Can you 'ID' the '3D'?

Ida Jayarani, MBA, PMP

(In this blog, you will find practical tips to manage your project, personal, and spiritual life efficiently.)

As we know most of the objects around us have some 'depth perception' to them, which gives a three-dimensional (3D) effect to the objects. When managing a project, we have to deal with the three dimensions of time, cost, and scope with quality in perspective.  If we lose the perception of even one of the dimensions, our project suffers. The same thing happens when we lose track of time, money, and purpose in our daily life. 

Can we ever lose our focus on these three pivotal elements of life? Yes, we can. We may not feel any loss or damage immediately. But eventually, we may have a heavy toll to pay as a result. So, what makes us lose our focus? Here comes the 3-D effect. If we can only ID (identify) them upfront, we can easily swerve and get back on track, without losing much in the process. Okay, what are they?

1) Deception

In the execution of a project, we tend to consider the superficial completion of tasks as 'green' on our weekly status reports. That is deceptive! We get the information as-is from the team, without analyzing to see if each increment of work completed meets the customer's expected experience or is there a variance to address instantly. Only when we diligently do 'fact-checking' at every step of our reporting cycle, will we get an accurate picture of our progress on the roadmap.

Similarly in our daily grind, we have to be wise to discern what is truth and what is not, from all that we hear, see, and sense around us. Deception pervades every aspect of human life, creating a snare of lies, confusion, and panic, and ultimately derailing our faith, so we miss our desired destination. How do we thwart it? Get the 'Truth', know the scriptures, and the Truth will make you free.

2) Distraction

With good intention and attention, we initiate and proceed with our projects, but somewhere down the line, we get allured to other 'non-essential' tasks, nice-to-have things but not the mandatory work that needs to be completed on time, on budget, and within the scope. How do we notice the deviation before it eats up a chunk of our resources? Use the 15-minute rule. Every 15 minutes, we track how much we have accomplished towards our goal for that day. Anything that has distracted us from our objective, we throw in a 'distraction' box or folder, to be reviewed at leisure.

Needless to say, in our personal life, we are bombarded with a myriad of distractions and attractions that pose as entertaining, rewarding, and harmless but we will realize, after the fact, that they have consumed a lot of our energy, time, and sometimes our peace and purity. How do we defeat distractions? Employ the 15-minute rule. Sometimes, we may have to permanently delete some of those in the 'distraction' folder, so they don't keep bugging us again.

3) Disengagement

Ah, when was the last time you had a team meeting with all your members actively participating in all of the agenda items? Is your team working full-steam ahead all the time? If not, there may be some who are disengaged with the project work, due to personal reasons. Status reports and daily stand-up meetings may go just fine but the project quality and team morale may be adversely affected inherently. So, identify the disengagement early on by taking a 'pulse-check' of your team regularly, following up with honest care and compassion, to build trust and team spirit.

Well, what works well at work may work a deep "well" (pit) at home (no pun intended). So, we have to be 'innovative' based on the context, to help disengaged friends and dear ones to get with the program. If we need their involvement, we have to do a real "heart-check" (attitudes) rather than a mere 'pulse-check' (just emotions). In our spiritual walk, if we are not engaged with the Lord, we will get full busy with others, and at the end of the day, we will be empty and exhausted, without accomplishing God's requirements in our 24-hour sprint of life.

So, now have you ID'd the 3-D effect that creates havoc in your life, in your project, and in your relationships? Nip them in the bud so your life can blossom on time, with beautiful petals in full scope, in rich vibrant colors of desired quality, spreading the sweet fragrance of God-given purpose and value in this multi-dimensional, creative garden, called the 'World'.