August 2008 "Hot Button" Survey Results

Our August survey asked what is your best PM effectiveness tip.

No quantitative scores from this survey, just plenty of great advice from your peers. Here are our favorite excerpts. Comments fall into these categories:

Relationships
"Earn the respect of difficult co-workers by getting to know them on a personal level. Learn about their family, passions and hobbies and make it a point to ask them about it on a regular basis. It will help you see them as a 'normal' person and make progress on improving your business relationship."

"Attend the traditional Dale Carnegie 12 week course How to Win Friends and Influence People. It helps with managing people and stresses. Being direct and honest with my team members has reduced our stress overall. In addition, my example has helped them learn how we can work together more effectively, rather than emotionally."

"I always try to see the situation from the other person's point of view. When in a conflict over a feature, I try to re-frame the conversation around the needs of the customer. Sounds simple, but it's easy to get caught up in 'being right' rather than doing the right thing."

Time management
"I get lists of actionable items written as nouns and verbs, i.e., reorder 90-day road map based upon new Sprint theme, so it's easy to dig into the next item."

"When really stressed, I write a to-do list, and if need be discuss priorities with my management/team. Then, I post my list so I can work to complete the items. When interruptions occur, as they frequently do, I stop what I'm doing and put my attention on the visitor/new item. I assess whether it can be addressed now or later. When the answer is 'later,' I identify time/place/goals and quickly schedule an appointment so that the item will not be forgotten and has proper importance placed upon it."

"My most successful strategy is to not be controlled by e-mail. Previously, I would spend the first 3 hours addressing issues that dropped into my Inbox. This would seriously affect the items on my To Do list. Now I scan my Inbox each morning for High Priority items, but I then proceed with my planned schedule. After lunch I review all messages and either address them at that point or add them to the following day's list. This allows me to control my own schedule, rather than being a slave to e-mail."

Self esteem

"For keeping my sanity: Keeping focused on Who I Am takes precedence over What I Do. Taking care to bring the best of me into the thorny issues will have deeper resonance and ultimate effect on organizational success than any technical mastery I bring to the table."

Thanks to everyone who responded and commented!