Posts tagged as:

Meetings

Learning Mind Mapping Linkfest

by Alec Satin

Mindmapping is a technique that can be helpful to you as a project manager or IT professional. Mindmaps are most valuable in notetaking, brainstorming by yourself or with a team, and in preparing well organized documents and presentations. If you like making lists or outlines, you may not immediately see the benefit to mindmaps. This post may provide you with some ideas on how and why you might want to create some mindmaps for yourself.
Try out Mindmapping
The best way to see the value of mindmapping is to try it out in the next 3 or 4 meetings you attend. You [...]

24 comments Read the full article →

Hey Project Manager! Beware of Fool's Gold!

by Alec Satin

Yesterday I was speaking with a good friend of mine who leads a PMO1 team of project managers and business analysts. Sharing stories together often provides much needed perspective. I came away from this conversation thinking about project managers and fool’s gold.
Fool’s Gold
Pyrite is a yellow mineral resembling gold. Inexperienced prospectors during the gold rush of the 1840s sometimes spent much of their precious time and effort focusing on this worthless “fool’s gold”. Others with more knowledge knew how to identify and pursue the true gold.
Power and the Project Manager
Experienced project managers understand the potential they bring to their project [...]

32 comments Read the full article →

Creating a Sense of Community on Your Project Team

by Alec Satin

During the process of moving this blog from Typepad to WordPress, I had the opportunity to communicate with developers, designers and blog experts. It was a remarkably pleasant experience which got me to thinking about the things that we as project managers can do to help make our project teams the kind of places people want to join.
Why this is important for you as a Project Manager
Each person on your project team has an intrinsic desire to feel valued and connected with others. The more they experience this in working with you and on your team, the easier time you will [...]

12 comments Read the full article →

Phyrric Victory or When the Medicine is Worse Than the Disease – The Project Manager from Hell Series

by Alec Satin

This is an article in the Project Manager from Hell Series. Each entry is based on a real life situation. I’ll include what the project manager did, what happened next, and what they could have done to get things back on track. My goal in telling these stories is to help you and I both avoid making similar mistakes on our own projects. Ready to be horrified? Let’s begin.
First A Few Rules About Trust
Rule 1. If you can’t trust the people on your team, you have a problem.
Rule 2. If you can’t trust anyone, you have a bigger problem. You [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

How do you treat the waiters on your project team?

by Alec Satin

Last week Lori and I took a working vacation on Cape Cod. Have you ever taken one of these? Meetings are by conference call. Your laptop comes with you. You find yourself in a beautiful locale, preferably with someone you love. While perhaps not exactly restful, such times can be incredibly refreshing and stimulating.
On the way to the Cape we had a fantastic meal in Mystic, CT at the Captain Daniel Packer Inne, which is recommended if ever you find yourself in that part of the world. While waiting I read a column in a local paper which talked about [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

← Previous Entries