How to Choose Which Ball to Drop
A new year is here, and with it, the ushering in of the latest strategies, initiatives, and projects to kick off the first quarter. You may quickly find yourself unable to juggle everything, despite your best efforts to prioritize, delegate, and negotiate. One of those balls will drop; the question is, which one?
Easy. Ask yourself which project, task, or initiative is a rubber ball and then drop that one.
Let me explain.
3 Ways to Not Run Out of Gas on Your Next Project
After many years of listening to friends extol the virtues of a ZTR (zero turn radius) mower, I finally got one. Two words: Game Changer! It cuts lines so straight, the grass is so even, and time is so saved. The only downside? It burns more gas than my previous, smaller mower. One can with my old mower would last about three mows; now, I’m fortunate to get 1 ½ mows out of my new lawn beast.
Apply this Aviation Technique to Work Through Business Problems
Mentour Pilot is a YouTube channel hosted by Captain Petter Hornfeldt, a Boeing 737 pilot who talks about flying, how aviation works, and what goes on behind the scenes in the industry. He bills his channel as “The Number One Channel on All Things Related to Aviation.”
Captain Hornfeldt recently outlined how pilots deal with mid-air emergencies in an episode called, “How to Deal with Crisis.” He referred to the acronym PIOSEE, which stands for Problem, Information, Options, Select, Execute, Evaluate. I figured if this fram
One Way to Gain Control of an Out-of- Control Project
The experience was harrowing. We were towing a dually truck on a trailer from Louisiana to Georgia and had just gotten on the interstate. My father was behind the wheel with my brother-in-law next to him, and my son and I were in the back.
We had just about hit 60 MPH when an 18-wheeler flew by. We all felt the trailer being pulled left in the semi-truck’s wake. The trailer then swayed right. The swaying continued, increasing exponentially in magnitude each time until our truck also became caught up in the morbid physics of being jerked from side to side.
Two Ways to Keep a Boat Out of a Ditch
My friend Ron was looking forward to a beautiful summer’s day on the lake with his boat. He and his family were in the truck towing the boat when something odd happened. The boat that was supposed to stay behind him for the duration of the trip was passing him! That’s right. He looked in his rearview mirror and noticed a very familiar boat in a very unfamiliar position, not behind him, but right beside him. He reduced his speed and watched in terror as the boat veered left and crossed the median into a ditch.
4 Steps to Create Your Professional Portfolio
I used to work at a web development company. Graphic design is significant in the success of a site, and we used various graphic designers to fill that need. We were looking for someone new to mix things up a bit. One morning, a graphic designer showed up with a HUGE portfolio of what she had done over the years. Huge, as in 2 feet by 3 feet huge. She dragged it into the conference room, dropped it on the table and started flipping through larger-than-life pages of her work.
One Way to Take Some Heat Off Your Project
I recently took a shuttle from an off-site parking lot close to the Atlanta airport. It was nearly 100 degrees and extremely humid, so I was looking forward to the doors of the bus swooshing open and a nice, cool breeze escaping and welcoming me inside.
The doors did indeed swoosh open. I stood there for a moment waiting for the cool air to envelope me and escort me onto the shuttle. And I waited…and waited. Nothing. No breeze, no cool air, no relief from the scorching heat. The only thing that came off the bus was the disgruntled voice of the driver asking if I was going to stand there all day.
Are You Falling Victim to Performance Review “Bait”?
Movies that appear to be produced for the sole purpose of Academy Award nomination are called “Oscar Bait.” One strategy of movie producers in this genre is to release the film late in the year, just in advance of the Oscar season. Why? The fresher a film is in the mind of voters theoretically increases its chances of winning an award.
Similarly, with annual employee review season right around the corner, we may find ourselves guilty of succumbing to Annual Performance Review "Bait.” Employees do not intentionally bait you by doing their best work at the end of the year, but rather, it is just our natural inclination to remember what happened most recently.
The Single Greatest Quality a Project Manager Must Possess
There are all kinds of skills, qualities, and talents you must possess to be a successful project manager. You need to be able to see the big picture, break it down into smaller pieces, and assemble it back together again. You need to be a leader, motivator, inspector and persuader. But, all of these qualities mean nothing unless you have…
Credibility.
Credibility is defined as the quality of being trusted, convincing, or believable. Trust me when I say there is a lot of trust me in project management. Maybe the following will sound familiar:
4 Reasons Why the Last 2% of a Project Take Forever to Complete
“Begin with the end in mind” and “It ain’t over until it’s over” are two expressions that highlight the importance of closing a project out and crossing the finish line. It’s your job as a project manager to make sure that deliverables, activities, and processes are in place to ensure a project’s graceful and successful end. But why is it so difficult to bring projects to closure? There are a number of reasons why this is the case:
3 MORE Traits of Project Managers that Stand Out From the Crowd
“Begin with the end in mind” and “It ain’t over until it’s over” are two expressions that highlight the importance of closing a project out and crossing the finish line. It’s your job as a project manager to make sure that deliverables, activities, and processes are in place to ensure a project’s graceful and successful end. But why is it so difficult to bring projects to closure? There are a number of reasons why this is the case:
The Pros and Cons of a Functional Project Manager Resume
The functional project manager resume focuses on skills and experiences and downplays the employment aspect of your career. This is good for project managers that may be new to the workforce, or have gaps in their employment history. Interestingly, gaps in employment are not nearly the black mark that they used to be when employment was high. Nearly everyone has been affected by recent downturns in the economy and understands that even good people are affected by companies going out of business or downsizing.
What are some of the pros and cons of a functional project manager resume?
3 Great Examples of Bad Project Management
The following stories are true; only the names have been changed to protect the (not so) innocent. There are a lot of good Project Managers out there, but there are also some not so good…no, there are some really bad Project Managers, who have, by hook and by crook, somehow ended up in a position of authority and reigned down their terror on those unfortunate enough to work under them.
Learn from the stories and stay away from any tendencies you may have to manage this way.
6 Ways to Help Your Team Get Their Jobs Done
Part of your job as a project manager is to keep others organized. Some project managers may reason “I did my part and put the project plan together. Can’t they just follow that and know what tasks they need to do next?” Newsflash: a lot of people don’t read, can’t read, or won’t read a project plan. Yes, it’s hard to believe that as a project manager with all the preparation you put into it, but many times project plans go unread and unused.
You have two choices at this point. You can either become incensed and furious that nobody respects your plan enough to read it…or, you can change your strategy and help people understand what tasks are next for them to accomplish.
3 Ways You Can Push Back as a Program Manager
Our last post, What it Means to Push Back as a Program Manager, discussed why it’s important to say NO at times. One area where this skill is very important is within your own organization. The following are some scenarios and possible remedies to these situations if you encounter them as a program manager:
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
I heard a seasoned sailor who had been around the world say this many years ago. One lesson he learned throughout his travels was that people often misunderstood or took advantage of acts of kindness. When it comes to delivering a project, the only of act of kindness should be to deliver on exactly what was agreed to.
Sometimes there’s a desire to go above and beyond when it comes to delivering on a project. Reasons may include that this is a good customer, throwing in a couple of additional deliverables won’t cost you that much, or we may just be feeling generous.
When Should You Start a Project Management Office (PMO)?
While the impact of a PMO is enormous, it is not something that companies typically start right out of the gate, especially smaller companies. There’s no particular size, revenue, or makeup of a company that would indicate it’s time to start a project management office. However, the following symptoms may be signs that you should start looking into implementing a PMO:
2 Ways Project Managers Can Remain Visible in the C-Suite
Project managers can get so involved in their day to day work they may lose sight of keeping in touch with company executives and decision makers. The following are couple of suggestions on how you can keep yourself and your team visible and viable in the C-Suite of your company.
Learn to Speak in the Language of an Executive
Executives are about return on investment and increasing value. They love innovation, uncharted territories, and business opportunities that will propel the organization forward. They like growth, efficiencies and process improvement. They don’t like excuses, complaining, stagnation, inactivity, or wasting time.
Are You Able to Sleep Through a Storm?
What qualities are necessary for a Project Manager to be successful? Leadership, organization, and being detail-oriented all come to mind. However, for a PM to be truly successful, they need to be able to sleep through a storm.
I heard a story a number of years ago about a Farmer who was looking to hire someone to assist on the farm. He went through interview after interview, but just wasn’t able to find the right person. Eventually he interviewed Pete. The only skill Pete listed on his resume’ was the ability to sleep through a storm.
3 Traits of Project Managers that Stand Apart From the Crowd
Being an effective project manager is something we all strive for. It means we know what we’re doing, have a good track record of success, and get things done. There are a lot of those types of project managers around and it’s up to you to differentiate yourself from those around you. What are the talent, skills, and experience that can make you stand out in a crowd? The following are 3 for your consideration: