10 things you’ll never hear from a project manager

1. I didn’t see that risk coming!
2. This whole project is based on a case study I read in the paper last week.
3. I’m not sure this project is going to deliver any benefits.
4. The project is running well ahead of schedule.
5. I think we’ll miss that milestone by quite a long way.
6. We’re charging you far too much to run this project.
7. There’s far more budget and time than is needed.
8. I didn’t actually have a plan; I was playing it by ear.
9. I can’t take credit for that success.
10. How about paying us based on the success of the project?

NB.  I can’t remember where I saw this first.  I found it on my disc recently.  If anyone out there knows from whence this came, I will happily credit the original creator.  Until then, have a good laugh….

It’s 10:10 10/10/10. This must mean som

It’s 10:10 10/10/10. This must mean something, but what ……?

Inspirational thought, when things get t

Inspirational thought, when things get tough. It’s kinda “do the right thing” but much much better! http://tiny.cc/qi8k9b4adz

It’s Monday, it’s autumn, the colours

It’s Monday, it’s autumn, the colours are starting to change. Who else looks forward to Octobers glorious reds, yellows and browns?

We’re moving

Whoever said putting a website together was easy was a liar!

It might be straightforward, but not easy; and it takes soooo long to get all the little itty bits all together.

But I think we’ve done it now, so this will be the last post on this site.  We’ve moved to www.3rdsectorskills.com

All the resources that were on this site are available on the new one, and lots more otherwise there would have been no point moving.

Bye!

Quote of the day

I came across this quote by Dwight D Eisenhower which summarises planning nicely.

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

Those of us who have planned for a while recognise that a plan is only as good as the day it’s made.  Real life has a horrible tendency to throw wobblies at you as soon as the ink is dry.  So the canny project recognises that it is the process of planning that is really important, and the plans themselves are a happy by-product which may sometime be useful.

It’s the process of planning that helps you think about how to implement your project, how much resource you’ll need, how much time.  The more you plan, the more you’ll be aware of the risks to the project, and you can think about how to mitigate them.

Then, when it comes to implementation, and the plan starts to crumble, you’re in a much better position to adapt and have a better chance of brining your project in successfully.

Go forth and plan!

Abbreviations that made me smile

Who says project management (and other sorts of work) shouldn’t be fun?

Here are some TLAs I’ve come across which made me smile – I hope they do the same for you.  As I’ve collected these over the years, I’ve no idea where they first came from, so I can’t acknowledge them.

NB only read on if you’re not easily offended.

• RTFM: Read The Flipping (!) Manual.  Often used by the support desk folk who are fed up with answering bloody stupid questions.
• MIL-TFD-4AC: Make It Like – The Flipping Drawing – for A Change.  A spoof military specification used on technical drawings when the author was fed up with the manufacturer not doing what he was told
• OSINTOT: O Shit I Never Thought Of That. A project management term
• TLA – Three Letter Acronym.  Self-explanatory

Managing your diary – travel time

I’ve read loads of stuff about time management, and found some good ideas that I’ve applied (I think) fairly successfully.  One of the best I’d like to share is blocking out travel time.

It’s so easy to book a meeting in your diary, and forget how long it will take you to get to it.  I’ve found it useful to figure out the travel time, then book an additional appointment labelled “travel” on either side of the meeting.  It stops me booking other appointments back to back with the meeting, and it reminds me to stop what I’m doing and get moving in time.

A simple trick, but so so useful.

Just say no!

We’re all short of time. Despite all the gadgets that are supposed to save us time there never seems to be enough of it to do what we want to do.

Here’s a simple thought – why not say no to some things?

How many times in the last year/month/day have you heard yourself agreeing to do something that you know deep down that you will never have time to do? And what’s the result? This task will sit on your to-do list and in your guilt box and distract you from, well, everything. When you sit down to do another task this one will pop into your head and nag you. It won’t be forgotten. And you’ll do your original task in a hurry or feeling distracted and probably won’t do it justice.

The end result of all this is that you do most of the things you said you’d do, perhaps not to the best quality, and you’ll leave some things undone, and feel guitly about them.

So the answer is to say no. You can be polite about it, but still say no. “I’m sorry, I’d really love to do ..xxx.., but I really can’t fit it in right now.” The person asking would far rather you came clean at once, so she can find another way of getting her task done, rather than have you either not deliver at all, or perhaps worse, deliver a half-hearted attempt right on the deadline. You might still feel guilty about refusing a request but that’s more easily dealt with. And now you have time to give your full attention to your other tasks.

“Better no job at all than a half-hearted attempt”

Put yourself in their shoes – a post for CEOs

Trustees – love ‘em or hate ‘em, if you work for a charity, you have to live with ‘em.

It’s not easy being the chief executive (or director, or whatever) of a charity, and some I know view trustee meetings with dread.  It needn’t be like that.