This is not about diversity in the usual sense. Not a question of ethnicity (although it could be) or national origin (although it could be) or race (although it could be) or any of the other uses of the word that are “normal”. For some Project work, this will be heretical. For some Customers, this…
Author: David
Tennessee Flood Waters
You’ve probably seen the intense flooding that Nashville and much of Tennessee have experienced recently. First, it was amazing to actually watch nearby as a “normal” creek filled an entire flood plain. As I watched, you could see debris and miscellaneous things floating by in the water. Some neighbors became concerned as the water covered…
Make Something that Matters
If you’ve read Hugh’s book Ignore Everybody or read some of the cards on his site gapingvoid, you know that he is not conventional. Sometimes he may be hard to interpret. The card above can be about Project work. How it should be. It should MATTER. Even the sometimes mundane and seemingly boring parts that…
Selling Your Project in 15 Seconds
You have a great Project idea. You’ve done the work to prepare. You know what it will “cost”. You know the people that must be on your Team. But, you still have to sell the project. Maybe you’ve already submitted your plan to a decision-maker. They’ve said: “If Ms. X will go for it, I’ll…
Mind Mapping for Customer Relationships
Projects have Customers. Internal. External. Someone needs and wants the output that our Project will produce. Look at how one company is using mind maps to improve their relationships with their customers.
The Dangerous Middle
When we start a Project, we’re usually interested and excited and focused. When the Project is wrapping up, we often have the same intensity – “we’re close to the finish – keep at it!”. But, sometimes the middle can seem different. Things are going as planned. We are on budget. There are no recurring problems….
Can You Descibe Your Project on One Page?
Project plans are often many pages in length. Sometimes, that is a necessity. The Project is complex. The details are important. The Customer expects to see a long, detailed plan. Aside from the “have to” situations, however, can a Project be described on just 1 letter-sized page (written in a font size that is readable!)?…
Not a Pretty Project Picture
This is a graph of the US BLS Employment statistics for Construction of Buildings. This roller coaster graph is not only a picture of the working lives of many Americans, but is also a picture of many great Projects – delayed, suspended, or canceled. Delayed works of architectural and engineering wonder coming to life. Suspended…
How is This Moving Project Work Forward?
Projecting Forward is supposed to be about moving project work forward. Most of the topics so far are very basic. So, how does that move anything F-O-R-W-A-R-D? Well, that is a good question. I asked myself that question. Moving forward has to start with a foundation of some sort. So, to answer my own question,…
Are We Planning for Planning’s Sake?
Each project starts with some version of a plan. Maybe several different plans. We’re trying to decide – beforehand – how to successfully get to the delivery stage on a Project. However, what happens once we start executing? We start out to do the work and something happens. It doesn’t go as we planned…