[[ Dr WaQiPeDiA ]]

Ultimate Guide to Event Management 5

2010-10-22T11:42:00.001-07:00

Part 1.3: Procedures & Fulfilling Pre-Requisites

Reminder: This part is very crucial as students (project managers) were mainly stuck and delayed in progress at this stage due to lack of understanding in addressing or fulfilling the requisites needed.

These are the steps needed to be taken after your first meeting if you are the project manager;

Ask the secretary to compile the working paper
Meet the advisor, explain regarding the project you are doing and inform him/her that you will give them updates regarding the progress
Meet with the Student Council (SC), explaining to him/her regarding the program and ask them to write a recommendation letter
When the working paper is ready, get a real hand signature from the advisor, project manager & secretary then compile it with recommendation letter from SC (Insert with support letter if any)

With the above ready, continue with the procedures that you need to go through before getting the approval. Latest procedures in CUCMS is as below;

In other words, you need to get approval through both channels before you can proceed with the execution stage. There are two channels which are:

Student Council (SC), Student Affair (STAD) and Student Service Committee Meeting (SSCM)
Academic Faculty i.e. Dean - Prof Hatta Shaharom

The purpose of sending the working paper to them is to gain approval. The SC-STAD-SSCM however, provides extra support; approval and financial aid. Financial aid is applicable if you pass through every prerequisites during discussion of the Financial Executive Meeting (FEM).

The details regarding duration and pre-requisites of both channels will be updated later.

Next: Leading Team & Monitoring Performance

Ultimate Guide to Event Management 4

2010-10-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Part 1.2: Project Planning & Working Paper

90/10 Rule:

"First 10% of your time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save as much as 90% of the time getting job done once you get it started."

Previously, I shared with you all the Triangle of Vitalities which is essential in 'creating your vision'. Having that in mind will lead you to the next stage; project planning.

In the corporate world, to understand the project planning, you need to familiarize yourself with certain terms such as corporate planning, strategic planning, marketing or operational planning.

However, I would like to emphasize on two types of planning which would be of great help when you are working on the event-based type planning. They are;

Strategic/Long-Term Planning
Operational/Short-Term Planning

Strategic planning works like future-oriented planning, it determines the long term objectives of an organization or team as a whole with a time horizon of more than 3 years. The strategic plans will contain the framework to stay competitive, live up to the core values, get rid of any threats and take advantage of opportunities. The distinctive attributes to it are your vision, mission, core values, future goals and the strategies.

Next, the operational planning or short-term plan. It is a specific, smaller scale project which has been planned according to the strategic planning or after looking throughout the big picture. The plan works out on a smaller basis once in 3 months or 3-4 times per year depending on the planning. In simpler words, strategic planning is the big picture and broad spectrum whereas the operational plan is drafted to be focused and specific.

Refer here for more detail on Project Planning.

Normally, we lack strategic planning since we are less likely think 'big' of what we are doing. Most of us, especially guys, are operational type based. They love to work on something real, operative and team-working. They don't like to be in meeting rooms with long discussions or dwelling with administrative stuff such as working paper etc. Therefore, they need to appreciate the management team; the main-board and main committees for their hard-work dealing with administrative works.

Working on strategic planning can be done with the help of the Triangle of Vitalities. List a draft and then work on the operational plan. For this operational part, a lot of people can work on it. However, the most problematic one is how you want to get cumulative agreement on what you are planning for and get people involved in the decision making. Therefore, the usage of Event Model Canvas can be really helpful in solving the problem while at the same sharing and brainstorming all details.

The Event Model Canvas (refer here for detail) can be used in the first meeting by drawing the boxes (according to the model) on the board. Place everyone in a circle and start drafting. Each committee can give their opinion, suggestion or argument on the planning. I stress the usage of event model canvas because it's really helpful. Reasons:

The Event Model Canvas shows all project committees in a visual way, the big picture, their own roles in it and interdependencies.
It saves hours of explaining, arguing and misunderstanding
It translates the operational plan into job scope and working processes
As a reality check, to stay focus on track and prevent from getting stuck in the future

Next, after specifying any tasks needed and dividing the major tasks to the person(s)-in-charge, the documentation work is up. Of course in the first meeting, every head committees' first task is to get people for his sub-committee, brainstorm their job scope in detail and start drafting the working paper. Now, the administrative work starts and the person who will take most of the responsibility is secretary. The project manager and the vice needs to help in order to get the most satisfying quality working papers which fulfills the approval criteria and to get fundings from any sponsors.

I need to highlight the importance of administrative works because it involves the documentation and file-keeping. The fact is it's very time-consuming, boring and less people will appreciate this kind of work. The type of people most suitable for this work is 'melancholic' type. These are among the first checklist of things need to be prepared for administrative work in event management (click them for further reference);

Working proposal paper
Minute meeting & memo
Letters
Sponsorship letter
Additional: Reference number, recommendation letter from Student Council, support letter

The checklist above will be helpful for the next stage; going through the procedures and fulfilling pre-requisites; before going through the execution stage.

Next: Procedures & Fulfilling Pre-requisites

Tips of Handling a Meeting

2010-10-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Six Golden Tips About Meeting

Don't Meet - Avoid a meeting if the same information could be covered in a memo, email or brief report
Set objectives for the Meeting - Before planning the agenda, determine the objective of the meeting. The more concrete your objectives, the more focused your agenda will be.
Provide an Agenda Beforehand - Your agenda needs to include a one-sentence description of the meeting objectives, a list of the topics to be covered and a list stating who will address each topic for how long. Follow the agenda closely during the meeting.
Assign Meeting Preparation - Give all participants something to prepare for the meeting, and that meeting will take on a new significance to each group member.
Assign Action Items - Don't finish any discussion in the meeting without deciding how to act on it.
Examine your Meeting Process - Don't leave the meeting without assessing what took place and making a plan to improve the next meeting.

Ultimate Guide to Event Management 3

2010-10-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Part 1.1: Create a Vision

When I was first year medical student, I came out with an idea to project a medical outreach program in Kelantan, as our team named it 'Le Tour de Kelantan'. It's the pioneer project of 'Le Tour de' program that had been done since 4 years ago. Although the program was successful (since the participants enjoyed it very much) but the planning and management was really bad. I'm very sure of it because I was the project manager. It's not my team's mistakes. It's mine.

I could list it down one by one, all the 1001 reasons of my mistakes in planning and handling the project but what I realize the most is the lacking in my 'vision'. That's my biggest mistake.

The lack in vision cause impairment on my planning sight. I have the idea but I couldn't see the 'big picture'. When I couldn't see the whole picture, of course there will be a lot of loopholes in the planning towards the execution stage. Thanks God that I have great team and comrades who guide through and back me up.

Looking at the big picture of your idea will guide you through the planning and the execution stage. It's a fact. That's why, I want to introduce you all with a simple triangle in event management that will help you creating the vision before starts on planning stage.

Let's see this triangle, Triangle of Vitalities, which I borrowed it from Robert T. Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

The interesting part of it is; it's applicable to other things such as building business plan, society management etc. In event management, every time you think of an idea, let's have a seat and take time to think. Having a piece of paper and a pen would help you to see it clearly. Start scratching those 2 outstanding features here, the internal core and the external part.

The internal part includes of 5 things which is hidden, that people doesn't know much about but it will be the very core things which if you doesn't take care of it, your team and project will crumble. There are;

Product: the end result of an action or process i.e. do circumcision for 100 children, do medical check up to a 150 community
Legality: obligations imposed by rules i.e. approval from administration, ask permission for venue
Systems: an organized process or method i.e. timeline and milestone, flowchart of working
Communications: the activity of conveying information i.e. update and contact with sponsors, administration, committees or to the community
Cash flow: the movement of cash into or out i.e. expenditure and profit of the event or program

For the external part; there are 3 three important items that commonly people outsiders see and value us. It's mission, team and leadership. Those points are quite a big subject but there are several things that I need to highlight.

1-Mission:

Specify and clarify your idea into goals and objectives.
Believe that it's for the sake of connecting you, your team, your society and people out there; not just about you. It's about who you want to serve and contribute.
To include entrepreneurial spirit, apply Hedgehog Concept of 3 circles: Be the best in what your passion is while at the same time, generating your economy.
Balance both the humanitarian and entrepreneurial spirit.

2-Team:

Aim of building a great team with cumulative effort
Jim Collins in Good to Great mentioned that you need the right people on your team, and place them on the right position.
For the same reason, the only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving.
Right people - is the most important asset

3-Leadership: It's too much to talk about. We will cover it in Management & Administrative Guide.

Scratch this on your paper and your mind before start on assembling your team and do the planning.

Next: Part 1.2: Project Planning & Working Paper

Ultimate Guide to Event Management 2

2010-10-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Part 1: Overview for Pre-Operative Stage

In the previous post, we have already learnt about the stages and gotten the general idea about what it is. In this post, I would like to share the overview of the pre-operative stage. I try to cover the most important parts and highlight what to do in order to save more time and work more efficiently in a team.

There are 4 'blocks' for the pre-operative stage, a process beginning from the top to bottom. I created this to help ease our mind of what is the most practical thing to do and to be prepared. Of course you can add and minus as you like or shuffle it based on the situation, but I hope at least it can guide you on planning, leading and monitoring the event or program.

1. Create a vision

A person who plans an event or organizes a program needs to set his vision and begin with the end in mind. You need to (at least in my opinion, as the program manager or leader) have a personal direction or general view of your planning starting from gathering the team until execution of the event or program. Create it in your mind first and then work to bring them into existence.
My tips: get help from seniors or experienced people. 'Googling' to get info or asking around in Facebook might enable you yo generate more ideas.
Therefore, by generating your idea through the components of the Triangle of Vitalities, I am sure it will help you in preparing towards your vision. Simply put, it helps you to prepare for the internal core of the event (result, legality, system, communication and profit) and the external one (your mission, the team and leadership). Detail in on your Triangle of Vitalities.

2. Project Planning & Working Paper

Next is project planning. Project planning isn't planned by yourself only. It's a cumulative work by your team. At this stage, you need to start gathering your core team which include the main-board and head committees and start the brainstorming process. Sometimes, the process will be lengthy but as 90/10 Rule states, "First 10% of your time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save as much as 90% of the time getting job done once you get it started."
The brainstorming process is part of team building. It is the time for arguing and clashing of ideas in order to come out with the best one. In order to help the process of brainstorming, I'm suggesting the use of Event Model Canvas which will help you to see the general idea of working flow and how the event would be. In other words, it will help you see the 'future process'.
At the same time, the brainstorming process will also include administrative work; working paper, minute meeting, memo, sponsorship letters and other stuff involving 'papers'. A lot of people avoid this (especially guys) because it's tiring and boring. However, this is an essential part which need skills and time. Refer here for details.

3. Pre-requisite

This is solely the procedure and bureaucracy process. And the most exhausting part to deal with. Every university or college has their own bureaucracy and sometimes vary a little a bit. In CUCMS, previously, when you do a program, you only need approval from STAD (Student Affairs) and SSCM (Student Service Committee Meeting) but now, you also need approval from Prof Hatta or in other words, Dean aka Academic Faculty.
These procedures are for approval and financial aid.

4. Leading the Team & Performance Monitoring

The most vital elements for event management as a whole are leadership and management. According to Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, "Leadership is doing the right things as management is doing things right." First question here is leadership - what we want to accomplish? Second is management - how can I best accomplish it? Third is productivity - doing it (involve time management).
There is no need for me to explain about leadership and management skills because there are a lot of helpful resources out there. Just Google it and there you are. Those are skills; that you need in combination of little principles (20%) and more experience or practices (80%). However, Insyallah in the future, I will share certain links, websites and book open discussions which are really good for references.
There are 3 tips that I will share for this stage; (1) the duration of the stage starts once you create your idea, til you execute it and until the post mortem. (2) As a leader, you need to lead your team based on understanding, by making them truly understand their area of work or job-scopes and use your authority as a leader when it's necessary. And (3) as a good manager, keeping up with their progress and following up is essential.
For the monitoring process, there are things that I suggest would help but are not compulsory to do; (1) the use of Gantt Chart for follow up and progress monitoring and (2) working flowchart for communication aids up (sponsors, STAD) or down (committees, target people).

To wrap up, all the four points above are incredibly essential in planning and preparing for event management especially the pre-operative stages. However, in terms of application, they are not fix, can be varied and depends on individual abilities. In the near future, further details of all the four points will be elaborated. For the time being, take time to digest as much as you while waiting for my next post. Best of luck learning!

Next: Pre-Operative 1: Create a Vision

First Who, Then What

2010-10-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Building a Great Team

Previously, we have explored a little about Level 5 leadership which is compared to the 'effective leader' (Level 4 leadership). As formerly highlighted, Level 5 leadership focuses on sustaining the long-term effects of success by not only concentrating on the performance of his team but also preparing for his successor to do better than him. It is as simple as that. It also shows how they set up their 'team' or the (self-proclaimed) 'best team ever'. Take a look at the diagram below;

Seeing the diagram above instantly proves how much and how 'big-hearted' Level 5 leaders were. The Level 5 leader's aim is not just about having great people around him but also about molding the individual team members into leaders themselves. It can even be considered that they are 'less of dictatorship' and more of prioritizing development of his team's great potential. They feel that facilitating personal growth is more rewarding than focusing on having 'just good people' around. They put effort in sharing their vision and building a culture of working, not just blindly pushing their crew blindly in an attempt to realize their own vision.

The Level 5 leader incorporates the 'bus' concept in their culture of recruiting the team, which is;

FIRST, get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and right people on in the right seats, and THEN they figure out where to drive.

They believe that the only way for people who are achieving to perform is not to burden them with people who are not achieving. The right people are their most important asset. For me, hiring and firing people is easy but getting them into the right seats is the leader's biggest task to make sure that the team's passion and abilities are fully utilized.

That's why, when it comes to choosing people, they act rigorously.

They don't choose people when they have doubt about it. They limit their growth until they find the right people.
They make sure that they don't simply have someone in the wrong seat or leave them there. They act and make adjustment whenever necessary.
They put their best people on the biggest opportunities, not on the biggest problems. They focus on people management, allow their team to face challenges in order to get the best out of them. They never decide to sell off their problems by selling off their best people.(Link here for people management)

In his book, Jim Collins shared a story of a former Gillette CEO - Colman Mockler. He is a person who puts his best priority towards his people, towards his company and his life. When he died, people who came to his funeral described him as 'a man who spent nearly all his waking hours with people who loved him, who loved what they were doing and who loved one another - at work, at home, in his charitable work, wherever'. This just goes to show how much people love and appreciate him; not because of his status, but because of his honesty and how good he is in assembling the right people around.

Finally, I always believe that having a great team is part of life. You can't stand by yourself and be tough in life as you think. You need comrades who understand and share your vision in life. Although scarce, it's all about quality. And having the right people will help you sail the cruise and even if you are not there, they will stay on and make it work.

Ultimate Guide to Event Management 1

2010-10-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Stages of Event Management

Anything you want to do, implement or make real, you start with a plan, work it out until the day of the operation and only then settle down. The concept is essentially the same in event management. Just to make it practical and easy to understand, I have divided event management into three parts; pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative.

To explain the stages of event management without any good examples can be boring and too theoretical. So let's take an example. How about a medical check up carnival in Sabah? Let's try to put some thoughts on it.

Pre-operative - This includes the process of you 1) planning the rough idea of the event, 2) working it out step by step rigorously, 3) going through all the bureaucracy and procedures as well as 4) leading the team and monitoring your team's performance. The duration of this stage begins from the time your idea is born until the day prior to the event. You will focus 70-80% of your effort on the planning while the rest is for the event's day. Why you ask? Based on 90/10 Principle; first 10% of your time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save as much as 90% of the time getting the job done once you get started. So, if you do not plan, you will plan to fail!
Intra-Operative - This is the stage of the day of the event. It commences upon arrival of people to the event or ceremony until their departure and the event's team settling all the technical requirements there. If everything goes according to what we planned, then the event is a success. However, not everything will go according to the plan which is the reason why we need a checklist, master plan and certain documentations to get on track if anything unexpected happened. The point here is that the more you prepare, the less effort you need on the big day itself. That's why I put 15% of effort for intra-operative.
Post-Operative - This is the final stage whereby many abandon and forget how crucial it is. If you are aiming for long term success in event management, put effort in it. It's also for your continuous learning and sponsors' benefits. The port-mortem will help you highlight points for improvement, mistakes and for you to learn from it since everything is documented in a report. Appreciation letter to the sponsors and certificates towards the event's team are the best way to maintain our relationship with them in the future. Of course we hope they can come back and join us for future events or programs. That's the way we want to 'tie' them with us; not through brutal force but silent encouragement.

After you have read the explanation above, take a deep breath and think. Have you ever thought about it and worked out all the stages? Of course, there are a lot more to go for pre-operative and other stages. However, start with thinking and finding out what to do by yourself first. This is part of faster learning and long term memory. Your first thoughts combined with the knowledge or experiences you gain in the near future will sky-rocket your understanding!

So, please wait for the next post, whereby I will be explaining the overview of pre-operative stage. Bye!

Next: Overview for Pre-operative Stage

Ultimate Guide to Event Management: Prequel

2010-10-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Dealing with numerous events and programs in previous years gave me the chance to learn deeper regarding event management. Of course, learning is not only from reading but also from doing, through experiences. If you learn the Cone of Learning, it states that reading or hearing will give you 10-20% of understanding but by doing or applying, you will learn more which gives about 80-90% of comprehension.

That's why, in any field of learning, whether in medicine or accountancy, what you learn in school is just maybe 30% applicable towards life because you didn't really apply it in life. However, once you start working, maybe a houseman in hospital or as an accountant at a big company, you will understand that it's totally different. That's the reason why people always talk about Street Smart Versus School Smart.

Ok, for now, neglect those. Let's start thinking about organizing and handling an event. I'm sure that if there is anyone who is into student activism, they will have gone through what I have gone through before.

Previously, when I organized events or programs, I never learnt the management formally. I didn't have any guides for reading, no seniors for mentoring; only skilled friends to guide me. Although the projects were successful, I felt that there were a lot of weaknesses and loopholes mainly because I didn't know how to handle it, not well-planned, lack of leadership and of course, no experience.

I'm sure the same thing happened to my juniors, or at least to anyone who has never organized any programs or events in their lives. That's why, when I brainstormed and asked around, most of them hope that there is a simple guideline to help them lead the way. They want to find how to plan and improve handling of events while at the same time plan the events in simple, effective, productive and less time-consuming ways.

With all this in mind, then YES, most definitely we all need a handbook to guide the future potential and current event managers. We need a book for event management. And currently, I, together with 2 of my juniors are working on it. We plan to call it the ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EVENT MANAGEMENT. Watch out for it!

Next: Stages of Event Management

Level 5 Leadership

2010-10-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Leadership is worldwide topic discussion. People has their own say about it but let's hear Jim Collins opinion regarding leadership in Good to Great.

For him, the level of leadership has been differentiated based on productivity, performance and also the contribution towards long-term greatness sustaining. However, less people know about level of leadership. Let see the pyramid below and description.

The best and most-contributed leaders are the level 5 executive; who build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. What are those two, read below,

In simple words, it can be summarized as people who are;

a great manager but for the future legacy, preparing for his best successor
incredibly ambitious, but the ambition is first and foremost for the sake of institution, not for self-benefit
fanatically driven towards producing sustained results
down to earth character; humble and reserved

Jim Collins has jotted down several names of great people such as Abraham Lincoln & Socrates but as a Muslim, I can see all the quality inside our Last Prophet, Muhammad SAW. He builds a legacy by leaving Al-Quran & As-Sunnah for thousand years but still valid, he is ambitious enough to spread his doctrine throughout the world but his sole intention is for the sake of Ummah more than anything else. He is low profile, humble person and never took credit for anything good he did. In order to sustain his Ummah, he leaves his best successor, Abu Bakar RA to lead his legacy.

It seems nice and sweet to write it down but to cultivate the Level 5 Leadership essence, two things need to be highlighted.

The level 5 leader, their work always be what they build, create and contribute, not what they get - fame, fortune and power.
Under right circumstances i.e. self-reflection, conscious personal development, mentoring, loving parent, Level 5 boss or significant life experience - can be utmost help to develop the leadership's essence.

My last two cents, a leader is a person who 'comes first but leave the last'. Bear it in our mind.

Refining 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins

2010-10-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

Good to Great, a highly recommended corporate management book written by Jim Collins. Although it's specifically for any business managers or CEOs, it would be great for anyone to read it especially for non-profit organization, leadership or self-improvement purposes. It gives us perfect overview of how to successfully manage our life and time while at the same time, rigorously keeping up with the balance of life and strictly aiming to produce great-long lasting accomplishment.

Therefore, as I'm writing this personally as 'first aid kit' for my juniors who are active in student-based program, event managing and society management, I hope it would help them gaining the knowledge and insight as well as refining them through experiences from time to time.

First, let's start with the definition of good and great. If you understand the meaning, then you would understand the gap of both words; which for certain people, they take 'good' as the enemy of 'great'. Jim Collins wants to prove that in order to achieve great things, you need to have certain qualities exceeding the 'good'. And he acquired the result (the qualities) through years of research towards great people in nothing-to-great companies in the world (mostly in USA).

The qualities are;

Being a Level 5 leader
Focusing first and foremost in gathering the team members; the RIGHT one as building the superior team, then figure out the best path to bring them on
Unwavering faith to prevail although confronting with difficulties and 'brutal facts'
Focus on Hedgehog Concept - being the best in what your passion is as well as generating the profit from it
Build a culture of discipline
Carefully selected on latest technologies to move forward
Be like a rolling of giant flywheel - continuously and consistently roll until reaches the point of breakthrough
Focus on sustaining great results while at the same time, enduring it till the end

To understand each qualities, it need further and more detail explanation but I'll try to simplify it and accommodate with the level of our students in the future post.

Overall, as summary, what have been stressed in this book is highly performance relative to our target or mission. So, focus on it!!

The Key to Success: Leadership & Society Management

2010-10-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

One month before, my junior asked me several questions related to society and leaderships. He is my junior since secondary school but I didn’t know him much at that time. However, when we met in CUCMS, we become close to each other and no doubt, the thing that connected us is ‘ukhuwwah’. For me, he is one of the potential leaders and I put a lot of trust and hope in him to lead his batch and the upcoming CUCMS generation.

His question towards me was simple;

“What is the key to the success in leadership and also in society management?”
“What preparation should I do if I was chosen to lead one of the biggest societies in this college?

I couldn’t give exact answer at that time although I can give him several tips. However, it’s preferable for me to make better guidelines, so not only he can benefit from it but also the others, Insyallah. Therefore, I did some ‘research’ and readings and at the same time, I mould it together with my experiences then I came up with my own rule of success in those fields. For me, it is the most basic and essential thing needed for anyone who want to success, climb to the top and become greater than anyone although he is an average guy. It's Success Triangle.

First, is the mission and vision. In the first hadith by Imam Bukhari & Muslim in Hadith 40, Allah SWT has said that everything we do must start with ‘niat’ or our intention. Anything that you want to get involved to, whether in taking any project to work for, study or to be in relationship, you need to have mission to be successful since the beginning. A society or organization will stand strong as long as the mission is clear and sturdy. Imagine when an organization is getting bigger and the leaders gradually forget the mission, it will regress and fade with time if there is no one who can stand and remind those people. At last, it will crumble meticulously. That’s the conclusion on my observation and with a mission, I lead PPIM CUCMS Student Chapter to a level where it can stand on his own, as long as the future leader understand the mission and stand strong with it. Same goes to any project I choose to initiate and to take on such as Le Tour program, BLS Training School Tour, conference and others.

Let’s take a great example such as Salahuddin Al-Ayubi, the conqueror of Jerusalem, who put his mission to free Jerusalem throughout his life and would die for it. He said, ‘Anyone who can conquer Jerusalem means he has conquered the world’. For that, he focused all his might and life, and worked it out. Until several years, Allah SWT has granted his wish and after hundred years, Jerusalem was conquered back by Muslim people. His achievement shows how great and how far someone who has mission in life can go. Therefore, set your own mission and vision right now, whether short term or long term, paste it on the wall and work it out. Pray for it and may Allah SWT grant it.

Practically, the mission that you have to list down must be in two important perspectives – spiritual and physical. For example, you aim to lead a society, therefore physically; you can aim to set up a network connection with potential sponsors, politicians, expertise and friends from nationwide or international. At the same time, spiritually, you want them to understand that with Islam as guidance, you can lead the society to the utmost and set a good leadership model to the others. Whatever reason you put, make sure it can give you the spirit and strength to work and move forward. And please, believe in yourself and your faith. Never cease down and never look back. Simply to say, you need very high self-confidence and this will differentiate you with other normal people.

Second, is having a ‘perfect’ team. To work in a society, you need to learn how to interact with others. From interaction, you need to choose people who can work around you. Those people that you can rely on trust and put your hope, that you can call them ‘comrades’. It comprises of different people of various personalities and expertise. A team won’t be perfect if all of them are leaders or all are workers but it must be the combination of both. To get that perfect attraction towards each other, experiences doing or involved in project together can determine the level of compatibility. And the number of people in the group is not significantly essential but the qualities. Therefore, the best target group of a productive team is the teenagers. For me, teenagers are the most valuable asset. In a certain ages, above 35 years old, the productivity will be reduced due to other responsibilities such as family and hectic job. Imam As-Syahid Hasan Al-Banna has mentioned in his words,

“Andai Islam seperti sebuah bangunan usang yang hampir roboh, maka akanku berjalan ke seluruh dunia mencari jiwa-jiwa muda. Aku tidak ingin mengutip dengan ramai bilangan mereka, tapi aku inginkan hati-hati yang ikhlas untuk membantuku dan bersama membina kembali bangunan usang itu menjadi sebuah bangunan yang tersergam indah…”

Syeikh Fathi Yakan, also in his words, talking about teenagers,

“Pemuda ialah sebuah tenaga yang digunakan oleh Islam untuk membangunkan dan memakmurkan alam. Tetapi orang lain telah mempergunakan mereka untuk meruntuhkan umat manusia. Sesungguhnya manusia hari ini penuh sesak dengan pemuda dan pemudi tetapi mereka ini hanyalah kosong, hanyut dan terbiar..”

Teenagers are the group of people who has the most potential and great motivation in them. They will improve endlessly with the guide and advice from other people and they also will learn from their mistakes. Sukarno, a great leader from Indonesia has mentioned in his every speech, “Give me ten guys and they will roar the world”. That’s the proof on how much potential a teenager has.

Third and the last one, is to have leadership quality. In Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brown & Orrin Woodward, they have listed down 5 qualities that must be incarcerated in every leader in this world. Those are,

Learn – you have the courage and dare to learn from anyone else. A friend of mine who is studying in Korea, has experiences meeting with Tun Mahathir Mohamad. He noted in his blog, titled Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad : Catatan Peribadi / Pertemuan Kedua;

“Secara peribadi juga ingin saya katakan bahawa kadangkala Tun kelihatan seperti seorang budak kecil kerana beliau sering bertanya tentang apa sahaja yang beliau tidak tahu tanpa rasa segan, sentiasa menunjukkan minat yang mendalam dalam apa sahaja bidang seperti robotik…”

Even a great leader who has built a legacy in this world has this kind of courage, the spirit to learn and learn as much as he can. Not forgetting his deep interests in reading and writing. For me, reading is one of the essential parts to build your own character and idealism. Build your own library and get used to John C. Maxwell, Dale Carnegie, Robert T. Kiyosaki and Anthony Robbins’ books. They have done a really good job in describing inner qualities of a leader. And writing, it is the way for you to exchange and share your knowledge and opinions. Get used to blogging and journalism. From this, we will gradually learn to accept comments from others and we improve ourselves from it. Conclusion here is to learn, read and write.

Perform – perseverance through failure to find success. For me, in simple words, no fear, never back down and never give up. Through my experience, I happened to lead a team assisting a ‘sunathon’ program in Setiu, Terengganu and it was a total failure. I have burdened my team; they need to spend a lot of money and time, not forgetting how lethargic they turned out to be. I learned from it and vowed that I will never let it happen again.

From that experience, I plan a strategy for 2 years scheduled with program and make sure adequate time for preparation of every project and programs.

Mark Theodore Roosevelt words, “I never won anything,” said he, “without hard labor and the exercise of my best judgment and careful planning and working long in advance”

Lead – extend your abilities by expanding your team. I have stressed this previously but what I want to focus now is the ability to win and influence people. This requirement, I defined it as a deep, driving desire to learn, a vigorous determination to increase your ability to deal with people. Dale Carnegie, in his book, How to Win Friends & Influence People, he has stated 6 ways to make people like you, 12 ways of to win people to your way of thinking and 9 ways to change people without arousing resentment. I just want to stress the sincerity in relationship, admitting your own fault when you did mistake, helping them not only through hand but also in his way of thinking and idea, encouragement and never let them lose their face. If you have this, you have everything to become a respectable person and avoiding enemies.

Learn to speak up – public speaking. Dale Carnegie, in his book, How to Develop Self-Confidence & Influence People by Public Speaking, he has stated several tips on how to deliver a good speech. Of course for the first timer, when you were called upon to stand up and speak, you became so self-conscious, so frightened, that you can’t think properly and lost everything you intended to say. However, practice is the solution and put your heart in it will give your speech a booster. When you have developed the pleasure and satisfaction in giving a speech, it is the times you have gain your self confidence towards public speaking. “Two minutes before I begin, “a speaker confessed, “I would rather be whipped than start; but two minutes before I finish, I would rather be shot than stop”. Preparation must be done before giving the speech and please write it down in notes and practice it in front of your friends or mirror. Reminder, the note is only emergency tool, when you become blank and speechless. Delivering a good speech will help us to get ahead and convey ourselves effectively; therefore it’s essential for a leader to be good in public speaking.

Develop leaders around you – learn to trust and have faith in other people. Having faith in each other is not a simple thing to do especially when you want to trust them with something involving high responsibility. However, the trust is the driving factor that helps them in developing their leadership skills, management and making decision. The trust is also a kind of silent encouragement and appreciation towards others. A quote says, to believe and trust people, it’s far difficult than expecting people to have faith in you.

Develop leaders who develop leaders – create a legacy. To create a legacy, you need to have your faith and idealism that can be continued by your followers. I will give you two great examples, our prophet Nabi Muhammad SAW and As-Syahid Hasan Al-Banna. Although they have died, their doctrines and faith (Islamic practice) has been carried on by hundred of peoples around the world. Therefore, they never died. They left something as contribution towards the future generation. Three things that we will carry on to the afterlife; ‘doa’ from faithful son, ‘sedekah’ that never forfeit and ‘knowledge’ that being pass from one generation to the others. It is the knowledge that Rasullullah SAW and Hasan Al-Banna fought and strive to deliver in order to make sure all the doctrines can be passed on to the next generation. From that, although we never met them personally but they have influenced the future leaders and that’s make them a legends.

Reference:

Chris Brown & Orrin Woodward - Launching a Leadership Revolution
Robert T. Kiyosaki – Guide to Investing
Dale Carnegie – How To Win Friends & Influence People
Dale Carnegie – How To Develop Self-Confidence & Influence People by Public Speaking
John C. Maxwell - The 360 Leader
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad : Catatan Peribadi / Pertemuan Kedua by sham86
Syeikh Fathi Yakan Seorang Jurutera Yang Berhati Waja by Yussamir Yusof

Project Management 1

2010-10-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

My Learning Process

For the last 3 years, I have involved in a lot of programs and projects from medical camp, conference, talk to carnival-type. I have experiences becoming the participants, the committees and sometimes, I lead the projects. I hope I can list it down one by one but what concerned me is not the number of projects or program that I joined or conducted, it is always about the management and the outcome of them. The outcome of those projects is greatly related to how we manage it.

From mistakes I’ve done and from experiences I’d gained I gradually learned from time to time the existence of project management. I bought books and tried hard to learn it by myself. Although I couldn’t apply almost everything in those books I read but I learned a lot from it. Honestly, I have never regretted joining or conducting any program because for each of them, it expands my capability and wisdom in dwelling with all the risks and problems in what-so-called ‘project management’.

Learning through reading and self application in life is two things that I did. I believed that the experiences would make the different. No need to worry doing any mistakes. Like an old friend advice me,

“If you feels that you had never made a mistake in life, then it means you had never tried anything new in life...or maybe you are traveling in a wrong path.."

Let the advance worrying become advance for thinking, planning and implementing.

Reasons of My Obsession

I have big reasons to be good in this. I will, one day, set up or running any companies and the knowledge of ‘project management’ can help me in handling them. In the competitive markets today, timely and successful project completion is critical for the growth and survival of the companies. I know that in any big companies nowadays, they have introduced Project Management Office (PMO), task force, work teams and various forms of projectized organizations. They will make sure that their underlings learn the basic and effective techniques in Project Management, for the sake of ensuring the successfulness in any projects. However, it is no doubt that anyone who has experiences doing this kind of work and has had basic of it can evolved and do better than their friends.

In medical profession, being a good project manager will help you to become a good Medical & Health Officer (MHO) or a good leader for medical research. So, for that purpose, I put my efforts to master this.

Fundamental of Project Management

First, let us understand the meaning of ‘project’. It is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique service, product or result. ‘Temporary’ here indicates that every project has beginning and end dates. By the time it has been completed, the project team disbands or moves on to other new projects. It differs with on-going operation. Let see the example:

Le Tour de Kelantan 2007 – it was a 3 days program, the committees was set up one month before the project and right after the project, the committees was disband to give a new start to the next project – Neo Cyber Medical Check Up Program
BLS Training School Tour – it is a continuous program, not limited to years, there are one project manager and a team who plan, set it and ask for sponsorships, then under them there are several people who are assigned to lead several projects going to school teaching BLS and giving motivational talk.

The first one is a project but the second one is on-going operation. However, inside the on-going operation, there can be projects.

Key Point for a Successful Project

Key 1: Follow 5 management processes deliberately

There are 5 project management processes that should be followed to ensure the project meets project requirements, namely;
Initiating process
Planning process
Executing process
Monitoring & controlling process
Closing process
For every process, they are a lot to be discussed but I prefer to explain them in separate post
For additional info, it doesn’t mean that every project needs to follow these processes but it’s necessary to check them up so nothing will be left behind. It’s good to have checklist, it will become a great reminder.

Key 2: Understand the 3 competing constraints – project scope, time and cost

Then, let see the project requirements or goals. Actually, it can be grouped into 3 key competing constraints – project scope, time and cost.
As usual, when we set our committees, we will divide our work scope and task. It is important to make all the committees understand their job and avoid any clash against their work scope.
Dateline for every step or processes need to be set to avoid last minute working.
Cost or money can have big effects on any projects. All the committees need to discuss and make up for an ‘imaginary budget’ before proceed with project. It is essential in order to give them a finance guideline to move forward. Treasurer also needs to beware about the money consumption and always update the budget & cost.

Key 3: For a project manager, they need to have the 3 attributes of a successful project manager

Knowledge on project management & the project itself
Good leadership skill
Good communication skills

Key 4: The application of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) & Project Plan

WBS is the foundation to a good project management plan; used to subdivide the major part of project or project work into smaller, more manageable tasks. Normally, before start to work, the project manager will call upon the important people in each committee and brainstorm the major tasks. Although it consumes a lot of time but it is worth it.
Once WBS is established and has been detailed, a timeline or project schedule can be mapped out; cost can be estimated and risks which can occur can be expected. WBS helps a lot in identifying the risks and let us prepared for it.
In advanced level, the entire detailed plan can be converted to a Gantt chart. I tried to apply it in previous projects and I find it beneficial. However, it is time-consuming and not really applicable for small-scale project. There must be one person who fully taking care of it and the secretary is preferable besides project leader.

Key 5: Risk Management

It starts during the project planning stage and the risks commonly identified while doing the brainstorm session or WBS. Honestly, I have never applied it thoroughly although I take some essences of it. The risk management includes 6 processes i.e.
Planning
Identification
Qualitative & quantitative analysis
Risk response planning
Monitoring & control
The objectives of risk management are to increase the probability and impact of positive events; and to decrease the negative one. In responses to the negative risks, we can avoid, transfer, mitigate or accept it; depends on its situation.
In my experiences, for every decision we want to make regarding the risks, we need to discuss it with our teammates. Sometimes, strong will is needed to make a concluded decision and get rid of certain views.

Key 6: Execution & Controlling of the Project

If you are the project manager, it is absolutely your responsibility to control and tract the performance of the project closely. The 3 key competing constraints can be used as tracking tools;
Time controlling: concentrate on the timeline which has been set before (or Gantt chart, if you have) to monitor the actual completion dates of tasks versus plan
Cost controlling: like I has mentioned before, the treasurer or finance team should keep track on everything that has been spent or being spend
Scope controlling: let say for example, for medical checkup program, at first, we agreed to do only basic medical checkup such as BMI, blood pressure or blood sugar measurement but then, suddenly, the villagers asked to do ‘sunathon’ too. The sudden change on scope impacted the cost and schedule of the project. Therefore, something like this must not be ignored and need early notification.

Key 7: Documentation and formal review

I think this is one of the most crucial things in any projects. Apart from filing the project documents accordingly for future reference, it is important to document and share the “lessons learned” of the project. This ensures continuous improvement for the team and next projects. That’s why, after any project, a project manager will arrange a grand dinner to gather all the crews and reflect back everything.
Honestly, the tips I gave above is based on my experiences and what I have learned from my reading. I try to make it simple and understandable; as anyone can apply it. Although I know I didn’t thoroughly explain the whole thing but I hope anyone who read it can get the general idea of handling a project. The rest, you can learn more through trial and error or maybe the best is you asked for someone superior to guide you – mentoring.

Reference:

The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management by Eric Verzuh
The Portable MBA in Project Management by Eric Verzuh
Managing Projects in Organization by J Davidson Frame
http://www.spottydog.u-net.com/guides/faq/faq.html

Pieces of My Dream

2010-10-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

By: Dr^Waqipedia

I applied for Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) 2010 sponsorship and the last assignment is to write an essay which is 500 words. Unfortunately, I was too absorbed with my work and end up till 1500 words. Here you; this is my story tale of my dream and future.

Interested Area: Entrepreneurships, Medical Related & Health Awareness

The first time I read the essay question from YLA, I could only think of several community based project that I previously have organized before for the past 4 years studying in CUCMS. I involved in a lot of events, seminars, carnival, talk and tour while at the same time, managed community based project especially the one with medical related such as circumcision in large scale, medical checkup carnival and school tour motivational talk plus teaching basic life support for secondary students.

Before I elaborate further, I would like to stress on the real principle of doing a community based project as it is for the sake and benefit of public and the whole country. Besides immediate aid or giving them any service, element of education for long term benefit must be included as it’s the true benefit which we, as community based service provider should offer.

Out of all project I had managed beforehand, I find out that teaching basic life support in schools is quite interesting when some additional package are being included such as motivational talk, health promotion and career guide. I named it after BLS Training School Tour. It has started since 2008; in small scale and BLS team had their tour on twelve schools in 4 months. The responses are great especially from the school teachers and students. However, due to financial reason and man power, it stuck.

It’s a disappointing period where a lot of schools called and the team had to refuse them. They had mentioned how much it was in fact benefited their students and inspired them to do their very best in studies and future. They also were pleased to have us teaching the students basic life support and first aid skills with very cheap fees compared to the courses provided by any other NGOs.

Early this year, I took the challenge of taking the project and start it back. My management team shortlisted our own goals such as aiming for large scale school tour covering area outside KL and Selangor, free in service provided, able to increase the students’ awareness besides training them to be competent in basic life support skills and able to act quickly in emergency condition.

I got them set up the goals first for the sake of brainstorming our action plan as to make it tally with everything that we are working for. To provide a free teaching tour, we planned for corporate sponsorship and getting grant from health ministry. Recruitment of committees who can handle all the management stuff such as promotion, sponsorship, marketing, multimedia, resource and technicality is compulsory for managerial purpose. In the mean time, they need to polish their skills by joining any seminar regarding soft skills or doing training of trainees. Besides that, connection and networking is one of the most essential element needed for collaboration purpose while helping the smooth running of the project.

I stress the importance of this school tour because it teaches the students two important life-saving module; basic life support plus first aid training and health understanding especially for drug abused and smoking. Look, prevention is better than cure as Malaysian government would be able to save thousands in cash if the civilians know better to help casualty first hand than just leave them behind before the ambulance come. Every minutes count in saving people. Although the different is just 5 minutes, the management and cost of treatment would be greatly poles apart. Same goes to how much Malaysia can save money by avoiding the rising number of drug abusers or smoking related disease such as chronic bronchiectasis, asthma or lung tumor.

Actually, this project is not only for one year duration and for several schools but I plan it into four phases. The first phase is getting corporate sponsorship and goes to 5 schools for free. The second one, after we have good publicity from media, we will charge the schools RM10 per student for three compact modules. It’s far than reasonable because from our research, the least cheap one for basic life training is RM200 above per person. However, for any schools who invite us, the fees will be slightly higher based on negotiation and miles.

Next, the third phase is increasing the fees to a reasonable prices depend on the market once this project has already established and well-known in society. At the same time, I will work on building a doctors’ team who are focusing in teaching this special module towards any big company and at the same time, building their work spirit and teamwork. This special module will include the special training for disaster purpose and construction preparedness.

Last one, the fourth phase is open up a company which focusing in training of the areas before plus inspiring people to make great things in life and serve our nation. The best service for a nation is building their future leadership generation and that will be my greatest contribution to my beloved nation and Malaysia.

The planning is simple and nice but to work out all those three phases will take more than a year, maybe 10 years but I will make a few amendments in order to make it real. For me, besides having a great amount of cash from a business like this, I will surely consider my contribution towards society and leaving a legacy of educating people in the future.

This is my first project as a ladder towards business life and as I have made it into the third phase, I would consider of collaborating with international emergency and disaster team in training people around the world, investing in real estates, franchising with several healthy foods corporations such as Ayamas and Kenny Rogers and of course, joining medical tourism. Medical tourism is the biggest opportunity to develop once I can have a good link and network with several specialist hospitals and tourism agency because Malaysia is significantly great in both sides.

The last dream of me is having my own hospitals which are relatively cheap for poor people with a big laboratory for research on vaccination production and also for drugs production. I highlight of vaccination production because until now, Malaysia is depending on the imported vaccines and it is very costly due to shipping cost, maintenance and its own production. For drugs production, it’s for medical purposes and what use of hospitals if they can’t afford or prescribe a good medication to patients. What I can summarize here, everything is related and if I am only good in medicine, I can only help hundreds of people but if I can realize this dream, it will help thousands of people in Malaysia and maybe throughout the world.

Do you believe in my dream? Once you read everything above, can you do me a favor? Please train me to be a great manager, to be a great leader, to be really great so I can realize my dream. Thank you.