Bird nesting season began a few weeks ago. It’s been an exciting time here in our yard. We have five bird houses in various locations, as well as three nests built directly on our house.

One of them is the nest in this photo, built on a light bulb in our carport. At first, Greg and I couldn’t figure out what was going on with the light bulb – why there was dirt piling up on it? But then, a day or so later, we saw two birds flying back and forth between the shore of our lake and the roof of the house. Believe it or not, they were flying so close that we could see the mud in their beaks!

When we realized what was happening, we jumped up to look at the light bulb in the carport. Sure enough, we realized they were building a nest.

This seemed like a big project for two little birds and I was impressed with how deliberate and industrious they were. As we observed more closely, we realized they chose wisely; it was a spot where no animals could climb up and rob it; they found mud from the lake shore and twigs from the front yard; they were clearly in a hurry to get it done.

These two birdies clearly know something about project management.

Here are three simple actions they took that can also make a big difference in the success of your project implementation, no matter what the size.

1. Scope it out. Before starting a project, it’s important to get clear on what problem you’re trying to solve. Be as narrow as possible and write it down. If you’re working with others on the project, make sure everyone knows the expectations. It’s important the team knows not only what you’re doing, but why. This information will help them be better decision makers regarding their contribution.
2. Assemble your resources. Take time to think about who you’ll need to help complete your project. Is this something you can do yourself or will you need to bring in experts to help with implementation? Know what the financial investment is before you commit and, periodically at planned intervals, check your expenses against your budget to make sure there are no surprises at the end.
3. Set milestones and a target completion date. Make sure to break the project down in a way that makes sense to you and in a way to track progress. If you’re organizing your contact database, for example, decide how many contacts you’ll review in a week or day. If you’re building a website, set your milestones in project phases. The design will be completed by X, the content written by Y, the website launched on Z.When you’re tracking your milestones, also check to make sure you’re still within the scope of your project. Sometimes the scope needs to be adjusted. Make sure this happens as a result of a deliberate decision.

Like my birdie friends, who now have a beautiful home in our carport, sometimes getting things done just means follow some clear, simple steps.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and my daughter Emily and I had just arrived at the International Hunter Derby horse show in North Salem, NY. We’ve been planning this for a while and were happy to finally be there.

The farm itself was very crowded. There were HUGE trucks everywhere, dropping off horses, people and equipment. We weren’t quite sure where we were going and before long we found ourselves stuck behind a gigantic truck with its flashers on.

I looked around, poked the nose of our car over to the left to see if anyone was coming, and very slowly drove around the truck.

Uh oh. When I got to the other side there was a man directing traffic. I could tell by the way he was waving and shouting at me that he wasn’t happy.

I opened the window and he yelled: “Anyone with a bit of sense would not drive around a truck! That should be obvious!”

I don’t like being yelled at. So I said, “Obvious to you, not me.” And drove off to the show.

The truth is, what’s obvious to one person may not be to another. It’s the same with your business, especially when it comes to communicating in the follow ways:

• Email Writing. Easy – write down your thoughts and send, right? Not so fast. It’s important to think about the reader. Questions to consider: Will they understand the language you’re using or is it filled with jargon? Have you reread any instructions to make sure you didn’t miss a step? Are the paragraphs in the order that will make the most sense to the reader? Is the tone right – are you being friendly enough, polite, wordy??
• Email Reading. Here’s the trick I use: When I read an email, I read it with the nicest possible voice I have in my head. I know that sometimes people forget to say please or thank you. And sometimes things can be confusing – so I read the email a couple of times before I go back with questions. I give the sender the benefit of the doubt when I reply.
• Talking Shop. If you’re in business for yourself, you’re most likely an expert in the service or product that you offer. Your client or colleague probably is not, so you’ll need to speak in language that will make sense to them. Be thoughtful and explain what you mean in language everyone can understand.
• Knowing Your Policies or Preferences. Sometimes clients email me at night or on the weekends. Sometimes they send me things to do while I’m on vacation. That’s okay – they’re working, even if I am not at that moment. So instead of getting upset about the emails (and thinking they don’t value my down time), I smile knowing that work is coming my way even when I’m not at my desk!

How about you? Have you run into circumstances (truck-related or otherwise) where what was obvious to you was not to someone else?