Brianne Larson – Brianne Larson

5 ways you’ll surprise your team as a PM

Being successful in project management doesn’t come with a rulebook to follow. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. While there are standard duties and practices project managers follow in their roles, it’s about finding a PM style that works for you and your team, and then repeating what works. You’ll try out some things with great success, and then you introduce some things that flunk so hard you’re debating whether this is really what you’re meant to do. Those days can seem like the worst, but they are really important to help you grow.

When you’re new to an organization or just starting a new project in general, it’s nice to have some ideas in your back pocket to hit the ground running. I thought I’d share 5 ways you can surprise your team (in a good way) as a PM.

Pad the timeline. This may seem simple to do at the start of a project, but you have to work it in strategically. Once you know the due date you must deliver, you’ll work in an internal deadline at least a couple days before (maybe even a week). This internal deadline is the one you share with your team. If they make this deadline – great! You can fine tune and make any final tweaks before submitting the work. If it’s crunch time and the sweat is starting to drip, you’ll grace the team with a couple extra days to wrap up. Look how good you are at forecasting.

Another benefit to padding the timeline is being able to over deliver and make your team look good to stakeholders. You’ll keep things ahead of schedule and eyeballs will only see green!

End meetings early. Don’t you hate it when your day is back-to-back meetings? We’ve all been there, whether it’s a meeting heavy day or workweek. But as a PM, a simple thing you can do is try your best to end meetings early. Do this as often as possible in order to give your team breaks between what’s next on their calendars. Now, don’t cut out important topics just to cut out early – that’s not what I’m saying here. But keep your meetings efficient and agenda driven, and you’ll have some happy faces that don’t see you extending a meeting just to last the entire hour.

Only schedule meetings when you need them.
“We could have done this over email.”

This is another important rule of meetings – just schedule what you need. If it’s really just a touch base, you don’t need an hour. Honestly, you could probably cover what you need in 15 to 20 minutes. But if it makes you feel better, you can book a 30 minute meeting. Find ways to take things offline as well. Can you open a Slack channel for your stand-up? Is your really quick question actually a good one for email or instant message?

Meeting attendees have to be selective when it comes to their calendars. A good tip I got at a leadership conference was to work on reducing my meeting times by half when possible. If I was booked for an hour, could we cover it in 30 minutes? Letting people know what time I had to give helped them restructure their meetings and cover items over email or IM when possible.

Take feedback early and often. A retrospective doesn’t have to just be at the end of a project. It can happen after every major milestone, or halfway through. Take time to set these up to hear from your team. This is their chance to offer feedback for the group, and to make adjustments along the way.

If you’re really looking inward, consider setting up a survey to obtain feedback for yourself. While this can seem scary to ask people to rate your performance, you need this to grow. And your team is going to look up to you even more knowing you’re going to take that feedback and find ways to improve.

Be reasonable and realistic 100% of the time. There’s no better way to piss off your team members than to set unreasonable deadlines for them. Being cognizant of what people have going on at work and outside of work is important. A seasoned PM is skilled at estimating levels of effort for project work. Take this skill and set deadlines, goals and commitments that are realistic. Setting people up to fail shouldn’t be in your vocabulary. Set them up for success and then hold them to it.

Let’s face it – every project manager wants to make a good impression on their team. It’s nice to be liked! You’ll need to give yourself time to find what works: what your PM style is, and how that works for your team. Don’t be surprised if this changes project to project (or team to team). PMs have to be agile and open to change no matter what. Take these tips and see how they work for your next gig.

The unrecognized project manager

When a project comes together, the feeling of bliss followed by the release from stress is hard to beat. Team members congratulate each other on a job well done, and hopefully there is some excitement and praise from the client, too. With all the positive energy from closing the project, it’s easy to applaud others for their contributions.

“The design is amazing. You did such a good job showcasing their brand in your work!”

“The content is so much better than what they had. And it’s finally optimized!”

“We built some really cool features that will streamline the process. And so far, we haven’t had any major bugs pop up.”

All of these things are part of executing the project plan. They are the shiny objects that wow a client. But the one thing behind all of the planning, organizing and budgeting is the project manager. It’s easy to leave the project manager out of the final bits of praise; after all, what is shiny about project management?

As a project manager, I struggle with promoting the value of my work. I think too often, people assume project management is easy and not a huge investment of time. But what the world doesn’t realize is what it takes to be a ~~good~~ – scratch that – great project manager, and just how quickly a project can derail from a plan and budget before it even begins.

Undervaluing great project management

According to the Project Management Institute, organizations that undervalue project management see an average of 50% or more projects fail. With this rate, the importance of securing a great project manager for your company is imperative.

Sometimes it’s hard to notice great project management until something goes wrong. Managing risk is key to successful project management, and certainly something not all team members are watching out for. If risks lead to issues in scope, timeline or budget, the team can only continue on a successful journey if the project manager handles these things and directs the team on next steps and priorities.

In addition, working around constraints can be very difficult. Whether it’s timeline-related, task-related, tool-related…constraints are an obstacle.

Hand over the keys

I think project management is one of those things that sounds simple until you’re in the driver’s seat. The duties of a great PM hit a long laundry list, similar to long and drawn out job postings that are asking for a unicorn. Regardless of the type of project, a PM can be expected to:

Form a project plan
Write and produce project estimates and scopes of work (SOWs)
Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS)
Create a project timeline
Lead a cross-disciplinary team, promoting positivity and enthusiasm
Manage resources and concurrent project schedules
Control change
Manage risk
Develop project documentation
And more!

Project managers have to master many soft skills to be effective at their jobs as well, with communication being the most important (in my opinion). Fast, frequent and friendly. And while many people might consider themselves organized, it’s no match for the level that is required of a project manager. There is actually a shelf in my brain that is dedicated to organizing my projects.

Above all else, a great project manager must be agile and quick to catch any flying tennis ball. More and more companies are moving towards agile or an agile/hybrid approach, which means incremental and iterative change is welcome, and a project plan is just the base to get people moving.

Without a doubt, the success of a project should be applauded equally among team members. All should be responsible for the project going well (or going poorly). Behind all the deliverables of a project, project management is just one of those things that frequently goes unappreciated. But when you understand what is missed without a great PM, you never want to live without it on future projects.

The hardest goodbye to your dog

For the longest time, I dreaded the day we would need to put down our golden retriever, Tucker. Just thinking about it would fill my eyes with tears. I would think, “How can I live knowing he is no longer with us?” It was an extremely uncomfortable thought, and having been through a loss like it before, I deeply feared the event that was inevitable in my life.

Dogs are with us only for a short while. It’s not fair. It’s not fair that they come into our lives and make us love them so much, and then just as we have created so many fantastic memories, they get old, tired and sore. They always leave us too soon. When they leave us, it’s like losing a child or a sibling. At least for me, that’s how it feels.

Tucker the golden retriever — Happy smiles from Tucker

Dogs are such lovable creatures. A dog’s main goal is to please you. Your happiness makes their day! You develop the most special relationship–something that will never be replaced, not by another person, not by another dog. It’s one-of-a-kind.

Making the heart wrenching decision to say goodbye is the worst. You question it. Maybe make the appointment, then cancel. You’re waiting for the sign that it’s time. Should it be when he can no longer stand up? Or when he starts to go potty in the house? When he refuses to eat? You’re hoping your dog gives you some sort of sign so that you can justify your actions. In the back of your mind, you wish he would just choose his own time.

Tucker (whom I actually called Beau or Beaubi since I tend to develop quirky nicknames for my pets) is the second dog I’ve had to say goodbye to in my life. The first dog was a golden retriever named Duke. It doesn’t get easier, and the guilt doesn’t go away.

Tucker lived with my parents and was with me all through my 20s. While he was technically their dog, he was my baby. I raised him the summer before my sophomore year of college. I got up with him every night when he was a little pup. And let me tell you, he became a little duckling that truly thought I was his mother! Leaving for college in the fall was tough, but I was able to develop a bond with him that would last his entire life.

I look back on all those years and remember the moments I spent with Beaubi. He was my rock throughout my twenties. All the ups and downs. When I would cry (in secret), he would put all his weight on me and lick those tears away. He also did so many things that still make me smile.

When it’s time to say goodbye, you put a bookmark in your story, but you never get to finish it. Making memories is over. After it happens, this feeling of loss is overwhelming. Your dog is gone, but to top it off, you’re losing the opportunity for anything new in that path of your life. And I just want to keep writing pages of that story.

Dogs come and go too quickly. They are around just long enough to hit some major milestones in our lives. Then it’s their time to move on. Their unconditional love is so powerful and all you hope is that they know how much you love them in return.

Now that Tucker/Beau/Beaubi is in the magical place of doggy heaven, I feel like I’m handling things a little better than when I said goodbye to Duke. Maybe it’s just that I knew what was coming, and how I could better handle my emotions. But even though I’m staying strong, I do miss my boy. He was a good boy, like many other pups out there.

Here are a few things I loved about Tucker/Beau/Beaubi:

Early on, I let him sit in my lap while I sat on the floor. Fast forward to many years ahead: Hey, are you sitting on the floor? He would still attempt to sit in your lap! He was a big golden, around 89 lbs. (He might have been 91 lbs at times, shhh.)
When I’d be asleep in the morning, my dad would come up to my room to get Tucker to potty him and feed him breakfast. Tucker rarely left. He would wait until I woke up. And if he did leave, he’d run right back upstairs, barge through my dog, and jump on the bed. The lock on my door never worked after he decided to be a rhinoceros.
When my mom and I would walk the dogs together, Tucker demanded that I hold his leash. If my mom or anyone else tried to hold his leash, and I was on the walk with them, he would flat out stop moving or bite the leash until it was returned to my hands. He truly wanted to maximize any time with me.
Tucker loved bath time. I’d hand him a towel and he’d march up the stairs with it in his mouth.
Tucker also loved a baby pool. He’d splash and have fun in the water.
Tucker was a good boy in the car. He was quiet and stared out the window.
Lots of dogs liked Tucker. He must have had a very calming and neutral vibe to other dogs. I don’t think he ever got in a fight.
Tucker was a licker. Sometimes this can certainly be annoying, but I love a dog that licks. He was very affectionate. That’s probably my most favorite thing about him.

I wouldn’t be remiss if I didn’t comment on some naughty or mischievous moments from Tucker:

First thing, he was a stubborn dog. Oh my, so stubborn at times! Whether he wanted to turn around on a walk or not turn around and keep going, we just had to make sure he didn’t start biting his leash, because he bit through it many times.
Tucker ate poop. Yuck.
The phrase, “Take it nice” was derived from Tucker’s chomp when handed a treat.
I always wanted to trust Tucker off the leash. I could with his predecessor, Duke. But when I became too trusting, he’d see a deer and take off.
Beaubi Marie (full nickname here) had anxiety. This translated into him mouthing my arms a lot. In return, I would have bruises all along my arms. They were love bites! And gosh did they hurt. But I never let it bother me. I loved him so.

Through all this grieving I find myself at odds mentally, because I’m also grateful. I have a baby boy in my life (I’m a new mom) and that gives me a lot of gratitude. One story has stopped, but another one started just early enough for me to love hard on something else. Tucker was my first baby boy (in dog form). Having a (human) son is so wonderful for me during this time. And if 2020 isn’t already the year of unpredictable global events, having a baby is a blessing in life that I’m not taking for granted.

From Sioux City to Waukee: this is the Rhinestone Theater

Back in the day, my grandparents used to co-host a variety show with their friends in Sioux City. They’d get together every year or two to put on a night of fun. They would write their acts and practice leading up to the big night where they would compete for the “ham” award—a canned ham that would go to the best act of the night. They called it the Rhine-Stone Theatre, a name combining their last name, Rhinehart, and their co-host’s last name, Stone.

The Ham Award — The Stones (left) and the Rhineharts (right) deliver the “ham” award.

About 10 couples would get together for a supper of lasagna and many laughs. Everyone would arrive on time with little time for chit-chat. They wanted to perform and get the party started.

This is Waukee, IA, USA

My husband and I don’t host a lot of parties with big groups. The last time we went all out was our housewarming party! Like Jerry Gergich, we tend to turn in early after listening to a little Anita Baker.

But recently, we decided it’s time to do something that scares us. We will bring back the Rhinestone Theater (slight changes to spelling) to our basement and just be vulnerable! Comedy, music, drama—it will be fun! Will people show up? Do people even have interest in this sort of thing? What if no one wants to perform? Should we send out paper invitations? Should we prepare a four-course meal for the whole gang?

As Michael Scott said in The Office season 3 episode “Safety Training” as he was preparing to jump off the roof and onto a bouncy castle, “This is about doing, not thinking.”

Similarly for us, and also, very different for us, we knew we just needed to try it. Just do it. But to be honest, a lot of thought went into it. We wanted people to feel comfortable going outside of their comfort zones.

We decorated the basement with halloween lights (hosted in October) and random chairs we rounded up throughout our house. A cooler to hold the beers. A giant bowl for popcorn. And 10 caramel apples for that time of year.

Rhinestone Theater, Waukee, IA — All of the chairs in our house.

It was a good time. We had piano, saxophone, guitar, a dramatic reading and some jokes in our program. Josh and I were so relieved after the party, but also excited about hosting more in the future. The contagious after-effects of the night were delivered the next day via texts asking for the date of the next Rhinestone Theater. Did we just start something? Probably not. But we’ll see.

Bri and Josh playing piano and singing at the Rhinestone Theater — Bri and Josh singing and playing piano perfectly.

Preparing for this event, I couldn’t help but think a lot about my grandparents. They were fun people. I would have wanted to be their friend back in the day. Getting together with friends, writing skits, making costumes, indulging in lasagna. They had some good times.

ASSSSCAT: a night of comedic brilliance

Sitting five rows from center stage at Carnegie Hall, a rush of tingling sensation hits my finger tips as I enthusiastically clap my hands. In walks Amy Poehler, Matt Bessar, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. I was beyond excited leading up to this New York City moment, but this is surreal. This is crazy! Real life is giving me the ultimate treat.

And that treat is treated once more when I take a look at the program for the night:

Special guests Rachel Dratch and Horatio Sanz. Guest monologist Tina Fey.

So not only am I seeing the greatest and longest running improv troupe, ASSSSCAT, but I’m being delighted with those guests? GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. HANDS UP, HANDS DOWN, I DON’T CARE, JUST HANDS CLAPPING SO. VERY. HARD!

Ok, I’ll take it down two notches.

The show was incredible. It was creative and brilliant. So much funny. So much smart. I feel like short sentences here help show my tenor for the night.

Tina created monologues out of a random words and thoughts from the audience. The rest of the bunch improvised their hearts out. I witnessed so much comedic talent in those two hours.

Is it okay to call it a team sport?

What I love about improv is the team behind it. One of my improv worries is being asked to work around a word that I’ve never heard before. Or a topic that I have no knowledge about. There were some of those that night, but the scene didn’t start until everyone was on the same page. They were there for each other. No person was better than the other standing next to him or her. I think improv is the finest example of teamwork out there.

Nothing felt rushed that night. A scene would play out, and it was amazing to watch Amy carefully choose her words, slipping in breaks in the dialogue. Letting her fellow CAT take the lead, or put her in a silly situation, she embraced it all. Tina even joined a few scenes.

A night of pure entertainment. Josh and I got a ice cream cones after the show. I think they were $15. Worth it.

Image via ew.com

AHeinz57: a website redesign for our devoted companions

Josh and I finally did it. We got together and said, “You know what? We’re going to make this happen.” Laptops fully charged and paws freshly wiped, we successfully redesigned a non-profit website together!

This past weekend, we were super proud to launch the new website for AHeinz57 Pet Rescue & Transport. This is an organization led by a passionate and determined woman named Amy Heinz, and supported by a connected group of volunteers. AHeinz57 volunteers travel all across the midwest to transport dogs to other rescues, and then bring back others into their care. They then divide and conquer by housing some at their Pit Stop and many others in foster homes. Strays, dogs up for euthanization and owner surrenders end up in the hands of AHeinz57. Although their past lives may have been awful, the team is dogged on giving them the best new lives and finding them forever homes.

Our dog, Luna, came from AHeinz57. From the days we started searching, we would check the website and Facebook page for new additions. While the old website had a lot of information, it was not doing justice for the hardworking individuals that give many hours to the precious pups that need help. I knew that Josh and I could provide something much better, and not necessarily one of those “anything is better” situations. I knew we could plan this out and support something I find so important—BEING GOOD TO DOGS!

We started the project back in February of this year. Valentine’s Day 2017 was all about the love of dogs for us. I came up with a revised site architecture, which included recategorizing some pages and combining others that were duplicated. We also thought through the user top tasks and how to set content hierarchies, especially on the home page. With these ideas in tow, we had our initial meeting and walked away with a project!

User Top Tasks

The key tasks that users need to complete are:

Adopt
Volunteer
Donate

Adding three buttons directly below the home page hero image quickly accomplishes the visibility of these tasks, along with a new, clean look. The tasks are called out in the navigation as well, which should give users the easy ability to find the pet that is right for them, or a way to get involved with the organization.

Most users of this website spend time looking over the adoptables page, and to put it simply, Josh worked his coding whiz-magic to improve the user interface (UI) of the page. Let me just show you the tail wag-worthy improvement.

It sits nicely with us.

Website Goals and Objectives

Adoptables viewing experience

It’s simple enough to say that the pet viewing experience was a top priority. We wanted to achieve a smoother user experience (UX) for prospective adopters. Users can also now share links to AHeinz57 pets on social media, and the pet name will show up in the preview!

AHeinz57 is embarking on a million dollar capital campaign

Donations are so important to the organization right now. Construction has already started on AHeinz57’s new facility and they’re hoping to raise $1.8 million to cover the costs. We used the plugin Give to setup donations on the site and are impressed with its functionality and features. Users no longer have to ‘add a donation to cart’—modern day is good!

Events are scannable and mobile-friendly

One thing about using a traditional grid-style calendar is that it is very difficult to have a seamless mobile experience. We updated the calendar, now called events, to list out events with their appropriate color-coded category, and pointed AHeinz57 to EventBrite to manage events. Our hope is that the events page is visited often so people know what’s happening and when in the community.

This was a meaningful project for us to work together on, and we so appreciate all the help we got from the AHeinz57 team, especially Amy, Jen and Becky, among many others. Please visit the site www.aheinz57.com and consider adopting or getting involved. There are a lot of opportunities to give back to the pups that make our lives whole.

Playing the hand you’re dealt

Ever feel like your brain is in a rut? Ok, glad to hear it. Let’s play cards sometime.

Picture me: 14-year-old Bri, sitting at the kitchen counter top. Big bowl of ice cream. TV turned on to some secondary ESPN channel featuring the World Series of Poker.

It’s the big boys table. It’s poker on TV!

Growing up, I played Texas Hold’em for fun. Getting the chips out at family reunions was always a blast, and you’d learn something from the game every time, win or lose. Naturally, I amped up the dedication and started watching poker on television every day after school. It’s what you do when you really want to learn!

TV is your best teacher.

I look at life a bit differently now being in my upper twenties. I remember my 14-year-old self, not really knowing what the future would hold. I mean, why worry? Bowl of ice cream + TV means life is great! But now that I’ve got some young professional experience under my belt, I know that I have to treat life with the hand I’ve been dealt, and make the most of it.

See, poker is part playing the hand you’re dealt, but also part the game you want to play. Life is the same way, only your brain chooses how you want to live it.

Chronic pain issues and many sleepless nights have served me some boiling hot soup from my mid-teens to present day. Back then, I wouldn’t have known that it was just the beginning of a really odd life journey. Because chronic pain is really weird. Only you know how you feel, and let me tell you, lower back pain is a fighter.

“Have you ever tried chirotherapy?” – every person who hears I have low back pain.

Oh boy.

I’ve filled in these pain diagram charts more times than I can count. They’re really fun. But something that I never factored into all my pain was my brain. My soup bowl has been overflowing with all the “X’s”, slashes and dashes, and my brain has been holding it all in like a champ.

Lately, the champ status has been sinking as my brain has been a chirpy little bird reminding me how much it sucks. I know that it’s just the hand I’ve been dealt here in life. It’s a weird hand, that keeps me at the ready with Advil, ice packs, pain patches, special cushions…all the things. So I’ve got to play it the best I can. And you know what? I’m gonna keep playing!

Why I say “I love you” to my dogs

I talk to my dogs a lot. It’s my own language with them, full of english, some made-up words and weird phrasing. Let me give you some examples:

“Hi honey, are you being ‘a good’?” (Hello honey, have you been behaving?)

“Oh, Feen is bein’ a bean! He’s my Feen Bean!” (Finnegan is being a silly boy. He is like my “bean” and only he and I really know what that means.)

“Hee-yah!” (Here!)

“Criss criss criss!” (Let’s cross the street right here.)

Here’s a classic:

“Hey guys, no balls on the bed, no bones on the bed, no bites on the bed, no fights on the bed.”

That one actually translates exactly to English. Assume the “always be good” mantra, dogs!

They get me. I’m pretty sure of it*.

Now, there is one phrase that I make a habit of saying, and that’s “I love you.”

When you realize your dog understands a word or phrase that you say a lot, you get an amazing feeling. It’s a sense of accomplishment. Or, let’s be honest, it may be a made-up word in your english dictionary, but it’s a word you say when you mean that one thing that you (and just you) and your dog are on the same page about.

For those beginning years, it may be “sit” or “down.” And as your relationship progresses, more meaningful sentences will start to take root. But how exactly is your dog supposed to know that when you say, “I love you” that you really mean, “I love you”?

Consistency is key

A big part is the tone of voice you use when you say the word or sentence. I believe that it really doesn’t matter what you say to your dog. What matters is that you say the same thing in the same tone of voice every single time. Higher pitched tones are associated with more acceptance, while lower pitched tones are more threatening. You could praise your dog with, “Good boy!” in a high-pitched voice, or with, “Corn maze!” in an equally high-pitched voice. Being consistent is where he will learn what you like very quickly, and will make it his goal to hear the appropriate phrase after completing an action.

For something like, “I love you”, there is more meaning behind the words. What your voice does when you say “I love you” is special. Those three words aren’t meant for everyone to hear. If you mean what you say when you say it, your dog will soon find tranquility and pure bliss from your delivery. I usually follow it up with a great big kiss, too.

“I love you” is a very strong statement. Even if all the other glib glab I speak to my dog doesn’t really make any sense, and even if the words “I love you” don’t fully resonate with my dog, there is a sentiment behind the words that transcends. I say the three words because my dogs are my family. Quite simply, I do love them and I just don’t want to hold it back! And I also make it a point to say the words frequently so that it becomes common place. I know the feeling I’m trying to convey when I say the three words. My hope is that my dogs do as well.

*Who really knows. They’ve got hot, sometimes poopy, breath.

I just needed some Wisten Kriig

Sometimes you just gotta hand it to what you know. And what I know, is that Kristen Wiig is the most amazing of all.

Those who know me well know how much idolize Kristen and her abilities. Her characters and voices. Her silliness. Her smarts.

I’ve seen Bridesmaids more than I can even begin to count. I’ve lost track. (Sorry, I’m a fast moving Millennial and I will not be stopped!) In fact, at times I was watching the movie almost continuously. As in, I had the movie downloaded to my phone, tablet and laptop, as well as on blu-ray and DVD. I would watch it at home, waiting for class, at the gym, at the airport… I couldn’t get enough! Slash it was during a time when wireless passwords weren’t as loosey goosey at public places. And Netflix streaming wasn’t quite up to par! But, hold up. IT’S MY FAVORITE MOVIE.

Anyway, last weekend Kristen hosted SNL for the second time. The last time she hosted was in 2013, two years after Bridesmaids came out. And something occurred to me as I sat there and laughed and smiled throughout each sketch.

I’m smiling. No teeth, full force smile. From something I love.

It was good. I mean, I get smiles every day from my dogs, and of course, my Joshy. But, I needed those smiles from Kristen. They were long overdue smiles that I was craving like a chip and dip. I’ve realized, lately, how much I’m using my energy on things that really aren’t making an impact. It might be work, it might be people. It might also be me not doing enough. As my mom always says, “Use your energy for good” and “Don’t waste your energy.” Amy Poehler could not have said it better: “I am tired of being tired and talking about how tired I am.” I feel you, girl.

A Delight

Anyway, watching the SNL cast interact with Kristen is a true delight (the opposite of a crap, for my UX web people out there, wink wink). I could watch Cecily and Kristen argue in southern accents every week. Let’s just make that a recurring QVC sketch, ok? “On QVC on QVC!”

If you’re wasting your energy, get more of whatever is your delight. For me, that’s some Wiig.

Why process fits my personality

I’m one of those people who really likes a routine. Not necessarily doing the same thing everyday. No, that would be boring. But more waking up around the same time everyday, eating a morning banana with the dogs, driving that predictive 10-15 minutes into work, leaving at a suitable hour for lunch with the pup (pee pee), and watching a quality television program at night. And if a small gathering should pop in every once in a while, well that’s perfectly fine.

I’m sold; sign me up.

This doesn’t just balance out my home life. You’ve guessed it: I like routine in my professional career as well! I like to call this process, or a process, for taking care of necessary business. Keeping projects on tighter than tight schedules, on budget and under control. It’s what keeps those knots in my upper shoulders/neck region stronger than ever.

A process to handle various situations is what keeps me going when managing multiple projects at once. Without process, I would literally be a screaming monkey.

But processes don’t always work out. It’s just the nature of the game, kids. I think the typical reason is due to communication. And it may not be internal—it could be something you were unable to control. Variability. Unpredictability.

Oh process, what are you even good for?

This is key in my pivot here. Ever heard, “People over process”?

This phrase is common in the Agile Methodology where “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools” is the first bullet in the list. This method of course spins me both ways since I value people, their thoughts and feelings. And I want people to collaborate, share their thoughts and make cool products without that feeling of constraint. But I also know that in the advertising, marketing and web world it is difficult to obtain new work without demonstrating that you know what you’re doing (sometimes known as, “What’s your process to get this done, sir?”)

So it’s just a little struggle. It’s where I look to let a little more flexibility into my process-driven workflow. Because, why not?

The more time and experience you have with something, especially the people you’re working with, hopefully the more predictive they will be, and thus, less process needed. But if things derail, because why not, then reel those fish in again.

What about dogs? How do they fit into this?

Oh lots of ways and thank you for letting me end with this thought. Balance, routine and process. Happy dogs. But the simple thing here is trust. Why would anyone follow your lead unless they could trust you? Dogs will do a lot more for you if they can trust you. So you need people to trust your process. Gain some trust and then let them run off leash for a bit.

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