check out Orrin Woodward’s favorite quotes on attitude.

Leadership Development Lesson #3: Prevent a Communication “Vacuum”

• You always have to show people you are “driving the bus” on the projects you lead. It’s critical that whenever you are managing a high-profile project, you communicate early and often – even if you don’t have all the answers.
• This is especially important with key executives. When asked a question through email, it’s best to reply immediately, letting the executive know you are looking into her question, and when you expect to have an answer.
• Later, when you give your answer, make sure you completely answer the question, and give your own opinions. To most executives, giving your opinions is as important as answering the question.

Leadership lessons like these are around you every single day if you look for them! I’ll share more of my lessons as I come across them. If you have lessons to share, leave a comment or send me an email.

If you lead (whether or not you are formally a leader, you can lead!), you have a responsibility to give context to the team you work for. Giving context is about telling the story of “why” to your team members, and letting them be a part of it. It’s about explaining how certain decisions were made, how they fit into the bigger picture, and how they’ve impacted the business.

Here are two examples:

• You manage a high-profile website project, where your main Client is the Chairman of the board. Giving context in this situation means teaching your team why the Chairman makes the decisions she does (hint: she’s thinking in the best interest of the business). By doing giving context, you prevent speculation and “we have to do it because she said so” rationale that can quickly fill the void in a project that lacks context.

• You work in a fast-paced environment where you manage 20-30 projects at one time. Instead of taking the time on each project to give your project team the proper context behind why you are asking them to do something, you settle into just giving orders. Quickly, the team starts to distance themselves from you, and you notice they don’t respond as quickly, or proactively seek your advice as often, as they used to.

Giving context is about first making those around you (your project team, your immediate teammates, etc.) comfortable with you and your approach. Then, it’s about giving the the knowledge so that they can be on the same page you are!

Give your team the “backstory” (i.e. context) and you’ll be amazed at how they will grow and rise up to help your cause!

There’s an old saying that goes “you have to tell your story or someone will tell it for you.”

That single principle, that you have to be continuously “telling your story,” is an essential business communication tip.

Why? Think about these sample situations:

• You work for 3 years with a high-level executive. Then, that executive is replaced with another. The new person might not know all of the things you have accomplished or plan to implement.
• You work with a large project team where new team members are rotated in and out of projects on a frequent basis. If you haven’t created a good story (and chronicled your successes and failures), new project team members will have a hard time assimilating into the team.
• You work in a large organization where you may come into contact with tens, or even hundreds, of different people across your different projects. It’s always best if your good reputation preceded you.

Ok, but am I saying you should brag about yourself? Absolutely not. So then how do you tell your story?

1. Connect the Dots! If there are projects you are working on that others might benefit from knowing about, tell them! Remember, tell your story by talking about “what’s in it for them.” They’ll appreciate that you were thinking about them, and it will build trust between you.
2. Create a Weekly Paper Newsletter! I created a newsletter called The Weekly WOW! for a controversial project that involved over 75 people. I used this newsletter to communicate the progress of the project (complete with a countdown to launch), share stories about the project team’s individual accomplishments, and include motivational quotes. People loved it! It wasn’t a voicemail, and it wasn’t (another!) email, it was just clear, beneficial information about the project that showed up as a printed newsletter at everyone’s desk on Fridays. (Side note: the project was a huge success!)
3. Use Voicemail to Get the Word Out! Do you send a weekly voicemail update to your “Clients” about your progress? If so, great! If not, why not? Share the great information you know with them. You can also use voicemail to share when you can’t see them in person. If this idea interests you, be sure to check out my 10 Tips to Improve Your Voicemails post.

Tell your story and you’ll be amazed how much it can help you!

Are you about to start a project with a popular, well-respected, brand-name company? Cool! Here’s a tip: don’t assume they “get it!”

A common mis-perception I’ve made, and I’ve seen others around me make, is that just because a company has a well-known brand, they always do really cool stuff, they “get it,” and they can always live up to their well-known and respected brand. Although this is often the case, it is not always the case – hence, my words of caution for you as a project manager.

Here are a few examples (without naming the culprits!):

• A major professional sports organization – who is publically looked up to by millions, seems like a dynamic place to be a part of, is always in the media, etc. takes longer than expected to execute even the smallest projects due to the extensive layers of bureaucracy they have.
• A company with one of the most popular websites on the Internet – who seems like they are always innovating and doing amazing things, sells “vaporware” (i.e. software that doesn’t yet exist) to it’s biggest advertising clients, only to acknowledge later that their tools could not do what their overzealous sales force had said they could.

Of course, if I told you who these organizations were, it would pack even more punch. But, I just can’t do that.

The real point here is that you should never blindly put your faith in an organization you are working with just because they have a strong brand. If they are communicative, competent, truthful, innovative, etc. sure, put your faith in them. But don’t let their brand fool you into thinking they are something they aren’t.

(Source: Pixel Addict)

80% of all project issues are communication issues.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we create our own leadership “glass ceiling” through our communication. Improving our communication improves our connections with others, and ultimately, our ability to grow.

Enter voicemail. Voicemail is one of the most frequently used communication tools within an organization. And, it seems that the more senior the person you are communicating with is within your organization, the more likely they will favor voicemail over email.

If you work remotely, you know that voicemail is often preferred over email because you can “get personal” by injecting emotion and physiology of communication into your message, something that’s very hard to do in email.

To help you grow your communication abilities, here are 10 tried-and-true tips to improve your voicemails:

1. Always stand up and smile before leaving a voicemail. You’ll be amazed at the positive energy you bring to your message – it will definitely come through in your voice! (Be sure to do this when recording your outgoing voicemail message too.)
2. Write out important voicemails before you leave them. When doing this, be sure to simplify what you have written (twice!) before actually leaving the message. Also, be very tuned into how you are leaving the message, so you don’t sound like you are reading from a script.
3. Always start a voicemail with: who you are (“Hi, this is Regis Hadiaris…”), who you are sending the message to (“…with a message going out to Jen, Doug, and Melissa…”), and (in one statement) what your voicemail is about (“…about the decisions that were made in today’s team meeting.”)
4. Always end every voicemail with your phone number (or extension if calling within your organization). It’s a good idea to repeat this number twice.
5. Copy yourself on important voicemails (if possible, usually you can do this when you are using an internal voicemail system) so you can be sure to have a copy.
6. Assign your voicemail call-in number a speed dial “hot key” on your cell phone. The fastest way to dial your voicemail call in number (i.e. the number you use to check your voicemail messages) is to assign it a speed dial hot key in your cell phone address book. That way, if you are driving, etc. you can just hold down one button and it will dial your voicemail!
7. Enter any “login” data for checking your voicemail into your cell phone address book. Most cellphones support a “pause” feature that allows you to put you login data (extension, password, etc.) right after the phone number in your cell phone address book. That way, when you call that number (using speed dial – see #6), you will only have to hit one button and it will automatically dial this info for you. This is priceless when checking messages while on the go!
8. Forward all of your voicemail to one location. To simplify all of the places where you have to check voicemail, you can forward them to one location. Most of the wireless carriers support this functionality (for example, for Verizon you can hit *71, *72, or *73 to activate and deactivate their forwarding functionality).
9. Setup your organization’s voicemail to call you if you get a priority messages. Most voicemail systems support this priceless feature. Just enter a number (like your personal cell phone number) where you should be called when you get a priority message. That way, you will always be on top of your “hot” voicemails!
10. Check and reply to voicemail on “off hours” once in a while. Senior managers are always checking to see how engaged their team’s are. By checking and replying to voicemail during off-hours on occasion, you show your dedication and focus – a great way to build confidence amongst your leadership!

I hope these tips and tricks make you a more effective voicemail communicator!

Need help organizing your email?  Check out Dot Connector’s 3-part email organization series.