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.
We Don’t Allow Your Type Around Here
I am always amazed by the creative license people take when writing their E-Mails. Strong Opinions, Editorializing, and Emotion emanate from many keyboards. One thing I’ve learned over the years is to type every E-Mail as if it will be read in a court of law.
In those uncomfortable times when the bottom falls out of a business relationship and companies end up in court…the written word is typically given more credence than people’s memories. That is why it is critical (especially if you are Customer facing) to review, re-read, edit, and review again any correspondence that leaves your desktop.
4 Steps for a Smooth(er) Software Deployment
You only have to live through a bad software deployment once or twice to quickly learn that you want nothing to do with that ever again. You’ll start finding ways to prevent it from happening. If you have experienced the despair of a bad deployment, the following is a starting point for avoiding another one. There’s no guarantee that this will help things go 100% smoothly, but it will certainly make the process smoother and remove the finger-pointing at the end.
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:
3 True Stories of Bad Project Managers
I’ve worked for and with a number of people in the technology space throughout my career. Most project managers have been great: open-minded, reasonable, flexible, and focused on the greater good. On the other hand, I have worked with some that have been profoundly and deeply dysfunctional, Jim and Suzanne being two that come to mind (not their real names). They are the embodiment of project managers that leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully, you don’t come close to having any of these traits yourself.