Leadership…well, this is a sour subject for many of us. I think that most of us have encountered, at some point in their careers, people in leadership roles who were incompetent and misguided about their real abilities. This impacts every aspect of our lives, be it personal or career related and we should really talk…
Category: Project Manager
How To Handle Your Project Team Communication
This is the first part of a series of articles on controlling a project. If you found this article through search engines I would encourage you to take a look at the whole series here. Now lets move to the subject at hand. Project team communication within members has these four major needs: Responsibility. Each…
The Project Manager is a Leader, No Discussion There
The discipline of project management can be compared to a set of woodworking tools. Both are designed for specific purposes. And both are capable of amazing results in the hands of a master. Every project needs a project manager who, performs the functions of project management. It is a role that can be fulfilled in…
Project Management Is Industry Independent, Project Managers Are Not
This industry independence has been a major factor in the development of project management as a discipline, but that independence doesn’t extend to the people practicing the discipline. While project management is industry independent, project managers must not only know how to operate in business and project environments, they must also be well acquainted with…
11 Tips For The Aspiring Manager
As a new manager, how do you get to grips with your company, which may or may not be perfectly formed strategically? As consultants often do, we thought of creating a checklist of things that an incoming leader should do. Then we thought again. ‘Ask all the dumb questions. Because you can.’ Doug, Invester, Former…
Project Manager in a Changing World
“I need help!” A human resources manager for a large west-coast health maintenance organization (HMO) was inundated with requests from employees wanting their job codes changed to that of project manager. “Everyone is responsible for projects,” she explained, “but that doesn’t mean everyone is a project manager. Just what is a project manager and why…
The Smarts Behind A Decision Making Process
Starting with the work done by March and Simon (more on them here) researchers have developed a step-by-step model of the decision making process and the issues and problems that managers confront at each step. I will try to present that information in a more human way, through the use of a case study. The…
Managing customer relationships framework
Managing customer relationships begins during the preliminary project approval phase of negotiations. It is important to avoid the temptation to oversell the virtues of a project to win approval because this may create unrealistic expectations that may be too difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. At the same time, project proponents have been known to…
How to Develop Effective Business Writing Skills
It’s a source of amazement and some amusement that many articulate people are reduced to blubbering incompetents when required to put their thoughts down in a written form. Some people are intimidated by a blank piece of paper or computer screen. Let’s examine why this feeling of panic overtakes individuals who otherwise appear to be…
How to manage your promotion. Is the Game Worth the Prize?
Being an outstanding manager and concurrently working up to the next rung on the ladder is a constant in almost every manager’s career—unless he loses interest in gaining a promotion. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to pay the price of moving to the next level. Preparing for your promotion That is healthy if…