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Ask The Project Management Advisor - Building Crucial Project Management Skills
What do you see as the most crucial skills a project manager must possess to be successful in today?s highly competitive project management environment? Every project manager worth his or her salt knows how to plan out a project, define a critical path, resource load to a schedule, manage scope, deliver within budget, manage risks and issues, and manage change requests effectively. These skills are here to stay and will continue to be core to any project manager?s skill base. Neglect to master these competencies and you might as well just pack it in as a PM. I see five advanced tools as crucial for today?s PM to master...
Watch The Pontificator!
The first thing you can do about the pontificator at your meeting is to take a good hard look at whether the pontificator absolutely needs to be at the meeting. Will the pontificator contribute valuable content and perspective that will add value to the meeting? If not avoid having the pontificator at the meeting in the first place...
Leading on the Edge Report - April 2008
April 2008 Articles - Complimentary Self-Study Seminars, Webcasts, and Resources...Setting Yourself Apart From Your Colleagues...The Good and The Bad of Virtual Meetings...Smarts Minus Direction Equals Absent-Minded Professor...Small Business Made Simple Co-Author Spotlight: Bill Stride...Ebay and the Project Manager...Be a Better People Leader
I'm giving away my self-study seminars, resources and webcasts
I'm going to do an experiment. I want to dramatically increase my subscriber list and see how many project managers and leaders I can touch. In doing so, I'm going to give away all of my self-study seminars, webcasts, and resources. Rather than collect revenue for my content, I'm going to rely on ad revenue from Amazon and Google through the increased traffic to my website. This is good for you because you can download all of my webcasts, self-study seminars, and resources with my compliments. Here is all I ask of you: * Pass this email around to your colleagues or anyone who you think would benefit from my products. * Download away, but please don't share content with others; send them to my website so they can download for free. * Feel free to click through any of the Google or Amazon ads which might interest you. Please note that this applies to self-study seminars, resources, and webcasts only. Books and Amazon Shorts are still at regular price. If the experiment doesn't yield the results I expect then I'll probably revert back to charging for my content; so take advantage of it now. Go to http://www.project-management-seminar.com/ to get your content today. Download away and forward this on to your colleagues.
Smarts Minus Direction Equals Absent-Minded Professor
A key component of an inspirational leader is one who drives a clear and believable direction for the team to follow. Whether it is a direction which affects thousands of people in a multinational corporation or one that affects only a handful of people in a volunteer organization, establishing a direction which motivates and inspires a team to deliver results is a crucial first step to being an inspirational leader.
Leading on the Edge Report - March 2008
March 2008 Articles - Motivating Employees...Practical Interview Etiquette... Ten Tips to Boost Your Facilitation Skills... Freud and The Small Business Owner... Of Mice and Motivation... Be a better process leader
Ten Tips to Boost Your Facilitation Skills
You may be a great consultant, one who effectively applies his or her wisdom and experience to help his or her client solve some tough business problem. That's all fine and well. When it comes to facilitation, though, it's a different ballgame and a very different approach to problem solving. I like to think of the difference as follows: Great consultants advise clients on how to solve problems. Great facilitators help clients solve their own problems. So, can a great consultant be a great facilitator? Absolutely. I've known some outstanding consultants who were extremely effective facilitators. But it's wrong to assume that just because you are a great consultant you will automatically be a great facilitator. Some are self-aware and know not to dip a toe in the facilitation pool. Many, though, assume that they know how to facilitate solutions and end up in a crash-and-burn situation with their client...
Leading on the Edge Report - February 2008
February 2008 Articles - The Shift From a Process to a Project Focus...Politically Aware Doesn't Mean Politically Motivated...Getting Serious About Balancing Work and Family...Eight Crucial Questions You Need to Answer to Successfully Exit a Small Business...Five Simple Strategies To Unify Your Project Teams...Be a Better Planner
Five Simple Strategies to Unify Your Project Teams
Every experienced project manager has certainly experienced challenges in getting their teams to behave like?well, teams. But with organization and guidance you can help your project teams accomplish more and eliminate many of the setbacks and challenges that make teamwork so difficult. Get five strategies for unifying and organizing your teams...
Drive a Tight Agenda, Don't Let It Drive You
An effective agenda goes beyond start time, location, topics, and durations. Effective agendas support the meeting purpose, set the expectations of attendees as to what will be discussed, inform attendees of any preparation that will be required prior to the meeting give the meeting leader a roadmap for driving the agenda, permit adequate time to cover each item and allow the meeting leader to adjust the agenda easily if the meeting gets behind schedule.
How Could This Happen? Avoid Project Screw-Ups for You and Your Business Partner
Having a business partner remember you as ?that $%@*# project manager? because you were associated with a project failure is one of the worst things that can happen to a project manager. Not only will you have lost the trust of that business partner, but your ability to win the trust of other business partners could be in jeopardy because of the negative reputation you may have earned. While this is a very real risk, you can take steps to avoid that fate. Follow these six tangible principles to avert those project screw-ups and stay on the road to success:
Be Accessible, Not Open Door
When I became a manager, I shortly thereafter gave my empathetic, ?I have an open door policy? speech and was ready to solve problems for anyone who crossed my threshold. Within a few months of my open door policy, I saw my own productivity drop and my frustration level rise because I kept getting interrupted by people taking me up on my open-door policy. My open-door policy soon turned into a series of random interruptions that caused me to not get my stuff done. I came to recognize that I needed to be accessible to people but that I could control the accessibility through scheduled time. Open-door means be accessible, not come in whenever you want.
Freud and the Small Business Owner
Are you an ID, EGO, or SUPER-EGO Entrepreneur? This Small Business Made Simple Short introduces the Small Business Made Simple series and focuses on four crucial aspects of small business management: starting a small business, growing a small business, handling small business challenges, and exiting a small business. Each Small Business Made Simple series Short is written by authors who know what they're talking about because they've lived the success and pain of running a small business. You'll get practical, straightforward advice that has been time-tested by those who've been through it. Only 49¢ on Amazon Shorts.
I'll Be Done Friday, Honest!  Six Techniques to Ensure Solid Project Management Execution
Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Despite how pretty a project schedule looks, how clear the organization chart is, or how well articulated the risks and issues are, the most successful projects execute great to a great plan. Solid project management execution means driving the plan, making adjustments as necessary to address unforeseen issues, and removing roadblocks which can inhibit successful completion. The project manager has to stay steady at the helm making sure these things happen; they won't just happen by themselves.
Execute or Be Executed
Some of my most uncomfortable situations in my 20+ years as a professional have involved me getting my head handed to me on a silver platter because I bungled a project.
Smarts Minus Direction Equals Absent-Minded Professor
Having great intelligence and knowledge as a leader is important to establishing credibility and showing a team that you have the intellectual horsepower to lead the team. But a leader needs discipline to deliver results.
Shiny Objects and Other Distractions
A shiny object isn?t important to the task at hand and isn?t time-sensitive. If something comes across your desk that can be done later without impact to your work yet interrupts what you?re doing constitutes a shiny object.
Doesn't Accountability Count Anymore?
In every single successful project I've ever been associated with there was a project structure which ultimately put responsibility and accountability for the project on a single project manager. Strip away singular accountability and you screw up the project.
It's Not All About The Ivory Tower
Understanding communication expectations is very important to establishing an effective transfer of information between you and your colleague.  When it comes to communicating across organization or culture, understanding what other people do, what their priorities are, and what is important to them also contributes to getting your point across effectively.  Now, I?m not saying that if you?re going to have a conversation with one person you need to research his job and priorities.  I am referring to situations where you are going to be communicating with a colleague on a regular basis in order to get something done together.
Activity Minus Focus Equals Randomness
Leading a team means setting a meaningful objective, understanding how to achieve the objective, inspiring the team to complete the objective, and leading them down the field to victory.  With each of these steps, the leader is expected to maintain a razor-sharp focus on what needs to be done.  Think about a pro football (American football to my non-U.S. friends!) quarterback.  His job is clear; to move the ball down the field until the ball (attached to a player) crosses over the goal line.  The successful quarterback maintains focus and keeps the ball moving through a variety of passing and running plays.  If he loses that focus, there is greater likelihood for fumbles or turnovers which keep the quarterback from achieving his objective.  It?s no different when leading a team.  Define the objective, plan out the work to achieve the objective, inspire the team, and execute.
"I Don't Have Time For Vision!" Six Principles For Implementing a Useful Organizational Vision
Vision is not something reserved for the higher-ups and it is not some highfalutin lingo that the folks in marketing dream up. A well-developed vision provides direction, inspires performance, sets priorities, ensures alignment with corporate objectives, and doesn't create meaningless work for you and your team. When done poorly, a vision is nothing more than a huge waste of time in developing something to appease your boss and likely gets stuffed in a drawer after the "vision exercise" is done. I've been on both sides of the ledger: I've developed organizational visions which were quite useful in driving priorities and moving the team in the right direction. Then again, I've had a few which were painful to develop and served no use in driving my organization.
My Banzai CEO Blog
Man, have I got lessons learned. Take it from me who screws up on a regular basis. See them as they happen real-time on my leadership blog hosted by Amazon.com.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride. Envy. Gluttony. Lust. Anger. Greed. Sloth. You either recognize these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that these are bad and you shouldn?t do them. As leaders, there are seven deadly character sins which make the difference between a mediocre and outstanding leader...
Project Management Screw-up #6 - The Team Didn't Gel
You could have a doable schedule, all the budget in the world, and perfect tools. Unless you've got a well-oiled team, you're doomed. Learn about those characteristics and save your next project from tanking due to an ineffective team.
We Found A Rock Star! Hiring The Best Of The Best
Finding the right candidate for a job can be highly frustrating for both managers and recruiters. If you wait too long, the work will keep piling up and your management may start thinking you can get along without the position. Pull the trigger too soon and you risk hiring a candidate that does not fit in the organization. Get six tips to help you hire the best of the best...
Project Management Screw-up #5 - We didn?t have the right sponsorship
For any project, it?s crucial to get an appropriate level of project sponsorship. The ideal project sponsor for your project would possess crucial characteristics. Learn about those characteristics and save your next project from tanking due to poor sponsorship.
Thirteen Tips to Effective Upward Management
Upward management is one of those skills that some do very well, many never seem to master, and virtually all learn only through on-the-job lessons-learned. When done well, both the manager and employee work as a team to ensure each other is informed, address problems before they spin out of control, and be more effective at managing. When done poorly, both manager and employee are not only ineffective at getting the job done but are chronically frustrated due to mis-steps and surprises.
Great Communicators Can Truly Be Made
Excerpted from The Truth About Getting Your Point Across. Courage. Conviction. Wisdom. Clarity. Credibility. Five attributes that are essential, regardless of whether you are speaking in front of hundreds of people, writing a report to your boss, or running a PTA board meeting. Five attributes that build the foundation of someone who gets his or her point across effectively.
One Less Meeting Will Get You Home In Time for Dinner
Excerpted from The Truth About Getting Your Point Across. As much as I may grouse about meetings, some of them were necessary, beneficial and effective. Then again, there were those that were a total waste of time and could have been accomplished by some other means. The million dollar question then becomes a question of how do you keep the beneficial meetings and eliminate the wastes of time.
Watch Those Pontificators!
Excerpted from The Truth About Getting Your Point Across. The first thing you can do about the pontificator at your meeting is to take a good hard look at whether the pontificator absolutely needs to be at the meeting. Will the pontificator contribute valuable content and perspective that will add value to the meeting? If not avoid having the pontificator at the meeting in the first place.