bumps in the road . . .

challenges, obstacles and difficulties

The journey has begun.

The project is now underway and as happens with most projects there are challenges to overcome.

My passion for the project is enormous, unfortunately my ability to funnel that passion into actual work has met a few roadblocks.  Time management is above all the biggest problem.

Image source: Melissa Frew

Between classes, assignments, family and life there seems to be little time to sit down and work on the actual project.

Lists, lists and more lists are the only thing holding me together right now.  Other than creating a time machine or finding a portal I am stuck with a finite resource when it comes to the hours and minutes that are available in a day, week or month.  With that in mind I need to focus on tools and skills to make sure that the project keeps on track and on schedule.

Step one will be to develop a timeline and schedule for what is done when by whom.  Luckily, I have just created a ‘budget’ of hours for a project charter so, check that is done.

Step two, I need to let my team know what the plan is and what I am hoping they will be able to contribute to the project.  Job descriptions are due, done and I will be meeting with the team on Tuesday so, check, check!

Step three, More lists.  My lists may haunt me but they also keep me on track.  It may be time to take them digital and create a Trello project board.  Project management has introduced me to the wonderful world of digital work flow and it seems like it is time to create a Trello board, fill it in and start tracking progress!

Well now that the time management issue has been addressed what else is standing in my way?

Oh, right, the story!

The pivotal detail for the entire project, writing the story, has become the biggest elephant in the room.  I am unsure which element of the project to tackle first, which story?  What details do I need to include and what words do I use?

image source:  Melissa Frew

Step one, two, three worked well for time management, so let’s try that with story development.

Step one, decide which story to work on.  It makes sense to start at the beginning.  Is that the story with the most impact?  Is that the best way to showcase what this project is?  What is the beginning?  So many questions, so few answers.

Step two, pinpoint which details need to be included to tell the story.  So, let’s say I decide to tell the ‘what is cancer’ story.  Seems like a pretty good place to start?  What do I need to include?  Probably I should talk about cells, what they are, how they multiply and how sometimes, things go wrong.  That was not so hard.   What interactive elements need to be included for this story?  Wait, I still need to write the story.  Focus on that and then the interactive elements will grow.

image source: Melissa Frew

Step three, write the story.  For this I need my content writer/consultant Katie.  Maybe I should set up a google doc and post ideas, then ask Katie to collaborate on the story.  Great idea, why didn’t I think of that earlier!

Time management and story writing aside I think the project is well underway and I am excited to see how things develop in the next few weeks.

More on the process to come in blogpost #3!

Networking is Hard

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I attended a MeetUp networking event tonight hosted by Girl Geeks TO.  The topic of the Meetup was Female FoundersPanel: Got What It Takes to be an Entrepreneur?

The event was inspiring on many levels.

The panel of 4 women were an intelligent and introspective group who all came to entrepreneurship from different paths and backgrounds.

The discussion focused on inspiration, courage, partnering, funding, failure, success and the female voice in start-ups.  The discussion was very informative and as I said earlier inspiring.  My take away is to make sure whatever it is you are doing makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning.  The path may not be easy but if you are excited it will keep you going.

Lily Tse, founder & CEO of Think Dirty caught my attention when she mentioned a quick exercise to find your path.  Imagine a blank business card in front of you, what do you want to see written on that card?  What title does it say?  What organization or company is written there?  That made me pause.

Another stand out moment for me was listening to Nancy Peterson Founder & CEO of Homestars.com speak about a failed attempt to launch an app for client and business connection.  The description of their process was an exact description of a non-user centric design.  The build was huge, took forever and cost millions.  Ultimately, the product failed and eventually they followed the user needs and wants and for much less money and in much less time created a product which worked.

The event was really enjoyable but walking away I felt maybe I had failed.  I did not reach out to speak with anyone new, I did not network.  My save came on my way out.  I decided to take the stairs down.  I met an interesting woman one floor down and we talked as we walked.  She also comes from a fine arts background and has meandered her way to tech as I have.  Meeting this woman made me realize that it is possible to talk with someone you do not know and find common ground very quickly.  My goal now is to get out to another event and force myself to speak with at least two new people ( I need to start small!).