Open Loops

Three Las Vegas Slot Machine Motivational Strategies for Projects

On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I sat in front of a slot machine and fed that blasted thing more than it was giving back.  Even though I was losing at the time, I found myself unable to walk away and continued to bet one "pull" after another.  A tidy profit that I'd made at the roulette table soon dwindled down to nothing.  When I made my last bet, I looked around the casino floor at the hundreds of others who sat there doing the exact same thing.  I wondered, with the odds so stacked against winning at slots, how did Vegas keep us playing until our money was gone?  It had to be more than just blind greed throwing dollar after dollar into the slot machine in hopes that the big jackpot was just a pull away.  Then, suddenly, I watched the machine next to me coax another gambler into playing.  Only then did I see that the machine itself was motivating us to play.  It was using techniques that kept human beings seated for hours while it slowly took their money.  It motivated them.  It motivated them using strategies that many managers should be willing to pay to learn.

Fair Evaluations

Every year, most employees go through some sort of evaluation process.  For the employer, this involves going through the files to retrieve all the notes, memos, meeting notes, and other anecdotal information on which to base the evaluation.  Unfortunately, in the heat of the daily battles, most employers find it difficult to keep the files up-to-date with accurate information about what workers are doing.  Employees, on the other hand, are just as notorious of falling into the-boss-is-keeping-track mindset and, therefore, are not as vigilant as they should be at tracking their accomplishments.  In both scenarios, the evaluation usually winds up inaccurate.  The answer is a partnership between supervisor and subordinate.

Post-Project Analysis: A Strategy for Performance Improvement

Your department has just finished a big project.  Your team members did well, but did not perform perfectly.  You are tempted to briefly talk to the members who need a little feedback, pull the plug, and call it a day.  It's Miller time, right?  Not if improvement is your goal and you want your team to do even better on the next project.  For that to happen, it's time to gather the troops and analyze what happened.

Estimating Realistic Project Deadlines

Over at Thinking Faster, Jeffrey Phillips shared an article from The Economist about projects taking longer than expected and going overbudget as a result.  Jeffrey states that this is a result of "Sunny Side" thinking.  In other words, planning as if everything goes according to plan with no obstacles or setbacks.  Many project managers can be myopic in this area and not see the potential pot holes in the road ahead of their projects.  Being aware of these stumbling blocks and developing a system to accurately project deadlines can bring projects in on time and under budget.