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Mindavation
Soar to New Heights with Mindavation
September 2004

Welcome to the Mindavation online project management newsletter.

Our commitment is to share news about project management upcoming events, tips & tricks of the trade, recommendations for reference and inspirational materials, and Mindavation course offerings.

In this issue:
  • Mindavation's New Format: "Soar to New Heights"
  • Free Template of the Month
  • Book Recommendation of the Month
  • Coming Soon to a City Near You...
  • This Month's Article: Intelligent Disobedience, The Difference Between Good and Great Project Managers
  • Mindavation Project Templates CD Available

  • Free Template of the Month

    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 template is the Stakeholder Analysis worksheet. This template can be used to identify your stakeholder expectations, then define metrics for those expectations. This template can also be used to ensure stakeholder expectations are realistic, in scope for the project, and aligned with other key stakeholders.


    Book Recommendation of the Month

    The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge

    This book addresses systems thinking; the concept that many items in project, business and in life in general are related. It will give project managers a different perspective from which to consider the decisions made every day when managing projects.

    This book has been labeled by the Mindavators as an "oldie but goodie". If you haven't read it, take some time to do so. If you have read it - read it again!


    Coming Soon to a City Near You...

    September 27th-29th, 2004 Tampa, FL

    October 11th-14th, 2004 Houston, TX

    October 28th-29th, 2004 Denver, CO

    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.


    This Month's Article: Intelligent Disobedience, The Difference Between Good and Great Project Managers

    By Bob McGannon, PMP

    The job of a Project Manager (PM) is often described as managing the triple constraints; scope, resources and schedule. In reality, this represents the GOAL of the PM. The PM must manage the production of the defined deliverables (scope), while being mindful of both the cost as well as caring for and feeding the people working on the project (resources). These must all be done within project timeframes (schedule).

    However, the presence of risk, business concerns, technical issues, individual perceptions and priorities present frequent obstacles to the PM, who is pursuing success as measured by the triple constraints. Many of these obstacles can be overcome with diligence and communication, which usually comes naturally to those in the PM role. In some instances however, these obstacles are formidable... Performing these challenging tasks is what separates great PMs from average PMs. So what do the great PMs do to succeed at this formidable list of tasks? Great PMs utilize "intelligent disobedience".


    Mindavation Project Templates CD Available

    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


    Mindavation's New Format: "Soar to New Heights"

    How do you like our new format? Do you have suggestions for improvement? Please let us know how you like the new format.

    Do you have any articles or reccomendations for reading you would like to share with other project managers? Send them to us for possible inclusion in future newsletters!

    Quick Links...

    Mindavation Website

    More PM Sites

    PMIŽ : Project Management Institute

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    Save 50% off public courses!

    Mindavation is offering a 50% discount off our public course cost for anyone that is unemployed. Contact Mindavation for details.

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    10% multi-attendee discount available!

    If three or more people enroll for the same course from the same company, save 10% off the listed course price! Contact Mindavation for details.

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