Getting-Things-Done

My esteemed colleague Natalie Udo’s post a few weeks ago, “What is a Project Manager?” started me thinking about what are the elements which make us successful in the business. And hopefully, I’m reinforcing Kimberly Wiefling’s recent posts on what are the keys to success as a project leader… and not being too redundant – Thanks, [...]

When we think about creativity, we tend to think about Research and Development and new product/service innovation.
But, why not consider the creative ways in which you can do the ordinary daily work?  Why not create an environment in which employees at all levels can offer suggestions for improvement?
Not merely suggestion boxes, but quality circles in [...]

When researching how creativity and innovation are managed in the workplace, I found a woman who I thought was one of the best examples of the results of creativity.
This lady was a receptionist in one of the lobbies of a huge semiconductor company.  When I sat in the lobby initially I wondered why she would [...]

“My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said okay, you’re ugly too.”
Rodney Dangerfield
Just like dear departed Rodney Dangerfield, project managers get no respect!
The Harvard Business Review has a website, where you can find decades of great business articles from the magazine. Subscribers can go to [...]

Project management continues to shift its focus; it is no longer just an execution model, it is also a strategic business model.  Out of the organizations that already appreciate the value of project managment in completing tasks, many have also begun to realize project managment’s critical contribution, from delivering completed projects to being strategic owners [...]

Wow, I guess they’ve got a for dummies book on everything now.  Awesome.  There is also of course the 10 minute project manager book in case you find yourself dubbed project manager 10 minutes before the kick off meeting. 

Technorati Tags: Books, Brain, building-executive-support, career-path, career-planning, communication, Crisis-Management, dysfuncitonal-corporate-culture, engineering-management, Getting-Things-Done, learned-helplessness, Project-success, traditional-project-managment

Hmm… I remember the bad old days and maybe some of you are still living tlhem, getting up early or staying late to call some foreign country..

Technorati Tags: agile-leadership, best-practices, common-sense, Cross-cultural-teams, cross-functional-teams, distant-teams, Getting-Things-Done, global-readiness, offshoring, Program-Management, project-management-from-a-distance, Time management, traditional-project-managment

I thought it would be fun to list some impressions of favorite and least favorite Project management books and methodologies.  I wrote none of these.  You too, can feel free to refute my oppinions or add your own replies or spam us with the latest project managment religion.  Why not?  Everyone else does. 

Technorati Tags: [...]

Much as he did earlier in his career, Proman was now at another crossroad. The large program had just concluded. What’s next? He noticed how engaged he’d felt during the process. Each day he threw himself into the proceedings with renewed vigor and seemed to know instinctively what to do. [...]

Proman A. Jecgert put the phone back in its cradle.  It was a distressing call.  The caller was very frustrated and negative about what was going on.  “The place is in a mess,” she said.  “People are doing their own thing, and managers aren’t stepping in to guide the development process or make crucial decisions.  [...]

There’s a remodel going on in my house, and the general contractor spends so much time actually doing the finish carpentry, that overall management of the remodel project suffers. I can’t get change order costs from him so I know how much money I need to finish the job! He’s making compound cuts on crown [...]

A friend of mine once told me about a technique for keeping track of lessons learned.  She keeps a file labeled “DNDTA.”  That stands for “Do Not Do This Again.” 
The idea is to write a note to yourself describing something you did that would not be such a good idea to do ever again, then [...]

Just as there are many ways to manage a project, there are many ways to cook a turkey.
We all have our favorite way to do it:  Oven-baked, Bar-B-Cued, Deep fried, or even Outsourced.  And we choose the best technique using various success criteria:
-          Results
-          Taste
-          Moisture content
-          Effort
-          Expense
-          Convenience
-          Novelty
-          Familiarity
All these factors impact what [...]

Does this sound familiar?
Project Manager:  I thought I knew where we stood, but turns out we’re further behind than I thought.  This latest slip is going to have a domino effect.  I wish I had known earlier, when we could’ve done something about it!
Task Owner: I don’t want to make a big deal out of [...]

Ugh, the communication pitfall.  We’ve all fallen into them.  The question is, can you get out?  Or better still, can you avoid them next time?  Here are a few common ones:
 

Our product spec change discussions happened over email, and now I can’t tell what we decided on, much less find the supporting material!
I seem to [...]

Mark you calendar for Monday, July 16, 2007 to go to Michael’s at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA.  That evening I will present “Aligning Projects with Strategy” for the PMI Silicon Valley monthly chapter meeting  (www.pmisv.org).
This presentation is not meant to frustrate project managers with a high level approach that only those in upper managerment [...]

I serve on the board of an organization seeking grant funds.  They formed a committee.  The committee meets weekly and weekly and weekly – and when I recently asked about hte progress of their grant requests I was told that they finally decided to work with a Yahoo group and some Google tool.  Meeting after meeting took place with [...]

A couple of days ago I adamantly asserted that people working on projects sometimes know what needs to be done but don’t do it for various reasons. This behavior is typical of those stuck in the gap between KNOWING HOW to do something and actually DOING it.
How can project leaders enable people on our [...]