10 Quick Ways for Self-Development

Are you someone who likes to continually develop but there are times when firstly the budget isn’t there or secondly (and probably more frequently) you do not have the time to entertain it. At Turlon, we are one of the leading providers of project, program and portfolio management training and part of that is to develop individuals with regard to stakeholder management, personal growth and engagement skills. Very often, when working with our client, we often encounter the ‘not enough time to do it’ situation. This article is about highlighting some of the low-cost, quick and effective ways to still do self-development without the budget or the time. 

1. Pick up a new hobby. Beyond just you’re usual favorite things to do, do something new. Maybe a new sport you can learn? Examples could be rock climbing, football, canoeing, skating, etc. It doesn’t need to be a passion but something that is new and is exciting. Try it for a few weeks and then move on. 
2. Create a room for YOU. Your environment sets the mood and tone for you. If you are living in an environment that suits your temperament, you are going to be inspired every day. This may be about moving items around on your desk, changing the furniture layout, etc. The end result? An environment that you can relish and enjoy. 
3. Overcome your fears. All of us have fears. Fear of uncertainty, fear of public speaking, fear of risk … all our fears keep us in the same position and prevent us from growing. Recognise this and try to tackle them. For example if you have a fear of public speaking, take on a short assignment that will tackle this. Addressing it helps me to grow. 
4. Wake up early. Waking up early has been acknowledged by many as a way to improve your productivity and your quality of life. When you wake up early, your mindset is already set and ready to embrace the day ahead. 
5. Have a weekly exercise routine. Develop a routine that suits you, jog 3 times a weeks, go to the local park and watch a friendly game of football, do an activity (rock-climbing) that you normally wouldn’t do, etc. The point here is to have routine that suits you. 
6. Get out of your comfort zone. Being too comfortable doesn’t help us grow – it makes us stagnate. What is your comfort zone? Do you stay in most of the time? Do you keep to your own space when out with other people? Shake your routine up. Do something different. Expose yourself and see what happens. 
7. Ask for feedback. As much as we try to develop, feedback is the basis of development. Approach some friends, family or work colleagues that will no bias and can give their feedback objectively. 
8. Stay focused with to-do lists. Stay focused with the to-do list otherwise unproductive behaviors can seep in.  
9. Learn from people who you admire. Think about people you admire. These could be people in the public domain or some personal friends. These people reflect certain qualities you want to have for yourself too. What are the qualities in them you want to have for yourself? How can you acquire these qualities? 
10. Quit a bad habit and cultivate a new one. Are there any bad habits you can lose? And likewise are there any good habits to create. For example reading books, waking up early, exercising, etc. Is there any other new habit you can cultivate to improve yourself? 

Do you have the time and budget for the above, I will you decide. Some (if not all) of these challenges are at the core of personal development. Feel free to share your thoughts and if you have any other suggestions to add to the list, please share with us at admin@turlon.com.

PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition - Update

As you may know, PMI® are in the process of revising the Project Management Standard which is due for release in 2017. They have updated us with the news that we are all waiting for …. what is new in the 6^th Edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Guide? As a Registered Education Provider (REP®) with PMI®, we are delighted to share this.

So let’s summarise the upcoming changes / additions to the PMBOK® Guide:

1. Agile practices are to be incorporated into the PMBOK® Guide
2. There will be expanded coverage of agile and other adaptive and iterative practices. This will align proven, foundational project management concepts with the evolving state of the profession today.
3. Introductory sections and agile appendix are to be added to the standard
4. Addition of three introductory sections for each Knowledge Area, Key Concepts, Trends and Emerging Practices and Tailoring Consideration.
5. More emphasis on strategic and business knowledge and the PMI Talent Triangle™

Furthermore, PMI® also plan to publish a companion practice guide focused on agile. This is tentatively planned for the third quarter of 2017.

So what are the key dates to take into account?

• The Exposure Draft (Guide Section) will be available for comment from 8:00 a.m. EDT, 26 June 2016 to 5:00 p.m. EDT, 26 July 2016

Reference: - www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-exposure-draft.

• The initial draft English Version will be available (in pdf) in first quarter of 2017.
• The published version of the PMBOK® will be available during the 3^rd quarter of 2017 in English and 10 other languages.
• The PMP® exam certification updates are expected to occur during the 1^st quarter of 2018 as a result of the PMBOK® changes.

It will be exciting to see the revised Guide and how Agile is incorporated in and then to examine Agile focused practice guide. Read more details here at www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational-standards-exposure-draft

Tips to Managing Multiple Projects

How many of us have stood in the privacy of our office space, meeting room or personal environment and become anxious about the number of projects that we are asked to manage. Thinking to yourself, all along, that this throughput is not sustainable for your health and then we walk away thinking, ‘why did I ever say yes to project management’? At any one time, the average statistic is that you can be managing up to eight concurrent projects. This is certainly a high number and compounded by the fact that over 60% of these projects can be large and high-profile initiatives.

The reality of today’s market is that it is not realistic to expect project managers to manage one project at a time. Naturally, this is the ideal scenario and the advantage of being able to give the project full attention is very evident. However, the rate of change in projects, shows that project managers should be happy to run concurrent projects and get the job done. This to me is the reality that, in business today, project managers have to manage several projects at one time.

So accepting this, ask yourself the question, ‘how many projects can you manage’? Three, four, fifteen? This is our own personal choice (or directed by the business) and is dependent by the environment, capability and the project scale. It's not an easy question to answer but the more a project manager multi-tasks between projects, the more likely we are to forget where we are and what we are doing.

So what are some of the tips to managing multiple projects? This is simple stuff and not associated with the complexity of governance or culture but more associated with the mind-set of the project manager: 

• Tip 1: - Be pragmatic to understand what you can and cannot do. Learn to say no and recognise when enough is enough. It is important to stand your ground and focus on the need of the project and what you can contribute.
• Tip 2: - Every project needs to be managed and sometime shortcuts can be taken when time is limited Avoid taking shortcuts to take on more projects.
• Tip 3: - Be open to delegating part of your projects to others. You may not always agree with how they do it but better to get it done rather than be a perfectionist
• Tip 4: - Don’t forget the roadmap that shows the delivery date and dependencies. Without this, focus may not be maintained and clutter can be built up
• Tip 5: - Take time out and destress. Take up yoga, go for a jog or do whatever it is to remove the clutter from your mind.

So be careful not to become overloaded, overwhelmed and under-achieve. It can happen very easily, as project managers we have to react to the business priorities but at the same time we have to understand what is realistic and not.


At Turlon & Associates (www.turlon.com) we help companies develop project management competencies to meet their business needs.