Managing the toughest person
One of the most difficult and inconsistent people I’ve had to manage over the years has been…yes, you guessed it…me. As a project manager I’ve worked with all kinds, from the strong silent types to the prima donnas that can move the world with a finger…and make sure you know it.
The challenge truly comes down to how can you manage others effectively while still trying to manage the toughest person on your team?
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at various methods of organization. Paper to PDA and back again…GTD…Mind Mapping…Project Planning…you name it and I’ve probably tried it, left, and came back again. One thing we should always remember is that there is no single solution. Someone tells you there is…they’re selling something. You need to create a composite of ideas and techniques that work for you. Second thing is that these systems need to grow and adapt as you do. We’re beings of change and as such we think and act differently as time passes. Our systems need to do the same lest they stagnate and die, taking our organization with them.
I’ll share the successes and failures I’ve had with the various products, tools, techniques, and hair brained schemes in the ongoing quest to get stuff done, on time, under budget, blah blah blah.
Now…where’s my Moleskine? Speaking of…here’s a trick I use:
I have to track my time for billing purposes. One of the ways I’ve made this easier is by drawing a box next to each task for each hour I think the task will take me. I cross off the boxes as the time progresses until the task is done then I cross off the task. Now I can hear you already saying, “but I need to bill in (half hour, 15 minute) increments. This won’t work for me.” Eh, quit looking for reasons to not try. Just draw an X inside each box and color in the resulting triangles for each 15 minute segment you spend on a task. See? Problem solved.
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POSTED IN: management hack, productivity
1 opinion for Managing the toughest person
Fabio Aversa
Jul 25, 2007 at 10:47 am
Great suggestion!
Dave Seah made it even more organized, with his Printable CEO you can check out the Printable CEO template.
You can download the free .pdf at:
http://davidseah.com/archives/2005/09/23/the-printable-ceo/