In the States, it is that time of year again. It is time to juggle everything around to make the time needed to get all of the tax documents and forms together. This year, things are more organized because I built the work into my backlog earlier and kept other work off my plate until I had my ducks in a row!
At home or at work, unlock seamless project management. “Mastering Work Intake” is your guide to efficient request handling. Reviews highlight its user-friendly approach and tangible benefits. Ditch the chaos, embrace clarity. Take the first step towards a more organized workflow. Get your book now!
SPaMCAST 858 features a tale of work intake woe set in the Innovatech world that David Herron and I created. In this world, we use a bit of fiction to highlight real-world problems without pointing fingers or calling anyone a box of rocks. I would love your feedback about using allegory to highlight real issues.
We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, The Evolutionary Agilist, who will bring his humor and wisdom to the podcast.
Mastering Work Intake sponsors SPaMCAST!
Overwhelmed? Find your focus. Readers praise “Mastering Work Intake” for its practical, actionable advice. Learn to prioritize effectively and eliminate bottlenecks. Real results, real change. Discover the system that simplifies complex projects. Order your copy today!
Interested in continuing the conversation on work intake with peers in a safe space? Join the Mastering Work Intake Community on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14483957/
Re-read Saturday News
In our re-read of Development as Freedom this week, we reach Chapter 10 titled Culture And Human Rights. This chapter explores the “intellectual edifice of human rights.” The concept of human rights is often trotted out almost as a totem in debates. We need to get beyond that perspective.
Logistics note: We have two more weeks in this re-read. Next week, we will reflect on Chapter 12 (we did Chapter 11 earlier due to its relevance to current events), followed by a wrap-up.
The SPaMCAST 859 will be a surprise. It will either be a panel discussion of the role of empathy in project management or an interview with Paul Gibbons. Whichever gets recorded first will be presented first. 🙂
Jeremy Willets and I have had a blast sharing the ideas in Mastering Work Intake (JRoss Publishing). This week Jeremy and I sat down to discuss the year in review and plans for 2025. One of the important things we have demonstrated is the link between the work teams and organizations put on their plate and what gets delivered. The relationship is not linear and gets ugly when you cross the tipping point. There is a path to avoid that pain!
Master Work Intake!
It has been nearly a year since JRoss Publishing published Mastering Work Intake. Jeremy Willets and I believe our book and workshops have helped numerous organizations, teams, and most importantly people bring order out of chaos – at least that is what they tell us.
As the year winds down we are excited to offer a free 30-minute “office hours” session with us, we’ll facilitate the session to help you create a plan to tackle your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: https://lnkd.in/gtEvtcJd
Also, consider buying your boss a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will approve).
In January of 2024, JRoss Publishing brought Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and I to the world. The activities supporting the book have been a blast! One of the common problems we have observed as we have spread the message is that often those with the biggest work intake problem get mesmerized by the symptoms and fail to see the root cause of the problem. When this happens the symptom becomes the root cause causing people and organizations to spend significant amounts of time and money fixing the wrong problem. To borrow a line from Manfred Mann, they are “Blinded by the light.” We will discuss this topic in a minute or so.
We also have a visit from the inestimable Susan Parente. Susan and I discussed how to integrate a new team member into a team. It is not easy when everyone has an opinion.
Master Work Intake!
It has been nearly a year since JRoss Publishing published Mastering Work Intake. Jeremy Willets and I believe our book and workshops have helped numerous organizations, teams, and most importantly people bring order out of chaos – at least that is what they tell us.
As the year winds down we are excited to offer a free 30-minute “office hours” session with us. We’ll facilitate the session to help you create a plan to tackle your work intake challenges. Book time with us here: https://lnkd.in/gtEvtcJd
Also, consider buying your boss a copy of Mastering Work Intake (your work-life balance will approve).
SPaMCAST 836 celebrates Halloween. Over the years instead of just one night, people decorate their houses and celebrate for at least a month – we love a party. In celebration of what has become the seventh-largest retail holiday in the United States, let’s take a spooky look at the outcome of poor work intake and celebrate that we can banish the spooks and shades of poor work intake.
We will also hear from Jeremy Berriault, who brings his Evolutionary Agilist column to the podcast. In this episode, we discuss the impact of adding new team members to a long-lived, high-performing team when the new person wants to strike out in a new direction.
Master Work Intake!
Join one of two upcoming Mastering Work Intake Workshops to help you learn to address IT’s nastiest, dirtiest little secret…poor work intake. The next two workshops are taking a compressed approach to help kickstart 2025! Seats are available on:
November 9th 9 AM EST – Noon EST December 6th 9 AM EST Noon EST
Every October 31st we celebrate Halloween. Over the years instead of just one night, people decorate their houses and celebrate for at least a month – we love a party. In celebration of what has become the seventh-largest retail holiday in the United States, let’s take a spooky look at the outcome of poor work intake and celebrate the fact that we can banish the spooks and shades of poor work intake.
1. Zombie Teams
– Like zombies, team members are exhausted from endless tasks, barely making it through the day. With too much work and no breaks, they’re moving in slow motion and missing key details. Perhaps a “resurrection” day when a spigot of work is closed off so they have time to rest, refresh, and come back to life!
In the SPaMCast 827, we will begin cracking groupthink in prioritization with a discussion of urgency vs. importance Evaluating the interplay between urgency and importance is a powerful work intake approach. Teams and project management offices regularly use an Eisenhower Matrix or variant to visualize the relationship between these two factors. The bottom line in this approach is that you should prioritize work that is important and urgent above work that is just urgent.
We also have a visit from Keis Kostaqi, MBA who brings her You Are Not Alone column to the podcast. Keis and I discuss the career path of a Scrum Master. Is there a career path or is the role a life avocation?
Mastering Work Intake by Jeremy Willets and I hit the bookshelves earlier this year. We have also been running cohort-based workshops to help expose and solve this dirty little secret. Two of the questions we have gotten as we have promoted the workshops are:
What is a cohort-based workshop?
What value will I get if I join?
Both are greater questions and we have an answer!
Join us for a one-hour open house to explore how to diagnose and solve work intake challenges, the most critical issue facing organizations today. This session will provide an overview of our course designed to help you to master work intake and ensure your organization thrives.
We’ll cover key takeaways such as effective prioritization, navigating organizational structures, measuring work intake flow, and diagnosing common work intake issues. You’ll leave with actionable insights and a clear plan to address work intake problems immediately.
The Software Process and Measurement Cast 822 features a discussion that Jeremy Willets and I had during the Work Intake Summer Camp. The tyranny of the urgent often eclipses work that is merely important. Not understanding the difference between the two concepts and the long-term implications of ignoring what is important can be catastrophic.
We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, the Evolutionary Agilist. We discussed why teams exist. The answer can be simplified into four words. Getting to those words is a wild ride.
Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast!
Work Intake Summer Camp is in session! Like a swimming pool, there is always time to join the fun. Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We’ll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The last weekly session begins at 12:30 EDT on August 7th (LinkedIn).
SPaMCAST 807 looks at the Nine Core Work Intake Principles from the organization’s middle. Each layer of the organization has an approach to work intake. While the macro outcome is the same for each layer – work is accepted – each has nuances. The simple three-tier view of organization design used in Mastering Work Intake begins with an executive layer followed by middle management and is anchored by teams. We addressed a team perspective in SPaMCAST 804. Middle management is an important anchor because it makes strategic or longer-term tactical decisions compared to teams.
We also have a visit from the Evolutionary Agilist, Jeremy Berriult. Mr. Berriult discusses the need for seamless communication
Software Process and Measurement 