Communications

By Laura Rose • March 15th, 2012

Wouldn’t it be nice to value our manual performance just as much as our computers’ operation? Below are some simple steps to keep our career running smoothly.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Live it up!” in regards to a particular event or party. But what I am suggesting here is to LIVE UP — take your life to your next higher self or level. Gracefully clear away anything or one that is slowing you down.

According to Marshall Goldsmith, leadership expert and best-selling author, “80 percent of our success in learning from other people is based upon how well we listen”.  We know it’s the “right” thing to do, yet we are continually challenged to do it well.  What gets in our way of listening? Too many distractions.  It’s hard [...]

Earlier today I headed to the airport to catch a flight.  While navigating the Southeast Expressway to reach Boston’s Logan International Airport, I narrowly averted a car accident when the car traveling in the high-speed lane came within millimeters of my car.  The young female driver barely glimpsed my way—she was much too engaged on [...]

In the last 5 years or so, we have realized that comparing these two roles is like comparing Apples and Oranges. Not many companies now overlap these roles. These roles over the time have evolved from being janitors of products and projects to management of them. Product management has learned a lot from project management. Let us examine what project management can learn from product management?

About one generation ago, management styles focused on the concept of a “happy worker is a good worker.”  Organizations focused on providing employees the amenities they needed to feel valued, in hopes of it leading to higher productivity.  The Hawthorne experiments by Elton Mayo found that changes in the workplace were welcomed and improved morale.  [...]

Program managers, used synonymously with Project Managers here, are often the most consistent face of the organization to the customer base.  Program managers (PM) deal with customers on a daily basis.  PMs are forced to interact with them constantly to resolve issues, communicate progress, sell new products and services and build a healthy long-term relationship [...]

When things are not going our way, we need to stop and evaluate; because things are supposed to work smoothly together. So, when we find any type of resistance, chances are something isn’t matching. Either the rules or the people involved are not aligned. Once again – no one is doing anything wrong. It’s just not a perfect match, yet.

This is the second part of a three part article discussing “how does a project manager intelligently handle delays?”

Last article we focused on acknowledging the natural flow of a project which includes periodic speed bumps and roadblocks. In today’s article we’ll focus on using critical path analysis to assist with project management. Diagramming the critical paths of a project accomplishes several things:

Last week I was taping a series of lectures for the Sequel Server World Wide User Group (SSWUG.org), and I was asked “how does a project manager handle items that causes us to miss deadlines?”

This is an interesting question, because every project will have speed bumps. A good project manager expects speed-bumps and actually plans for the unexpected. So – how does one do this intelligently to synchronize with the final delivery dates?

This is the second part of a three part article discussing “how does a project manager intelligently handle delays in a project?”

Last article we focused on acknowledging the natual flow of a project which includes periodic speed bumps and roadblocks. In today’s article we’ll focus on using recovery protocol plans to assist with project management.

Many of us like to think of ourselves are multi-tasking experts.  But in reality, multi-tasking is an euphemism for “interruption” and  “distractions”.    You feel busy and much in demand.  But at the end of the day we feel exhausted with not much to show for the churn. Below are some simple tips to increase your [...]

This time of year in the US many people, including me and my family, celebrate Christmas. It’s the most important holiday for us, and it’s a time of year when people seem more tuned in to the connections among all human beings. It seems to me that people are a wee bit nicer to each [...]

Happy to be here … let me introduce myself: My name is Mildred Lynn McDonald. I hail from the bonnie shores of Nova Scotia, Canada and this is my first post as part of the UCSC blog community. Last month I moved to Los Altos, so as you can imagine, skipping The Great Canadian Winter [...]

“The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.” “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams, would be over 30 years old today, a phenomenon born in London around the same time that the Project Management Institute (PMI) was created [...]

One of your responsibilities as Project Manager is to ensure project milestones are being met, and that everyone is on task and on track. One way of doing that is by holding status meetings with your teams. However, as you may have experienced, sometimes those meetings can go awry – and most of the time [...]

So many projects depend on IT and business alignment, and so many fail because that alignment is often like a Platonic ideal unrealizable in the real world. The question is:

why projects fail,
who’s to blame,
and how to fix the problem.

Many wise people will advise: Slow down to speed up Pausing to be creative Take a break to stay energized To assist with this advice, here are three T’s to remember: 1) Time a. Take control over your calendar b. Just because it’s “happening now” doesn’t make it urgent c. Expect the unexpected with sprints [...]

One of the more challenging aspects in any career is quantifying your achievement during your performance evaluations or job interviews. How can you most effectively and easily do this?

Someone recently asked me “If I see a peer doing something wrong, how can I gently correct them so that they will change their behavior, and how can I do it without giving offense?”Unsolicited advice is a tricky business because it includes at least three faulty premises.

Most of us associate being compassionate, nonjudgmental, and allowing the other to be and do as they please — as laying the foundation to “being taken advantage of”. It’s very natural to assume this. But, I’m suggesting, to allow the steam roller to be the steam roller – doesn’t mean to place oneself in its path.