The First-Time Manager’s Guide to Performance Appraisals

by Diane Arthur

• The primary objective of a performance appraisal is to ensure the maximum utilization of every employee’s skills, knowledge, and interests.

• Managers as Coaches
• Coaching is the day-to-day interaction between you and your employees. Its purpose is to provide regular assistance, support, praise, and constructive criticism.

• (1) Approachability
• Whether they need help or want to talk about an idea they have concerning how to proceed with a task, you need your employees to view you as responsive and accessible. Employees should feel that you are available for coaching, at any time and for any reason.

• (2) Consistency
• To earn the trust and respect of your employees, strive to apply organizational policies, procedures, and rules as evenhandedly as possible. Conversely, avoid showing favoritism, bending the rules, or looking the other way, even when it doesn’t seem as if any harm will come of it, or if it’s unlikely that anyone will find out.

• (3) Dependability
• Nothing shakes an employee’s confidence more than feeling uncertain about whether he can count on you when needed. Managers who demonstrate that they are reliable are more likely to have maximally effective employer-employee relations.

• (4) Empathy
• Managers frequently find themselves in the position of listening to employees’ work-related and personal problems. When this happens, you must strive to remain impartial, thereby maintaining an emotional distance so you can best help the employee achieve resolution. The key is to be empathetic, not sympathetic.

• (5) Honesty
• You should try to be straightforward and forthright without being harsh or disrespectful. This is best accomplished by adhering to the facts in all matters calling for both praise and criticism.

• (6) Knowledge
• Smart managers are as clear about what they do not know as they are about what they do know. Smarter still are those who view themselves as lifelong learners.

• (7) Respect
• You cannot demand respect from your employees if you do not offer it. This includes having regard for employees’ views, approaches to tasks, requests, and needs.

• Managers as Counselors
• Counseling is the structured interaction between managers and their employees, with a keener focus on specific work-related problems.

• (1) Attentiveness
• By being attentive, managers may follow-up coaching with more structured counseling.

• (2) Broad-Mindedness
• You cannot look the other way when an employee’s behavior is outside the parameters of her job. By being broad-minded, you can leverage the impact one employee’s behavior has on others.

• (3) Commitment
• Savvy managers know that being committed to helping employees achieve a maximum level of productivity in accordance with specified job duties, policies, and procedures can be highly beneficial to all concerned.

• (4) Conscientiousness
• You need to be ever vigilant about what’s going on in your department. Even if everything appears to be proceeding smoothly, it is still prudent for you to determine, firsthand, the status of what each employee is working on, as well as any interpersonal matters that could impact work. Then, if anything is out of sync, you can step in with counseling.

• (5) Focus
• It’s easy for first-time managers to become sidetracked when it comes to matters impacting employee performance, but with a little effort you can remain focused and make objective decisions.

• (6) Interest
• Maintaining an active interest in your employees is likely to result in a good rapport. Then, should counseling issues develop, employees are likely to be more responsive and less resentful. Note that interest does not mean involvement.

• (7) Realism
• it’s important that you take into account each individual’s level of skill, degree of knowledge, and extent of interest in relation to the expectations of the job, rather than your personal expectations based on your own prior level of performance.

• The Golden Rules of Performance Appraisals
• Ongoing coaching and counseling set the stage for any performance review; that is, by doing her job as an effective coach and counselor, she’ll be prepared to successfully apply the three golden rules of performance appraisal:
• (1) nothing that is ever said during a performance appraisal meeting should come as a surprise to the employee;
• (2) managers should be prepared to praise and criticize elements of the employee’s work from the time of the employee’s last review or date of hire; and
• (3) every incident that is referenced should be documented.
  

Assessing Technical PM Competencies

by Andrew Makar

1. schedule development skills: activity definition, sequencing, resource estimation, duration estimation, resource leveling, baselining
2. monitor and control project work: regular status meetings and reports, measure schedule and cost variances
3. business requirements management: process flow diagrams, use case models, sequence diagrams, activity sequence diagrams
4. SDLC methodologies: iterative processes (RUP, agile, extreme programming), waterfall model
5. software quality management: requirements traceability from requirements definition through user acceptance testing, MercuryQualityCenter, IBM Rational ClearQuest
6. issue and risk management: review log with team regularly

10 Steps to Successful Strategic Planning

by Susan Barksdale and Teri Lund

• Step One - Laying the Foundation
• Step Two - Scanning the Business Environment
• Step Three - Collecting Relevant Data
• Step Four - Analyzing the Collected Data
• Step Five - Stating Mission, Vision, and Values
• Step Six - Prioritizing Needs and Identifying Risks
• Step Seven - Designing and Validating Tactics
• Step Eight - Prioritizing Tactics and Resources
• Step Nine - Documenting and Communicating the Plan
• Step Ten - Maintaining the Plan

PM leadership behaviors

• result-oriented leadership behavior - coordinate across multiple teams, overcome obstacles, deliver project's goals
• courage and willingness to take initiatives - solve problems, identify new opportunities, take action without being prompted
• balance between customer demands and project constraints - build rapport with customers, seek to understand the underlying needs, proactively address their concerns
• balance between quality and schedule - risk-based approach, prioritize test cases/cycles
• effective client-vendor relationship - emphasize mutually beneficial goals, focus on critical issues to work together

Four Steps in Conflict Resolution

From book "Conflict Management in the Workplace—How to Manage Disagreements and Develop Trust and Understanding", 3rd Edition

• step 1. attend to the other person, validate/acknowledge the opinion, feeling or intention - does not mean to agree, understand what the other person WANTS

"What can we do about it?"
"What do you need from me?"
"What would you like to see happen?"
"What needs to happen so it is right for you?"
"How would you want it to be?"

• step 2. explore the NEED behind the WANT, keep the focus on the other person, deepen understanding

"Why is that important to you?"
"Why does that matter?"
"Why do you want that?"

• step 3. invite the other's SOLUTION on BOTH sets of NEEDS, focus on solution not prpblem

"How would you see us solving that?"
"What do you suggest?"
"What would be your solution?"
"What can we do so you get … (your need) and I get … (my need)?"

• step 4. build for maximum win-win

"What I like about your suggestion is..."
"My concerns are..."
"What do you suggest we do?"

Power plays - Here is a way of being assertive while keeping a sense of collaboration. It enables you to begin a conversation without any hint of blame, accusation or demand. It is in three parts:
1. The behaviour – a non-emotive description of the current behaviour
2. Your response – how you feel or think about the behaviour
3. The preferred behaviour – what you would need instead

e.g."When I sense my needs are being dismissed I feel angry. And I would like us to work in more collaborative ways."

If the other person continues to dismiss your needs e.g. ‘You are over-reacting’, you can loop again on your assertive request.

e.g. "I appreciate you feel I am over-reacting. However, I feel dismissed. And I would like us to work in a more collaborative way."

Bank bail-outs to hit IT spending and offshoring - TowerGroup

...



Government-sponsored banks might be forced to pull out of offshoring and bring their call centres back to Britain, suggests TowerGroup.

Seven Habits of Effective People

Effectiveness - do right thing right the first time

• Habit 1: Be proactive - choice

the power to choose

"can do" attitued

"I decide to..." not "I have to..."

repond by principle not emotion

• Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind - vision

live by design not by default

develop a personal mission statement - values, principles, talents, roles, responsibilities
Templeate:

The things that matter most to me are:

The principles I will use to guide my life are:

I will make a contribution and enjoy life by using my talents of:

I will live with purpose in the following roles:

As a [role], I will [responsibility]

create a work-back plan from the vision

• Habit 3: Put first things first - priority with integrity

schedule your priorities, not prioritize your schedule

focus on top priorities

urgent vs important

do more planning

• Habit 4: Think win-win - mutual benefit attitude

win-win or no deal

emotional bank account - deposit:

seek first to understand

show kindness, courtesy, respect

keep promise

be loyal to the absent

set clear expections

apologize

give feedback

forgive

• Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood - active listening skill

"talking stick" - speaker seeks to be understood before passing it to another person

empathic listening - reflecting what a person feels and says in your own words, avoid advising, counselling, solving, probing, questioning, interpreting, evaluating, judging, disagreeing or agreeing

• Habit 6: Synergize - 1+1>2

Begin with common goal/purpose before discussing different viewpoints

• Habit 7: Sharpen the saw - renewal, balanced self-satisfaction in body, heart, mind and soul

Regain "production capability" by engaging in carefully selected recreational activities

The Tech Disaster Awards: What You Can Learn from IT's Biggest Project Failures

By Jake Widman

1. IBM's Stretch project: Try to salvage something of lasting value from the wreckage, even if you don't meet your project's main goals.
2. Knight-Ridder's Viewtron service: Sometimes you can be so far ahead of the curve that you fall right off the edge.
3. DMV projects -- California and Washington: (a) Don't place your future in the hands of one supplier. (b) When a project is obviously doomed to failure, get out sooner rather than later.
4. FoxMeyer ERP program: Make sure your operation can survive the failure of a project.
5. Apple's Copland operating system: Keep your project's goals focused.
6. Sainsbury's warehouse automation: Problems that go unaddressed at rollout will only get worse, not better, over time.
7. Canada's gun registration system: Define your project scope and freeze specifications before the requests for changes get out of hand.

Effective Meetings (last installment)

Helping behaviors

• proposing - "How about ..."
• building - "To build on John's idea ..."
• seeking information - "Please describe ..."
• seeking opinion - "How do you feel, Ken?"
• giving information - "Here is my report ..."
• giving opinion - "My opinion is ..."
• disagreeing - "I disagree with Rob because ..."
• summarizing - "To recap the issue ..."
• testing comprehension - "I heard you say ..."
• testing consensus - "How many agree?"
• encouraging - "Say more about that idea ..."
• harmonizing - "What do we agree on?"
• checking performance - "How close are we?"
• setting standard - "We need to decide by ..."
• relieving tension - "The humor in this is ..."
• paraphasing - "What I heard you say was ..."
  

Processing strong feelings:

(1) acknowledge feelings

(2) remain neutral

(3) seek first to understand, then to be understood

(4) process feelings by:

• observing silence
• taking a break
• silently brainstorming issues on cards
• sharing concerns
• identifying areas of conflict and commonality and ideas for bridging gaps
• suggesting ways of resolving conflict

(5) refocus conversation on original topic/goals

Dealing with hurtful behaviors

• late arrival - start on time, don't update
• side conversation - stop, look at offenders
• dominators - ask them to scribe
• rambling - use parking lot if point is relevant
• negativity - ask group to comment on negative opinions
  

Building consensus (= agreement + support)

• test for consensus by verbal polling or written vote
• use consensus to determine team functions (meeting frequency, ground rules, roles, etc.)
  

Recognizing symptoms of conflict

• ideas get attacked before they are fully stated
• comments are personal attacks
• win-lose pressures
• members take sides

Six attributes of successful project managers

[by Meridith Levinson]

1. risk management - ability to anticipate and head off problems

2. organization - ability to stay focused on the big picture and to prioritize competing responsibilities

3. leadership - ability to motivate team and influence stakeholders

4. communication - ability to discuss the project in the context of whatever is most important to the audience

5. practical - focus on getting work done with the resources available

6. empathy - ability to understand stakeholders' concerns, take them seriously and address them

Effective Meetings (continued)

Active faciliation strategies

• set ground rules, for example:

1. challenge ideas instead of individuals
2. start on time/stop on time
3. one conversation at a time
4. confidentiality
   

• appoint roles, for example:

1. facilitator
2. note taker
3. timekeepter
   

• use parking lot for items important but irrelevant to the issue at hand
  
• involve all participants at the start, for example:

1. 5-minute informal conversation
2. paird interviews
3. roundtable sharing of good news

• assign pre-meeting tasks (only if necessary), and

1. explain why it is important
2. give adequate lead time
3. provide clear instructions
4. emphasize need to complete it in advance
5. plan a process for using assignment at meeting
   

• separate presentation from discussion, and ask reflection questoins at the end, for example:

1. What points did you agree/disagree with?
2. How could the proposal be improved?
3. What new questions does it raise?
   

• use flip charts - tips:

1. write the words that people say if possible
2. share scribe role among multiple members
3. keep all information visible (hang charts)
4. clarify with team when you add your ideas
5. seek permission to paraphrase ideas
6. use color
7. print clearly
   
   

Political strategy

step 1: Plan
(a) discover power and influence -
What does people value, information, advancement, prestige, or the need to be liked?
Who has the power?
Who really makes the decisions?
How is bad/good news received?

(b) Define objective -
What do you want to accomplish in a given situation?

(c) Assess your ability to influence -
Do you have the credibility, subject expertise, or formal power to realistically influence them?
If not, who can you engage to help influence them?
Do you have a working relationship with this person? Is it good?

step 2: Action
(a) Build Alliances
Project management is about relationships. Initiate a relationship by seeking help/direction or offering to help.

(b) Manage Adversaries (e.g. other project managers, bosses) - the ones standing between you and your goals

First, assess the situation from the opponent’s viewpoint and try to understand their motives and actions. It’s usually circumstances out of their control that cause them to become an adversary to your goals. It could be that you are blocking the path to their goals, too.

Work to convert your adversary into an ally. Try to find common goals and work from there. If not, you need to seek out allies that can help both of you achieve your goals. These allies should hold sufficient power and influence to get things done in the organization.

(c) Change Course as Necessary
Is your political strategy harming your influence?
Is it damaging your reputation?
Are others being hurt because of your actions?

step 3: Reflect
Are assumptions accurate?
Was your energy spent wisely with positive effect on your personal or political objectives?

Power and politics

"What's in it for me?" (WIIFM)

• When dealing with stakeholders, project manager must consider WIIFM.


• Always remember WIIFM when trying to influence people.
  

The rule of reciprocity - by doing favors for others when it is appropriate, you build a “bank account” that you can draw on when you need something from others.

Deal with resistance - “I understand that you have some concerns about .... What would I have to do to convince you that ...?”

negotiation - do

• Choose a neutral setting in which to discuss the problem.
• State your desire to resolve the conflict to both parties' satisfaction.
• Deal with the issue, not the person.
• Demonstrate your understanding by rephrasing what the other person has said.
• State what you want as a request, not as a demand.
• Ask what the other party wants of you. If you cannot or will not comply with the other party’s request, make a counterproposal.
• Work on one issue at a time. Begin with the one on which you are most likely to reach agreement.
• Once an agreement has been reached, ask the other party if there is anything that could prevent their complying with the agreement. Ask the same question of yourself. If there are any potential obstacles, try to find contingencies.Always give the other party a chance to save face.

negotiation - don't

• Don't assume that you know the other party's motives, intentions, thoughts, or feelings.
• Don't try to change the other party’s values. You can, however, ask that they take certain actions, consider certain consequences, etc.
• Don't think that the other party is bad/mad/crazy/evil just because you have a difference.
• Don’t rush the process. Conflicts resolved in haste may come back to haunt you later.
• Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you need to check with somebody before making an agreement, say so, and reconvene the meeting afterwards.
  

How to achieve project success?

1. For the client - meeting of minds

* define success criteria from the outset - ideally one super stakeholder, one client voice
* keep client stakeholders engaged during execution
* seek frequent feedback for continued alignment to objectives
* focus on client satisfaction

2. For the team members - collaborative working environment

* carefully select members, and give them what they need to succeed - must have a strong core team
* ensure proper planning and communications - have a first-class kickoff meeting, cascade the planning tasks down the stream and get members' buy-in
* take the pulse constantly on team spirit
* encourage escalation of risks and concerns
* celebrate successes

3. For the shareholders - due diligence

* practice rigorous financial planning and management
* approach risk and issue management with urgency - don't waste a day, from the very beginning
* look for win/win solutions to issues - high value vs. low value trade-off

4. other tips

* Focus on the goal and measure progress monthly/weekly - tangible deliverables only, make it visible, listen to concerns, take immediate corrective action, and celebrate success
* Don't hope - identify the risks and account for their costs
* Don't gamble
* Do seek help - early enough and clearly enough
* Be committed
* Don't try to be the technical expert on the project

Career Portfolio: Giving You an Edge in the Marketplace

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Career Summary and Goals
Mission Statement
Traditional Resume
Scannable/Text-Based Resume
Skills, Abilities and Marketable Qualities
List of Accomplishments
Samples of Your Work
Research, Publications, Reports
Testimonials and Letters of Recommendations
Awards and Honors
Conference and Workshops
Transcripts, Degrees, Licenses, and Certifications
Professional Development Activities
Volunteering/Community Service
References List

Strategy -> Project Management

• Strategy is essentially about gaps.

• Filling the gaps involves change management.

• Project management is the best tool to manage changes.

How to Report Status on a Project

By Rob Redmond

To write excellent status, you must understand:

1. The three components of status

• Overall
• Milestones - c0mpleted, in progress, and coming up
• Issues - that require management action/attention

2. Write in brief details

• Bullets, no paragraph
• Shorten expressions and sentences
• Reduce adverbs (really, very, much) and adjectives (good, bad, ugly)

3. Key data needed by management

• project's name
• project identification number
• overall project health (red yellow green)
• % complete you expected to be at today (planned completion)
• % complete you are actually at
• number of days behind or ahead against the plan
• number of blocking issues you face
• number of "normal issues" you face

Effective Meetings

QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE MEETING:

1. What is the purpose of the meeting?
2. What are the desired outcomes?
3. Is a meeting really necessary to achieve the purpose and outcomes?
4. What alternatives exist to meeting?
5. Who should attend the meeting?
6. What is the chemistry of the invitees?
7. What is the meeting plan?
8. What unexpected issues might arise?

What Not to Do When Preparing a Project Schedule - By Joe Lukas, PMP, PE, CCE

From PMI Community Post

1. Avoid too much detail - use a high-level project schedule based on the project deliverables. More detailed sub-schedules can be prepared for each phase or for major deliverables and linked to the project schedule.

 

2. Don't Link Summary Tasks - only link the lowest level tasks.

 

3. Watch for hangers - when a task lacks a predecessor and/or successor, the task has a hanger, which is an unintended break in the schedule logic.

 

4. Don't enter start or finish dates - let your scheduling software calculate the task's start and finish dates!

 

5. Avoid Constraints - be aware of how constraints impact your schedule!

Engagement Management

http://www.allpm.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1475&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

 

Engagement Management - fulfilling client needs over time through a series of coordinated engagements/projects.

 

Success factors:

• client satisfaction
• profit margin

Sub processes:

• selling
• delivery
• ongoing relationship management

 

What Do You Want?

• opportunity to maximize knowledge, expertise and experience as a means to advance career
• greater learning opportunities and responsibilities
• professional development, as important as health insurance and vacations
• signing bonus and relocation package

Project Estimates = Educated Guesses

http://www.gantthead.com/content/articles/240866.cfm

 

Company blames a failed IBM -run ERP project for its bankruptcy

 http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=583#comments

Abstract : ALF, a leading manufacturer of firetrucks, ambulances and other specialty vehicles, experienced a disastrous project run by IBM. It has filed a claim against IBM, which alleges that it was problems caused by the project that forced it into bankruptcy. Meanwhile, IBM is suing to recover over $5m it claims it is owed.

 

We don't resist changes but being changed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management

 

PESTLE Analysis

http://www.rapidbi.com/created/the-PESTLE-analysis-tool.html

PESTLE is a simple framework that helps understand the big picture of the Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors of the environment we are operating in. It can be used in conjunction with SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Some examples are:
Political -
Trading policies
Funding, grants and initiatives
International pressure groups
Wars and conflict
Government policies
Government term and change
Elections
Inter-country relationships/attitudes
Terrorism
Political trends
Governmental leadership
Government structures
Internal political issues
Shareholder/ stakeholder needs/ demands

Economic -
Home economy situation
Home economy trends
Overseas economies and trends
General taxation issues
Taxation changes specific to product/services
Seasonality/weather issues
Market and trade cycles
Specific industry factors
Market routes and distribution trends
Customer/end-user drivers
International trade/monetary issues
Disposable income
Job growth/unemployment
Exchange rates
Tariffs (i.e. duties)
Inflation
Interest and exchange rates
Consumer confidence index
Import/export ratios
Production level
Internal finance
Internal cash flow

Social -
Consumer attitudes and opinions
Media views
Law changes affecting social factors
Brand, company, technology image
Consumer buying patterns
Major social events and influences
Buying access and trends
Ethnic/religious factors
Advertising and publicity
Ethical issues
Demographics (age, gender, race, family size,)
Lifestyle changes
Population shifts
Education
Diversity
Immigration/emigration
Health
Living standards
Housing trends
Fashion & role models
Attitudes to work
Attitudes to people doing certain types of work
Leisure activities
Occupations
Earning capacity
Staff attitudes
Management style
Organizational culture
Changes to education system

Technological -
Competing technology development
Research funding
Associated/dependent technologies
Replacement technology/solutions
Maturity of technology
Manufacturing maturity and capacity
Information and communications
Consumer buying mechanisms/technology
Technology legislation
Innovation potential
Technology access, licensing, patents
Intellectual property issues
Global communications
Inventions
Innovations
New discoveries
Energy uses/sources/fuels
Rate of obsolescence
Collaboration tools
Software changes
Learning

Legal -
Current/future legislation
Local/national/international legislation
Regulatory bodies and processes
Environmental regulations
Employment law
Consumer protection
Industry-specific regulations
competitive regulations

Environmental -
Ecological
Environmental issues
Environmental regulations

Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2007 – city rankings

By Mercer Human Resource Consulting
Last updated: 18 June 2007

Toronto, the most expensive city in Canada, has dropped 35 places to position 82 (score 78.8). Calgary and Vancouver have also tumbled down the rankings, sliding from 71st place to 92nd and 56th to 89th respectively. Ottawa remains the cheapest Canadian city in 109th position scoring 72.3. Canadian cities have traditionally rated favourably in the worldwide ranking. The new scores reflect a low rate of inflation and stable housing prices. In addition, while it has appreciated slightly against the US Dollar, the Canadian Dollar has depreciated nearly 13% against the Euro since last year’s survey.

Four of the world’s top 10 costliest cities for expatriates are in Asia. Seoul ranks in 3rd place (score 122.4), Tokyo in 4th (122.1) and Hong Kong in 5th (119.4) – all have been pushed down one place this year.

Chinese cities have moved down the ranking this year. Beijing ranks 20th and scores 95.9, while Shanghai is in 26th place with a score of 92.1. Over the past 12 months, the value of the Chinese Yuan has decreased by around 6% against the Euro. This factor, together with a low inflation rate and stable property rental prices, has kept the major Chinese cities from moving up the ranking. Accommodation costs have not escalated because, while demand is increasing, the availability of high-quality rentals in these cities is also good.

In contrast, elsewhere in Asia, the cost of international-standard accommodation has pushed some cities up the ranking. For example, sharp increases in house prices have contributed to Singapore climbing from 17th to 14th position. Rising property prices have also caused Indian cities to move up the ranking – for example, Mumbai has jumped from position 68 to 52 (score 84.9).

Mind, Meditation and the Project Manager

By Umesh Dwivedi, PMP

The most common challenges that generate a stress level are:

• Unrealistic Deadlines
• Project Risk Factors
• Management Pressure
• Conflicting Situations
• Project Environment
• Competition
• Career Expectations

Here are some simple meditation steps:

• Find a place where you can sit quietly and comfortably without any disturbance
• Close your eyes
• Start relaxing your muscles gradually from the top of your head to your feet
• Breathe slowly and start focusing on rhythmic breathing
• Witness everything and judge nothing
• As you inhale visualise that you are absorbing energy and fresh air
• As you exhale visualise that you are freeing your stress and tension
• Repeat this for ten or twenty minutes
• Open your eyes

How to Win Friends and Influence People

This is Dale Carnegie's summary of his book, from 1936


Part One
Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

• Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
• Give honest and sincere appreciation.
• Arouse in the other person an eager want.

Part Two
Six ways to make people like you

• Become genuinely interested in other people.
• Smile.
• Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
• Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Part Three
Win people to your way of thinking

• The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
• Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
• If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
• Begin in a friendly way.
• Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
• Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
• Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
• Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
• Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
• Appeal to the nobler motives.
• Dramatize your ideas.
• Throw down a challenge.

Part Four
Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

• Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
• Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
• Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
• Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
• Let the other person save face.
• Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
• Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
• Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
• Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Common Omissions in Estimating Software Project Costs

• effort of QA and special testing requirements
• effort of paperwork/documentation
• travel and meeting costs
• requirements creep (1~5% per month)
• project management/support effort
• user effort
• post-implementation support
• effort of handover/transition

 

Interviewing Taken Up a Notch

www.notchup.com

 

If all those innovations don't get you excited, consider getting paid to go for a job interview. NotchUp is a free service, currently available by invite only, for people who aren't looking for a new job but wouldn't mind keeping their hats in the ring—for a price. The NotchUp service helps you set a fee for which you are willing to interview (typically based on your line of work and depth of experience), and companies that like your qualifications pay that fee in addition to a markup to NotchUp for facilitating the interview. Companies including Google, Yahoo! (YHOO), and Facebook are already using NotchUp in their recruiting efforts.

Good Project Managers are Hard to Find! - By Harley Lovegrove

The basic skills required for a good project manager are the following:

• A strong desire to solve other people's problems
• The conviction that they are the best person to solve them
• Extreme resilience, the ability to bounce back after any setback
• A high emotional IQ
• A good memory for faces and names
• A clear, structured approach to every task
• A natural ability to plan (a good interim manager is always making lists)
• A strong sense of priorities
• The knack to sell anything to anyone (needed for lobbying)
• A willingness to learn from mistakes

Inspiring the team

Communicate -

• set a clear goal with reasonable approach to achieve it
• regularly recognize contributions and recommend ways to improve
• regularly communicate the progress

Stay Positive -

• identify possibility and opportunity in every challenge
• always focus on the strengths and develop them

Take Action -

• remove obstacles
• remove under-performers
• get hands dirty when necessary
• be a role-model of accountability

PM R&R (sample)

• Providing project and program management expertise to multiple large Information Systems initiatives within the Department.
• Providing Data and Systems integration expertise to the Department.
• Providing Program Management guidance and support to Government PMs.
• Overseeing the management of complex, multi-track integration projects by balancing scope, time, cost and quality. Leading the development and tracking of integrated project plans.
• Overseeing the development of project deliverables. Identifying and managing project and/or program issues. Assessing and managing risk within, and across, multiple projects. Maintaining project tracking and reporting systems
• Responsible for ongoing client satisfaction and Manages Executive level client relationships (expectations, communications, negotiations, escalation, feedback etc). Develops relationships with, and ensures the appropriate participation of, key client stakeholders and client executives.

The largest IT service providers

IBM
EDS
Accenture
CSC

The One-Page Project Manager