It's happening more and more; managers are being asked to manage virtual teams of people that may or may not have a direct reporting relationship to the manager. Some find it easy to do, but many others find it difficult to garner the respect from team members who don't have to follow the manager. Get a few helpful tips to help you next time you're asked to manage a virtual team.
The CIO’s strategic initiative should align with the company’s overall strategy, but from there, where and how should the journey take shape?
As we kick off 2010, it seems appropriate to consider how to "start on the right foot". After all, in 2009, many businesses were suffering in the recession and searching for cash flow; thus, many projects went on hold. However, in order to thrive in 2010, it will become critical to get in front of the competition and put in extra effort on key business projects. One fail-proof way to achieve these goals is to ensure the best project leaders are focused on the core projects.
We all know a procrastinator... the person who does Christmas shopping on December 24th, pulls an all-nighter to get a report done, or avoids making even the simplest decisions. Many times the procrastinator puts forth a defense of, "Well, I do get it done, don't I?" Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Even if things do get done, though, the stress put on the procrastinator (and those around him or her) is greater than it needs to be. If you know of a procrastinator (or are one yourself), use these tips to help make life a bit easier for not only the procrastinator but for those around him or her as well.
I’ve explored a number of cloud computing solutions over the last few years, most recently Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, document management and project management. As most agree, no business can optimize their marketing without CRM, whether it’s an Excel spreadsheet, Microsoft CRM, SalesForce or Zoho, etc.
By Mel Duvall, CIOZone - Research firm Gartner added its voice to those predicting a rebound in technology spending in 2010, forecasting that worldwide IT spending will grow by 4.6% in 2010.
What do you do when your software vendor notifies you that their software application, the one you have been using for years, will be "Sunsetted." Sunsetting is a term used in the software industry to describe a software application that will no longer be sold to new customers and is in the process of being retired by the vendor. The communication from vendor to customer includes terms like "top priority" and "our valued customers," but the announcement usually implies a reduction in support resources, the end to product updates, a corresponding halt to innovation, and sometimes higher maintenance fees. The clock starts ticking on both the continued use of the application and your internal processes.
Bearing in mind that the business environment will take some time to reach its pre-2008 levels, companies are still utilizing technology and outsourcing as post-recession strategies towards recovery. In this light, cloud computing - which has proven to be cost-effective with respect to office productivity, project management, enterprise resource management, and data management - will remain a viable alternative to its in-house counterparts. That said, companies and service providers that adopt cloud strategies will still have to contend with the challenges that are posed by scalability and security.
In PMI's (Project Management Institute's) Project Management Body of Knowledge or PMBOK – which is the bible of project management, there are 9 knowledge areas discussed – Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resources, Communications, Risk, and Procurement. Anyone who has studied for their PMP certification knows these well – ad nauseum even, and knows that the PMBOK discusses these with equal weight. Indeed, PMI loves all of her knowledge area "children" equally, but out in the real world there is one that I believe deserves your extra undivided attention and that is scope.
Dear Project Coach,
My project is over budget and over time. My project team is dysfunctional. My sponsor is getting nervous. We are managing by crisis. I don’t know where to begin to get this project back on track. Do I just accept the situation and hope to learn from these mistakes or is there something I can do to improve the project right now?
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