The Purpose of Project Management and Setting Objectives
Project Management has developed in order to plan, co-ordinate and control the complex and diverse activities of modern industrial and commercial projects. All projects share one common characteristic - the projection of ideas and activities into new endeavours. The purpose of project management is to foresee or predict as many dangers and problems as possible; and to plan, organise and control activities so that the project is completed as successfully as possible in spite of all the risks. The ever-present element of risk and uncertainty means that events and tasks leading to completion can never be foretold with absolute accuracy.
Employee Relations - Lead By Example, Earn Respect
Being a good boss requires striking a delicate balance. Your responsibilities are clearly towards your organization. After all, if your company does not succeed, none of your employees will have paychecks for very long. On the other hand, we all want our subordinates to like and respect us. The conflict occurs when we must discipline or give tough orders to a person we like and (more importantly) want to like us. When I hire new employees or acquire new employees through the purchase of a company, I give them a fairly standard speech. I tell them I expect loyalty and honesty from them at all times.
Part 6 of 7 - The Secret to Overcoming Stagnation and Decline
Those promoted into leadership discover it takes more than new titles to operate as effective leaders. Frustrated with the lack of consistent and sustainable results, they begin to wonder why employees resist their calls to action. Some use this frustration as the springboard to seek the necessary leadership skills; unfortunately, most newly appointed leaders do not receive professional development, which limits their opportunities to learn and practice what is required to become and remain effective leaders. This leadership challenge has a name: apathy. You recognize it by its symptoms: indecisiveness, lack of drive, lack of creativity, lack of focus, stagnation, burnout, imbalance, and the list goes on and on.
Top Managers Put the Customer Second
In September of 1990, I was in the final stages of my application process to join one of the world's most renowned hotel companies. My challenge would be to take the helm of a problematic hotel with service issues and put it back on track for Marriott's standards of excellence. The final interview was with a Vice President at the corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland and I was on pins and needles, to say the least. As the interview came to a close, the VP had one final question: "Craig, who would you say are the most important people in your hotel? " "The customers", I announced with enthusiasm, thinking that I had slam-dunked that one.
The Next Level
What does it take to get promoted and go to the next level of management? People skills and knowledge of the business are prerequisites. In order to succeed as a manager, your people have to be successful. How are you able to make your people successful? You put them in positions that enable them to utilize their skill sets. The role of a manager is one that varies from place to place. The role of a successful manager is to be a teacher, advisor, resident expert for the area of responsibility and a visionary. As a manager or supervisor, you must recognize talented people and put them in positions that will maximize their strengths.
Are You Client Friendly?
There was a teleseminar I was interested in attending last week (promoted in a colleague's e-newsletter) and so I dutifully clicked the "register here" link. That link took me to another web page (after 3 tries), which gave me another description of the same teleseminar and asked me to "register here". I clicked that second link and it brought me to yet a third page which asked me to, you guessed it, "click here to register". Enough is enough! Even though the teleseminar is something I'm interested in and, as an added benefit, it's f'ee, it's just not worth the hassle of TRYING to sign up.
Pharmaceutical Speaker Bureau Management - A New World
A featured speaker at a company meeting or event can make or break the event, depending on how prepared they are. It is certainly a plus when a speaker is on time and is knowledgeable about the subject matter being spoken about, but it is very advantageous if every aspect of the pharmaceutical event is taken care of. You certainly don't want a little thing ruining the function. Pharmaceutical Speaker Bureau Management incorporates everything from communications to flight details. Is it a dinner presentation or will it be a Lunch and Learn program? Will the speaker arrive in time to be properly prepared before the function begins?
Breathing New Life Into Old Business
Have you been in business for some time? Are the client calls starting to slow down? This is the time that all business owners dread. When a business starts to slow down so do the profits. Do you know how to fix this problem? It can be fixed and this article has some tips to help with that situation. One good way to help your business is to alter or completely change your advertising. Most people watch the Super Bowl each year just to see the new commercials. Advertising is what draws customers to your business. You might want to use a unique personality or mascot in your advertising. Another idea is to change the colors used in your advertising.
The Secrets to Earned Value Management Success
Earned Value (EV) is a management tool for tracking and communicating a project's status. Earned Value Management (EVM) will let you know the actual state of the project by comparing your current project performance against your plan. Knowing the project's performance will let you take actions needed to ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget. Like any tool, in order for EVM to be successful, it very important that it is used correctly. After 20 years of managing projects using EVM, I have found that using Earned Value to manage your project doesn't automatically guarantee success.
Total Quality Management
Introduction Competition is getting harder and becoming global. Companies now have to be more responsive, offer a better product and keep improving. Total quality management (TQM) increases customer satisfaction by boosting quality. It does this by motivating the workforce and improving the way the company operates. In an increasingly competitive market, firms with a continuous improvement culture and external focus are more likely to survive and prosper. TQM is considered an important catalyst in this context. What is TQM? TQM is an approach to improving the effectiveness and flexibilities of business as a whole.