No matter how intent we are at trying to deliver a project on time all the time, there will always be causes for delay that are due to forces that are beyond our control. The possibility of delay can stem from various reasons, some of them are terrible lack of foresight, some are due to bad time management, some are blessings in disguise, and some are just dumb luck.

 

No one has managed the perfect project. You know, that one project where everything falls neatly into place at every single milestone. The one where not a single deadline was missed along the way. One where every task was completed and every report was handed in on time. Have you  ever had a project that went by so smoothly that you felt it was too perfectly surreal? Yup, I didn’t think so.

That is every project manager’s dream – to be able to deliver EVERYTHING on time. But the reality is, there are projects that are so big, there are just too many tasks and too many dependencies to manage all at the same time. With a massive juggling act going on, some balls are bound to fall from the air. Keeping them all up to be delivered just in time is an almost impossible task.

When we plan our tasks or our projects, we don’t usually plan for them to go off the rails. We plan to stay on track all the time, to reach those small milestones, to accomplish those goals, to deliver those reports, to hit the critical deadlines. But then you discover that you have underestimated some task and have overestimated your capabilities.

So now you find yourself missing the deadline and being unable to deliver the project on time. How do you get out of this mess? The simple answer is that you turn the project in late. Let’s face it, you missed the deadline and unless you push it back and work overtime, you’d have to turn the deliverables in late.

If you absolutely have to turn in a project late, apologize to the client profusely and try to reassure the client that this will not happen again. You have to acknowledge that you missed the deadline and the resulting delay as soon as possible. Act as quickly as you can to mitigate the consequences. Accept responsibility, avoid blame, and always be ready to respond. Offer reasons for the delay but NOT excuses. Be honest, fair, and tactful. Saying that you had challenges in obtaining the data is very different from saying that a team member did not send in the report on time.

You have to sound like you had the whole thing under control at all times, even if that isn’t true. Offer alternatives and suggestions on how you  could’ve handled the delay better (e.g. better time management, more resources  etc.). Communicate with your client. Hurdles like these are unavoidable and keeping communications open and honest will make your business relationships stronger.

Ok, so that’s that, water under the bridge. Let’s not worry about the delayed project anymore. Let’s move on and try to do better the next time. The key is to strive to actually deliver on time from this point forward.

Here are some tips on how you can achieve the perfect project – you know, the one where we actually deliver everything on time.

Give Yourself Realistic Deadlines: Remember what they always say in business? Don’t overpromise and under deliver. Understand this: deadlines bring clarity to a project. They are goals and benchmarks for business. Deadlines are not some arbitrary dates on a calendar. Stop yourself from agreeing with unreasonable client deadlines. No one else knows the project and the gravity of the tasks involved as well  as  you do. So, if you know it’s going to take a while to deliver a knockout project – ask for time!

Gather Your Resources: In this case, you must gather the right resources. Also, be extra prepared and take a look at alternatives as well. Don’t spend a lot of time nitpicking and dwelling on alternatives though. You have to have a concrete plan and a lot of faith in your original plan. How exactly does this work? So let’s say your plan is to deliver 10 articles in the next three days. Create a  schedule and plan to carve out time to write 3-4 articles per day. Gather your resources and get right to work instead of relying on a backup plan like rehashing your old articles or completely missing the deadline.

Murphy’s Law: Murphy’s Law states that: anything that can go wrong will go wrong. And in most cases, it is most likely to go wrong at the most inopportune time possible. So be ready for Murphy’s Law and expect the unexpected. Pad your schedule for delays. You can never predict what will  cause the delay, but you can be ready when delays happen. So allow for some breathing room when planning your project or task and schedule wisely. Be sure to identify all dependencies, needed resources, benchmarks, goals, and needed key information. Incorporate them into a workable schedule.

With these tips, I hope you never miss another project deadline. Do you have tips to share? Let me know in the comments. As always, remember to: Stay Humble, Hustle Hard. Good luck!

 

Written by Jaie O.- The Help

 

As the cliche goes: the only thing constant in life is change. We go through it all the time. It is how we grow.  For example, we are not the same person we were yesterday. Nor are we the same person we were an hour ago, a minute ago. We know we must embrace change as part of growth.

In our career, we all go through change like babies go through diapers – sometimes messy and always needed. A lot of changes happen in the course of one’s career: job changes, workload changes, career shifts, role changes, management changes etc. Let’s talk about a change in management – specifically those that we did NOT sign up for.

We spend almost ⅓ of our lives at work and changes at work are among those that have an overly huge impact in our lives. Most of them big changes that in the long run benefit us for the better, while some of  them are changes that are so small, we won’t be able to notice their impact. Some make us really think about the next few chapters in our life. Changes that are so major that they shake, rattle, and affect all aspects of your life. Changes that you do not agree with. For example, what do you do when your new boss is someone you know you can not work with?

First off, you have to look introspectively and be really honest with yourself. Is this a major hurdle to your career? Would it be something that you can work with, something you can manage? What are the reasons why you think this change would not work? Be really specific here. It could be that you do NOT trust this new leader, or you do not think he or she is competent enough. Next, rate your reasons. Is trust an absolute deal breaker or can you work with and around the issues? File your reasons under negotiable and non-negotiable.

If you find that you are willing to give the new leadership a shot (hopefully, not quitting your job trumps your issues with change management) then have a plan in place to help yourself counter the demotivation and gain workplace momentum.

Give change a chance and work more closely with your new boss. Try to understand the way they work and give them insights into the way you work. If you find that they clash, be pragmatic about it. Clashing work styles are not a bad thing – on the contrary, both you and your boss get to see a different perspective, another way of doing things. Take the lessons and leave the conflict.

Make sure that they are on board with your work goals. Tell them early on what you want to achieve and what they can expect from you. In return, let them know what you expect from their leadership, for they too have a responsibility in your career growth. Much like you want to support your boss and your company’s goals, he or she too should be able to support your career goals.

Nothing in any HR manual in the world prohibits you from managing your boss as much as they manage you. So learn how to manage your boss. There is only ONE person who is ultimately responsible for your career – that person is YOU. Until next time: Stay Humble, Hustle Hard. Good luck!

 

 

Written by Jaie O. – The Help

No one wants to wish it on others. One of the hardest thing anyone has to go through is loss. But at one point in our lives, we all have experienced loss. It could be the death of a loved one, the loss of a friend, or the end of an important relationship. When something we hold dear is ended or taken away, we experience grief.

Grief comes in many forms. Each person has a different way of grieving and each experience is as different as we are unique. There is one universal pattern though and we know all too well the five stages of grief.

The five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance are mechanisms that help us remember, learn, and move on from what we’ve lost.

These stages are NOT a linear progression of emotions that people go through one after the other to be able to get grief over and done with. Sometimes, we spend time circling over 2 or 3 of the stages or sometimes we get stuck on one stage, all with the goal of getting to that stage called acceptance.

After a loss, we all need to go through grieving. It is a necessary process that can’t be abbreviated. Life has it’s own timeline and, though we often don’t agree with it, we have to respect it. Experts say grieving is often a many-year process. But let’s face it, a lot of us don’t have the luxury of waiting years to return to work, school, or the rest of our lives. So we’re forced to jump back into life well before we’re emotionally ready.

But we have to do it, eventually. The world doesn’t stop for us even after it has taken away what we love. It will continue spinning and moving along – with or without us. So we would have to learn to get back on it and join the rest.

We can’t all afford the luxury of taking unlimited time to grief and most often, work restrictions would only grant is a couple of days off of leave, paid leave if you’re lucky.

So listen. And listen well. Listen to your body. Listen to your heart. Don’t suppress your emotions. Many people throw themselves right back to work in the hopes of speeding up the grieving process.

Don’t just throw yourself back into work and hope that it gives you some semblance of normalcy fast. There is a right way and right time to grieve and only you can figure out how and when that is.

Don’t spread yourself too thin. Someday, even the smallest tasks can be overwhelming. You are going to need the help of family, friends, and co-workers.

Just remember, be kind. To yourself, to others… kindness in general will help with grief. Let other people help you. Let them rally around you in your time of need. Consequently, when you know someone who is going through grief, rally around them for support.

After everything has settled, there will still be bills to pay, deadlines to meet, people to call, stuff to do. No one can operate on robot mode for the rest of their lives. We would have to pull ourselves up.

In the end, we all want to get to that golden gate of acceptance where we can finally be at peace and start to move on. As always, remember to: Stay Humble, Hustle Hard. Good luck!

 

 

Written by Jaie O. – The Help

 

We should never stop finding our own way. This is how we grow and develop into the person we hope to becoming. Learning should not stop after leaving school and life teaches us so much more than what we could learn in the confines of the four walls of a classroom.

Planning a career is usually the next in our to-do list after leaving the learning institution. We frequently forget about career planning once we have secured work or begin a job. But career planning is something that should be done on a regular basis. Whatever point you are in your career, just starting out or established, it is never too late to start or revisit career planning.

Career Planning is not something to be dreaded and is really not a hard activity. It should actually give you a sense of fulfillment and direction and add a little bit of structure to your life.

1. Make it a regular event – best if you can do it annually. Look at old goals and stack them against your current accomplishments. Cross off all those you’ve achieved and plan on how to achieve those goals that you haven’t gotten around to doing yet. We do a number of things on a regular basis, dentist check ups, tax filing, general house cleaning. Why don’t we do that for our careers? Start a habit of revisiting your previous plans and making this a regular annual event.
2. Map it out – When you first plan out your career, either in your mind or more formally, on paper, you map out the job and the steps you need to take to be successful at it. Say you want to be a writer. You carry out the steps by taking classes in order to learn about writing or to improve your writing skills. Next step is to intern for a publication. Next Step is to acquire a job and so on and so forth. This exercise doesn’t stop once you’ve secured that writing job. You should ask yourself: what is the next step? How do I get better? Map out the next step and adjust accordingly.
3. Look at your current skill set – sometimes, the need for Career Planning arises because we feel burned out due to our current workload. Or maybe, things at work become so stressful that we think of looking for another job. Every job requires certain skills but everyone’s skill set is unique. To successfully plan for Career Growth, you would have to look into your arsenal of transferable skills or skills that you can use to gain entry into another career. Skills like editing, researching, translating etc. are extremely useful killer skills that can be useful in any industry. Work on acquiring skills that are universally useful alongside specialized ones.
4. Set Goals – Goal Setting is the most important part of professional growth. Without a goal you will be as lost as when you first stepped out of school and had no idea where to begin. Can you be successful without them? Sure. But it’ll be a whole lot easier if you had them in the first place. Career Goals are the anchor with which you base all career paths and decision making so make them count.
5. Start now – what’s stopping you? Don’t wait too long. Take a quiet day off, sit down with good music and your favorite drink and contemplate your career growth. Are you where you want to be right now? What else can you do? What else can you achieve? Don’t just keep those thoughts to yourself, write them down on paper. Finished? There you go – a Career Plan, a road map to professional growth. Revisit that document often when needed and get on track to career success and remember to: Stay Humble, Hustle Hard. Good luck!

 

 

Written by Jaie O. – The Help

 

How do you know if you’re stressed? Most of us have a “tell” – that’s poker speak for signals that disclose your cards. In this case, a Do you sweat a lot? Is your heart racing, like you just ran up a flight of stairs? Do you feel an itch at the back of your throat signalling an impending illness?

When we’re stressed, hormones like cortisol flood our systems, producing the “fight or flight response” making our heart rate goes up, and forcing us to breathe more heavily since we require more oxygen as our blood vessels constrict. This is our stress response.

Alternatively, we have a relaxation response which is the reverse of the uncomfortable things listed above: our heart rate goes back to normal and our breathing slows down as we use less oxygen. Our blood pressure decreases too.

We don’t really have a choice over what triggers our stress response but there are ways to manage and undo it’s effects. Here are five ways that you can decompress and get your stress levels down:

Take a big breath and repeat:

Yes, simple as that. However, there is a proper way to do it. Yogis and Yoginis swear by a deep breathing technique to help clear the mind and calm the body down. I have discussed some meditation techniques earlier in the article “A Mind Full of Light”. The article broadly discusses some tips on how you can start meditating.

Need another reason to get started on meditation? Deep breathing exercises help reduce stress and relieve tension just by giving you an extra boost of oxygen.

Take a walk:

Walking clears your head by putting your body into a state of meditation, specifically via a phenomenon known as “involuntary attention”. This is the act of engaging in an activity that allows for reflection all while doing something that holds our attention. Walking also gives you a boost of endorphins, you know those feel good hormones released when you exercise.

Day dreaming Day dreamer:

Try this while sitting at your desk, waiting for your food, hiding in an empty conference room – or wherever you feel less self conscious: visualize a calming scene in your mind’s eye. Picture the scene vividly and in the most accurate detail you can picture. Try these as visualization prompts:

• A sunny day at the beach with clear blue skies and clear waters.
• A fun future vacation with family or friends.
• A mountainside getaway with lush forests and hot cocoa.
• Going on a movie and dinner date with your celebrity crush.
• Completing a pet project.

Now, once you’re done doing that, don’t you feel so much better? Visualizing happy scenes recognizes the power of “guided imagery” to bring on a relaxation response. Simply put, dreaming about something happy makes you happier and therefore, less stressed.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation
The Huffington Post outlines the steps to Progressive Muscle Relaxation with this: “Start with your toes and work your way up: tighten your foot muscles as much as you can, then relax them. Make your way up, tightening and relaxing each muscle until you’ve finished with your face. It may seem silly, but this practice can help reduce anxiety and stress and is often recommended to patients who suffer from depression and anxiety disorders”.

And last but not least…

Finding the Funnies:
A good laugh is the most awesome ever relaxation technique. The Mayo Clinic explains that “Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain”.

Counter intuitively, laughter first activates your stress response and then deactivates it, creating a kind of “roller coaster” that leads to a feeling of relaxation and boosts your endorphin. We love endorphin!

So go ahead, watch those viral funny cat videos. Read the newspaper funnies. Pick up a funny book or comic. You’ll feel so much better after a good hearty laugh. As always, remember to: Stay Humble, Hustle Hard. Good luck!

 

 

Written by Jaie O. – The Help