We go through our days in and out of meetings, on and off conference calls, sending and answering email.  All while we’re touching many different issues and projects.

So, when and how can you ever feel a sense of accomplishment?

• When you’ve handled all your critical email (for now)?
• When you’ve finished a presentation (but you may yet tweak it one more time before you deliver it)?
• When you’ve resolved an issue (or think you have)?
• When you’ve completed key tasks on a big project (but there is so far yet to go)?

Our work is endless and all we do is move the ball forward a bit each day.  In the IT world, a major go live provides a collective sense of accomplishment for everyone involved. But as IT professionals, we know that there is the post-go live support phase and then, probably, an optimization phase. Are we ever done with that project? The project management professionals on our teams will ensure we close the core project and open new ones for future phases.

We maintain “to do” lists in some form – paper or electronic. There are individual ones. And there are group ones known as project plans. You may work on a team that effectively uses collaboration tools that show all the individual and shared tasks as well as any follow-up needed. Breaking down any size project into more bite size tasks or steps is a good approach. And it can help give a sense of accomplishment along the way. Continue reading →