Successful Delegation: How, When and Why - mindtools. Using the Power of Other People's Help © iStockphoto/AlexRaths Even "Super You" needs help and support.
There is no shame in asking for assistance. Push aside the pride and show respect for the talent others can bring to the table.And, remember that there is no such thing as a single-handed success: when you include and acknowledge all those in your corner, you propel yourself, your teammates and your supporters to greater heights.– Author Unknown. Project Planning - Risks and estimation. By Gerard M Blair The success of a project will depend critically upon the effort, care and skill you apply in its initial planning.
This article looks at the creative aspects of this planning. Before describing the role and creation of a specification, we need to introduce and explain a fairly technical term: a numbty is a person whose brain is totally numb. "Pull Management" vs "Push Management" Are we working harder, under more pressure, but running in place?
The internet has changed business – in helpful and challenging ways: * We have more information and metrics – and more confusion from all the clutter. * We can develop and deploy products faster – far beyond our clients’ ability to absorb them. * We can find prospects more easily – but they’re less interested in talking with us. * We have more forecasting tools – but less predictability. * We work harder – but not as hard as the scrappy firms in India and China.
I’ve worked with, mentored and observed dozens of companies over the past couple of years. It’s not uncommon for the double whammy of clutter and pressure to make companies and people so busy that they can’t get anything done! The brute force methods that used to work so well, such as “work harder,” “hire more,” “spend more” aren’t true strategic or competitive advantages. Anyone can work hard, hire people and raise more money. Push v Pull Management Next step? Time management: How an MIT postdoc writes 3 books, a PhD defense, and 6+ peer-reviewed papers — and finishes by 5:30pm. I’m always on the lookout for “hidden gems,” or people who are doing remarkable work that the whole world hasn’t caught on to, yet.
Today, I asked my friend Cal Newport to illustrate how he completely dominates as a post-doc at MIT, author of multiple books, and popular blogger. How does he do it all? Cal writes one of the best blogs on the Internet: Study Hacks. His guest post shows how you can take I Will Teach You To Be Rich principles — plus many others — and integrate them into a way to use your time effectively. Below, you’ll learn: How to get a night's sleep without sh*t happening.
The Chief Happiness Officer. Why “Motivation by Pizza” Doesn’t Work. My store manager implemented an embarrassing (and happily short-lived) safety incentive: Employees caught violating safety procedure were immediately given a two-foot rubber chicken on a string to wear around their necks–in front of customers.
To get rid of the chicken, an employee needed to catch another employee behaving “unsafely.”The practice quickly descended into a game of hot potato, with employees chasing one another around the store in search of the slightest violation to rid themselves of the safety chicken. The Ultimate Software Development Office Layout. Tmh@possibility.com / More Programmer's Stuff How do you layout your office space to optimize software development?
It's a question I don't think has been seriously considered at very many places I have worked. Mostly it's just cubes farms of one variety or another. Certainly there are hybrid layouts, but it comes down to cubes most of the time. Recently I had the opportunity to seriously consider and create my ideal office layout for a software development team. Here is a list of all the office layout recommendations: Organize software developers in a war room that is dedicated to the software group. Scrappy Project Management. If you are absolutely dependent on your paycheck to survive, do yourself a favor, don't be a project leader!
In most of the scrappy high-tech organizations that I have worked in, the role of a project leader cannot be successfully filled by anyone who can't put their job on the line in the pursuit of doing The Right Thing. From the project kick-off, where the project leader may not even be involved, to the attempted premature launch of a less-than-ready-to-ship product, projects run a higgily-piggily route. This real-world path rarely resembles the neat, tidy, well-defined process described in the PMBOK® Guide.
In order to deliver results in the challenging circumstances typical of many business environments, project leaders must be absolutely committed to the success of their projects and leading their team to that success. The Biggest Fear Most breakthrough projects have a fair degree of risk associated with them. Business Training from Global Knowledge: Negotiating the Triple Constraints. By Alan Koch, PMP, Global Knowledge Course Director.
