Category: Observations Page 32 of 90

Not everyday is a success

On August 20, 2015

I pride myself on success. I want every event I lay my hands on to be a success. But some days, you lose. This is one of those days.

Just as every win is made up of all the parts going right, a loss is made up of parts going wrong.

Here’s what went wrong today.

Unclear Information

First, there was unclear information available on the Intranet. This information led to an event being created and overbooked. The site can support 200 people and over 500 registered.

I found this out the day before the event was scheduled to start. In an effort to avoid disaster, I worked with the organizer to set up the event on a site that can accommodate 1,000 people.

Even with 500 registrants, my rule of thumb is about 3/4 at most actually take part. So the new site was setup, but this meant new information had to be sent to the 500+ registrants late in the day before the event.

I was able to get the registration list from the organizer and reformat it to import the list into WebEx. When I setup the event, I had WebEx send all of them an updated invitation to the event.

In addition, another email went out advising everyone of the change in web link. I also answered about a dozen emails from people who understandably had questions.

350 People on a Party Line

Second, due to the event’s size, the organizer had booked a phone line to handle the large number of people. I didn’t think anything of it, as I’ve worked with this group before and they knew what they were doing.

The moment the event started, I knew we were in trouble. I was hearing people. A lot of people.

The large phone line should have been booked to allow anyone with a Host code to speak, but to set everyone who dialed in with an Attendee Code to Listen-Only mode. I should not have heard anyone but the presenter.

I heard everyone. And everyone heard everyone else. What happened next was 20 minutes of:

Babies crying
Hold music
People talking over each other
People yelling at those people to be quiet
People asking everyone to mute their phones

It was a disaster. There’s no civil way to handle 350 people on an open phone line. We were handling questions over a text-chat in WebEx so there was no need to have the attendees be audible.

We got an operator on the line and she informed me she could not mute the participants as it was not setup for her to do so. She pleaded with the mob to mute their lines as well. And most people did. She was able to silence some hold music from two lines and find a line causing static.

So eventually the presentation began, 25 minutes after it was scheduled.

Poor Planning

Third, there was poor planning between myself and the person presenting. I should have contacted them beforehand and made sure they were comfortable with what they needed to do. I should also have reminded them about a bug with our WebEx setup cause by a Microsoft Patch which broke Application Sharing.

I did not. And they tried to share the PowerPoint slides, a new wave of I can’t see. Can you? and “Where are the slides, all I can see if a green screen? Is something wrong? Along with the people who knew what needed to be done providing advice.

Meanwhile, in an effort not to talk over the people on the line, I had emailed the organizer and was using the WebEx chat to relay instructions on how to solve this problem.

The presenter did figure it out shortly and shared the slides by uploading them straight to WebEx and the event could begin.

Timeliness

The organizer gave me the name of the person who I would turn the event over to. We agreed to get dialed in no later than 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to start.

I started the event 20 minutes before the start time and waited. And waited. 20 attendees. 50 attendees. 100 attendees.

I emailed the two contacts I had, including the person I was supposed to turn the event over to, no response, which didn’t surprise me since they were preparing for the event.

Finally the presenter logs in, about five minutes before the event was set to begin. There were over 150 people on the line when she did. Any hope I had of talking things over with her were already drowned out by the people having problems.

I tell everyone I work with to give themselves extra time before their event. And if they’re unsure of any part of anything, to allow even more time. There are a lot of things we can do to troubleshoot an event, but the options narrow drastically without time.

I made too many assumptions.

I do this all the time. I spend my days planning, scheduling and supporting events and meetings. I forgot about all the things I know and take for granted.

I assumed a level of knowledge that wasn’t there. I assumed I didn’t need to remind the organizers of certain things. I should have.

This failing was a group effort. Though the event did eventually started and the people on the phone quieted down. There was some great information shared and good questions asked.

So in the end, the event did take place and did end somewhat successfully. But it wasn’t something I want to replicate.

Fixes

I’ve gone over what went wrong. Now here’s what I did the prevent this from happening again.

I located and updated the information on the Intranet which gave unclear information.

The information was all correct, but it was unclear and I saw how people were assuming they could host large events themselves. I rewrote part of the page to make it crystal clear how to requested a large event and who to contact in for scheduling and help.

Next time I work with someone to book a large phone line, I will make sure they’ve set it up as an Operator-Assisted call.

This gives us the benefit of having Host codes that presenters can dial-in with to discuss and plan the event prior to the start. This also allows us to mute all attendees by default. If the organizer wants to have a verbal Q&A session, it can be conducted with the operator managing the phone lines and opening lines upon request and muting them again.

It’s how we’ve setup other large events and it works very well to keep the event quiet, focused and without the crying babies and hold music.

I won’t assume the presenters or organizers know what I know. I will review with them best practices and stress the importance of showing up early.

I need to be more proactive. I need to remember to approach every event as if its my first one. I need to look at it with fresh, beginner eyes and not assume things or overlook details. With a little extra planning and if I had been more proactive, this meeting could have been more successful than it was.

Newsletters I enjoy

By Carl

On August 14, 2015

In Observations

Newsletters. They come in the mail. They contain little bits of news or entertainment each week. I quickly fall in and out of love with a lot of things but these newsletters I’ve enjoyed for months with no sign of that changing. Do you have one that you love? Who is creating something awesome I should be enjoying too?

Austin Kleon’s Weekly Newsletter

Every week I send out a list of 10 things I think are worth sharing — new art, writing, and interesting links straight to your inbox.

I always find something fun or interesting in Austin’s newsletter. This week I enjoyed Why “do what you love” is often a fairy tale., the original designs for Pac-Man and newspaper popouts.

Austin maintains an eclectic Tumblr collection of all things interesting to him. It’s always interesting to dip into it and see what he’s been thinking about lately.

CJ Chilver’s A Lesser Photographer

His newsletter always brings a little bits of truth to photography. You won’t find gear recommendations or reviews. You won’t find out the best ways to shoot things. There are plenty of people doing that.

CJ provides a deeper look at photography. This week he offers some truths about mistakes.

If you’re an artist, a mistake is not provoking thought.

Last week, he left us with this thought:

Unlearning photography may be just as rewarding as learning photography.

And before that he reminds us to Stop Making Photographs for Photographers.

He’s a breath of fresh air in the world of photography. Enjoy him in newsletter or blog form.

If his words resonate with you, he sells a book by the same name. It’s $5.

A LESSER PHOTOGRAPHER – Craft & Vision

Escaping the Gear Trap to Focus on What Matters

TinyLetter Forwards

This mailing list is just plain fun!

One great TinyLetter, picked by the folks at TinyLetter, delivered to your inbox every week.

Each Friday, you’ll get an issue of a mailing list by someone using TinyLetter to distribute it. It’s always interesting to see what shows up and I love the idea.

Five Song Fridays by Song Exploder

Every Friday, five songs will be handpicked by me and a few special guests and recommended to you, with links to the tracks right in your inbox.

First, if you’re not listening to Song Exploder sign up immediately. It’s a podcast with musicians talking about how they made their songs.

Five Song Fridays is a playlist hand-picked and delivered by Hrishikesh Hirway and special guests.

Here’s a few to get you started:
– The Long Winter – The Commander Thinks Aloud
– House of Cards theme with Jeff Beal
– Bob’s Burgers with Loren Bouchard

This.

This. is where you find and share the best entertainment, art and journalism on the web. Follow the people you trust, give thanks for their links and share the links you love. Each user can share just 1 link a day.

This is a project from The Atlantic. It’s been in beta for a while and they’ve just opened a newsletter where you can subscribe and get 5 links per day, each chosen by a different person.

I’m trying it out and so far I’ve found one thing I wanted to read each day. It’s too early to recommend but I love the idea and the variety of voices it offers.

Looking at the site, there’s no way to sign up. I got an email this week offering the newsletter, so maybe it’s only open to people who already asked to be notified. I remember signing up months ago when I first learned about it.

Empathy is Feeling with People

By Carl

On August 13, 2015

In Observations

The Power of Empathy

The audio of this RSA short is of Dr Brené Brown who spoke at the RSA on The Power of Vulnerability. She talks about the difference between sympathy and empathy and argues that to be truly empathetic you have to be vulnerable by connecting with someone’s pain in yourself.

This short video is a fantastic primer for empathy. What is empathy? How does it differ from sympathy? Are adorable animals the best at explaining any topic?

Here are the main things I took from this short talk.

Empathy is a choice.
It’s a choice to connect with another person by reaching within yourself to get access to that part of yourself that hurts in the same way the other person does. It’s a vulnerable choice to make because you’re opening up.
Sympathy drives disconnection. Empathy fuels connection.
Response doesn’t make something better. Connection makes something better.

Empathy is important in the world of customer service too. Showing empathy is a vital customer service tool. It builds the connection between you and the other person. It brings you together. Connecting with people is a great first step in starting to help them. You’re an ally, not an enemy. You’re showing them empathy, not sympathy. Sympathy starts with at least…

I know you lost all your work, but at least you still have a job. That’s sympathy.
Empathy is not always offering a response. Sometimes the best response is to say, I understand.

Showing a little empathy can go a long way to bettering your relationships with your customers, friends and family. At the end of the day, we don’t want to be alone. We want to make connections with each other. Build those connections with empathy.

Silos

By Carl

On August 13, 2015

In Observations

There are bottlenecks in your communication and it’s slowing your team down. Working in a large organization, there are two ways to share information collaboratively.

First, there is an open flow of information. For instance, a wiki. When I worked for the National Cancer Institute, we had a giant wiki all the technical staff used, updated and relied upon for information. It was a fantastic way to share information across teams and locations. Everyone was able to contribute to the knowledge of the group. Everyone was accountable for their changes.

Second, there is a collection of silos. This is Sharepoint. These are network drives. The silos prohibit the free-flow of information and limit it to pre-approved groups of people. Gatekeepers for those groups hold the reigns of their information tightly and in order for new people to access the information, they must be granted access.

Silos are slow.

When information is locked away inside a silo, it can take hours, or days for the information to be available to those who need it. When information is open, it can be accessed immediately and work can continue.

How many times has this happened to you? You’re at work and you need to do something for the first time. For me, that’s fairly often. When I had access to a well-manicured wiki, it was a matter of searching and finding the information I needed.

Now, I asked for where the information lived. It could be on the Intranet. It could be on Sharepoint. It could be locked away on a network drive somewhere.

I got a quick answer over email.

There are some user guides located at https://sharepointURL

Great. I clicked the link and read the guide. Now I am ready to complete the work!

Wrong.

Sharepoint Denied Access

I’m denied access because I am not on the pre-approved list of people who can access this how-to guide.

I replied to the email that I did not have access. I then clicked the Request access link and found this helpful page.

Sharepoint Request Access form

An anonymous form where I can Send Request. Where does it go? Who manages this access? Can I call them? Email them? No.

I completed the form with the information I needed to get access to and why. And I wait.

That was yesterday. Today, there is no answer. Nor is there any access.

I am not expecting it any time soon. There is no accountability with this system. There is no way to see where my request is or if it went anywhere.

Lip Service

Many organizations say things like we want to foster more communication and collaboration. And then they roll out tools which do precisely the opposite.

I’ve seen where a culture has grown around the open sharing of ideas and information and it’s a magical thing. But too many times information is stuck in silos.

Silos will always stifle communication and collaboration and put up unneeded road blocks. In order to foster communication and collaboration information must flow between teams seamlessly. If a person on another team needs a document, it shouldn’t involve a level of approval to make that document available.

Adblock is good for more than blocking ads

By Carl

On August 5, 2015

In Observations

Adblock works by removing parts of web sites. It has a built-in list of ad companies it can block. But it can also block defined parts of web pages.

I decided to put it to good use this morning. I don’t like trending topics. I don’t need them and I do my best to avoid them. Their either vapid Celebrity Y said X about Celebrity Z nonsense or Clickbaity Headline.

I avoid them on Twitter easily enough but on Facebook their ever-present.

Until today.

I used adblock to remove part of the page where Facebook puts the Trending Topics, suggested friends and other ads. It worked after a reload of the site. Hopefully it will stick until they change the page design next time.

Here’s what the filter looks like in Adblock.

The filter is: www.facebook.com##[id=”u_0_0″]

This has made using Facebook on the web more pleasant for me. Hopefully it will help you too.