September 27th, 2011
I have always advocated to own your own online identity (elizabethhouck.com doh!) or someone else will. This is a great example of why:
http://blog.spreadingsantorum.com/2011/09/were-number-one-were-number-one.html
“Has anyone Googled Santorum recently? Because I just did, and it looks like we made it back to number one. I’m not sure when we did it, because I have been less then diligent lately. Poor Rick actually has to pay to have a link above us. Sucks to be him.”
March 25th, 2011
How many hats do you wear? Team Leadership; Roles and Responsibilities
In my first post on cross-functional teams, 5 Keys to Successful Cross-Functional Team Management, I outlined the 5 keys needed for successful cross-functional team management: Goals, Roles, Responsibilities, Accountability, and Reward. My second post addressed the first of those keys: Cross-functional Team Leadership in Startups and SME’s: The First 5 Keys – Goal Setting for Success.
In this post I will address the second and third keys in this series: Roles and Responsibilities — how to define, track and measure them.
When it comes right down to it, the first two roles (hats) any team member wears besides their functional area hat are Team Member and Deliverable Owner.
Team Member because unless you understand that the first thing you do for the team is show up as a contributing member of the team, you are not on a team. Owner because unless you own your participation with personal responsibility and deliver on those responsibilities, you can’t come to the team table.
So, what does that say about titles like Executive Sponsor, Engineer, Sales, Business Dev., QA, Compliance? It says that you know what your job is and how your skills contribute to the success of the Product/Project/Team you are on.
That being said, you have to know your functional responsibilities, and these must be focused and actionable. By focused, I mean you are clear on what tasks you have to accomplish. By actionable, I mean they are specific and measurable, which includes status, inter-dependencies, schedule, issues and potential risks.
The following Hat Template can be used help you define each team member’s participation and can be tracked to plan. Click on the form to download/save a spreadsheet version. Feel free to copy, edit, and distribute it.
Hat/Role: Designates your particular role, be it employee, engineer, contributor, reviewer, manager, marketing, etc.
Deliverable: Denotes your task and/or deliverable – is this tracked in the MRD/PRS?
Current Status: Green, Yellow, Red, complete – if you don’t know what this means, you shouldn’t be reading this post.
Dependencies: Items that could potentially keep you from completing the task. One of the more important aspects of cross-functional team interaction is managing the gaps and expectations in and amongst team members.
Due/Done: Are you on schedule; is item tracked on a master schedule?
Issues: Anything that could jeopardize completing the task, be it supply chain, equipment, non-performers, or vacation schedules.
Risks: Provides snapshot of project status and gaps.
The most important thing about the above document is that it be completed and maintained by the team member either directly or via the team leader or project manager. This document should be easily accessible to all team members via a team portal, AND, should not be more complicated than what you are trying to accomplish. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Coming next: Accountability – how to manage people when no one is a direct report!
March 1st, 2011
Yummmy.
Okay, this is more than one word. I like – ne- love a good cuppa joe. My current fav is an Woman Owned Ethiopian Coffee Ethiopia Amaro Gayo
This exceptional coffee is exported through Ethiopia’s only female
miller/exporter, an exceptional woman. Asnakech Thomas is one of the
most inspiring figures in Ethiopian coffee today. Native to the Amaro
region, Asnakech decided in 2005 to return to her homeland to improve
coffee quality at her mill and in local communities.She is one of the
few people to travel weekly between Addis and the coffee areas. The
Amaro Mountains are a small range separating the communities of Amaro
on the eastern slopes from Nechisar National Park and the lowland
tribal areas of Arba Minch in southwest Ethiopia, Sidama region. The
local coffee varieties, relatively light population, waterfalls and
highland bamboo forests are among the many unique features of the
area.
All Amaro Gayo coffee is certified organic. Prices paid for this
coffee are at the extreme high end of market, social programs are in
the works including possibilities for assistance with capacity
building and coffee job creation, schools, clean water and medical
care.
Altitude: 5200 feet
Processing Method: Natural
Grade: Strictly Hard Bean
Species: Arabica
Cup Characteristics: thick body, chocolatey, dried banana &
blackberry. sweet rich chocolate aftertaste, very clean and consistent
February 19th, 2011
Okay, so, I’m a lowly candidate for Ski Patrol. And, a National Ski Patrol at that – which means we are volunteers… Training is tough, in fact it is the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done. Our trainers say this candidate class isn’t very good, but it’s not for lack of trying. I’m on the hill by 7am, dressed in uniform and ready to go by 7:20, morning meeting, safety topic, hill status, work to be done, and at the top of the hill by 8:15am. Then it’s the grunt work also known as ‘zone work.’ We put out the slow signs, benches for the snow boarders, check every run, check every piece of bamboo on the hill, tighten or put up rope lines, check every sign and lift tower pad; check every sled pack and pull out all the sleds to be positioned at the top of every major run, working until 9 or 9:30, when we begin sled training for three or so hours, then if we are lucky we get 15 minutes for lunch, and then it’s an afternoon of medical scenarios, in the snow, until 3:30pm when we start closing the hill – starting with the backside, checking every run, taking down sinage, calling out for straggelers, etc. then the front side – this last until about 5pm when we head in change back in to civilian duds and head down the mountain – reaching the bottom of the hill about 5:30pm. Oh yeah, we do this in ski boots.
Bathroom breaks- if you are lucky, but be prepared to ‘drop trou,’ behind a tree, if you can steal the time. If something is wrong don’t even think about speaking up or complaining because you will be immediately shut-up, followed by some kind of hazing. And, don’t ask for help because you will be put down and put in your place, followed by some kind of hazing… Did I mention we are volunteers??
February 15th, 2011
updating test
February 15th, 2010
He learned this trick – does it 99% of the time under all circumstances. It’s a great party trick and works really well when panhandling for treats…
February 5th, 2010
http://www.meetup.com/PM-PM-SIG-SiliconValley/calendar/12525411/
Companies highly value the experience and skill of project managers who can work across all departments in an organization. How many times have you seen “ability to work cross-functionally” in job ads? As project managers, the more we understand how to manage cross-functional teams and how to encourage collaboration, the more successful we are and the more successful our projects will be. Learn the fine points from Elizabeth Houck as she presents her five-key methodology (Goal, Role, Responsibility, Accountability and Reward) for dealing with such teams.
SPEAKER: Elizabeth Houck, Principal, Blue Egg Partners
Elizabeth Houck is an innovative senior marketing professional with more than fifteen years of experience in all phases of product management, including technology product research and development and go-to-market strategy.
Currently a Principal of Blue Egg Partners, she provides consulting services in cross-functional team leadership that enable her clients to bring products and services to market on plan and within budget. Ms. Houck holds a BCS degree from the College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has completed UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Product Management Certification and is also a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).
MEETING FORMAT
7:00am – 7:50am Networking & Registration
7:50am – 9:00am Program Presentation
Complimentary coffee, tea and soda with meeting admission. Join us 7-8am for a no host breakfast.
February 2nd, 2010
February 1st, 2010
Expectations are an interesting thing. My father always said, not having too many was a good thing. I agree. Thanks Dad.
