Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Project Management OPM3 Risk Assessment Training

Normally, a lot of the details regarding Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Project Management, etc. are quite sterile and mechanical. You have Person A perform Task D to produce Result Z. Yet often, it is how you manage and relate to the people you work with that really makes the difference in whether Person A succeeds or fails. This softer side (or people side) of management is often difficult for people that are in technical roles. In fact, I would be safe in stating that it is more important in rescuing your business or successfully finishing your project than raw technical ability ever will be.

As a certified geek, I think that Dilbert is one of the sharpest lampoons on corporate life today. Scott Adams really nails corporate culture in many large companies. Today I received an e-mail about a problem Scott Adams had where permanently lost the ability to speak. http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2006/10/good_news_day.html

What happened to Scott and how he dealt with it is fascinating, but that is not the point I want to make. All of the people that make up your teams, your peers, and your life outside of work all have serious problems they are dealing with. The problems may be health related, financial, or living with an abusive spouse. The problems can be anything and affect anyone in their immediate family.

Often, rather than get our hands dirty, an employee is written up and/or referred to Human Resources. In most cases, that is the wrong answer. This is where you have to have built enough trust with the employee that they can come to you with a genuine problem and know they won't get slammed for letting life interfere with work. Sometimes you have to bend the rules. Sometimes you have to break the rules and be willing to take the heat for having broken them. Occasionally, you get burned in the process.

Yet, what generally benefits your employees generally benefits what you are trying to accomplish. By the time a problem reaches you, everyone else on the team knows about it. You may have to ask other team members to take up some additional work. They may grumble, but they know that everyone can count on you. When their turn comes up, they know that they will be treated fairly.