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10 Project Management Pitfalls to Avoid. By Reda Sedrati, CEO of Cloudswave Many professionals allow their digital projects to fail before they even get o the ground, citing lack of executive buy-in, impossible expectations and more. With proper planning and the right mindset, however, they can easily avoid the 10 most-common project management pitfalls. Unclear Objectives Clearly defining a project’s objectives is key to finishing a project on-time, on-budget and on-target. Objectives should be actionable and the results easy to measure. Lack of Executive Involvement Boost the odds of successful project completion by getting executives on board and informed. Lack of Communication Make regularly scheduled meetings a mandatory part of the process. Unclear Project Processes Keep a close eye on project progress by encouraging team members to follow a clearly defined procedure for submitting changes for approval.

Failure to Learn from Mistakes Lack of Flexibility Too Much Flexibility Inadequate Staffing Initiating Too Many Projects. How to Motivate People: 4 Steps Backed by Science. Employees, spouses, kids — what does it take to get people motivated so you don’t have to nag them? Motivation is powerful. It predicts success better than intelligence, ability, or salary. Via The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People: When tested in national surveys against such seemingly crucial factors as intelligence, ability, and salary, level of motivation proves to be a more significant component in predicting career success.

While level of motivation is highly correlated with success, importantly, the source of motivation varies greatly among individuals and is unrelated to success. – Bashaw and Grant 1994 I’ve covered persuasion, leadership, improving habits and fighting procrastination but what’s it take to get others to really give their best? 1) Stop Bribing Them When actors would ask the great film director Alfred Hitchcock “What’s my motivation?” Rewards definitely work. Rewards just motivate people to get rewards. When the rewards go away, people stop.

Dan Pink explains here: David Peck: Innovation Self-Test: Are You a Change Maker or Change Breaker? - Innovation America. Build, Buy, or Both? Talent Management Reaches Out, Innovative Training. Bardo: WSU becoming innovation-focused university | KSN-TV. WICHITA, Kansas – Wichita State University President John Bardo has outlined a major expansion of the WSU campus to support job creation and a university strategy based on innovation. In a presentation to faculty and staff today, Bardo described plans that will transform the Braeburn Golf Course into an Innovation Campus serving students, companies and the community. WSU plans to close the golf course to the public, and they have not decided how many cases will be kept. The changes Bardo described are tied to the university’s mission as “an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good.” “The world has changed,” Bardo said, “and Wichita State offers the best hope for the economic expansion of this region and the state.

Twenty years from now we want people to say that the Innovation Campus changed the economy of this community and made it possible for my child to stay here.” RELATED LINK: WSU Innovation Presentation Like this: Like Loading... Five Critical Issues Facing Higher Education Leaders in 2014. By Leadership Content Director, Karlyn Borysenko Higher education is facing more critique than at any other point in recent history. From the college scorecard to President Obama’s focus on the affordability of a college education, 2013 was the year during which higher education, as a whole, went under the microscope.

To stay competitive and to thrive in the current higher education landscape, it is critical that college and university leaders prioritize, focus, and evolve their operations and their offerings. Below, we offer our advice and insights on the five most important issues facing higher education today, taken from our latest report: Prioritize Focus, Evolve: Five Critical Issues Facing Higher Education Leaders in 2014. The Continued Scrutiny Of Higher EducationIncreased scrutiny and attention is resulting in key stakeholders (students and alumni) questioning the value of their degree, with 24% of alumni saying the cost of their education exceeded its value.

Leading@google: Tony Schwartz. Strategic Thinking Exercises - 13 Point Strategic Change Management Checklist. As we mentioned recently, we’re on the lookout everywhere for strategic thinking exercises to share. We spotted a recent “Inside the Executive Suite” feature from the Armada Executive Intelligence Briefing featuring a thirteen-question checklist for strategic change management.

The origin for the strategic change management list was two stories in the Wall Street Journal. One story covered Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon and the other Apple CEO, Tim Cook. Both CEOs are in the midst of trying to change what have been very successful companies over the long-term. While issues (some major) exist for both Wal-Mart and Apple, the Inside the Executive Suite piece offered the strategic change management checklist as an example of introducing more aggressive innovation and change management when a company doesn’t exactly seem to need radical change.

A 13-Point Checklist for Strategic Change Management Using this Strategic Thinking Exercise to Creating Strategic Impact. 10-things-remarkable-interviewers-always-do-do-you. Disruptive innovation 2.0. INNOVATION. Design Thinking Action Lab. The Interaction Equivalency Theorem - Journal of Interactive Online Learning. Disrupt Your Org Chart Mindset | HR Hound. HOW TO: Spruce Up a Boring Resume [INFOGRAPHIC] Writing a resume is such a nebulous activity these days. You have to figure out which type of online resume format is best for you, whether to include a cover letter, how to incorporate social media into your resume, if a video resume is a good idea and what you should include on your LinkedIn profile. Above all that, to get the job, you need to beat out all the other creative digital peeps who are producing dynamic digital resumes. Phew — that's a lot of work! We're always finding new resources to help you on your journey to perfecting your digital resume, and we happened across this nifty infographic by the team at Colorado Technical University, which includes tips on creating a digital resume, as well as tips for sprucing up your traditional resume, for potential employers who still like the smell of top-linen paper.

Enjoy. [via: Colorado Technical University] Social Media Job Listings Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. Infographic Visual Resumes. How Interviewers Know When to Hire You in 90 Seconds. Infographics In these times, we can’t get enough of interviewing tips and guides. People are always fretting about job interviews, try to prepare as much as possible but there is no way of predicting the outcome. In this video and infographic, there are some cool stats from our friends at Come Recommended. RELATED:The Weirdest Interview Questions and How to Answer them About Jörgen Sundberg The original Undercover Recruiter, after 7 years in tech recruiting Jorgen now runs Link Humans, a social and digital marketing agency in London.

Get recruiting and career tips direct to your inbox once a week with more like this! How to Be More Productive. Collaboration. Share your work with other team members, or simply collaborate on a specific task, Smartsheet makes it easy. Invite people anywhere to collaborate on your entire project by sharing the sheet with them, or simply send them a row with all attachments to get updates. Imagine having all notes, discussions, files, and information in one centralized location accessible across any browser, device, and operating system.

The result is real-time collaboration that streamlines communication, empowers teams, and drives efficiencies. Interested in learning more about collaboration?