Risk

By Ron Lichty • July 16th, 2013

Given virtually no one on product teams believes in waterfall – even those using waterfall (see my last post on The 2013 Study of Product Team Performance) – what to do about managers who insist upon seeing a waterfall project plan so they can “guarantee that a project will come in on time”? There is, […]

So what are the lessons learned that project managers can take for a project like this? When I asked Andy this question, he had a list of lessons right at hand, learned through hard, cold, exhausting experience. I had expected to hear a list of unique planning and management practices to accommodate the unique conditions […]

Once the planning and preparation are complete, getting to an Automatic Geophysical Observatory (AGO) site can seem like a project in itself. Every year Andy, Bob and the rest of the team are required to pass a complete physical, update their dental records (in case body identification is required), and complete emergency and survival training. […]

Early December. Andy woke to bright sunshine and a light snowfall… inside his tent. The sun had been up already for about 1,680 hours (that’s 70 days) and it was so dry and cold out (-30 F) that moisture would condense on the inside of the tent and freeze, whereupon a breeze or a touch […]

Steve Wynkoop and I were talking a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG.org. This episode was about what steps to change your position in the your current company.

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. What if two product manager colleagues disagree on something and can only agree to disagree and cannot come to a resolution, what do you […]

There are things in our professional careers that naturally scare us, but are required for advancement and continued growth. We are normally afraid of places we haven’t been before, things we haven’t tried before or subject matter that we know nothing about. If fear is a sign that we are pushing our envelop, then conquering that fear is a sign of real personal and professional growth.
So, how do we gather enough courage to take that next step?

This week we will take a short-cut into slapping ourselves back on the path. We won’t spend time investigating why and what took us off our course. Instead, we will jump into action with the idea of “doing one scary thing a day” to help keep up moving forward at a faster pace.

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: […]

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”.

Delighting Your Customers! By Dr. Shree Nanguneri Ever thought about a time when a salesman, provider or a vendor asked you if you were delighted with their product and/or services?  Probably, much less often than you wished.  By the same token, do you recall your customer or manager complaining about a Defective product or a […]

As a business coach, I sometimes receive late requests to change an appointment. Because of my busy schedule, it’s not easy to accommodate these types of last-moment requests. In my professional life, I easily handle this with my cancelation and refund policies. But how do we handle similar things in our personal and social lives? Well, I recommend that we respond in similar tones.

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.

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 […]

Electrical Audit Excellence – Project Manager’s Gold Mine to Business Opportunity – PART II Co-Authors: Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Rao, G This sequel to Part – I deals with solving problems and leveraging opportunities in the field of electrical audits, where project managers working within or outside their project scope in their organizations, can make a […]

The Electrical Audit Process – PART I Co-Authors: Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Rao. G Electrical Equipment Audit Abstract Organizations throughout the world invest time, energy, and efforts to comply with standards in different areas such as ISO, OSHA, and other areas. One of the critical areas for any infrastructure or business operating unit is being in […]

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 […]