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Turning Commitments into Projects
by Scott Hunter
 
   

"I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith. What is faith worth if it is not translated into action?
Mahatma Ghandi

In the article entitled 2001: Make It A Great Year, we gave you a process for designing your objectives and commitments for the year. Having objectives and/or commitments is critically important as they establish a direction for you and/or your organization. The next step is to turn each of your commitments into a "project" so that they can be managed through fruition. The reason for this is simple. If we leave our commitments in our heads, or even if we write them down, they will exist with all of the other clutter in our lives and likely be constantly shuffled aside in the face of all the apparent "emergencies" that our lives seem to be filled with. This is the reason for the expression The road to hell is indeed paved with lots of good intentions.

In order for this not to happen, it is necessary to literally create a structure which "pulls" for the fulfillment of our commitments, a structure which gets us into action, working on our commitments. For, as Ghandi said, we can all achieve what he did if we get into action. But not any kind of action, action on behalf of our commitments.

Here is the process:

First, pick one of your commitments. (Once this process is completed for that commitment, repeat it for all others.) Create a project and give the project a title. Do you notice how NASA and the military always give their projects sexy titles, like Operation Desert Storm or the Apollo project. The title becomes both a convenient way of referring to the project and a rallying point for all participants. So, for example, we have a client who is launching a new business and one project is called "Launch it!" Another client, who is reformulating their business and wants to lay a solid foundation for future growth has a project called "Set it in Concrete". Got the idea?

The next step is to be clear what the commitment of the project is. So, for example, one client`s project, a married couple working together, involves building their business so that they can retire in 5 years. The commitment of the project is "To create a viable, growing, profitable business which will allow us to retire with financial independence in 2003".

Then, write down your "conditions of satisfaction", i.e. everything that needs to happen for you to be totally satisfied that the project was completed successfully. Don`t leave anything out because, as Flip Wilson said: What you don`t bet is what you lose when you win!

Most people don`t take the time to do this and wonder why they`re disappointed when they complete their project. It`s because they didn`t take the time to make sure they understood what they needed to be satisfied. So, for example, the couple mentioned above established the following conditions of satisfaction for their project:

 
   
We are able to sell the business for $2.5 million or more by the end of 2002

We have fun working the project between now and then

We stay healthy and have a minimum of stress

Our relationship stays in tact

We have no ongoing obligation to the business after 6 months of the sale

The next step is to ask, and keep asking, yourself the question: What`s possible in the fulfillment of this project? The point here is to make sure that there are sufficient reasons and rewards for undertaking the project in the first place. If there aren`t, you`ll likely get stopped by the first breakdown that occurs.

At this point, it is important to establish a budget, both in time and manpower, and to establish some milestones to mark your progress as you work on the project. A budget is obviously important so you can determine what you`re willing to invest in the process. Milestones give you opportunities to celebrate victories as you proceed.

Once you`ve gotten this far, pick a project leader and a project coach and identify all team members who will work on the project. Why have a coach? Lots of reasons but the most significant is that a player only sees the game (1) from his position and (2) from the position of a player. This isn`t bad, it`s just limiting. A coach sees the game from the outside and can provide feedback that otherwise wouldn`t be available.

It is now time for your first meeting of the project team. In this meeting you want to make a list of all of the resources available to the team to support you in working on the project. Resources would include friends, business contacts, organizations, publications, businesses, groups, etc. Make as complete a list as you can at this time.

When you get right down to it, if you want to get into action and produce results, you really only have two choices: to do it yourself or to make a request of another. So, the next step is to make a list of all the possible actions that the team members could take, either on their own or by making a request of one of your resources, which will forward your project. Again, make this list as complete as possible.

What you now have is a menu of resources and possible actions and a group of team members ready to get to work, with clarity of what your committed to and why. Simply ask each team member to pick one to three actions that they will take, from the list of possible actions, to be performed between now and the next project meeting. After this is recorded, schedule the next meeting (it`s usually best to have project meetings every week) and adjourn.

At the next meeting, proceed as follows: Ask each team member to answer the following questions:

This is what I said I would do;

This is what I did;

This is what I accomplished;

This is what I learned;

These are the new resources I discovered; and

These are the new possible actions that I can now see.

Use this information to update both the resources and possible actions lists. After everyone has reported and you have had whatever discussions that appear appropriate, have everyone pick one to three actions that they will take, schedule the next meeting and proceed as before.

We would hope that by now, the usefulness of this process would be obvious. What you`ll end up with is clarity of what you want to accomplish, with a group of people in action on behalf of that end. The weekly meetings, and the need for each member of the team to report on their project, creates accountability and follow through. The process also takes the "luck" and "hope" factors out of the equation. Hope implies hopelessness. With this process, you are systematically and consistently working on behalf of your commitments. Sooner or later, you will succeed!

Copyright 1998 Scott Hunter

About the Author:
Scott Hunter is a professional speaker, workshop leader, consultant and coach. He speaks on creating meaningful, quality relationships in the workplace to increase productivity, creativity, teamwork and profitability. He can be reached at scott@thpalliance.com. Visit his web site: www.thpalliance.com.

 
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