Each month Mindavation will offer a template from our Project Templates CD free of charge. Don't miss out on this opportunity!

This month's download is our newly updated Business Case Justification Categories Template. This template provides a checklist to the project manager that is seeking to cost justify or validate project initiatives. The template can serve as a reminder to consider the typical business case elements, as well as posing some cost savings alternatives that are often overlooked by the business case author. As we are often challenged to demonstrate the value of our project efforts, this template may provide you with alternatives to justify the ongoing costs of your project efforts.

Confidence – How Winning Streaks & Losing Streaks Begin & End by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

This is a stunning and powerful book full of quotes, dialogues, and insights into what creates a winning culture in some organizations, while other organizations can’t ever get it figured out. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, as a business consultant, takes an interesting approach by studying sports teams, celebrities, and business winners to draw her insights and conclusions. She begins by analyzing what it takes to create and sustain winning streaks. Part II of the book focuses on the “Art of Building Confidence” in which she dissects accountability, collaboration, and inspiring initiative and innovation. Finally, she closes in Part III with some practical insights into preparing leaders, through the development of confidence, to apply these ideas to our personal and professional lives.

This book is one that is abundant with real-life situations that can be utilized in a very practical sense to apply to organizations and teams. Through the profound quotes, the insights, paradigm shifts of organizations, and the failures of organizations, this book provides eye-popping revelations for leaders.

Project Managers are inevitably in a leadership role. The challenge of developing confidence and the culture of a winning streak of success can be daunting in some environments. Kanter’s Confidence can help PM’s formulate real and practical approaches to develop their own cycle of success.

September 21-22, 2006 Richmond, Virginia "Intelligent Disobedience"

October 11-13, 2006 Denver, Colorado "Effective Software Testing Techniques"

November 9-10, 2006 Colorado Springs, Colorado "Requirements Collection and Analysis"

Looking for a class to attend? Would you like to meet us face to face? If we are in your area, feel free to contact us to schedule a meeting.

By Bob McGannon, PMP and Conrad Imel

Managing a new project is a lot like approaching an iceberg. If a group of people are sailing and come across an iceberg, naturally, the group will be fearful. It is the responsibility of the ship’s captain, the leader, to dispel the fear. Basically, people know quite a bit about the iceberg, they just don’t understand where the edges are located. Are the edges just under the visible ice? Or are they shooting out for miles? Fear of the unknown can become overwhelming.

If left unchecked, fear, sometimes justified but often representing ‘false events appearing real,’ can become toxic. Fear can cause a team to self- destruct; not fulfill its potential nor effectively execute the project. However, there are many techniques project managers can implement to manage the fear and move a project team forward.

Mindavation offers 30 customizable project templates and tools to make your life easier! The CD includes full project lifecycle templates and tools.

Documents are in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Project 2000 (and Adobe). Modify each template to suit YOUR business and project needs.

Price (including shipping & handling): $100