Inspiration
Let's warm you up for the holiday season with a lighter blog topic this month!
When I attended a leader’s mentorship program in Silicon Valley many years ago, I was confident that I would learn new ways of thinking about professional problems. What I was surprised to learn from the executive mentors was how to apply business principles at home!
Festive occasions are often marked by having loved ones over for a home-cooked meal. One of the mentors was a VP of Operations who went to culinary school after hours to get better at his hobby. His cooking claim to fame was preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people in about 4 hours, including shopping. He shared the insight that successful chefs are distinguished by the ability to define an efficient and repeatable manufacturing process for their dishes. Another executive mentor described flow-charting her festive occasion meal prep to ensure that dependencies were ready when needed and multiple streams could run in parallel for efficiency.
This raises the question: How can we bring home for the holidays the skills we have honed as Project Managers? Here are some things you can think about for your upcoming festivities.
The people: Host, sponsor, stakeholders, resources
Are you organizing an event that will be hosted in your home, or someone else's? If someone else's, make sure you know their constraints: house rules, kitchen space, seating, etc.
Identify the executive sponsor of the event: Is it you, or is there an elder in the family who gets the final say on major decisions?
Think about your stakeholders and resources: Can they be counted on to pitch in wherever needed? Or, are they couch potatoes who need a RACI chart to get everyone in the family clear on their roles, so you don’t get behind schedule because your sous-chefs are watching TV?
Getting everyone on the same page
Consider budget: Is this a leaner year for you or some usual contributors? 2024 has been difficult economically for many, so you may want to have private conversations with anyone likely impacted to understand how they feel. Some might feel better if gifts were toned down and the menu was more comfort food than gourmet, so they can still contribute. Others might be happy to have the relief of generosity from others.
Establish your definition of success: Does your family love tons of leftovers, almost no leftovers, everyone having food coma, everyone feeling satisfied but ready for some outdoor winter activity shortly thereafter?
Some families are very easy-going, but others have higher levels of friction. For higher-friction families, level-setting and expectation-setting can help. For example: Could some clash around dietary restrictions be prevented through some fun educational material shared from social media? Will everyone be exchanging gifts, only buying one gift for a white elephant exchange, or is the overall sentiment of most of the group a reduction of material consumption and sharing experiences instead?
How to anticipate and mitigate issues before they arise
When it comes to planning, sharing a written plan among participants can improve communication and reduce forgotten ingredients. You can also ask them to pitch in on brainstorming risks and dependencies: Do you anticipate that finding parking at your local Costco will be impossible the Friday before the event? (I have had to abort shopping plans due to Friday gridlock...) Has inflation tripled the price of a key ingredient? Maybe you’ll have to shop earlier, plan to source from an alternate supplier, or choose a different dish instead.
The dry run - doing a mental/paper simulation in advance of the big day: Could you benefit from drawing out a flow chart? You might consider how the process will flow through these capacity limitations: how many burners your stove has, oven space at required temperatures, and counter space for prep. What are the bottlenecks, and could you tweak a dish/recipe to resolve it? Maybe you want to dry run together over a group Zoom call if there will be multiple cooks in the kitchen.
Conclusion, Wishing you Happy Holidays!
The holidays can be a stressful time. Your project management knowledge can lead you to a realistic plan that will help you go into the big day with greater calm. May you enjoy your time with family and friends!
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