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I’m the new kid at Echo. We all know what it feels like to be the new kid at work. So many questions. Where do I find this? How do we do that? It’s all learning with one rabbit hole learning adventure after another. Part of the onboarding process at Echo is to write a blog and so I'd like to share why I joined Echo for four particularly important reasons: The Work I joined Echo Consulting because I enjoy project management work. Molly and I joyfully shared at my interview that we like to sort our M&Ms by color before we eat them. (Organizing and process creation is important, right?) I know the orientating will settle down over time and then you get to dig in and work with focus and lean into the deliverables. This gets my adrenalin flowing. I realize excitement is different for everyone. My grown boys like to jump out of perfectly good planes, and I like to accomplish work – discover what the client needs, design with collaboration, build to the desired outcome, test for results, teach as a co-pilot, and proudly watch them launch. I guess you could say my adrenalin rush comes from helping others fly. Even if it means raising people to jump out of a perfectly good plane or raising people to jump out of their comfort zone to complete their mission. Echo’s Values I found out about Echo after a friend and previous co-worker told me she was working there. What she shared was music to my ears and made my heart dance as I have a deep need to feel valued as an employee. Echo’s values of “learn, share, grow, and care” matched that need. Admittedly, all these areas are important to me, but as a job hunter “care” was the species of game I was especially after. I needed to work for an organization that genuinely cared about its employees and its clients with integrity. Molly hit the mark during my interview when she told me, “I wanted to create the kind of company where I wanted to work.” I believe how a company treats its employees has a direct correlation to how employees will treat their clients. Echo’s values create trust, and this is what I will build with the Echo clients entrusted to me. Echo’s Culture Echo walks the walk when it comes to “flexibility with accountability, and radical transparency.” They recognize that people are not robots working 8 to 5. We have personal lives full of responsibilities to loved ones, the community, and to care for ourselves to be our best selves at work and at home. This dedication to the whole employee is the kind of dedication I will empathetically use when working with Echo clients. Echo’s Entrepreneurialism In my experience, there is a plethora of intrinsic value in the energy, can-do spirit, enthusiasm, innovation, and creative problem-solving in a startup business. I have a deep appreciation for how Echo approaches everything with curiosity to discover the best solutions. While Echo is young in its business life cycle, there is wisdom in its consultant model that utilizes partnering and collaboration with an approach (Engage, Conflict, Harmonize, Own) that requires integrity within the working relationship and creates business independence as an outcome. It is this model and approach I will use to have an honest working relationship with every Echo client assigned to me. There is something refreshingly different and unique going on at Echo, and I feel grateful to be a part of it - being the new kid and all.

This month I will have been with Echo for a month, and I already know this is the team for me. Echo has pushed me into not only being a better worker but a better person. This team checks in on me multiple times a day to make sure I understand the work, and to just see how I am doing. I’ve never worked with a company like that before. I absolutely love to write and am excited to be writing a blog post as part of my Echo Consulting onboarding, I know I made the right decision to join this team. I am still considered a new graduate, but I love to tackle all my work head-on. I’ve been working with Google Sheets and Excel since middle school because they always fascinated me. The fact that you can store all this information in one place AND organize it! I was hooked. Before starting this role at Echo, I worked as a Product Data Analyst with my local Air Force Base and that’s where I realized working with data is what I want to do forever. I worked on IPBs (Illustrated Parts Breakdown) and worked with the D200F system. I mostly worked with my small team and equipment specialist to go through the top 30 NIINs for the Air Force. Working in data really energizes me. Being able to work with data which I’ve loved even before I joined the workforce, has been extremely rewarding. Working with data has set a very high standard that I don’t think other jobs would be able to reach. I really like this quote by Dale Carnegie: “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” This quote speaks volumes to what I like to talk about in my everyday life. Whenever I do any kind of work with Echo, it hardly feels like I’m working at all. I love being able to reach out to my coworkers about any questions and not have to worry about nagging anyone. Everyone is so open about information and are willing to let me sit in on client meetings to help me understand the work better. I think having a flexible working schedule is a big factor in this. I haven’t met a lot of companies who are full-time remote with the option to go into the office (if you live closer of course). Most companies I’ve seen are either strictly remote or in-person with no choice. I think that shows how much Echo cares about the team’s needs. I’m excited to see what my future is like with Echo, and I hope to have continuous support all the way through it just as I do now.

Great leaders are Gardeners. They both nurture and weed their teams regularly, paying attention to unique needs and changing conditions. They attempt different combinations and locations to find the best configurations, they are patient and celebrate each bloom. I have a passion for flower gardening, I enjoy nurturing my plants to grow in whatever condition my yard offers. If it is on the shady side of my house, my flowers flourish in the cover from the sun, if it is on the windy side they provide a shield, if on the sunny areas they reach toward the sun. I tend to my plants so they can grow and flourish in whatever the environment is. I enjoy the details of weeding, replanting, and watering my flowers and watching the changes in my flower beds from spring to fall. My philosophy on leadership is to guide others to get the job done while building their confidence, skills, and value. I think the best leaders adapt their leadership style to the people they lead. A great leader relates to each team member based on who they are and how they work best. The best leaders are like gardeners who nurture plants to grow in whatever condition they are in. How can we as leaders incorporate our gardening skills into the workplace to foster our teams’ growth? Knowledge To grow flowers successfully I must become knowledgeable about each plant, what location they grow best in, how much light and water they need, and what type of soil they grow best in. To be a great leader we too need to be knowledgeable. Knowledge of the company’s environment: the products and services, the market we serve, and the team. Knowing the teams’ assets and opportunities for improvement is essential to foster their growth in skills and experience. Great leaders learn about their people to ensure they thrive. Weeding My flower beds need constant weeding; the weeds inhibit the flowers' growth. Just like in weeding, leaders must remove the blockers and conflicts to encourage growth. Empathetic leaders are successful in people development and management. I feel it is so important to understand what your team does, know how to do it and what they are feeling to be a successful leader to the team. Take the time to understand what they are going through, what are the blockers and pain points and how as a leader you can help. Foster their productivity just as gardeners tend to their plants. Trust Just like I tend to my flowers as a leader I tend to and protect my people. I support them and entrust them to do their job. I believe mistakes are only mistakes if you do not learn from them. Mistakes are part of the process of learning, growing, and becoming better. Great leaders foster an environment where the team feels encouraged to try new ways, be innovative and creative, learn and fail to succeed. Great leaders provide a safe environment to make mistakes and be protected in their growth. Celebrate & Praise As a gardener I celebrate each flower that blooms in my garden. I marvel at their growth and beauty and the aspects they bring the gardens. I celebrate with joy and pride each bloom I have nurtured. The best aspect of leadership is celebrating your team with this same joy and pride. Celebrate their achievements, successes and announce their accomplishments with pride. Great leaders celebrate their teams and allow them to bloom beautifully. Leadership is like great gardening. A great leader is knowledgeable about their company and people; empathetic to the teams’ challenges and works to remove their obstacles; stands by the team’s side and creates an environment for creativity and growth; and allows the team to shine and allows them to bloom.

I recently had a 60-day review here at Echo to talk about how things were going during my first 2 months. It was a helpful conversation with both my onboarding manager (Barb Groff) and Echo’s CEO (Molly Yanus) as we talked through some of the specific areas I’d been ramping up in, such as software trainings and our standard project templates. But, one of the pieces of feedback that surprised me was their encouragement to be more proactive in my communication during meetings or other team times – in their words, they were “missing” some of my perspective in those settings and wanted to make sure I was being heard. Different Teams need Different Communication Strategies In some ways, this feedback to “speak up more!” made me laugh – in my previous project management jobs, I often felt like the most talkative person in the room, always trying to elicit more input from teams of software developers who were often not excited about being in meetings. I would open my meeting agendas with funny comics, require all virtual attendees to turn on their cameras, and call directly on each person at least once to hear their status or opinion. A fellow project manager and I tested methods like virtual whiteboards and anonymous surveys as a way of getting everyone’s participation, and I enjoyed dropping in silly GIFs and puns during our team Slack exchanges to draw everyone in. Coming to an organization where the group is much more naturally talkative has been a fun change, but I do find myself hanging back more in meetings. Especially when so many other people are busy and have more experience or stronger opinions than I do (at least I assume), why take the time to talk more and potentially take everyone down a rabbit trail? I voiced this feeling to Barb and Molly, and they agreed that meeting efficiency is an important value (especially for us as project managers!) but also suggested that I’m probably selling short my own perspective. As we talked more, I also realized that I feel more confident speaking up when I’ve had a little chance to think through something first, and even write something down (an exercise we actually did in the Teams chat as part of the retrospective). For me, meeting agendas are also helpful in this way for preparation, as they give me a sense of what will be discussed, what I might want to say, and how a particular topic fits into the rest of the meeting time-wise. Work With Your Team’s Communication Styles The truth is that everyone has different strengths and preferred modes when it comes to communication – not everyone in your organization is naturally going to speak up during meetings or volunteer their thoughts without being asked to do so. Team managers need to think about how to make space for everyone’s communication style (as my managers are doing for me). Group meetings tend to feature the perspective of those who speak loudest and most frequently, but structured meeting agendas with clear objectives, start/end times, and a meeting “enforcer” to run it all can help keep the most talkative folks in check. There are also many good options for drawing out more reticent team members even in the midst of meetings, such as typing into group chats, sticky note exercises, and round robin Q&A’s. Communication Strategies for Team Success At Echo, we often work with organizations that are undergoing major changes, starting large new projects, or undergoing large planning exercises – all situations where it is important to get buy-in and input from your entire team, not just the most verbally communicative members. It takes work and commitment from leaders to meet their whole team where they are as far as communication – and support all team members in becoming better communicators within their organization. This may mean more “speaking up” or input from some members, while others learn to spend more time listening or considering others’ input. Here are some ideas for encouraging communication within your team: Anonymous surveys before meetings Structured agendas that are circulated before meetings Submit written feedback via a team chat Whiteboard exercises Feedback and goals specifically focused on communication for team members The payoff for working on your team’s communication is huge – it builds trust, encourages more diversity in perspectives and creativity in ideas, and encourages everyone on the team to become a better communicator. Your communicative team will be more consistently “on the same page” and much better able to rally around major changes or new efforts and push them forward. We’d love to help your organization work on the team communication and growth that leads to successful changes and major project success – reach out and let us know how we can help at ContactUs@EchoConsultingPm.com.

Five years into my professional career and there is NO WAY I could have plotted the course I’ve taken or roles I’ve occupied. And as I begin this next chapter with Echo Consulting, I would like to share a few of the things I’ve experienced along the way… Like many others, I’m not exactly using my degree to its fullest potential — but then again, our society has a funny way of assigning value to certain industries. My time in the environmental conservation field taught me that I value impacting decision making much more than assessing the consequences of decisions that have already been made. Getting folks excited about residential solar inside of Home Depots was made easier with the Tesla branding — but making friends out of strangers is always a challenge. Then getting people to answer a cold call and discuss little know aspects of their business was even more challenging! The years I spent refining sales techniques are extremely valuable to me and my exit from the industry taught me to listen to my moral compass and respond with decisive action. Managing a business’ software use and administer solutions that promote operational efficiencies has become my passion. It has taught me that there is always more to learn and different perspectives to see. That moment I feel comfortable in my abilities has become a call to arms for me to diversify my skillset and seek out the opportunities for growth. What I value above all else is the people I’ve met and the impact they’ve had on my life. I’m constantly reflecting on the opportunities I’ve been given, the confidence others have had in my abilities, and the impact I’ve had on the world. It all fuels me to be better, to contribute more, to matter more — out of respect for those that have believed in me and in anticipation of those that will put their trust in me in the future. At Echo Consulting I will continue to bring a critical perspective backed by an empathetic constitution. My strengthens will serve to support the goals of our clients and their successes will serve to develop me as person and as a professional… talk about a positive feedback loop! Written By: Keefer Welsh, Implementation Consultant with Echo Consulting

As I close out a recent project I have been working on, I was reminded of the value and importance of the lessons learned review. No matter the size or subject of the project effort, there are always things that went well and things that could have gone better and lessons learned. Retrospective on the project leads to a review of the complete picture that helps project managers and project teams learn from the experience. Taking these lessons learned and applying them to future work fosters continued growth and best practices adoption. Project Close-Out should include this important step held at the end of a project. It is a discussion of the knowledge gained from the process of conducting a project, the successes and failures as a team, and an effort to repeat the positive aspects and not repeat the mistakes. This is also called a post-mortem, after-action review, wrap-up, project success meeting, or a retrospective. Benefits of Reviewing Lessons Learned There are many benefits of reviewing a project as a whole, and revisiting the project aspects of objectives, goals, project plan timeline, budget, tasks and milestones. Reviewing what these aspects were gives a clear picture of what occurred and why, what worked and what did not. Here are some great questions to review in your close-out retrospective: Review the Project : What was the project objective? What were the project plan milestones and timeline? What actually happened? Did the plan change during the project? Why did it happen? Assessment: Successes What worked well in the project? What processes/tools were useful? What processes should we use in the future? Challenges What did not go so well? What tools/processes were not necessary or helpful? Were there blockers to the challenges? Results Were the objectives met, did we get results we wanted? Were there decisions made during project to take forward for future projects? What lessons were learned? What will you do differently next time? Take it into the Future As project managers encourage your project teams to learn from mistakes and successes. Put emphasis on what the team did correctly, as this can segue naturally into what was not done well and could use improvement. The goal should be to provide meaningful and constructive feedback and lead by example. Successful projects include this close-out retrospective and follow up with actionable items from the lessons learned review.

It was a dream that I carried within me, then it popped out before I was quite “ready” and everyone admired how cute it was, but didn’t see all the hard work and self-doubt behind the scenes as I focused on keeping it alive. Then the exploration phase started, and some initial bouts of separation anxiety and toddling as a foundation was established and Echo started to develop a sense of self, separate from me. And this past year, Echo has become increasingly independent, and there have been bouts of extreme emotion as I struggle between helicopter parenting, and pride and joy in each new milestone the Echo team hits and proves that it needs me less and less. As we head into our 4th year of business, I’m filled with pride and awe as Echo shows incredible empathy for our clients, and amazing problem-solving skills as we grow rapidly and face challenges head-on. As a founder/parent – watching Echo’s love for learning and sharing – and the impressive growth and genuine care for the team and our clients – I feel so fortunate to be part of the journey! As we celebrate Echo's 3rd anniversary this week - I am reminded of a quote by Mother Teresa: "You will teach them to fly, but they will not fly your flight. You will teach them to dream, but they will not dream your dream. You will teach them to live, but they will not live your life. Nevertheless, in every flight, in every life, in every dream, the print of the way you taught them will remain." Onwards & Upwards!

As we come to the end of another month I was reminded this morning to update my goals for Echo Consulting goals reporting. Every month we gather our team and review those goals we have met, share insights and status on those not yet completed. This reminded me of the Objective and Key Results goal framework of a great book I read several years ago on business strategy: John Doerr’s book Measure What Matters. Setting goals is both deceptively hard as well as unexpectedly valuable. Goal setting sets a strategy to articulate what we reach and share our values to add to the company. It is so valuable to have targets, based on transformational simplicity \and power to help teams actually accomplish goals. Doerr’s framework of Objective & Key Results (OKR) goal framework consists of two parts: Objective: (O) what you are trying to accomplish Objectives are qualitative, and should be inspiring. This defines what is important and why. Objectives are a set time frame and can be weekly, quarterly, annually, and even long-term. The objective should be difficult, the point is to push ourselves as team members, team, and the company. The objectives facilitate clear thinking and foster clarity in execution. Key Results: (KR) how you will measure if you reach the objective. A Key Result is measurable and verifiable; it is met or not met / yes or no as to whether you reached the objective. Completion of all the key results is an achieved objective. Setting goals comes with superpowers! As described in the book these packed powers include these four highlighted challenges. An important concept I learned from OKRs and goals is that not meeting the goal and the key results is not failure; it is instead the opportunity to learn from the experience and improve on it next time. It is the opportunity to look at what kept me from reaching this goal and is something that should be included in my outputs and value to the company. Both achieving and not achieving goals are part of being part of an amazing team. Are you ready to set goals, and adopt OKRs for your team’s projects? Reach out to Echo Consulting when you are ready to get started at ContactUs@echoconsultingpm.com Reference: Doerr, J. (2018). Measure what matters. Portfolio Penguin.

After almost two months of working with Echo Consulting, I feel like I have won the lottery finding this team to grow with. I have spent the past 8 years working what most would consider an “alternate” career path, switching seasonally between managing Ski and Ride Schools at Bolton Valley, Stowe, and most recently, Cannon Mt., and managing my own carpentry business when there was no snow on the ground. Starting at Echo Consulting, working remotely, and spending most of my working day at a desk are major changes to my day-to-day work life. I had a lot of nerves around making this transition; could I do it? Could I handle the multitasking? Could I learn the tools? Could I spend the day at a desk? Did I have what it takes to join this talented team? What I have found out over the past couple of months is the answers to these questions lie within my own mindset. With a “Fixed” mindset, the answers to all these questions would have been a resounding “No" With a “Growth” mindset, a person believes they can make changes and learn beyond their existing knowledge or talents. How to adopt a Growth Mindset Believe in Yourself “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” - Theodore Roosevelt Explore your passion for Learning “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.” - Henry Ford Take on Exciting Challenges “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt Recognize Failure as an essential and positive step towards progress “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” - Thomas Watson Surround yourself with positivity "Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results." - Willie Nelson. At Echo Consulting we provide project management solutions that focus on growth and learning. We share our knowledge to build internal champions and resilient solutions. Our goal is to help you grow more, struggle less, and get the maximum value for your investment. We believe in the power of project management to help teams scale, and we love to share our passion to support your team’s growth. Contact our team at contactus@echocosnultingpm.com to learn more about how our team can assist with your organizations' growth!

Although Smartsheet has many valuable date filters, there is no filter to view the current month or current year. View our solution video to watch as Kelly shows you step by step how to achieve this result! Looking for support with your Smartsheet solution? You could work with Kelly and the team at Echo Consulting to optimize your Smartsheet platform!

Although Smartsheet has many valuable date filters, there is no filter to view the current month or current year. View our solution video to watch as Kelly shows you step by step how to achieve this result! Looking for support with your Smartsheet solution? You could work with Kelly and the team at Echo Consulting to optimize your Smartsheet platform!

Have you ever found yourself wondering : “WHAT is my team is doing?” “WHERE can I find it?” “WHEN it's going to be done?” “WHY do we keep adding more and more tools and I still don't know what's going on?” “Is this the new ‘NORMAL’ because we are growing, COVID, remote work, etc?” “HOW can we grow more and struggle less? These are great questions, and you are not alone in thinking about them. Finding the right BALANCE between flexibility and standardization is hard. Finding the right FIT for People, Process, and Tools that respects your team’s culture, and the needs of your growing business is a constant challenge. Finding the right TIME to address these concerns, while maintaining focus on day to day operations is difficult. At Echo Consulting, we help teams grow more and struggle less. We are process improvement geeks, productivity software nerds, and team champions. Balancing People, Process, and Technology is not easy, but it can be FUN when you have the RIGHT partner to work and the support your team deserves. At Echo Consulting, we know it is so much more than selecting the right tool. It is finding the right BLEND of people, process, and technology to: Address your most critical challenges, Lay a flexible foundation, Ensure solid adoption. With a long term focus on continuous improvement. We are automation experts, passionate innovators, project managers, implementation consultants, solution architects, and business analysts that share an intense drive to learn, share, grow, and care. If you are looking for a partner to help your team grow more and struggle less, reach out – we are a women-owned small business in the beautiful state of Vermont and we offer flat fee packages and hourly consulting options tailored to meet your goals. The thing about an Echo, is that it always comes back to You. Your needs, your goals, your success. Grow more and struggle less. Echo Consulting - Project Management that fits.