Throwing Your Fist In the Air

With the end of the year approaching, you’ve earned the humble pleasure and gratification to finally throw that fist in the air and let out a howling scream, “I did it!” Ticking off that last to do on your checklist, packaging all those assets and closing out on your project is most rewarding when you have that stamp of approval from your manager, your team and of course, the customer. But it’s hardly ever the case that you get to the finish line unscathed. Diving head first into your projects and landing on your feet is far from what really goes on for most project managers, but there are ways of making it across the finish line with less turbulence. Lucky for you, there are 11 months out of 12 you can use to your full advantage to prepare for that gratifying moment. Below are a few rituals and practices I partake in to get me across the finish line.

Get caffeinated. First and foremost, for every work day you put yourself through, do yourself and others a favor and get caffeinated. No one should have to endure that panic-stricken frenzy or those zombie eyes before you get a dose of caffeine in your system. With a jolt of caffeine, you’ll find yourself to be more energetic, productive, approachable and even more enjoyable to be around. There are even health benefits to getting your daily dose such as protecting yourself against cirrhosis. So get yourself a cup of coffee and just as you need your morning buzz, please don’t approach your colleagues or your peers without allowing them the courtesy of hopping on that same bandwagon.

To Do List

Create a ‘Do‘ and a ‘Done’ checklist. Whether or not you are a note taker or a note keeper, you should get in the habit of creating checklists. Many of us already create to-do lists and derive the pleasure of checking off those boxes once a task is complete. On the flip side, I’ve found it to be just as pleasurable creating a ‘done’ list. While capturing your ‘dos,’ it’s often very easy to overlook the accomplishments both for you and your team. Document those ‘dones’ as they make a great ego boost during those stressful moments and they make great summaries when recalling achievements for the year.

DO fill out those status reports. Weekly, bi-weekly and monthly status reports are a pain, so I am not going to belabor the point, but I am going to encourage you to fill one out even if it’s minimal. When the time comes for you and your manager to reflect on your quarterly achievements and your annual performance, you’ll be glad you took a few notes along the way. Plus having this in your back pocket is a gem when you need to lobby for your own job security or petition for headcount.

Conduct retrospectives upon project completion. More often than none, when we finish a project, we’re ready to make a bee-line for the next project. In doing so, we overlook feedback and room for improvement from our team members. Take a moment to debrief, conduct a retrospective and pull out learning opportunities for future projects. Doing so should shift your  mindset and propel you into a forward-thinking mode.

Making these rituals part of your work routine will help ease the end of year stress and get you one step closer to closing out your projects. This December as you begin to cross the finish line, make sure you throw your fist in the air and hold it up high.