Aug 2018 - McManus

Be sure to build, not break, your brand

24th Aug 2018

In recent years, there has been a definite trend towards “dressing down” in the corporate world, and not only on Casual Friday. It’s becoming rare these days to see men in suits and ties, and women in smart business suits; and many would applaud that, especially given South Africa’s climate. But, while there’s nothing wrong with dressing more comfortably; there’s also no harm in taking stock every now and then of whether you are taking it too far and damaging your own brand by doing so.

The old adage, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” springs to mind when one sees how some translate “casual” into work attire. Call me old fashioned, but holey jeans, flip flops and bare midriffs (no matter how toned) have no place in the business world.

Each of us has a personal brand and how we dress when we go to work is the personification of that brand. Your clothes, shoes, grooming and accessories tell your employer, colleagues and clients much about you and may even affect their perception of your skills and qualities.

A cursory Google search provides lots of evidence from researchers as to how you dress can actually affect your performance and even your mood.

According to the Reader’s Digest (quoting a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology), dressing in clothing that is associated with intelligence, like doctor’s coats or pilot’s uniforms, may not only make you look smarter but may actually make you act smarter too. Researchers gave doctor’s lab coats to subjects (none of whom were doctors) and then asked them to perform a series of complex tasks. Those in white coats made significantly fewer mistakes than the people in their street clothes. The scientists then repeated the experiment but this time gave lab coats to all the participants. However, they told half the people they were doctor’s coats while the other half were told they were paint smocks. Again, the people in the “doctor’s coats” performed better on the tests, which shows that it’s not just what you wear but also what you think of what you wear that matters.

As a contractor, you are constantly reselling yourself to clients. Make the investment in yourself and take the time to think about your image and what you are telling your clients and colleagues about yourself by the way you dress.

© Tony McManus, McManus Consulting. | Image created by Freepik.com.

Lessons learned often don’t get enough emphasis in project management

6th Aug 2018

All Blog Articles, Business Case Development

The well-known quote by writer and philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” certainly holds true in the world of project management.

According to the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), lessons learned are the learnings gained from the process of performing the project; and the purpose of documenting these is to share and use knowledge derived from experience to promote the recurrence of desirable outcomes.

Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Why then is more emphasis not placed on this valuable step in project management?

According to Tony McManus, MD of McManus Consulting, “documenting lessons learned is not a nice to have; it’s an imperative, without which a project manager’s (PM) future chances of failure are greatly increased”.

Often lessons learned are only reflected on during close out meetings, by which time people may well have forgotten what happened during the course of the project, or team members may have left. At close out, the team will probably already be thinking about their next project and may not be in the right headspace to put the current project under the microscope.

McManus recommends a lessons learned register which can be included as part of weekly meetings by asking the question, “what did we learn this week” throughout the lifecycle of the project.

“Keep a rolling log of lessons learned, give the team access to it and make sure that it is reviewed and included in the close out documentation and history of project so that, when a similar project is undertaken, others can learn from the previous experiences,” says McManus.

While many programs have a lessons learnt space, you can easily create your own. Be sure to make it accessible and encourage team members to record their experiences and observations. It’s important to involve the entire project team and approach the exercise from the right starting point. It should never be about blaming anyone for things that have gone wrong. Encourage everyone to share their successes and failures openly with the sole objective being to do it better the next time around.