Earlier this year Maven Training nominated Soma Bhattacharya, of the popular Stepping into Project Management blog as the unsung heroine of the world of women working in technology for the special celebrations of the Ada Lovelace Day
The tips below, on how to be the Dream Project Manager, were based on one of Soma’s posts – follow the tips and you won’t need good luck to succeed!
Always be on time. You want be noticed for your punctuality. Caught on traffic/public transport? If possible, ring the office and inform you will be “10 minutes late, Holloway Road is jam-packed”. Consideration, please.
Check emails and plan your day. Do this first thing, while everyone is still making tea and chit-chatting about today’s tabloid headlines – if you do this everyday, you don’t have to stress out at 5pm. Time management is an indispensable asset for Project Managers, and if you want to prove that you master this skill, wasting a lot of time at the water cooler one hundred times a day won’t take you very far…
Get your to-do list according to the priority of delivery. Because you can’t afford to miss a deadline, can you? Follow up with your team and co-workers; if your delivery is dependant on a third party, just to make sure they are aware of the deadline too. On time delivery is taking the lift for the Project Management office instead of the staircase. Everyone wants it on time.
Work efficiently and learn something new as often as possible. Everyone likes a perfectionist, and new skills gives you the edge and the fact that want to grow and spend your personal time and energy to acquire skills that you can use in your job environment.
Keep your desk organised. May sound parent-ish, but keeping a tidy work space helps you unclutter yourself psychologically – besides, it aids in keeping the pressure off (after all, you are not fumbling for that piece of paper you left at your desk three weeks ago). And, really, an organised behaviour is utterly paramount for being a project manager.
Protect your team. Well, no questions about this one. Responsibility is required, and blaming others for work not done when you haven’t followed up or bothered reviewing is not good behaviour. Trust can’t breed if you allow your team to take the hit every time – but do keep the rotten apple close to you (you can’t discard it, at least make sure it doesn’t spread to others).
Encourage others to grow. If your team grows, you grow automatically. Train them to handle more responsibility, be in control, acquire better work habits and discourage slackers from taking everything for granted.
Never call it a day while your team is still working. Don’t leave early if your teams on the deadline and working late hours. Being with your team is important, and if you can’t buy them pizza, at least being there is showing support and being together no matter what.
Based on Stepping into Project Management blog, by Soma Bhattacharya.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Effective Project Delivery in Difficult Times
The Maven Training and Arras People FREE breakfast event, which will give you an overview of project management market trends in these difficult times, will happen again next Monday the 13th July.
Melanie Franklin , CEO of Maven Training, will be talking about personal and professional development and how you can get the balance right between accredited qualifications and skills-based development, as well as finding the right balance of organisational needs vs. individual needs.
John Thorpe, MD of Arras People will share his thoughts on current trends in the PM marketplace – recruitment and people strategies, and current benchmarking information.
Venue: Maven Training Centre Location and Map
Cost: FREE
Bookings: info@maventraining.co.uk
13th July 2009
08:00am - 10:30am
12:00am - 14:30pm
Limited availability, so BOOK NOW!
Melanie Franklin , CEO of Maven Training, will be talking about personal and professional development and how you can get the balance right between accredited qualifications and skills-based development, as well as finding the right balance of organisational needs vs. individual needs.
John Thorpe, MD of Arras People will share his thoughts on current trends in the PM marketplace – recruitment and people strategies, and current benchmarking information.
Venue: Maven Training Centre Location and Map
Cost: FREE
Bookings: info@maventraining.co.uk
13th July 2009
08:00am - 10:30am
12:00am - 14:30pm
Limited availability, so BOOK NOW!
Friday, 3 July 2009
PRINCE2 Twitter Hour – Part 2
Two weeks ago our friends at Arras People ran a PRINCE2:2009 Twitter Hour with Andy Murray, the lead author of the refreshed project management method. This morning, Friday 3rd July at 11am BST they’ll be running Part 2.
Take part!
You can connect directly with Andy Murray and also the Camel. You can also join the PRINCE2 community on Twitter .
For more information, read full article here.
Take part!
You can connect directly with Andy Murray and also the Camel. You can also join the PRINCE2 community on Twitter .
For more information, read full article here.
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Effective Project Management Delivery in Tough Times
Due to popular demand, the Maven Training and Arras People FREE breakfast event, which will give you an overview of project management market trends in these difficult times, will happen on two dates: the 26th June (fully booked) and the 13th July.
On both events, Melanie Franklin , CEO of Maven Training, will be talking about personal and professional development and how you can get the balance right between accredited qualifications and skills-based development, as well as finding the right balance of organisational needs vs. individual needs, and John Thorpe, MD of Arras People will share his thoughts on current trends in the PM marketplace – recruitment and people strategies, and current benchmarking information.
Venue: Maven Training Centre Location and Map
Cost: FREE
Bookings: info@maventraining.co.uk
Date and times:
13th July 2009
08:00am - 10:30am
12:00am - 14:30pm
Limited availability, so BOOK NOW!
On both events, Melanie Franklin , CEO of Maven Training, will be talking about personal and professional development and how you can get the balance right between accredited qualifications and skills-based development, as well as finding the right balance of organisational needs vs. individual needs, and John Thorpe, MD of Arras People will share his thoughts on current trends in the PM marketplace – recruitment and people strategies, and current benchmarking information.
Venue: Maven Training Centre Location and Map
Cost: FREE
Bookings: info@maventraining.co.uk
Date and times:
13th July 2009
08:00am - 10:30am
12:00am - 14:30pm
Limited availability, so BOOK NOW!
Monday, 29 June 2009
Packing tips from a trainer
By Tiffany Childs, Training Consultant at Maven Training
For a while now our Marketing Manager Joanna has been hassling me to write something for the Maven blog. To be fair Joanna would say she was “encouraging” me, I perhaps would have labelled it “harassing” me, so hassling seems a fair compromise. The trouble I always faced was what to write about?
I have sat on the proverbial fence debating whether to write an in-depth but hard hitting review of one of the latest release books relating to Change Management or whether perhaps to tackle the issues faced by women in the world of Project Management. But each time I sat down to type the inspiration was not quite there.
Well my inspiration has finally struck. As part of a Maven Train-the-Trainer session last weekend I succumbed to being interviewed about some of the key changes and benefits of the new PRINCE2:2009 for vox-pops material that was being collated. This got me thinking about the sort of probing questions I am normally asked by people about my role as a Trainer.
Besides the standard questions about how I decided to be a trainer, what courses I deliver, what my delegates are like etc, one of the most common questions people hurl in my direction is whether I have any tips on packing.
Yes, you read right – one of the most common questions people ask me is whether I can advise them on how to miraculously convert 36kg of checked in luggage into 7kg of on board baggage. The first time I was asked this by a close friend I nearly fell off my chair. But it turns out they were serious.
As a trainer working for Maven – which has a large market share and a diverse client base – I do travel within the UK and Europe frequently. I manage to pack and repack my bags at lighting speed; have never missed a plane or train; have never forgotten any essential course materials; and always make sure that I pack light enough to manage public transport. This is no mean feat when you consider that I carry around a projector and straightening irons as part of my luggage!
So I figured that as we were coming into the peak of the Summer travel season Joanna might be OK with me writing up a few lines where I share some of the travel tips that I have passed on to others. I’m hoping that my reputation as a bit of an odd-ball Trainer that sometimes get sidetracked debating strange topics (I once spent 20 minutes during a PRINCE2 course explaining my experience of building a mud brick house) will give me enough eccentricity brownie points for this to be published…
So here’s my top 7 travelling tips – do with them what you may:
1. Don’t be a fool, use a planning tool: One of the most important things to know when travelling is where the relevant places are, how long it is going to take you to get there and how you can get there. Sounds simple right? Well it is if you use the planning tools available to you, such as Transport for London, National Rail, BAA, The AA, Google Maps etc. Remember to access these prior to travelling, print them out and keep two copies – one for your check-in luggage, another for the bag you will have on you at all times when travelling.
2. Pack tight, pack light: I used to scoff at the saying “everything including the kitchen sink” until I saw how some people packed. Remember – you are not running away to get married! You will be home in a day/week/fortnight (delete as appropriate). Pack lots of underwear, 2- 3 sets of shoes and some clothes you can mix and match so it looks like you are wearing different outfits. Oh, and when it comes to rolling vs. folding I don’t think one is better than the other (see my note re steam below). Whatever makes you pack tighter is better!
3. Convert me! Power and money: The heading says it all really. Have you got cash? Is it in the right currency? What about a power adapter? Is it the right socket and voltage?
4. All those pretty bits of paper: The dreaded “P” word (Paperwork)! As a minimum you will need tickets, but also potentially a passport and relevant visas. If in doubt check ahead what the requirements are.
5. Check and check again: Related to the point above, I would suggest that you check what you have packed just before you do the last zipping up of your bag. Even better, have a pre-prepared list so each time you pack you don’t have to strain your brain but simply cross check against a pre-existing list. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out!
6. Make yourself at home: Unpacking when you get there can make you feel more organised, save you time scrabbling around your suitcase looking for that elusive sock and make sure your clothes are as crush-free as possible. I promise you, it’s worth the 5 minutes you invest in it.
7. The power of steam: Linking to my point above, as part of your unpacking any items that are looking a little crinkled after your trip may benefit for a little steam treatment. Hang them on clothes hangers and place them around the bathroom. Close the door and have a hot shower, allowing the hot water to keep running for 5 minutes after you have finished. Keep the bathroom door shut for roughly 20 minutes after you have turned the shower off to ensure maximum benefits and voila! Your clothes should look refreshed and crinkle-free!
For a while now our Marketing Manager Joanna has been hassling me to write something for the Maven blog. To be fair Joanna would say she was “encouraging” me, I perhaps would have labelled it “harassing” me, so hassling seems a fair compromise. The trouble I always faced was what to write about?
I have sat on the proverbial fence debating whether to write an in-depth but hard hitting review of one of the latest release books relating to Change Management or whether perhaps to tackle the issues faced by women in the world of Project Management. But each time I sat down to type the inspiration was not quite there.
Well my inspiration has finally struck. As part of a Maven Train-the-Trainer session last weekend I succumbed to being interviewed about some of the key changes and benefits of the new PRINCE2:2009 for vox-pops material that was being collated. This got me thinking about the sort of probing questions I am normally asked by people about my role as a Trainer.
Besides the standard questions about how I decided to be a trainer, what courses I deliver, what my delegates are like etc, one of the most common questions people hurl in my direction is whether I have any tips on packing.
Yes, you read right – one of the most common questions people ask me is whether I can advise them on how to miraculously convert 36kg of checked in luggage into 7kg of on board baggage. The first time I was asked this by a close friend I nearly fell off my chair. But it turns out they were serious.
As a trainer working for Maven – which has a large market share and a diverse client base – I do travel within the UK and Europe frequently. I manage to pack and repack my bags at lighting speed; have never missed a plane or train; have never forgotten any essential course materials; and always make sure that I pack light enough to manage public transport. This is no mean feat when you consider that I carry around a projector and straightening irons as part of my luggage!
So I figured that as we were coming into the peak of the Summer travel season Joanna might be OK with me writing up a few lines where I share some of the travel tips that I have passed on to others. I’m hoping that my reputation as a bit of an odd-ball Trainer that sometimes get sidetracked debating strange topics (I once spent 20 minutes during a PRINCE2 course explaining my experience of building a mud brick house) will give me enough eccentricity brownie points for this to be published…
So here’s my top 7 travelling tips – do with them what you may:
1. Don’t be a fool, use a planning tool: One of the most important things to know when travelling is where the relevant places are, how long it is going to take you to get there and how you can get there. Sounds simple right? Well it is if you use the planning tools available to you, such as Transport for London, National Rail, BAA, The AA, Google Maps etc. Remember to access these prior to travelling, print them out and keep two copies – one for your check-in luggage, another for the bag you will have on you at all times when travelling.
2. Pack tight, pack light: I used to scoff at the saying “everything including the kitchen sink” until I saw how some people packed. Remember – you are not running away to get married! You will be home in a day/week/fortnight (delete as appropriate). Pack lots of underwear, 2- 3 sets of shoes and some clothes you can mix and match so it looks like you are wearing different outfits. Oh, and when it comes to rolling vs. folding I don’t think one is better than the other (see my note re steam below). Whatever makes you pack tighter is better!
3. Convert me! Power and money: The heading says it all really. Have you got cash? Is it in the right currency? What about a power adapter? Is it the right socket and voltage?
4. All those pretty bits of paper: The dreaded “P” word (Paperwork)! As a minimum you will need tickets, but also potentially a passport and relevant visas. If in doubt check ahead what the requirements are.
5. Check and check again: Related to the point above, I would suggest that you check what you have packed just before you do the last zipping up of your bag. Even better, have a pre-prepared list so each time you pack you don’t have to strain your brain but simply cross check against a pre-existing list. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out!
6. Make yourself at home: Unpacking when you get there can make you feel more organised, save you time scrabbling around your suitcase looking for that elusive sock and make sure your clothes are as crush-free as possible. I promise you, it’s worth the 5 minutes you invest in it.
7. The power of steam: Linking to my point above, as part of your unpacking any items that are looking a little crinkled after your trip may benefit for a little steam treatment. Hang them on clothes hangers and place them around the bathroom. Close the door and have a hot shower, allowing the hot water to keep running for 5 minutes after you have finished. Keep the bathroom door shut for roughly 20 minutes after you have turned the shower off to ensure maximum benefits and voila! Your clothes should look refreshed and crinkle-free!
Friday, 26 June 2009
Best Practice showcase – the Maven Trainers’ point of view
Following the APM Group’s 7th annual The Best Practice Showcase, Maven Training’s Client Relations Director, William Franklin, has asked Maven Training Trainers, a community of experts, to take some time to reflect on the most relevant finding from the event and share them with you. Here are some comments from our dear trainers Susan Tuttle, Tiffany Childs and Paul de Havilland.
Susan Tuttle, who delivered four out of our five Birds of a Feather sessions on the next steps for Project and Programme Management, said that the two questions that were most posed by the attendees were: “Project Managers – to professionalise or not to professionalise?” and “I need a training course on how to manage my manager – managing up and how that affects the effectiveness of a Project Manager”
Tiffany Childs was surprised at the level of interest/general appetite for P3O – several government organisations were keen to discuss and debate their current situation and were particularly looking for suggestions on how to improve the structure of their Portfolio/Programme/Project Offices. Given the current economic climate, the focus of conversation was on the need to maintain the functionality and credibility of the support office(s) while working with reduced access to resource. She goes on saying that there was little discussion on the upcoming launch of the P3O Practitioner qualification, but it would still be interesting to see what the uptake of this qualification will be, nonetheless – people seemed to be searching for answers!
As I'm a member of the APM, Paul de Havilland often mentions to delegates on courses the moves towards chartered status for project managers. He said he has not yet come across a delegate who's heard of this before my mentioning it! In fact, I find it's a minority of delegates who are even aware of the APM, as opposed to the PMI which seems to have much wider recognition – especially with people from multi-nationals. He also said that he’s personally enthusiastic about chartered status because, amongst other things, it could help to change decision makers' perceptions of project management to that of it being a discipline in its own right, with its own distinctive set of skills. One upshot of this might be for organisations to be more selective about who they entrust projects to – no one would consider the appointment of a an accountant with no qualifications or experience, yet this happens all the time in project management (he’s lost count of the number of nervous delegates who say 'I've just been moved into a project management role and I have no idea what it entails'). However, given the increasing profile of PMI, will even chartered status be enough to make the APM the natural 'professional body of choice' for UK project managers?
What about you? what did you think of the event? Please leave your thoughts and comments here!
Susan Tuttle, who delivered four out of our five Birds of a Feather sessions on the next steps for Project and Programme Management, said that the two questions that were most posed by the attendees were: “Project Managers – to professionalise or not to professionalise?” and “I need a training course on how to manage my manager – managing up and how that affects the effectiveness of a Project Manager”
Tiffany Childs was surprised at the level of interest/general appetite for P3O – several government organisations were keen to discuss and debate their current situation and were particularly looking for suggestions on how to improve the structure of their Portfolio/Programme/Project Offices. Given the current economic climate, the focus of conversation was on the need to maintain the functionality and credibility of the support office(s) while working with reduced access to resource. She goes on saying that there was little discussion on the upcoming launch of the P3O Practitioner qualification, but it would still be interesting to see what the uptake of this qualification will be, nonetheless – people seemed to be searching for answers!
As I'm a member of the APM, Paul de Havilland often mentions to delegates on courses the moves towards chartered status for project managers. He said he has not yet come across a delegate who's heard of this before my mentioning it! In fact, I find it's a minority of delegates who are even aware of the APM, as opposed to the PMI which seems to have much wider recognition – especially with people from multi-nationals. He also said that he’s personally enthusiastic about chartered status because, amongst other things, it could help to change decision makers' perceptions of project management to that of it being a discipline in its own right, with its own distinctive set of skills. One upshot of this might be for organisations to be more selective about who they entrust projects to – no one would consider the appointment of a an accountant with no qualifications or experience, yet this happens all the time in project management (he’s lost count of the number of nervous delegates who say 'I've just been moved into a project management role and I have no idea what it entails'). However, given the increasing profile of PMI, will even chartered status be enough to make the APM the natural 'professional body of choice' for UK project managers?
What about you? what did you think of the event? Please leave your thoughts and comments here!
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