Spring Cleaning Your Work and Your Life
by Michelle
LaBrosse, PMP®, Chief Cheetah and Founder, Cheetah Learning
April is a great month for the project
manager in all of us. We can look back at the first three months
of the year and assess where we are with our projects both at
work and at home.
When we think of the words “Spring Cleaning,”
many of us tend to think of taking large garbage bags and doing
a purge of the clutter in our lives. While that is tempting, the
old garbage bag approach is just a quick fix and doesn’t address
why the clutter is there. Instead, we want to develop long-term
solutions that help you keep your projects moving along and make
sure you enjoy the success you deserve.
Here are my seven favorite tips when
I look at applying my knowledge of Project Management to the notion
of Spring Cleaning.
1. Probe the Pile
If there’s always a pile (or multiple ones!) in your workspace
or home, the question is what’s in the pile? When you actually
sort through a pile, you’ll find the answer to a missing link
in your system. For example, if you sort through a large pile
on your desk and there are several articles that you want to read,
receipts that need to be scanned and a lot of unopened mail, the
question is – do you have a system for dealing with each of those
things? Create places and systems for the clutter in your life,
and it will disappear.
2. Think Before You Print
Electronic filing systems are not just green, they really help
you to keep your projects on track. If you’re constantly printing
out paper before you’ve made a decision on how to act on that
document, you may just be printing out of habit and not because
you need to. Pause before you print, and you’ll find less paper
to distract you, and you’ll only have what you need in front of
you.
3. Cultivate Everyday Actions
Spring Cleaning really can’t be a once-a-year activity. For you
to be effective, you have to cultivate everyday actions. If you
look at your project goals, what is the most important thing you
can do today to move you closer to that goal? When you talk to
authors, they almost always talk about the importance of writing
everyday. Even when they are not writing a book, they continue
to exercise the muscle so it’s supple and ready. What do you need
to be doing every day to meet your goals and to make sure you’re
not just taking stock of your progress once a season? Make milestones
an important part of every project – no matter the size. Everyday
actions are what connect today to your long-term goals.
4. Right Brain Meet the Left
Brain
Cleaning is not just about “clearing the decks.” It’s also about
cleaning up misunderstandings and aligning a team. One thing that
works very well on teams is to assign two polar opposites to each
other with the sole mission of learning about each other. Assign
your resident neat freak to work with your resident master pile
maker. Their assignment is to spend a day working together and
observing each other. How do they each do their jobs differently?
At the end of the day, what did they learn from each other? The
point you want them to understand is that everyone contributes
differently and uniquely to a team, and we all can learn from
each other when we make the time to do it.
5. Remove the Clutter from your
Mind
When I’m managing teams and I see that someone is not performing,
it’s often because there is something bothering them that is taking
up a lot of energy and cluttering their mind. Life can throw us
all curve balls, so this happens to the best of us. The key is
to remove that clutter as quickly as possible. Is there a tough
conversation that you’re dreading and you keep putting off? Is
there a conflict on your team or in your family that you haven’t
resolved? Ask yourself what’s taking up too much space in your
own personal hard drive and delete it as soon as possible. Nothing
feels more liberating and spring-like than to be on the other
side of something you’ve been thinking too much about.
6. Take the Hoover to your Relationships
Spaces are not the only things that require Spring Cleaning. Relationships
do, too. Sometimes when we get too busy, we neglect the care and
feeding of our relationships with our team members and family
members. If there is someone who’s been on your mind, now’s the
time to make that call and have that discussion. Is there a team
member who isn’t working well on your team? Now’s the time to
clear the air and find out why. Are you in a rut at home with
your family? Surprise them and break out of your routine. Small
changes can speak volumes to the people you work with and the
people you love.
7. Reward Yourself
Once you have your personal and professional house in order, don’t
forget to reward yourself. Whether it’s an online course at Cheetah
Learning to put you on the fast track or a day off to be a tourist
in your own town, take the time to recognize your own achievements.
PMP is a registered trademark of
the Project Management Institute.
About the Know How Network and
Cheetah Learning
The Know How Network is a monthly column written by Michelle
LaBrosse, the founder and Chief Cheetah of Cheetah Learning. Distributed
to hundreds of newsletters and media outlets around the world,
the Know How Network brings the promise, purpose and passion of
Project Management to people everywhere. Visit www.cheetahlearning.com
to learn more about Cheetah PM, the fastest way to learn about
Project Management and get your PMP. You can also get your career
in gear with CheetahWare, free Project Management tools from Cheetah
Learning.
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About
the Author
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is the founder of Cheetah Learning, and
author of Cheetah Negotiations and Cheetah Project Management.
The Project Management Institute, www.pmi.org, recently selected
Michelle as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management
in the World, and only one of two women selected from the training
and education industry. She is a graduate of the Harvard Business
School’s Owner President Managers (OPM) program and also holds
engineering degrees from Syracuse University and the University
of Dayton. Cheetah Learning is a virtual company and has 100 employees,
contractors, and licensees worldwide.
Her articles have appeared in over 100 publications from around
the world. Her monthly column, the Know How Network is carried
by 400 publications, and her monthly newsletter subscription list
includes more than 50,000 people. To date, more than 30,000 people
have become “Cheetahs” using Cheetah Learning’s innovative Project
Management and accelerated learning techniques.
Michelle has been
running her company virtually for the past 20 years. She has grown
the company 100 fold in the past 20 years, and she credits her
success to using the Cheetah Project Management method to better
manage both people and technology. Michelle’s mission is to help
people achieve great results, FAST, by making it fast, easy and
fun to learn and do Project Management.
She lives in Nevada
with her family and likes to rejuvenate in Alaska where you’ll
often find her kayaking, golfing or hiking.
