Goals

By Camille Smith • May 15th, 2013

Dumping-off.  We ask others to do stuff for us all the time – stuff we don’t want to do, don’t have the time to do, and couldn’t do even if we had the time.  We drop our suits off for pressing (a task we can’t do), our car for an oil change (a task we [...]

Exhausted by being connected 24/7? Worried you’ll be seen as a slacker if you don’t answer every email within 14 minutes? Tweeting, liking and pinning multiple times a day because you don’t want to miss anything? One ‘yes’ = this message is for you. (If someone hands you this column, thank them, then read it. [...]

Managing Projects Overseas – Part III – Simplify the Process We just spoke of global perspective of managing projects overseas, followed with how PMs can minimize culture gaps in these situations. We now conclude with a value-based sequel relating to simplifying the process as we successfully manage our project (s) overseas. Meeting Your Timeline Objective: [...]

Managing Overseas Projects – Part I – A Global Perspective All of us have had a fair share of success in managing projects either in our own cities and/or across our country. While some of us on a few occasions have had the fortune of also engaging in projects that are overseas (the meaning of [...]

Don’t just do something, stop and think!” Probably haven’t heard that one recently, have we? I do an exercise with PM students – both experienced and just starting – the topic is about project problems and I give them a set of instructions.  When asked, “Are you ready to start?” there is a resounding, “YES!” [...]

It’s impossible not to judge. Telling someone else “not to judge” — shows you have made the judgment that they are judging. Most opinions, descriptions, decisions, views, rulings, and critiques are judgments.

I know this sounds strange, but I used a diet tip that I read from Micheal Thurmond’s “6 Day Body Makeover” – to accomplish career critical tasks.

I received the below great question a few days after my Art of War for Product Managers and High-Performing Professionals.  I thought you might be interested in the answer as well. Q: Many senior employees work under my lead. In this case, many other senior employees think that what a lucky me. Jealousy is coming [...]

If you know how to drive, you already understand project management. You may still not want to be a project manager, but at least you understand better their function and value. In fact, project management and defensive driving have much in common.

Most everyone is familiar with Pro and Con lists to help make a decision. Often times the Pro and Con List does very little to clarify the decision – because – well – the reason you are creating the Pro/Con list is because it was a ‘close call’ to begin with. We don’t go to the trouble of making a Pro and Con list on ‘no-brainers’. Often times the pro and cons are pretty equal – making the decision still difficult. Our mistake is that we stop at this point. We don’t take the next step to reduce the impact of the “Cons”.

One of my core beliefs is that we are most happy when we feel we’re making progress in our lives. It’s painful for us to remain stagnant in life. In fact, growth is not an option; it’s a necessity. Grow or die. That is the biological imperative that all living organisms experience. “Without continual growth [...]

As youngsters, we knew we had to fall a few times to master any new skill. But as we got older, we started to perceive making mistakes as a bad thing, rather than an essential ingredient in achieving our goal. Mike Schlappi helped change thinking through his highly inspirational keynote address at the 2010 PMI [...]

In our discussions and writings about what it takes to be a complete project manager, co-author Alfonso Bucero and I believe personal skills are an important element in building a potent “molecule”. Complete project managers want the satisfaction of knowing they are making the most of their potential. Successful project managers usually have a winning [...]

As a business and success coach, I help people manage their career development. There will be times when someone is promoted from within their team or department.  At these times, it may some initial strain when a fellow peer is now your boss (or visa-versa).  I find that appreciation in the workplace goes a long [...]

In the previous SSWUG TV interview with Stephen Wynkoop, we covered How to protect your job when there is a shake-up at the top” . This is a more detailed discussion on that topic.

My name is Laura Rose (LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info), Business and Life Coach specializing in time management, project management and work life balance strategies. As a business coach, I recently received the following question: Unhappy workers staying on the job – Is this good or bad? What does this mean for employers and HR managers? On the other [...]

What makes product teams great? What if you were able to name just five things that: if you don’t do them, you have just a 2% chance of high level team performance if you do all of them, you have a 67% likelihood of high level team performance Last year’s Study of Product Team Performance [...]

Technologists love intricate mechanisms. That’s why many of us, as kids, took things apart, and some of us even put them back together again. In my training as an engineer, I enjoyed learning how mechanical, electrical and chemical things worked. And the more elaborate the mechanisms, the better the challenge and the satisfaction of getting [...]

In 2012′s Study of Product Team Performance, respondents were asked what they would change about the core product team. “Better cross-functional collaboration, trust and communication” was their number-one response. (You can participate in this year’s study. See below.) I was struck by how closely that aspiration aligns with a step that management took 15 years [...]

One of the great “aha”s for me as a manager was realizing that motivating people – and not de-motivating them – are two different things. It was years ago – I think I was at Apple. One of my colleagues shared a Harvard Business Review article from the 1980s that recounted Frederick Herzberg’s work in [...]

(This article is part of a series originally published in Japan by ALC Press English Journal, and is written in “Global English”. CLICK HERE to see the accompanying video, spoken in “Global English”.) QUESTION: “I have twice as much work as I have hours in the day. No matter how hard I work I’m always behind. Help!” ANSWER: [...]