Let’s start with a definition of social media. According to Wikipedia (and that’s an obvious place to go for information about this topic) “Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues.” The last part of that explanation is really powerful for project managers, as we strive to turn monologues into dialogues. › Continue reading…
Archive for 'Communications'
Tags: communications plan, consensus, group dynamics, project manager skills, project team meetings, stakeholders, status reports, teambuilding
Since we are on the topic of troubled projects, I started thinking about what has now been branded the Deepwater Horizon Response Project. This situation has similarities to many project calamities one might encounter in the course of dealing with internal or external customer organizations. A customer organization messes up, BIG TIME, and you have to step in and turn it around.
In this case, the project manager is retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is in charge of the federal government’s response to the oil spill resulting from the April 20th explosion at one of British Petroleum’s (BP) offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. › Continue reading…
In last week’s article, Susan discussed the emotions involved when a project is terminated, “back burnered” to death, or mercifully euthanized. But what about those projects that don’t or can’t get cancelled when they should? Whether due to mandatory regulatory requirements, or being beyond the point of no return some projects simply leave us no choice – they must be finished. Managing a troubled project to prevent it from becoming a failed project, and then turning it around and steering it back to a successful project requires super star skills. Typically project specialists at the highest end of the project management spectrum are brought in as an outsider for these jobs to function as a special recovery project manager. › Continue reading…
It’s the end of the 2nd Quarter and the first half of the year, and for many organizations, it’s a time when projects and programs are reviewed and analyzed. Some will ultimately be nurtured: more money, resources, attention, whatever the scare resource is. Other projects and programs will not fare so well and will be terminated outright or “back-burnered” to death. › Continue reading…
Well, the season has wrapped up, and for project managers, there were plenty of lessons to learn. We saw failures in communication, planning, execution and risk management. We saw poor ideas that were well-executed and good ideas that suffered in implementation. We saw coalitions form and break apart.
Ultimately, it came down to Holly Robinson Peete and Bret Michaels, neither whom I would have predicted would be a finalist. › Continue reading…
Well, it finally happened. Cyndi Lauper was finally fired. She has been a terrible disappointment all season, and it finally caught up with her.
Cyndi served as project manager twice, losing once and winning once. In Episode 1, she led the women’s team, Tenacity, in their first loss in the diner challenge. I had expected her to be a really strong contender, and was very surprised by her miserable performance in that task. During that episode, she demonstrated that she was not able to manage the work of other people and I blogged about how she never really “got” the point of the challenge, which was to raise money for charity. She instead focused on running a diner, and did that badly as well. The men’s team, Rocksolid, focused on raising money and trounced the ladies. › Continue reading…
In this week’s episode of Celebrity Apprentice, the losing team fell into a common trap that often plagues presenters everywhere – TMI: too much information. This week was a tough one for the board room, as even Donald said he felt that both teams produced an excellent product and performed well. No one team member or project manager made any particular blunders. As usual, with the typical TV show diversion tactics, the audience was led to believe that one team – Rock Solid – was on a path to defeat, due to Bret’s blatant disregard for the sponsors request for levity, › Continue reading…
After five episodes, the stress of the show is taking its toll on both teams. The ladies are not nearly as courteous as they were when they started, and are eager to comply when The Donald sets them up to throw each other under the bus in the Board Room. The guy’s team, no longer forming or storming, has moved on to norming, the stage where team members adjust their behaviors to the team dynamics. In this week’s episode, Curtis provided strong leadership for Rocksolid. After weeks of watching Bret dither, Curtis managed him well and led the men’s team to their first win after a string of losses to Tenacity. › Continue reading…
In week 4 of The Celebrity Apprentice, there were a couple of dominant themes. More important even than in past weeks, communication emerged early in the task as a vital discipline that set the stage as a differentiator. Also, I think we saw a poor execution of delegation which contributed to the downfall of the losing team.
As this week’s task assignment began, Donald called both teams to the boardroom, and asked each team to select a project manager without disclosing what the task was. › Continue reading…
This week’s Celebrity Apprentice was an object lesson for just how badly people can handle conflict. Women are particularly guilty of avoiding conflict so they won’t have to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Cyndi Lauper has consistently been a distraction to her team in the first three episodes of Celebrity Apprentice. Several of her team members on Tenacity, the women’s team, have whined about her in their camera confessionals. › Continue reading…