Project Lessons Learned Recipes

If your preferred had NOT been serving you good all these while.
What are you going to do?

I happened to come across an organization had practice a way to kick out the preferred vendor in a professional manner.

Since your preferred vendor had been assigned and serving for a while and had not been giving you the best service such as late delivery, delayed quotation.

One of the ideal approach is to invite another vendor and promote it to be another preferred vendor as well. Thus you have 2 preferred vendors serving you on the same products, say stationery or network equipment.

Since your initial preferred vendor is not serving you good. You can seek all your internal team members to get more quotations and work with your new preferred vendor.

As time goes by, the procurement team can generate a report and states that the volume transact with the initial preferred vendor is reduced. You can then tell the initial vendor that the organization would like to stop the service and terminate the business relationship.

This thus give both side an opportunity a leeway to disengage the service.

Lesson Learned: Never dis-engage a vendor right away. Due to contractual obligations, it makes no business sense to terminate immediately. But use a strategic move to move a vendor away from the list.

“Distraction is the enemy of success, so don’t worry other fascinating but less productive things to divert you from your mission.”

Remember to FOCUS

“FOCUS” is such a small word but it has a powerful impact. They key is to never lose sight of your purpose and always return to your plan.

Follow Your Plan

When you find yourself getting off track, go back to your written plan. I’ve learned that visual aids can really help keep you on track; they remind you of your ultimate goal, and why you need to finish. That old cliché, “Out of sight, out of mind,” is often true! Keep your plans in clear view as constant reminder of where you want to go be. I have a picture of my dream car on my refrigerator at home and on my desk at work. I’ve mapped out how I plan to pay for my new vehicle and when I can make it happen.

Organize your day but leave time for situations and circumstances that inevitably arise. You may not be able to control every occurrence, but at least you can control how you handle them. Stay organized makes you a better manager of your time and gives you power to reach for your dreams. Try establishing a goal relates back to your original plan. In an eight-hour day, that’s eight steps toward accomplishing your dream. Don’t have a free eight-hour day? Remember, not all strides need to be huge leaps. What can you accomplish in part of that time? Send an email? Call a contact? Small steps can take you great distances.

Condition yourself to go the distance. Make sure that you don’t burn yourself out doing too much of nothing while never achieving something. When you are physically fir and mentally sound, it makes reaching your goals that much easier. Your journey should exhilarate you, not exhaust you to the point that you’re too tired to compete. Opportunity sometimes only knocks once, so make sure you’re always alert, fit and ready for the challenges ahead.

Underplay underestimation. When you underestimate your potential, you set yourself up to fail. Don’t allow others to make you doubt your abilities. Now is the time for you to stretch – you will be amazed at the results.

I remember the first time I had to think on my feet during a meeting. I was out in a business meeting. I was out of my comfort zone, but I got through it, and I found myself eagerly volunteering for more off-the-cuff responses. Fear tends to be our first reaction to new situations. But to overcome the fear of inadequacy you have to try something so that you can amaze yourself with unexpected abilities.

Strategize. Sometime you may have to go back to the drawing board and revise your plan. Strategizing you next move in almost any situation in life is critical. It’s important to understand that making hasty moves can be hazardous to your career, friendships, goals and sometimes even your health. So rewrite your plan when necessary, and always be flexible enough to change direction. Thinking ahead of the game is critical.

Focus can bring tremendous power. Without it, you will often feel drained and unable to accomplish much. With it you will find that your talents and abilities gain direction and intentionality. And those qualities pay off by producing results.

4. Although it helps to have critical thinking aboard as you solve a problem., you must also keep a creative, analytical voice at the back of your head. When someone comes up with a prospective solution, tried to think how you could make that solution work. Try to be creative. At the same time, look for chinks in the armor of that solution.

5. It pays to remember that there may be more than just one solution. being developed at one time. Try to keep track of all the solutions and their developments. Remember, there may be more than just one solution to the problem.

6. Remember that old adage, “Two heads are better than one.”.That one is truer than it sounds. Always be open to new ideas. You can only benefit from listening to all the ideas each person has. This is especially true when the person you’re talking to has had experience solving problems similar to yours.

You don’t have to be a gung-ho, solo hero to solve the problem. If you can organize collective thought on the subject, it would be much better.

7. Be patient.. As long as you persevere, there is always a chance that a solution will present itself. Remember that no one was able to create an invention the first time around.

Creative thinking exercises can also help you in your quest be a more creative problems solver.

Here is one example.

Take a piece of paper and write any word that comes to mind at the center. Now look at that word then write the first two words that come to your mind. This can go on until you can build a tree of related words. This helps you build analogical skills, and fortify your creative processes.

So, next time you see a problem you think you cannot solve, think again. The solution might just be staring you right in the face. All it takes is just a little creative thinking, some planning, and a whole lot of work.