BPM made simpler
Posted in Change Management, Process Improvement, Project Management on Feb 28th, 2011
As the word denotes guidelines are the rules of policies, procedures to be followed to complete their part of the project. Guidelines are different than resources. Resources are the materials, tools and systems to complete the activity. Guidelines enforce the business rules, the quality standard, governance and compliance in place for the activity or project [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Improvement, Project Management on Feb 28th, 2011
Listening for problems in your project Listening is defined as “hearing with attention”. I like that definition, because some project managers hear but don’t listen to what is being communicated. In some cases the individual may also be nervous about bringing this news to you, and may therefore emphasize certain parts of the problem [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Improvement, Project Management on Feb 26th, 2011
Listening is defined as “hearing with attention”. I like that definition, because some project managers hear but don’t listen to what is being communicated. In some cases the individual may also be nervous about bringing this news to you, and may therefore emphasize certain parts of the problem and not others. This is one reason [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Improvement, Project Management on Feb 25th, 2011
Once this occurs our skills for identifying problems and how to deal with them come to the fore. The first stage is to assess the severity of the problem. If it’s not too bad then perhaps additional resources, scope change or some staff increase may solve the issue. In the same way that we have [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Improvement, Project Management on Feb 24th, 2011
One way to ensure buy-in for the project is to transfer goals and responsibilities during the kick-off meeting. Make it clear who is responsible for each task and gain acceptance during the meeting. This is an example of where relinquishing control to others in the team, will help YOU gain more control of the outcome. [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Analysis, Process Discovery, Process Improvement, Process Mapping, Project Management on Feb 23rd, 2011
In setting up the first meeting it is vital to establish and affirm quality and delivery guidelines; milestones; timelines for tasks within the project and assign roles to each involved. The kick-off meeting should have the ingredients of our meeting planning skills discussion earlier in the book. It should also address all of the following [...]
Posted in Project Management on Feb 22nd, 2011
Crafting the message is another important element that affects the individual’s understanding of a project, ensuring that this is correct can avoid serious miscommunication. Others perception otherwise may be the exact opposite of your own. This does not matter whether you are the project manager or a contributor on the team; many situations arise where [...]
Posted in Project Management on Feb 21st, 2011
I often use jokes or analogies to get the point across in your project. One important point is to never make assumptions about situations. Always Ask This example shows the importance of the asking before starting into something. His request approved, the CNN News photographer quickly used a cell phone to call the local airport [...]
Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Feb 20th, 2011
Monthly Archive for February, 2011 Communications Breakdowns-How to avoid them Our post of yesterday talked about individuals who cause problems because of their communication habits. These six best practices help avoid these habits occurring in your project. Clearly document the communication process for your project. This may the second most important document in your process. [...]
Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Feb 19th, 2011
Our post of yesterday talked about individuals who cause problems because of their communication habits. These six best practices help avoid these habits occurring in your project. Clearly document the communication process for your project. This may the second most important document in your process. Document the methodology you are using for the project. This [...]
Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Feb 18th, 2011
A high percentage of communication problems in projects and processes are avoidable. Because EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE has a different personality when it comes to communicating, breakdowns occur. Perhaps you can identify these communication personalities: The electronic wiz. The silent not verbal type who only wants to communicate via email or instant messenger. The [...]
Posted in Project Management on Feb 17th, 2011
The Call of Inspiration is a strategy that sometimes works for macro level change. John F. Kennedy’s speech in Berlin, Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address all fall into the category of a “Inspirational call” that worked in a very big way. How do we make this “major call [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Improvement, Project Management on Feb 16th, 2011
With the burden of compliance especially challenging for middle-to-small sized companies, knowing what questions to ask and having a benchmark to gauge readiness is critical to understanding how big the SOX compliance project is going to be. We have been working our our one of our business partners on a new Edition of TaskMap that [...]
Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Feb 15th, 2011
How can Evangelization help your project be successful? Remember back in the day when Apple was the hippest company on the planet and new hires often got the title of Evangelist? Not that long ago, and it appears they did pretty well. Interestingly enough, the principals of evangelization can be applied to your project, and [...]
Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Feb 14th, 2011
Budgets are interesting things. In larger organizations almost all decisions are controlled by some sort of budgeting or expenditure controls. Regardless of what process your organization is following, the success or failure of a project is often determined by getting it done on time and on budget. When costs start to get out of control, [...]
Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Feb 13th, 2011
There comes a time in every project that something goes awry. It might be major, it could be minor and our job as project manager is to note, report and get it fixed. When these things happen, there is sometimes pressure to “remain silent”, “sweep it under the carpet”, or “don’t report this to management”. [...]
Posted in Change Management, Project Management on Feb 12th, 2011
There are a lot of different ways to bring the team together for your latest project. Here are a few of them that have worked well for us over the years. Focus on projects that support corporate goals for that year If a transition is going on, pick projects at the tip of the arrow [...]
Posted in Change Management on Feb 11th, 2011
Making change happen is one of the biggest challenges in most operations. Most of us are resistant to change, and want to know WHY it’s important. Unless process improvement in institutionalized in the organizational culture, Resistance is a reality. In order for change management to become a process that everyone accepts (or at least does [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Analysis, Process Improvement, Process Mapping on Feb 10th, 2011
Critical Thinking is relates to BPM in several steps of the process. These include: Critical Thinking factor and activity Where it fits in a BPM process More accurate and complete information Process Discovery and Documentation Freedom from coercion and distorting self-deception Brainstorming, Goal and Objective setting Openness to alternatives points of view: empathy and concern [...]
Posted in Change Management, Process Discovery, Process Improvement on Feb 9th, 2011
Having spent most of my professional career trying to change things for organizations, and a proponent of Best Practices to ensure that happens, the application of Critical Thinking to these challenges should be of interest to us all. In process improvement we often focus on a few steps to ensure we get a result. At [...]
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