Project Management 101 : discover the cc.
After having spend the many years learning software testing in depth and trying to figure out what really ‘works’ and what doesn’t from the entire jungle of information; I’m launching my new initiative to learn ‘front line project management’.
This time however I’ve decided to share my learning with you as i go along. So I’ve started this new series on
Project Management 101 – Figuring out what works and whats PMP
This series is not about statistics, analysis, tools, compliance and all the other jargon that add to the ‘noise factor’. This is about simple learnings that could be used to build ‘killer teams’. The series will be a ‘cookbook’ about what gets things going and what does not.
Lesson 1 : discover the cc. field in email technology.
Experiment 1 -
- Take all the managers in the world and put then in a big room.
- Ask them ‘How many of you know how to use the cc field in email composition’.
- If there remains a single person without his hands raised saying ‘I do’ ; go and commit suicide.
A little text field like cc can teach you one of the core concepts of building a team. Use the ‘collective intelligence’ of the team to build the team. The cc field is the most primitive means of ‘collaborating over the internet’. Mastering that and knowing how to pipe information to your team through the judicious use of this is vital in harnessing the collective intelligence. The intelligence of the team is only as good as the quality of information they receive.
I’ve noticed many at times that managers often confuse the following lemme put it simply -
“‘Your strength as a leader IS NOT derived from the information hold OR withhold”
“Your strength IS derived from the people you hold”
The cc text field is the most vital tool that can be used to pipe information to your team ‘in time’ and ensuring the quality of info. Steps to begin using this:
- There are only 2 categories of information – confidential and non-confidential (trust me it is so).
- Non-confidential information is ‘free to pipe’. Do not try to identify the target cc audience for this. Any member of the team who contributes…. qualifies.
- Confidential information is ‘ selective to pipe’. Only 2-3% of info fall into this category. This type is a no-brainer to identify… Meaning…. Do not break your head attempting to categorize. It is self evident. If you still find it not.. go back to college.
- Put the following badge on top of your cubicle/ workstation:
We live in the age of the “collaborative internet”.
It started 5-10 years back.
It hasn’t killed anybody yet.
It won’t kill me.
Tags: collaborating, collaborative internet, collective intelligence, email, information, PMP, project management
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