Here’s how to plan and deliver your project without a project management certification: just imagine that you have to eat an elephant, and follow these steps. If the elephant is really big, find the way to have only one elephant dropped on your plate. Make sure that the elephant is … well, does not move. This […]
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Team Values and Performance
A VP friend complained the other day that “the job is OK but I can’t get myself to the office, every day.” Before that statement, he looked and sounded like a happy senior executive who was steady and successful on his career path. Not true, he says. He is actually envious of people who have […]
Always Stand Up for Your Real Team
As a leader, you have to always stand for your team, right? Wrong. Rather, first, you need to make sure you realize which team is “your team.” That may sound counterintuitive but that’s life. Being a manager (team lead, manager, director, etc.), you are in charge of a unit consisting of several individuals. If you […]
Canada Cost Post-Saving Math
(On the photo, a post(wo)man delivering mail to the residents of Freising, Munich area) Door-to-door mail delivery to urban customers has been phased out in Canada in the last five years. This was a major cost-saving initiative of Canada Post. As a performance improvement specialist, I doubt its value for Canadians. Without a doubt, there is […]
Unlock an Extra Hour Daily: A Practical Exercise for Work-Life Balance
Imagine gaining an extra hour every day to spend with your family or away from the office. The best part? It won’t cost you a dime. All you need is a pen and paper. Over the years, I have conducted this exercise with numerous clients, and the results have consistently been positive. On average, you […]
If Zuck Were Project Manager, He’d Learn More ‘Tricks’
Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO) once praised her boss for “trying to make meetings as productive as possible.” According to her, Mark Zuckerberg “asks people to send materials in advance so we can use the time for discussion” and “we try to be clear about our goal when we sit down for a meeting–are we in […]
What did I do to James?
I have not yet met a single manager who would not complain about ‘boring’, ‘endless’ and ‘useless’ meetings they have to host or attend on a daily basis. And yet most of them are literally just a few words away from making their meeting a really effective communication and teambuilding tool. I once worked with […]
The Recipe for Project Success: 3 Requirements + 10 Values
The three key reasons why some projects fail are: Requirements Requirements Requirements There is but a grain of joke in this PM joke: requirements are key. In real life, three different sets of requirements could and should be identified during the project initiation. Requirements-1: The Spec. First requirements that come to mind are the “standard” […]
Shared Values of Self-Made Millionaires
There’s an interesting article posted recently on LinkedIn Pulse. Jeff Haden put this in his post headline, making it almost instantly viral: “8 of 10 Self-Made Millionaires Were Not ‘A’ Students. Instead, They Share 1 Trait.” The trait, of course, is their willingness to learn. While I agree with Jeff Hadden, that is not news. […]
Canoeing with Mintzberg
The CoachingOurselves Reflections 2017 – Rebalancing Society conference was an outstanding 3-day event filled with ideas, presentations and passion shared with us by the brightest minds: Henry Mintzberg, Philip Kotler, Dan Ponterfract, Ed Schein, Jonathan Gosling, Mitch Joel and many other prominent thinkers, businesspeople and coaches. This true feast of sustainable leadership was concluded with a savory dessert – The Great Canadian Canoe Trip, […]