Page 41 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

2 - Inbox zero

"Inbox Zero" is an email management system that means you end each workday with no emails in
your main inbox - not even read ones!! Imagine – relaxing just thinking about it, isn’t it! The peace of
mind that comes from having rigorously and effectively sorted, actioned, deleted or forwarded every
message that pinged during the day is priceless.

It might seem like a crazy, unachievable dream! If you have hundreds (or even thousands) of unread
emails, it can start to weigh upon your mind and impact performance. Colleagues who have
achieved this inbox nirvana swear by it. The positive effect on their mental health transfers into
every aspect of their life. On told me, "You don't wake in the night worried that you may have
missed something.”
3 - Have the stuff you use every day close to hand

When decluttering a kitchen, Marie Kondo will recommend that you put the plates you use every
day in a cupboard that is easy to get to, meanwhile, that ice-cream maker can probably get stored in
a less easy to reach space (we have a cupboard of regret!).

It's the same with IT Projects. We often ask Project Managers on struggling IT Projects to show us
how they access the crucial system documents that they use to run their projects. In our experience,
few are just one click away from the assets that are the lifeblood of their projects.

"If you have to click the start menu and scroll through your programmes, you're starting your task
too late," one PM friend says. "The programmes and documents that you use to run your project
should be as accessible as the knives and forks in your kitchen.”

The more successful Project Managers have links to the stuff they use every day on their desktop or
pinned to the taskbar and on the first page of apps on their phone!
And this doesn't have to be all work, work, work - if your motivational music comes from Spotify
playlist each day - stick that on your taskbar too!!!

That's just three areas that could be de-cluttered. I'm sure there are more. This week take a look at
your portfolio, work out what you NEED to manage projects, like we did with Stoneseed's induction
pack which consists of the Project initiation document, RADICAL log, Weekly Update, Change Control
and Project Plan. Take a look at how your Project Management Office could help streamline
document suits.
Ask yourself, honestly, if your working environment and approach could use the Marie Kondo touch.