I find that there are many ways to learn. I hope to provide some insight on the ways that I learn, share knowledge, and be a great community citizen to the web.

PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR THE DATA

I am often asked to provide charts of data, tables of information, and bullet point lists though the week. I just put together a basic bar chart in Excel (Select your table and hit the F11 key) a few hours ago. Today’s topic in communication is making sure that the data meets the context of how it is being used. Let’s face it, most people can manipulate facts to serve whatever message they are trying to get across. I am not suggesting that this is either good or bad. You may have heard the saying “Let the facts speak for themselves”. I would like to change this up a bit

MEETING COMMUNICATIONS

As I was reviewing the email for the last time in the day, I received four meeting requests, all with no agenda and ambiguous titles. My initial response was to just decline without any reason. After a hard pause, I decided to be more civilized fashion and at least respond with a couple of questions. The Response I noticed you have scheduled a meeting with no agenda. So that I can be better prepared, could you please help me with the following information:

OUR NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION MATTERS

One day I received feedback after a meeting took place. My manager graciously let me know that my opinions on various topics were well communicated. There was only one problem, I didn’t say a word. My body language, facial expressions, and the way I made eye contact with others was truly transparent and exposed for all to see. I constantly have to work in meetings to make sure that my non-verbal cues are appropriate for the time and location.

THE 5 W'S OF GIVING FEEDBACK

I am a person who is always looking for feedback, constructive criticism, and critique about my life, work, and abilities. This keeps me humble to grow, hungry to learn, and happy when the feedback helps. On the flipside, I am not shy about giving back in these mediums to others. I have distilled some core truths into the 5 W’s that must happen for the information one shares to be effective.

THE PURPOSE OF FEEDBACK

This was a poem I created a couple of years back around how we shape purpose in our lives. Feedback becomes an essential component. In the last few months, I really have been focused on getting clarity of purpose and have shared a lot of my thoughts to garner feedback. It has been a very healthy and productive exercise. Now when I read the words below, I am really encouraged that feedback is making me into a better person and one of purpose, leading a life that is of significance. Let me know after reading your thoughts on feedback and purpose and how they fit together.

COMMUNICATE YOUR VISION (UPDATED)

When was the last time you looked at the Vision, Mission, and Values of your company? Maybe you have them memorized and they come out in every part of your being. If so quit reading now. For the other 99.9999% of us keep reading as the vision definitely needs focused on. Dusting off the vision statement Read the most recent company vision statement. What grade would you give yourself on pursuing the vision? I must say when I did this, I didn’t get a high mark. It is one thing to have a vision out there, quite another to pursue it. Each employee should have the responsibility for understanding what that vision is, but the accountability of the visionary pursuit falls upon the leadership of the organization.

AVOIDING DEATH MARCHES ON SOFTWARE PROJECTS

The death march towards the release date has begun. The email just went out to ask for “volunteers” to put in a few extra hours this weekend to complete a couple rounds of testing before sending it over the wall for user testing. The project manager is trying to herd cats to get a complete status before the leadership team goes on “holiday”. The developers are questioning why leadership isn’t going to be in on the weekend and what does volunteer mean anyways. It will be frowned upon if they don’t show up.

SO YOU REALLY WANT TO TAKE A VACATION

The Christmas holiday season is upon us and people are taking time off to visit friends and family or just taking a well-deserved rest. The last thing that anyone wants on holiday is to be interrupted by work. However, for many of us, the connected world is just too darn connected and people tend to think we are always available. We see the “urgent” response required email and no matter if we try to put it off, it will nag us until we complete a response.

BOUNDARY MANAGEMENT

The project was already 1 week behind schedule according to the customer. I tried to find the humor in that assumption since the project was only 1 week old. Couldn’t they read the milestones and our current sprint plan? I could hear the voices in my head crafting up the blame game quips and quotes already. I mean really? Do you think the team has just been sitting around? I did my best form of Adam Sandler’s rendition of meditation in Anger Management and suddenly the true problem hit me.

30 DAYS OF INTENTIONAL LIVING - RECAP

My thirty days of intentional living posts are finished!