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

Programme, project and business analysis managers benefit from a clearly defined set of business objectives for their projects. These business objectives are best laid out as a set of major requirements or deliverables, with a specific business benefit discussion for each. Having the benefits laid out in this way helps in the event scope has to be cut due to time or resource constraints, or project prioritisation comes into question.
The free downloadable template for this month is a populated sample of a business benefits worksheet that you can use to apply to your projects. Note: if you find you have questions about your own business benefits when you try to complete this template, it is time to meet with your sponsor and key stakeholders and redefine your understanding of the scope of your project!

Fierce Leadership by Susan Scott

In her long awaited follow up to our favourite leadership and communications book Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott doesn't disappoint. Fierce Leadership is filled with poignant views, insight and a bit of fresh irreverence. A particularly interesting quote from the book provides a great view to the content and highlights a point we espouse with enthusiasm; "If you want to become a great leader, gain the capacity to connect with colleagues and customers at a deep level, or lower your aim." The business of projects is a relationship business. The items discussed in this book all revolve around stakeholder relationship management in one form or another, and they will serve any project leader or team member quite well.

Scott provides the reader with six key common "best practices" that do not work in today's business world, along with a replacement strategy that actually does accomplish what the so-called best practice was meant to achieve. These cover approaches to team member feedback, hiring, "holding people accountable", REAL employee engagement, customer connectivity and "radical transparency." All of these topics are discussed with clarity, client stories and readily implementable techniques. (Readily implementable, if you have the courage and fortitude to be that stand-out leader and do things against the norm!)

Great food for thought, and a genuinely interesting read.

March 8-11 Perth, WA PMI Chapter Keynote and PIA Workshop

March 15-16 Canberra, ACT Recovering Troubled Projects Workshop

March 17-18 Sydney, NSW

By Bob McGannon, PMP

Project managers often are forced to deliver their projects with a distinct shortage of good sponsorship decisions and support due to a lack of time, lack of knowledge or a lack of focus on the part of senior stakeholders. Though few projects will genuinely deliver what is promised without some degree of sponsorship, the astute project manager can take some actions to a) recognise these shortcomings and b) take appropriate action to overcome them. These approaches require a small dose of "being bold" and require a bit of diligent "homework". So, see if you recognise any of these instances where your sponsorship isn't present:
* Lack of knowledge by the sponsor of what they are supposed to do

Mindavation offers more than 32 customisable 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 2003 (and Adobe). Modify each template to suit YOUR business and project needs.

Price (including shipping & handling): AUD$125

Honestly, Just Say No

Sometimes the most powerful way to engage in Intelligent Disobedience is to say no, especially when a task opportunity enters your office.

You are busy, juggling priorities and multiple initiatives, and you have an ambitious manager. At the same time we want to approach our managers, the business, and ourselves with integrity. Does it reflect high integrity when a task opportunity comes your way and you don t know how you will accomplish it and you neglect to say something like I can t do that?

Intelligent Disobedience doesn t mean we should be needlessly difficult. It does mean we should be true to ourselves and those around us. One of the most effective ways to do that and relieve undue stress, is to stop trying to juggle too much. If a work opportunity comes your way, and you don t know how you will accomplish it, say no OR ask which of your major projects (or significant to-do items) you can suspend in order to accomplish this new task. You owe that brand of truth to your boss, your peers, your own sanity and your family!

The Harvard Business Review published an excellent article with this same theme - in fact it is in the top two best selling reprints in the history of the Harvard Business Review magazine. You can access the article via this link: http://hbr.org/1999/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey/ar/1

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More PM Sites

PMI® : Project Management Institute

AIPM - Australia Institute of Project Management

PM Oz Brisbane August 2010

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