Project management by email? – DON'T DO IT!


I’ve been involved with a few projects lately managed by others.  At the same time, my wife was volunteering for an elementary school project  In all of these projects, the “managers” tried to run the projects through email.

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The intentions were all good — but that’s where the good ends.  First came the introductory emails, then the reply-alls from, well everybody.  At that point, it was fairly easy to ignore the chaff.

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Trouble came when the substantive emails started.  Documents were attached for review.  Responses were sent back to the project manager, with reply-alls to everyone else.  With some 18 different professionals involved from the same number of states, well, you can do the math.  None of the replies were relevant to me.  The project manager replied to the replies with followup requests and with additional information.  Replies and requests for clarification were sent back to the project manager.  Replies and work product were also sent back to the project manager.  All the while, the  same subject line was used.

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This pattern continued and was repeated many times throughout the project.  I spent HOURS, sifting through the communications to sort out which ones pertained to me, which were merely reply-alls, and which were requests for action.  Oh, and by the way, I was getting paid hourly.

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I noticed the same pattern in my wife’s school project emails and my other recent project.  Not only does this type of project management waste time, but it burns good will in a hurry, leads to missed assignments and is massively inefficient.

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How do you manage your remote projects?

Published:
November 18, 2010 – 4:02 am
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By steve
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Vision vs. Mission

Over on 501MissionPlace.com, Estrella Rosenberg challenged blog readers to “[s]pend some time . . .  clarifying your vision for your cause and then let your organization know what it is and how you’re going to lead them to it. Inspire yourself, inspire your community and go build change!”  I am going to try and articulate our vision.

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In Estrella’s words, “[v]ision is the pie-in-the sky goal that will do away with the need for your non-profit. Mission keeps your organization in business. Vision moves your organization forward.”

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Here at LCAT, we state our mission as follows:

To conserve and preserve open spaces, farm land, historic architecture and natural resources so that everyone may enjoy them, now and forever.

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But that isn’t the vision, is it?  When I conceived LCAT, I wasn’t envisioning conserving and preserving land — conserving and preserving is a process.  I admit, freely, that my core strengths are process-based.   That is, as Chris Penn would say, it is my super-human power (facilitating ethical and strategic processes).  Well, maybe, partly, I was envisioning the process of conservation.  But that was just the “Me” part of the equation.

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That is, when I conceived LCAT, I thought I could make it successful because of my strengths and experience.  I also thought I could make it successful because those strengths and experiences were crucial for the implementation of the mission.  I was to become the LCAT Missionary.

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That said, however, the vision is something different.  It is the end-game; the sizzle that I’ve got to sell to my donors and other stakeholders.  That sizzle, that vision comes from my past, further back than my professional credentials and my super-power.  It is a vision that was born during the many, many, many hours spent in the conservation land near my suburban home in Lynnfield, Massachusetts.

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To repeat, our mission is to conserve and preserve open spaces, farm land, historic architecture and natural resources so that everyone may enjoy them, now and forever.

Our vision is that every person, young or old, can reap the benefits from natural spaces, farmland and historic vistas.  Our vision is that, no matter where you live or work, you can find a natural respite near you.

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What do you think? Does this vision resonate with you? What’s your vision?

Published:
November 16, 2010 – 9:44 am
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By steve
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Is urgency crucial to selfless action?

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/Alst

I was reminded by the magic, or better stated, the necessity of urgency in inspiring action.  This seems especially true when it comes to motivating people to act in a selfless fashion.  Or, in other words, in motivating people to act to help a cause that is other than themselves.

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Don’t get me wrong, this is not an indictment of self-help.  We are hard-wired to help ourselves and to better our position in the world.  It is, however, only when something in our immediate environment stirs our sense of urgency that we act.  When the emotion of urgency is great enough, it commends us to act selflessly.  Different people have different thresholds for this emotion.

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Specifically, I am thinking of the land preservation realm.  Even more specifically, I am thinking of the recent battle to save the Cauoette-Simeone Farm in Acton (See the Blog Post or See the Web Page).  And, just the morning, I read more about the effort in Ashland, MA to purchase Warren Woods (See the News Article or the Web Page).

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These efforts only seem to work, only seem to gain ground when urgency is created – in both cases by the threat of development of the land.

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Does the threat change the value of the land to the surrounding neighbors, or does it merely raise the sense of urgency, increase the level of emotion.  How do we harness this emotion?  How do we trigger it?  How can be benefit from answering these questions?

Published:
November 15, 2010 – 5:36 pm
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By steve
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Acton needs to buy the farm – your help needed!

LCAT was asked to provide possible assistance to advocates in the Town of Acton in their quest to save the Caouette-Simeone Farm which is off Stow and Maple Streets in South Acton and includes much of Mill Pond and a part of the Rail Trail .  Currently a working farm, the property, which consists of approximately 15.2 acres of arable land. LCAT needs to raise $170,000 to $426,500 by October 25, 2010 in order to be able to assist.

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The short story:

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The Town of Acton is trying to save the Caouette-Simeone Farm (”C-S Farm”) from development into yet another residential housing development (a.k.a suburban sprawl).

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Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Town’s vote to allocate Community Preservation Act (“CPA”) funds for the purchase were insufficient and additional funding is needed.

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Here at LCAT, we really, really want to help fill the gap.

Can you help?

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Go to the LCATrust Caouette-Simeone Farm Page for more information.

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Published:
October 13, 2010 – 9:46 pm
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By steve
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“Buy land, they're not making it anymore”

- Mark Twain

“Preserve land, they’re not making it anymore”

- Me!


Published:
September 28, 2010 – 3:16 am
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By Steve Meltzer Chief Land Preservation Officer
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Land preservation success in Northampton is also a cautionary tale

The Trust for Public Land has announced a milestone in the efforts to save 117 Northampton Massachusetts acres in collaboration with the municipality and a local non-profit.  In summary, the land will be divided into recreational, farming and conservation uses.

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This has been a year-long struggle with the municipality authorizing community preservation act (CPA) funds and state grants being obtained.  It’s a wonderful local success story and will preserve critical natural lands, provide much needed recreational facilities and enable rich farmland to continue an agricultural dating back to colonial times.

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It is clear, however, that this story might not have had a fairy-tale ending.  Back in November of 2009, not everyone wanted to preserve this land.  As this article from last November makes clear, there was danger lurking.  A developer was “waiting in the wings” hoping the deal would fall through and it would be able to snatch up the land for development.

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Don’t get me wrong, development is not, per se, bad.  But in this case, if you weigh it against what will probably become of this land, development into commercial or residential uses would have been a real shame.

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A lot went right to get to this point.  A lot could have gone wrong.

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Here are just a few.  The landowner could have been in financial distress and had to file for bankruptcy, or needed to sell in a hurry.  The landowner could have had no patience for a year-long tug-of-war and sold to the highest bidder.  The Trust for Public Land could have been occupied with other efforts and not joined in the fight.  The politicians stewarding the community preservation funds could have had different priorities or political pressures.

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The Land Conservation and Advocacy Trust was created for just these types of situations.  The end result is perfect and LCAT would be pursuing the precise result achieved by the TPL and others.  We are no different in this respect.  The difference, however, is that LCAT wants to be waiting in the wings watching that developer and as soon as he made a move to take advantage of one of the weaknesses, jumped in front of him and snatched up the land so this year-long process could continue.

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While the success in Northampton is a great lesson in collaboration, the truth is that thousand, even millions of acres each year are lost in these battles to the “developer waiting in the wings.”

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LCAT hopes to be waiting in the wings to save preservation efforts like this one.

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To be ready, act fast, buy first and ask questions later. Is there a tug-of-war going on in your neighborhood?

Published:
September 21, 2010 – 10:41 am
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By Steve Meltzer Chief Land Preservation Officer
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Anybody out there?

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It’s a little difficult sometimes.  With little exception, you’re not joining in the conversation.  I feel like I’m in the wilderness just talking to myself.

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Well, at least I’m in the wilderness.

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If you’re out there, just say “hey” so I know to keep talking.

Published:
September 21, 2010 – 1:43 am
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By Steve Meltzer Chief Land Preservation Officer
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They're Bulldozing from Maine to California today . . .

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. . . and tomorrow and the next day and the next.

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“Every day in America 6,000 acres of open space are lost to development.” (Click for Citation)

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How much is 6,000 acres?

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Here is what I figured out.  If I borrowed a Caterpillar D8 Dozer, a real all-time workhorse for clearing, and cut a path through the woods approximately 15 feet wide, in order to clear 6,000 acres, I would clear a path of destruction from the Maine Coast all the way to the beach in San Diego California.

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In case you didn’t get that, 6,000 acres is a 15 foot wide driveway 3,300 miles long. Today, tomorrow and everyday.

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Every day in America, 6,000 acres of wilderness is lost - forever.

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Will you please help us fix this?

Published:
September 18, 2010 – 3:13 pm
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By Stephen E. Meltzer
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Impact Per Acre on Real People (IPARP)


It’s our metric.  This will be how we measure success.

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What draws me to works like Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods and the part of his message that resonates with me is that the analysis is about the impact that our de-natured existence has on our children; that it has had on us; and that it will have on future generations.

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We need the conversation to continue to be relevant to everyone: to those in dense metropolitan areas, areas of urban blight, suburbs, farmland, and rural and wild areas alike.

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To me, the crisis is for everyday people going about their everyday lives.  It’s about the individual human experience and the loss of opportunities to interact with nature.  Little nature as much as big nature.

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Ours is a grass-roots effort because it’s a grass-roots problem and a grass-roots opportunity.  From the standpoint of what we pursue (as opposed to how we pursue it – a post for another time) we distinguish ourselves from the Trust for Public Land, the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund because we don’t just want to pursue grand plans to save substantial areas of habitat for the sake of nature – we want to preserve nature for the sake of individuals with the most to gain and the most at stake, beginning (but not ending) with geographical proximity:  The lot next door, the patch of woods down the street, the hiking trails around the corner, the meadow near the highway as well as the vistas in the mountains.

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In prioritizing our program initiatives, the analysis will begin and end with the question:  What is the impact of this effort on the every-day lives of real people? What is the IPARP?

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Is there land near you that impacts your everyday life?  Tell us about it.

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Published:
September 13, 2010 – 9:38 am
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By Stephen E. Meltzer
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Beauty, Blessing and Responsibility – Reflections on The Jewish New Year

Threshold

“[T]he threshold, in a way, is a place where you move into more critical and challenging and worthy fullness. . . . [A] threshold is a line which separates two territories of spirit . . .  when we cross a new threshold that if we cross worthily, what we do is we heal the patterns of repetition that were in us that had us caught somewhere. And in our crossing then we cross on to new ground where we just don’t repeat what we’ve been through in the last place we were. So I think beauty in that sense is about an emerging fullness, a greater sense of grace and elegance, a deeper sense of depth, and also a kind of homecoming for the enriched memory of your unfolding life.”

John O’Donohue (interview with Krista Tippett on Speaking of Faith)

Beauty

Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue, in his description of the pursuit of beauty describes this threshold in spiritual terms.  In his poem Beannacht (“Blessing”) O’Donohue describes a blessing as a ”a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home.”

The next year

In looking forward to a new year and reflecting on our collective responsibility for the future, I am thoughtful of O’Donohue’s concept of beauty and the ability to cross a threshold.  Each day (just about) I have that threshold to cross; I am blessed to have a homecoming, a place which enriches the memory of my unfolding life.  I am blessed to be able to follow a path of yellow moonlight to bring me safely home.

Each of us individually, and all of us collectively who enjoy the beauty of the blessing of a daily crossing of a threshold to a place which enriches the memory of our unfolding lives, has the responsibility to help those that do not.

As you examine the thresholds you may cross over the next 12 months, how will you define beauty? What will you do to take responsibility?  Next year, will you look back on what you’ve don as a blessing?


(*This post is a re-write of a post from last fall)



Published:
September 9, 2010 – 3:59 pm
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By Stephen E. Meltzer
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