Eye Contact Triangle – Lifehacker Article
We have been talking about eye contact in class. Lifehacker’s article Use the Triangle Technique to Make Engaging Eye Contact describes an interesting technique to maintain natural eye contact. Your thoughts?
Get’Em While They’re Hot – Decision Making Articles from HBR
Harvard Business Review has 2 free decision-making articles today. Not sure how long they are available, so grab ’em while they are.
What Makes Strategic Decisions Different
For my current students, we will be discussing decision-making this week, so these are very relevant to you. The articles are compliments of FM Global Insurance.
The Instructor’s Homework
This week the class assigned me some tasks. I need to document all of the resources I was referring to in class. This is a laundry list of items, so hopefully I remember everything.
First, the two books that I am listening to on tape are:
- How to Change Minds – The Art of Influence Without Manipulation by Rob Jolles
-
Smart Tribes – How Teams Become Brilliant Together by Christine Comaford
(I will start a book list and add these books)
Second, Verzuh (the author of our book) is giving a free webinar, Nine Components of High Performance Teams on Thursday November 14th, at 11 AM PST. Those who have their PMP can get 1 PDU for attending. I have attended this webinar and it is excellent. He has other upcoming webinars and I highly recommend them.
Third, you can still attend the webinars and download the presentations from IIL’s International Project Day 2013. You have until December 7th to listen and download. You must register for the site. For those with PMP certification, you can get up to 12 PDUs for free for listening. Be sure to take the survey after each webinar to get credit for attending.
That is all for now, but that should keep you busy! See you Tuesday!
Five Free Risk and Globalization Articles to Download From HBR Courtesy of FM Global
Get them while they’re hot – five free Risk and Globalization articles to download from Harvard Business Review courtesy of FM Global. I am a big fan of HBR and follow them on Facebook. They are a great source of information about business and management. Check them out if you haven’t already.
HBR Content on Risk and Globalization
Risk map in Wikipedia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As Project Managers, our strategies for Project Risk Management are strongly influenced by the risk attitudes of our organizations and executives. In the HBR article, The Six Mistakes Executives Make in Risk Management, we gain insight to common organizational risk strategies, the motivations behind these strategies and recommendations for improving on these strategies. I highly recommend that my Project Risk Management students read this article for increased understanding of organizational risk management. (Actually I recommend that all of my Project Management students read and learn as much as they can about risk management.)
How do the mistakes outlined in the article impact our projects? What can we do to reduce the probability and/or the impact to our projects?
3 Communication Skills Project Managers Must Have
PMI’s recent Career Central Blog Post, 3 Must-Have Communication Skills, says that the most important communication skills for Project Managers to master are:
1) Give the people what they want.
2) Choose the right communication channel.
3) Translate strategy for the team.
Giving the people what the want means tailoring your communication to the needs of your stakeholders. The success of your project depends on all stakeholders understanding their role in the project and how the project’s successful completion benefits them. Understanding our stakeholders and their needs will help us select the most effective communication channel. Creating a communication matrix helps us identify and address the communication needs of our stakeholders. Most importantly the team needs to understand why the project is being done and the strategic objectives that are driving the project.
By mastering these communication skills we can improve our project success rate and our professional reputations as project managers.
Upcoming Verzuh Webinars – Seven Project Estimating Success Factors and Unlock Innovation
Eric Verzuh, a local Project Management Guru and author of one of our textbooks, The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, has 2 free upcoming webinars that you won’t want to miss. His webinars are always good and meaty with helpful hints for Project Management in the real world. I have listed the 2 webinars below. Clicking on the webinar titles will take you to full information about the webinars. For those who are certified, these webinars are worth 1 PDU each. Enjoy!
7 Project Estimating Success Factors
May 23, 2013
11am PST / 2pm EST
June 11, 2013, 11am PST / 2pm EST
Beware The Meeting Troll
Came across a post by Seth Godin, A field guide to the Meeting Troll. Referred to it in class last week and promised to post a link to the post.
As Project and Program Managers, we spend a significant amount of time in meetings; we lead, facilitate and attend meetings. A well-run, organized meeting is an effective Project Management tool. By setting meeting objectives, creating and adhering to agendas while keeping our eye on the clock, we help our teams stay focused and productive. Personally, there is no greater hell than the “never-ending” or unfocused meeting.
The meeting troll is a risk to the team cohesiveness. Watch how the team shuts down when the meeting troll spreads their negativity. Teams do not do their best work when the environment is unsafe. Meeting trolls undermine team trust and make team members reluctant to share their ideas and opinions.
For more meeting related resources, see the following:
How Effective Are Your Meetings? Tips to Improve Meeting Effectiveness
Unlock Innovation! Free Webinar from Eric Verzuh
Anytime there is a free webinar from Eric Verzuh, you must attend. His webinars are focused nuggets of goodness. His next webinar, Unlock Innovation, will be presented on March 13, 2013 2PM EST / 11AM PST. For more information, follow this link: http://www.versatilecompany.com/webinar-innovation-1-title.aspx. If you are certified, you can receive 1 Free PDU for attending.
Project Risk Management Double Puzzle
A Project Risk Management Double Puzzle. I will publish the answers tomorrow.
Project Management Essentials 