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Thursday, July 30, 2009

I'm Worse for Having Known Them


I have recently been reminded that arrogance mixed with a little power can be destructive and divisive to an organization.

A good project manager must always rise above the this type of petty political partisanship and keeps fighting for what is right and best for the organization.

*** WARNING - FREE ADVICE BELOW ***

Never use fabrications, slander, and distortions to sell the value of your project/product

Never tear down another organization ( or person) to build yours (yourself) up

If you aren't visible you aren't relevant. If you aren't relevant you aren't needed

Never pretend to be something that you are not. You can only fool another fool

Never be so cocky as to believe you have nothing to learn from others

If you haven’t learned from the mistakes of the past you are probably already repeating them

If you are not honest, ethical, and trustworthy you can’t be effective at anything except politics

Taking others people's ideas and repackaging them as your own is pathetic, dishonest, and just plain sad

The value of your project’s product can only be judged by end-users, not you

Your reputation is determined by others, not you

Product bells and whistles rarely add value. They usually end up in a product because the designer was lazy and without imagination.

Surround and marginalize your critics. Don't let them define who you are.

Beware of Project Snakes and Sharks. They can wear pants or skirts.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Ambiguous Project Goals

Conflict and problems on projects often arise because of ambiguous project goals. You can’t achieve the goals on your project if they are not clear, agreed-upon, and communicated to all stakeholders. Ambiguous goals result in confusion and conflict.

Make sure that your project's goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time constrained)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Successful Projects Bring No Recognition

When projects are successful, often nobody notices. Possibly the best measure of project success is that the project manager implements without fanfare or notoriety.

Success is the reward for lots of practice






Click Photo to Enlarge

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Apollo 11 Lauch Video - I was there!

40 years ago today, as a member of my local Boy Scout troop, I was at Cape Kennedy (Canaveral) in Florida to witness the launch of Apollo 11.

What a project that must have been to work on!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Collaborate = Conflict?

When people collaborate there will sometimes be disagreement. Disagreement doesn't have to be a bad thing, and in many instances constructive disagreement can lead to a better solution. With that in mind, it is important for all participants in the conversation to recoginize when productive disagreement becomes destructive. When collaborating with others, a project manager has to be an expert negotiator to ensure that project communications are kept open, civil, and productive. While comprimising isn't the right answer when collaboarting, sometimes it is the only answer when consensus can't be reached.

Don't allow your project communications to deteriorate into pitty bickering and fighting. As the project manager it is up to you to keep project communications civil and productive. Be respectful of others and demand respect in return.

When managing conflict remember to:

Understand when a conflict is out of hand

Help to defuse emotions

Focus on questions that ask why, how, and what

Search for solutions together

Evalutate solutions that make sense and are agreeable