Well it has been as busy as ever and I am thoroughly enjoying it of course.

Met Dr Harold Kerzner last week at an IIL event in London, he spoke about the future of project management and it was certainly thought provoking. He also kindly accepted a copy of The Lazy Project Manager at the end and emailed me later in the week with some kind words: I started reading your book on the return flight home from Europe. But, since I am lazy, I read only half of it before taking a lazy project manager's nap. Having awakend refreshed, I then read the remainder of the book. I really enjoyed reading it. I like your sense of humor. Many thanks for the book and I will be on line with you on Friday.

I also reached out to some contacts in my network asking for contributions to the inhouse newsletter myPMO. I was thrilled with the response and wnat to thanks everyone who has said 'yes. So a big thank you to :Alfonso Bucero,Henny Portman, Gareth Byatt, Sheilina Somani,Josh Nankivel, Brad Egelund, Pawel Brodzinski, Cornelius Fichtner, Penny Pullman, Deasun O’Conchuir, Lynda Bourne, Soma Bhattacharya, Rich Maltzman and David  Shirley.

I also asked - through LinkedIn discussions - What is the missing book?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of project management book. My own contribution The Lazy Project Manager www.thelazyprojectmanager.com has added to that list recently.

But what is missing – if indeed anything is – what hasn’t been covered off in a project management book in some way or other?

1.       Interesting question! I'd say that the first missing books are the excellent ones written in English but never been translated in French, as an example. Otherwise, is there a book out there concerning "alternative project management"?

2.       The book of magic spells that allows corporate managers to understand that project management is a profession (a fledgling one at that) that has evolved over 2000 years of making mistakes and improving the process, and not a bundle of red tape that stops them from getting their deliverables quickly.

3.       A book that explains that it's organizational ecosystems that stop projects from delivering more often than incompetent project managers or flawed processes.

4.       A book that explains that sponsorship only starts with approving the business case and handing over the budget.

5.       A book that explains that a plan and schedule is only a best guess as to what will happen, what will go wrong, and how the world will change over the duration of the project.

6.       A book that makes it clear that organisation-level PMOs that have teeth are essential to the efficiency of any company that has more than a few projects.

7.       Your way to work; My way to work When project organisations are embedded into a business organisation (probably, where most project management is undertaken in the UK), the management style of the host organisation, its policies, processes and culture, frequently challenge and set hurdles for those who are managing projects. In a project organisation, patterns of responsibility, scrutiny, process, collaboration, flexibility and performance often need to function differently; sometimes very differently to that which applies for BAU. Project managers must exercise the space that their role confers, but many project functions now urgently need to seek and find a more fruitful accommodation with the host culture.

8.       Project Management and Organizational Change Management - the dynamic duo

9.       For me it is "Transition Management - getting it right"

10.   The project life-cycle is given short shrift in most of today's books. Everyone seems to think that the process groups (initiating, planning, etc.) in the PMBoK Guide are project life-cycle phases. Using those as phases is a recipe for disaster.

11.   My contribution for your next book: 1-Ethical issues like common sense or cultural behavior, avoiding as possible any religious controversy, 2-Legal responsibility, not just legal agreement. 3-Social responsibility. I have found small pieces in different blogs and web pages, not enough and easy to start a discussion or teach a class about.

12.   I've worked in a 'project' structure most of my career but nothing formal. I'm only now wanting to make the switch away from the front line technical role + pm function to a pure PM role. Finding an article which discusses the options available to make this switch and the changes/challenges you will face would be nice. I have all these PMBOK/Prince procedures etc. rolling around in my head but am not sure if you would be expected to implement these or just follow what setup was in place. The role of a PM is varied but i guess it’s more of an understanding of the expectations an employer has of you when you take on a dedicated role....do they want a passive organiser or someone to grab a project by the neck and drive it forwards...  I guess it’s down to the situation and project size but perhaps something which discussed expectations and 'normal' day to day activities of say a small/medium/large project would help. Especially from someone with a lot of experience.

13.   Maybe we still need more on how we can turn books into practical experiences? I say this because we have books - quite a lot of books :) - we get to read them and some we get to like. Then i feel there's a missing link when it comes to applying them into practice.

14.   What we desperately need is more books that deal with the practice of PPM and less that deal with the ideal (or is that idle) theory of how it is supposed to work if only you didn’t have stupid users, stupid stakeholders, and stupid sponsors (and yes I’ve actually had people tell me that the only problem with their projects was everybody else not following the “right process”).

One of these days I'll actually finish my own "The Nimble PM's Guide to Project, Program and Portfolio Management" but in the mean time I hope that we can use this list to share good books when we find them. The principles behind what we do for a living are constant but each of us has a unique mental model and the words that reach us are often quite different.

Quite the opposite of the famous lager advert declaring it was 'probably' the best in the world...

I received the above accolade today and, I must say, I am quite proud of it. I will certainly keep the email notification for posterity.

The background to this marvellous insult (and yet wonderful compliment) was that I submitted a 'paper' based on 'The Lazy Project Manager' to a certain event. Now I absolutely freely admit that it was not a 'paper' in the official sense of the word. It was, in fact. an exact replica of a submission that gave me the opportunity to speak at PMI events in Amsterdam and Sao Paulo in 2009, at Project Zone in Budapest 2010 and at a number of other sessions around Europe.

Being 'lazy' as you know I could not see the benefit of completing some detailed official paper and so I was not at all surprised that it was rejected - I won't be going to the 'XXXXX' Conference in 'XXXXX' after all. I was a little surprised at the final review comment - you get three blind reviews and the purpose is to a) assess for inclusion in to the event and b) offer guidance to improve the paper. In my case two reviewers offered some guidance but for number three it was all too much. I am not sure they were supposed to make such an emotive declaration but they obviously felt that they had better things to do in life.

Why aren't I upset I hear you ask?

I had clearly plumbed new and so far unknown depths for good old reviewer number three and they just wanted to let me know - loud and clear. Well mission accomplished but I am really fine about it.

Here's why.

Several thousand copies of The Lazy Project Manager sold around the world. 2,000 people have so far listened to me present and argue the value of 'Productive Laziness'. I have had many, many great points of feedback. The world wants to be lazy.

Now, the book was conceived and written to be the antidote to the deep, dark and often depressing tomes on project management theory. It was about project management practice. About reality. And it was writen to be read - easily read - and if easily read then the lessons, I hope, just as easily learnt.

It was never meant to be the subject of 'papers' and deeply researched matters.it was meant for the masses and the 'coalface' project managers.

So I thank you Reviewer number three - I salute your wisdom - and I appreciate the affirmation that I am pitching the message at the right (and useful) level.

Long may it continue - it is 'probably' the most lazy thing in the world.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Interview with the Lazy PM - Originally posted on http://www.steppingintopm.com/ by Soma 

If working long hours, pushing the limits and getting back home late was not enough- we all wanted to be lazy. At least for a day!

Lazy as we think; is not always as bad as it sounds- ask Peter Taylor and he will tell you that.

I'd love to be lazy- so I ask him how can I be one?

I haven't read your book, but read the reviews and understand that you are saying through your book "The Lazy Project Manager" that being lazy doesn't mean being bad at your job. In fact, you can be lazy and productive- is that true? What did you mean by that?

'Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.' Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)

By advocating being a 'lazy' project manager I do not intend that we should all do absolutely nothing. I am not saying we should all sit around drinking coffee, reading a good book and engaging in idle gossip whilst watching the project hours go by and the non-delivered project milestones disappear over the horizon. That would obviously be plain stupid and would result in an extremely short career in project management, in fact probably a very short career full stop!

Lazy does not mean Stupid. No I really mean that we should all adopt a more focused approach to project management and to exercise our efforts where it really matters, rather than rushing around like busy, busy bees involving ourselves in unimportant, non-critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that do not need addressing at all in some cases.

The Lazy Project Manager explores the science behind ‘productive laziness’ (yes there is some) and the intelligence behind ‘productive laziness’ (and yes there is some of that as well). It attempts to share with the reader some of my own experiences that have led to my style of project management where, it is often observed, that I appear to be less stressed, less busy and yet more productive.

‘Productive Laziness’ is the term that I use to express this approach and it is a style of working that is beneficial to an individual, through a better work/life balance, and to the project(s) that they are leading.

When someone is starting out in their profession (project management), no one will usually tell you to "be lazy". How can ‘newbies’ be lazy (if allowed) and yet be good at their work and impress their team?

Indeed, when starting out in a job or role for the first time there is often a belief (both from the individual and sometimes also the manager) that being extremely busy and putting in long hours can be productive. This is rarely the case over any length of time.

Now I am not suggesting that on day one you declare that you are off at 5pm regardless of what is going on, no I am just saying that by just being in the office or on site (in the clear visibility of management) does not equate to doing your job to the best of your abilities or on a productive manner.

No one will ever tell you to be lazy but they equally won’t tell you to be busy. The expectation is that you will get the job done to a good level of quality and within the expected time/cost frame. If you can achieve this and still leave time for other matters that will raise your profile and increase your personal skills and knowledge then all the better I say.

How did this concept of being lazy come to you? Have you always been "lazy"?

Well if I am truly honest it all began with an insult from my manager. At the time I had been working on a training program for our project managers and one of the common questions people asked me was ‘how do you manage to seem so relaxed and yet run a large business operation with hundreds of projects?’.

I was on my way back from Milan, Italy, and travelled with my manager. Now we have worked together for the last 15 years across three companies and he does know me very well. As we chatted about what would we like to do in life I mentioned that I enjoyed writing and speaking/presentations and that sort of thing could be fun to do. He agreed saying that I would probably be very good at this but that I was too ‘lazy’.

And there you have it – an insult? Perhaps but more an insight really, he had identified the key to describing my approach to work and life. From this came ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ and the world of productive laziness.

Now have I always been ‘lazy’ – no I don’t believe so. Certainly in my early days of project management I worked long and hard and definitely was a ‘busy, busy bee’ but after completing a major three year project I looked back and reflected on the effort I had put in to make the project successful. I realised that that much of what I had done was unnecessary and that I often created work for myself that was either not really essential or that others could have done (probably better that my efforts if truth be told).

The Lazy Project Manager was first a website in November 2008 and then a book in September 2009. Now I would love to share the world of productive laziness with the world through speaking engagements.

Wow! Tell me one thing that "laziness" should not be considered as?

An excuse to avoid doing something critical!

The Lazy Project Manager and the art of ‘productive laziness’ refers to the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule), which states that for many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes.

The principle was in fact suggested by management thinker Joseph M. Juran but it was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of property in Italy was owned by 20% of the Italian population. The assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes.

So ‘20% of clients may be responsible for 80% of sales volume’. This can be evaluated and is likely to be roughly right, and can be helpful in future decision making. The Pareto Principle also applies to a variety of more mundane matters: one might guess approximately that we wear our 20% most favoured clothes about 80% of the time, perhaps we spend 80% of the time with 20% of our acquaintances and so on.

The Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule can and should be used by every smart but lazy person in their daily life. The value of the Pareto Principle for a project manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters.

The value of the Pareto Principle for a project manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that really matters. These are the critical actions that you should prioritise on and that will deliver the most benefit to your project.

Three ways every project manager can be ‘productively lazy’?

Well where better to start than to focus the art of ‘productive laziness’ in the area of communication within the project.

The would be ‘lazy’ project manager will think very, very carefully about what they need to communicate and how they need to communicate it and why they are communicating what they are communicating.

The general guidance is that some 70-80% of a project manager’s time will be spent in communicating. That is 70-80% of your time!

So, if you play the productive lazy game at all, and you only apply it in one area of project management it makes blinding sense to do it here, in communication. This is by far the biggest activity and offers the greatest opportunity of time in the comfy chair.

Imagine if you would able to save some of that 70-80% of your time, how much more relaxed would you be?

Beyond this then consider how you are using your project team. Are they being truly utilised in the sense of applying their combined knowledge and skills? Could you use them more, delegate more, trust them more, and benefit from their experience more? I bet you could. Try it.

Finally, something I have always advocated if having fun. Whilst this does not necessarily allow you to be more ’productively lazy’ it does bring a very positive feeling to any project and thus should encourage the wider team to more ‘lazy’ (in a good way of course).

‘I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by’ Douglas Adams (Author of ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’)

You have to laugh; well I think you have to laugh.

Without a little bit of fun in every project then the project world can be a dark and depressing place.

Setting a professional but fun structure for your project can really be beneficial for when the problems start to rise up to challenge your plan of perfectness. And problems will inevitably arise.

And so, ending with a laugh and a wave:

A man in a hot air balloon was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a little bit more and shouted:

"Excuse me madam, can you help? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am’.

The man replied: ‘You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above alkali desert scrub habitat, 2.7 miles west of the Colorado River near one of the remnant populations and spawning grounds of the razorback sucker’.

‘You must be a biologist’ said the balloonist.

‘I am’ replied the woman. ‘How did you know?’

‘Well’ answered the balloonist ‘everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far’.

The woman below responded ‘You must be a project manager’.

‘I am’ replied the balloonist ‘but how did you know?’

‘Well, said the woman ‘you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise to someone that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow it's now my fault!’

Thank you Peter.

The interview inspired me so much, I went ahead and ordered the book last week. It hasn't been delivered, however I'll let you know what I thought of the lazy goodness once I have devoured it.

Be Lazy!

What an intriguing week this week has been.

One of the hardest things for an author, so I have found out, is the reality of being in the public domain.

I mean, in general – a few rare people aside – if you do something that someone else doesn’t like then they rarely say anything to your face (behind your back of course, but not to your face). And mostly, in business, you don’t do much that only carries your name – mostly it is a team effort. But as an author you put it to the people’s vote and sometimes that just decide that you aren’t worth voting for. There is no hiding from it; reviews appear magically in the public domain on Amazon and LinkedIn and many, many other places. You have their money and now you are going to get their opinion whether you like it or not.

It is like having your annual appraisal held in an open court, and who would enjoy that experience?

So this week I received two extremes of feedback. One made me glow warmly inside and one just plain hurt. Let’s start with the painful one (mainly because I don’t want to be seen to be promoting the positive and avoiding the negative, or at least pushing the negative way down out of the way).

The negative then; no names just the review in its entirety, no edits and no cuts.

I was expecting a "Work Smarter Not Harder" type of book. Unfortunately the author of this book is truly lazy. He talks about his unsuccessful projects and the lessons he learned from them as he continually brags about retreating to be "lazy in his comfy chair." In one instance Taylor reflects back on one of his projects that was "imploding." As the project was crashing around him Taylor orders his project team to "go and do your jobs," while Taylor retreats to a local Pub to have a "very nice steak pie, chips and peas with a pint of beer."

As with most of the book, I strongly disagree with Taylor's negative viewpoints and management styles.

In one instance, Taylor refutes "open-door policies" as he argues "An open door policy can easily transform a project manager's role from that of authority and managing figure to that of a subservient accommodator with little chance for exercising control on those who demand access."

I do not recommend this book.

So there you have it – they hated it and you should not waste your money buying the book. You have been warned and that is fine. It’s a free world.

I clearly have failed in this piece of communication with this one person audience and that is a shame. I was definitely aiming for a ‘work smarter not harder’ theme – progress is not made by wise men; it is made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

I also aimed with the book to make it readable, hence the light style and humour, and I wanted desperately to make it real, hence all of the stories about my own personal experience. And associated with these stores I wanted to make them believable, and so they are all about times I just plain got it wrong but learned a valuable lesson.

So there are many (hundreds) of books out there that are serious, long, dry and therefore tough to read (many useful for sure but readability counts for so much I think – how many business books have you never actually made it to the end?). There are many books that have case studies and stories that seem to indicate that the author(s) have led a charmed life and successfully delivered perfect projects time after time. I haven’t. I have screwed up both through ignorance and through inexperience. That said, in all of the stories I presented the projects were successful (in the end), the moments I describe were not – they were low points. But I personally learn through such experiences, for example, I consider myself a good driver. I have only once had an accident and that was on ice and involved only myself and a prickly hedge. But I am not a good driver because I took the driving lessons and then a driving test and passed, I was a pretty bad drive at that point. I am not a good driver because I drove 30,000 miles a year either. I am a good driver because those moments when I went a little too fast, got a little too close to another car, didn’t pay enough attention to the road, or the road conditions have taught me slowly, over time, to be the driver I am today. I am a good driver because of what I observed on the road from other drivers.

As to the books analogy of the ‘comfy chair’ this is used because so many times I see project managers working too many hours, being too busy, getting too involved, and as a result not doing the best job that can, or doing themselves any good from a health point of view. Less can most definitely be more, if the less is the right sort of ‘less’. The book speaks about ‘productive laziness’ and this is where the book attempts to guide readers as to how to go about selecting the path of ‘lessness’ in order to achieve the ‘more’.  

In the review I am called truly lazy and that is not true. I run a PMO/full time job, speak, author, consult, train and have a good work/life balance (I think – the family may well disagree). I am ‘productively lazy’ because I know how to focus, to balance, to prioritise, to apply intelligence – to work smarter.

But the review is the review and so …

… you shouldn’t buy the book!

And so to the positive; again no names just the review in its entirety, no edits and no cuts.

Peter Taylor is a clever, clever man, and lucky us, he likes to pass it on. Luckier still, the man knows how to write: "The Lazy Project Manager" is entertaining, informative, and most of all, succinct. If you manage IT Projects, Peter Taylor knows that you're already in trouble. For the average Project Manager, "IT" means "Information Trouble"--be it communicating, guesstimating, or prevaricating, Taylor knows your pain. In order to provide you with some quick relief, he does two things to prove that he is clever:

1) He tells you that if you really need to you can skip to the end and get a quick recap of the core points

2) He writes everything else so that it is not only simple, it is well worth the effort of reading through.

So if, like me, you clutch this book while treading water, you will quickly find that the words inside can be used as a flotation device. They may also be quickly consumed and deployed for the full "raft" effect. I was surrounded by work, over my head in deadlines, and despite being in the thick of holiday overtime I still managed to read this book in about two days. I've since read it again, just to keep myself focused as I gradually transition my job to his way of thinking.

So what is his way of thinking? What exactly does it mean to be "lazy"?

It means this: you can't do it all. You shouldn't do it all. And the best way to figure that out is to focus your efforts at the right parts of the lifecycle. Whereas most Project Managers find themselves ramping up at the beginning, furiously frenetic during development, and then tapering off the long hours during implementation and rollout, Taylor suggests that it's far easier if you focus your effort at the front. Get all your ducks in a row, let others take charge of their responsibilities, and--surprise--you'll soon find yourself in the role of "Clockwork Manager", only occasionally having to give things a nudge.

Don't think the above oversimplification gets you out of buying this book! You need the rest, the full package: the interesting anecdotes that'll have you nodding your head, the very useful advice on how to deal with people--starting with yourself, and the very good reasons why your calm capability will lead your team to less stress, more success.

Highly recommended. Top on my list and I'm purchasing an extra copy or two in the event of emergency.

5 stars Amazon USA

So a whole different outlook on the book and the books message. I happen to know that this reviewer read the book at a low point in their project and it helped. And that is fantastic but I can’t rely on all the readers being in a similar place.

So what can I take from this review? Well it seems to clearly state that the book can be easily read – which is something that I truly aimed for – and it does pick up on the outline theme of the book of invest up front, invest at the end and in the middle manage by exception.

So you should buy the book!

Beyond that I won’t go on – clearly if I had to pick one of the two reviews I would pick this one, right?

Well maybe for book sales, yes.

But for ‘lessons learned’, for feedback, for provocation of thought then it has to be the first one. No competition. Why didn’t this reader ‘get it’? Why did I fail to communicate what I wanted to communicate in this case?

I know you can’t please all the people all of the time but as an author you do (secretly) hope that you can break this rule and that you and your work will be universally loved.

In the book I strongly maintain that a ‘lessons learned’ process is critical to getting better as a project manager. I can’t really avoid the same recommendation as an author can I?

Do I want to change The Lazy Project Manager book? No but I will think carefully when the next book is written about a more rigorous pre-publication assessment. I have, through the reviews people have posted, a great network of volunteers (I hope) who will tell me the truth and help me produce something even better as a result of listening to them and their feedback.

I have used this quote before but think it apt in this case.

G K Chersterton said 'A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author'.

I hope that The Lazy Project Manager tells the truth about me as an author – I was only trying to help, honest!

Keep those reviews coming…

Welcome back dear readers - already 2010 and, with the snow falling here in the UK, I am excited about what this year will bring my way. There is a feeling of things getting better (and the prospect of a World Cup for all you football lovers).

Already The Lazy Project Manager has some juicy speaking engagements (see Speaking Events for more information) including:

20th January - Volvo IT (Sweden/Gothenburg); 4th February - APM (Milton Keynes); 9th - 10th February - BPUG Closing Keynote speaker (London); 18th - 19th February - IPMA International Expert Seminar (Zurich); 17th February - BCS (Coventry); 25th February - PPSOSIG (London);  1st March - IIL(London): Kerzner Event - The Lazy Project Manager book signing along with Dr Harold Kerzner; 8th - 11th March - IAMOT (Cairo); and 26th/27th April - Project Zone PPM Summit (Budapest)

But feel free to contact me to talk about some more opportunities - I love them so the more the better!

I have also contributed to a new web based project management training course - Practical Project Management (watch this space for more information) - and have been in discussions with another company about developing training material based on The Lazy Project Manager (again, more information at a later date).

And, on the back of the Facebook campaign to keep the X Factor single off of the number 1 spot this Christmas (successful by the way with Rage Against the Machine selling over half a million singles), I have started the Twitter campaign to make The Lazy Project Manager the number 1 project management book on the Amazon PM Book charts. I need help with this so 'tweet' away.

Peter

Thank you!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

And Thank you all over again!

What a year, what an experience... this time last year 'The Lazy Project Manager' was just an idea, a simple 15 page website that outlined what I was developing as an idea, the germination of 'Productive Laziness'.

Now the book is out and in the Amazon charts around the world (as of today it is number 5 in the UK, 95 in USA, 37 in Germany and 71 in France in the Amazon Project Management books top 100. It is also, not sure how this happened, number 3,130 in Amazon Japan's  English Skills book chart) so there are no complaints from me on that score.

Thank you to all who have purchased the book through bookshops, online stores, this website and at speaking events throughout the year. Amazing!

This website has had over 15,000 visitors now (from a standing start of zero at the start of the year), I have completed 20 speaking engagements including Brazil, done 15 radio, newspaper and podcast interviews.

The world, it seems, want to be 'lazy'.

So thank you to all those people who helped out. Highlights include (but please if I miss out a name you do know I am really grateful) the podcasts with Cornelius Fichtner (www.thepmpodcast.com) and with Mark Perry (www.thepmopodcast.com); the interviews on BBC Radio on 1st September when the book was released; speaking in Brazil, speaking at PMI Amsterdam, and speaking at the International Project Management Day in the UK; meeting with Lindsay Scott from Arras People (http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/); working with Alex Marson and the team at IIL (www.iil.com),; with Scott Punk at ESI (www.esi-intl.com); the support from Aleksey Kim in translating articles in to Russian and from Calvenn Tsuu for translating articles in to Chinese; to all those people who went out of their way and posted reviews of the book on various websites; and to my publishing team at Infinite Ideas (www.infideas.com ) - Richard and David and Katherine and Rebecca and Tim.

2010 offers a lot more excitement with speaking engagements in Sweden and Egypt and Switzerland already booked, as well as a number of UK ones including Best Practice User Group (BPUG) in February (www.bpugcongress.com/) where I will be Closing Keynote Speaker.

Thank you once more and please if you want to know more about 'The Lazy Project Manager' and the Art of Productive Laziness then just get in touch (peter.b.taylor@btinternet.com ), the same applies if you are looking for an event host or speaker for 2010, get in touch and I will happily talk through how I might be able to help.

In the book 'The Lazy Project Manager' I talk about giving a good Oscar winning speech and this feels like one right now so I will take my own advice and just stop.

Have a great festive season and see you in 2010.

Peter

I bet you never consider those two people in a similar way did you? Go on be honest, I can take it...

But yes, in a recent article in Fabulous Magazine (News of the World/Sunday) there they are in the very same column!

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/fabulous/features/606704/How-Brad-can-boost-your-health-Brad-Pitt-Being-bad-is-good-for-you.html

The article is entitled 'How Brad can boost your health (Being bad is good for you)' and is by Anna Magee

Here's the good bit (well the bit that I am in):

LAZINESS... makes you live longer
Step into your slippers, because more sleep, less work and less extreme exercise are key to a longer life, according to public health scientist Professor Peter Axt. "Sleeping eight or nine hours every night, taking naps, avoiding long work hours and extreme exercise all help limit stress," he explains. "In turn that stops your adrenal glands becoming overworked and depleting your immune system."

Do it well: "Waste half your free time," suggests Professor Axt. "People who take a midday nap instead of playing squash have a better chance of living into old age." To become more 'strategically lazy' at work, Peter Taylor, author of new book The Lazy Project Manager, suggests taking time every morning to reflect on what's important to get done that day. "Each morning, identify three tasks that will most benefit you - whether you're a stay-at-home mum or a company executive - then work on completing them as a matter of priority."

So there you are, Brad and myself, like two peas in a pod. I will, of course, forgive you in the future should you get get confused. I wonder if that will work with Angelina?

The importance of being accessible but in a controlled way

I’m all for being there for people, honest I am. It’s just that people take advantage of it if I am.

So for the ‘productive lazy’ project manager I would suggest that it is perfectly acceptable for the lights to be on and for no-one to be at home; not all of the time obviously, and at critical times access and visibility are all too important. But for the rest of the time, why not let the whole of the team work a few things out for themselves, take some degree of responsibility and decision making, and generally get on with the tasks at hand.

Being there when you are really needed and being there all the time are very different things indeed.

Being reachable in a controlled manner, and within an acceptable timeframe, to answer appropriate questions (and not stupid ones) is equally important. The last thing you want is a long line of people queuing up at your desk waiting to ask advice, and you phone flashing with an ever increasing number of messages, all the time whilst you inbox is reaching capacity with incoming demands for your attention.

This can lead to the ‘lights on all the time’ syndrome, a very dangerous condition:

‘What should I do now?’

‘Breath’ you might reply

‘In or out?’

You have so many other more useful things that you could be doing, like reading a good book in the comfy chair for example.

Applying the ‘Productive Lazy’ approach

Avoid the swamp

This is linked in so many ways to the communication topic already covered. If you create a communication plan that guarantees to swamp you from day one, what is the benefit; to you or to the project?

None!

The plan should ensure you are not seen as the oracle for all matters, nor that you are the bottleneck for a constructive information flow within the project team. Most projects develop communication plans in a certain way; that is as a plan that is the documented strategy for getting the right information to the right people at the right time. We all know that each stakeholder has different requirements for information and so the plan defines what, how and how often communications should be made. What project managers rarely do is consider and map all communication flows, official, unofficial, developmental or complete, and do a load analysis across the project structure of these communication flows. Of they did they would spot bottlenecks much earlier on that they normally do, usually this is only identified when one part of the communication chain starts complaining about their workload.

Consider the open door policy

The ‘open door’ policy has become a real management cliché.

‘Of course’ managers pronounce in a firm voice’ my door is always open to you all, day or night; I’m really there for you’.

Empowerment in this way has become more an entitlement for the project team than a project manager’s choice; they just expect you to be there when they want you to be (and not even when they need you to be there either). An ‘open door’ policy can easily transform a project manager’s role from that of an authority, and managing, figure to that of a subservient accommodator with little chance for exercising control on those that demand access to them.

Be a good manager

The best manager is the probably the one who reads the paper or MSN every morning, has time enough to say ‘hi’ at the coffee machine, is isn’t always running flat out because they are ‘late for an important meeting’. By that I mean that a good (an obviously ‘productively lazy’) manager has everything running smoothly enough that they have time to read the paper or MSN and so on. This is a manager who has to be confident in their position and capabilities.

A good manager will have time for their project team, and being one who has everything running smoothly, will allow that to happen.

A good manager does not to be on hand twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. They do not have to have the answer to every question nor do they have to be the conduit to the answer to every question. There is a whole project team out there – go talk to some of them – they probably will have a much better answer to hand anyway.

Think about number one

You honestly want the best for yourself as well as for the project; I understand that, so give yourself that chance. Have you ever met a project manager who has put themselves down as a project risk? ‘Yeah, well I am just too nice a guy, can’t say no, can’t turn someone away, love to chat’ – likelihood 80%, impact 100%, mitigate now!

But hopefully by now you also want to apply the productive lazy approach so consider this; let the team deal with 80% of the communication, 80% of the questions, 80% of the issues, and let the 20% come through you for consideration and guidance. You don’t even have to ‘solve’ that 20%, I would further suggest that only 20% of this 20% are likely to be answered by yourself in an adequate manner, there are always others that can better advice.

Think about the rest

OK, you have dealt with the ‘thinking about number one’ thing, now what about your team? Well by dealing with ‘number one’ you will have already done the team a huge favour. You will be accessible when you need to be accessible. The lights will go on as and when they are really needed – it is a kind of ‘green’ project management policy.

The worse thing that can happen is that just at the moment when there is a ‘clear and present’ need for someone to speak to you, whether that be on a project or on a personal matter, you are just too tied up with a whole pile of nothing to even give them the time of day. Remember the whole ‘respect’ and ‘reputation for team support’ team thing we spoke about earlier, well this is a major contributor the that.

Analyse and reduce

And this is not a one off action; you need to keep on top of this as well. Projects change, communications develop, and roles flux. Do a quick analysis of what information and queries flow through you, and how and regularly re-assess. Can others deal with some of this? What are the important components that you should be involved in? Are there too many questions and communication from certain sources? And so on.

Make sure that everyone knows that the lights will go on and when and how they can turn that light on fast if they really need to.

A project manager’s tale about the importance of position

This one is not my tale; it is the story of a friend of mine, a friend who is, of course, a project manager. A project manager who I know to be very good at team building, a real ‘people’ person.

Picture a new project with a new project office. Apparently the company my friend was working for had reserved some brand new office space in a building that they were going to move other departments in to in the coming months. In the meantime the project team could take over one floor.

Now, I have been in many project offices over the years ranging from a single desk to a temporary office unit (grey boxes that get lifted in to place by a crane and officially described as ‘relocatable and modular accommodation’ apparently). But, by all accounts, this new building that my friend moved in to with his project team was superb.

He chose a nice new desk by a window and with a view facing the doors so that he could see all that went on, people coming and going, working (or not working I guess), and so on.

And so life was good and thus did the project move forwards in a pleasing way.

The only feature that was lacking was a decent coffee machine. They had a temporary one to begin with but the team waited with baited breath for the new, top of the range, super-dooper, hot beverage dispenser.

It arrived one week day morning, wheeled in on a trolley barrow. My friend was elsewhere at the time on important project business. When he arrived back in the project office he was somewhat surprised to see that his desk now had a new neighbour. A coffee machine.

‘Hey, grab a coffee, its great’ was the general cry from the project team. I am sure that that is what he did, before walking the two feet back to his desk.

The project office was full now and so it was too late to move desk. Oh well, a great project office with a great coffee machine was not something to make too much fuss about.

And then things went downhill:

Day 1 – People started saying ‘hello’ each time they lined up for a coffee at the machine by his desk.

Day 2 – People started conversations as they waited for their freshly simulated brewed cup of java by his desk.

Day 3 – People started sitting on his desk, whilst they waited for coffee, said ‘hello’, engaged in conversation and were generally sociable.

Day 4 – People asked him where the spare coffee cups were and what ‘error 54g’ was.

Day 5 – People asked him what the telephone number for the coffee repairman was so that they could report ‘error 54g’ and get the coffee machine fixed.

Day 10 – People started using the phone on his desk whilst waiting for a coffee etc.

Day 15 - The project manager left the building.

In actual fact he did move desks, he manage to secure a small space across the landing from the main project office. It wasn’t ideal as he was now removed from the project team but, on balance, it was better than the alternative.

It doesn’t matter that you want to run an ‘open door’ policy in order to be as accessible to everyone, if your want to get on with your job you do need some ‘space’. To be right at the centre of everything all of the time is not conducive to being a good project manager.

It was the coffee machine or the project manager, and the team made it clear that the coffee machine won hands down!

A final comment

So for the ‘productive lazy’ project manager it is perfectly acceptable for the lights to be on and for no-one to be at home; not all of the time obviously, and at critical times access and visibility are all too important. But for the rest of the time, why not let your project team work a few things out for themselves, take some degree of responsibility and decision making, and generally get on with the tasks at hand.

Being there when you are really needed and being there all the time are very different things indeed.

 ‘You never know till you try to reach them how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door’. Henry Ward Beecher

My thanks to Kevin Hunt and the BCS (British Computer Society) in Bournemouth/Dorset Branch for hosting a great event last night. I enjoyed presenting to a new group of people, not just project managers.

I think the presentation was well received, I gladly thanked one attendee for the compliment of 'best speaker of the year' - very kind.

The principle of 'productive laziness' applies to all forms of business and not just project management I believe so it was very good to test that theory with a mixed audience. I looked forward to any feedback and book reviews in the coming weeks.

I am now officially on the BCS database for speakers and so I look forward to further invitations to speak in 2010.

Having great fun with a really neat idea from theplanis http://theplanis.com/pmotscores/

Real time reputation scores for Project Managers on Twitter. So you need to 'tweet' your favourite 'tweets' and 'retweets'about thelazypm, or whickever project manager you so wish to 'support'

Seeing some really interesting and new (to me) project managers out there in internet world - hi to you all!

theplanis says:

We are tracking all tweets tagged with #pmot and using them to update this list of the most influential project managers on Twitter. Updates are calculated continuously but new results are only displayed every 5 minutes. There is also a list for #agile here.

We won't tell you how the scores are calculated, as that would make it too easy to game the system. We will tell you that following us won't add to your score, but hopefully you might want to do that anyway :-)

Just back from the UK International Project Management day at GSK Stevenage. Really enjoyable day, with some good speakers and interesting topics.

My thanks to Chris for getting me on the agenda and for the great organisation from Nazia(the badge is on it's way I promise).

What was overwhelming was the interest in The Lazy Project Manager and all things 'lazy' - my, my, you must all be way overworked out there in project management land! Each break I there was a queue of people waiting to buy the book, have a chat, pick up a 'I am a Lazy Project Manager' badge etc. (I only managed one coffee and a sandwich during the day - moan, moan ....).

Fantastic - Thank You - Amazing!

Please, do connect with me through LinkedIn and, if you want to hear more than the 20 minutes from The Lazy Project Manager (or maybe that really is enough) then I can be persuaded to get out of my really comfortable chair and speak at your event. Let me know.

It certainly was a really nice feeling heading home after the event.

Now I want to do it all over again.

You may think that I am obsessed by reviews, and maybe I am, but my publisher keeps telling me chase down reviews and so that is what I am doing.

Having run out of friends and family willing to read The Lazy Project Manager and post reviews I have expanded my horizons.

I have asked a question through LinkedIn 'Have you read The Lazy Project Manager' and if 'yes' then please can I have feedback and reviews.

I have initiated a request at Amazon.com Top Reviewers

http://www.amazon.com/tag/top%20reviewers/forum

seeking reviewers, and I have had 6 responses in one week (wow!) a lot more than I thought that I would receive so thanks to everyone who responded, books on their way to you right now.

And finally, I will ask the same question of my blog readers - fancy a free book in return for a review on Amazon or other online book store? Well contact me through this websites feedback tool.

Mind you, I did have a very nice review from Arras People and John Zachar recently - cheers!

It is extremely unusual for me to pick up a 'management book' involuntarily. I think I lost that particular desire when I did my MBA in the nineties. However, occasionally there is a need to acquire additional information or background knowledge. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up Peter Taylor's book one Sunday afternoon, knowing that I'd promised a review. I finished it later that day, having only put it down for a meal. I really, really enjoyed it. I've read a number of the 'jokey' type of management books over the years; those that have catchy titles, and purport to be a fun read, yet seem to be. This time I was pleasantly surprised that the book not only caught and kept my attention, but that it did it in a very enjoyable, easily absorbed way.

Peter's use of analogies and stories is where I found some of the value. The remainder of the value came in the real content of the book. Over the years as a project / programme management consultant, lecturer, teacher and practitioner, I've built up a pretty good education about how to manage change into organisations through projects. I cannot find fault with any of Peter's recommendations - especially the bit about being lazy!

Peter has been able to enrich the content by using his stories and analogies to make a number of points, all of them common sense; even things like "it is important to separate the important from the immediate" (my words not his - you find his analogy in the book). One of the analogies that Peter uses, almost from the outset, is that of a dinosaur - in fact a brontosaurus. "I'm sure you know the one, thin at the front, thick in the middle, then thin at the other end." Well, Peter modifies the analogy a bit by saying that projects should be thick at the front, thin in the middle and thick at the other end again. The thickness of the project shape represents the amount of effort or work that needs to be done at that stage of the project. The corollary is: initiate well, compensating for difficulties, be lazy in the middle because a well organised project can run on its own like a well oiled machine if initiated well, then put some effort into finishing with real enthusiasm, helping all the stakeholders realise how well it has gone, and what a wonderful result we have. Organising your project in this fashion allows you to apply the principles of being a lazy project manager - and still be successful.

That is really what it is all about.

Don't forget, this is not about just being lazy and not doing the job - this is being lazy, and being successful as well. Do the job, but do the job in the most intelligent way you can, so that you can be lazy when you can. That is my kind of project management. The other bits that are interspersed throughout the book are about how to achieve the above by using a great deal of common sense. Peter's book made this entertaining, yet useful for me.

Reviewed by John Zachar, Product Development Manager with the APM. John has previously written for both Tipoffs and How to Manage a Camel, and would love to hear your feedback. Feel free to contact John with your thoughts about The Lazy Project Manager at john.zachar@btinternet.com. This review is the work of Mr Zachar and is no way connected to any views, beliefs or opinions of the APM.

Well to be completely fair to that massive country I should say discovering a small part of Sao Paulo. My thanks to all of the Sao Paulo PMI board for their kind invitation to attend their 9th Congress and present on my book - The Lazy Project Manager.

So last Saturday (that was 24th October by the way) I headed down to Heathrow to catch an 11 hour flight out to Sao Paulo. Now I have never been to Latin-America before so I was excited and wondering just how the good people of the Sao Paulo project management community would take to the whole 'lazy' concept.

Arriving Sunday I was delighted that a 3 hour tour of the city had been arranged for me so I got to at least taste the city and the people - big, crazy, warm and sunny, friendly .... so much to say.

Monday was work time and a big step for me. I have never before presented with simutaneous translation, the translator gently explained that the Portuguese language used some 30% more words than English so just slow down to let her fit all the extra ones in for the audience to understand.

How did it go? Well I should let the audience speak for this but from my point of view I think I presented to about 300 people over two sessions and the feedback was pretty good! At least The Lazy Project Manager book outsold the PMBoK over the two days (sorry PMI) and I gave away 250 badges declaring 'I am a Lazy Project Manager' so there could be a lot of people having a great discussion with their managers later his week.

Back home now I am very tired but thrilled to have another great life experience.

Please, if you liked what you heard then do join me on LinkedIn and share your thoughts.

And to the lovelyTania Belmiro and the fantastic team - obrigado muito.

(PS: Now for Rio - looking out for those invitations....)

Actually I am desperately seeking any connection to the big boys out there in corporate land - Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and so on.

Regarding Microsoft I was reading about the beta release of MS Project 2010 and I thought 'hey!' now there is a potential synergy in marketing - The Lazy Project Manager and The Art of Productive Laziness together with MS Project 2010. Well I thought that but who knows what Microsoft might think about it. I have tried LinkedIn but no luck as yet (Seth Patton if you are out there I would love to connect pretty please ever so nicely).

Anyway, if you lovely readers out there in blog-land have any contacts with the mighty MS - think head of marketing for Project 2010 or similar - then spread the 'lazy' word and make any introductions that you feel happy to do and I will be most grateful.

The same goes for any of the other players, I am looking to do some speaking and book sales with the mighty corporations in 2010 so any and all help with be magnificent. Thank you.I know you people ar really well connected.

And in return? Well let me know what I can do to help.

I am a broken man!

I have always said that I welcome all feedback , all reviews, all comments - it is all useful, it will all help improve me as a person.. I have always said that, in fact I am pretty sure that it was last Friday that I most recently said it.

As a new and still excitable author I confess (as I have confessed before) that I enjoy looking at the Amazon charts and others to see how The Lazy Project Manager is doing. I also, of course, look at any reviews that have been posted by my good readers out there. And that is what I did today.

In Germany, where the book continues to sell well, there is one review that rates the book 5 stars with a highly recommended - thank you - with the comment 'The book is recommended for anyone wishing to experience a healthy mix of in-depth theoretical Project Management together with many years of practical experience with a healthy breeze British humor in a new way of thinking'. (Translated through Google by the way).

In USA one 4 star review - again thank you - with the comment 'If you do not consider yourself lazy, you are going to understand the benefits of "productive laziness"; if you are already a "lazy project manager" the book will make you feel better (you are not alone! :o) and on top of that will give you many interesting lessons learned, without too much effort. I do recommend the reading!

In my home market of the UK three reviews, averaging 4.5 stars - thank you - with comments 'Unlike so many project management books, "The lazy project manager" is both easy to read and yet incisive' and 'The book is an easy read but underpinning it are sound and important messages and experiences' plus 'The author is far from lazy but what he is putting out here is a common sense approach to Project Management that focuses on people and not form filling. My copy has already caused a 'buzz' amongst my PM colleagues, I would say it should be mandatory reading for any Manager who has to work in a project based way.'

Other comments include 'There is nothing like having someone's writing slap you round the face like a wet herring and you sit there (well, actually laying on the sofa) and you enjoy the experience. Thank you very much Peter Taylor!' and 'Taylor does something that I have done on my blog and in my own writing - he gives you a chance to cheat. By cheating, I mean that he levels with you, the reader, the busy reader, the lazy reader, and says something like, "look, if you want to get to the bottom line, skip over to the last chapter now. You will miss some stuff but ... you'll get the idea". In fact, he even uses this principle of cheating itself to help explain the Pareto principle - a tactic I thought was particularly ingenious'.

So that is all good news and enjoyable to read, not to mention a nice ego boost.

But for every 100 sweets in the sweetie jar there is one sour one... and that leaves the longest lasting taste!

Today I spotted this review on Amazon Canada titled 'Not much use' and with a 2 start rating:

I was quite disappointed by Peter Taylor's first efforts at writing a book on Project Management. He asserts that his theory of Project Management, which is a variation on a Monty Python sketch about dinosaurs, is going to help us in becoming better project managers - by being "lazy". By lazy, he means for us to focus on the "fat" part of the project at the start and finish and let the "thin" middle take care of itself.

Throughout this brief book, I was hoping to find some insight as to why he thought this laziness was going to be beneficial to anyone but himself as a project manager. He often mentioned that he'd be sitting in his comfy chair while the project team went about their business of delivering on what he had so wisely and astutely set the direction for.

What a joke. If I had this guy as a project manager with his somewhat "holier than thou" ego, he'd be out the door before you can say "project charter".

I'd recommend that you get yourself a "real" book on project management instead of buying this one that's written by someone who probably thinks he can earn a few bucks by writing a few lines that are "witty and insightful". Now that's what I call lazy.

Ouch - I guess I should be grateful for the 2 stars from 'Masila' (real name?)

Abraham Lincoln once said 'People who like sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like' so maybe that is what the earlier reviews, the good reviews, were all about? Maybe I hadn't yet met with true objective critical comment?

My mother also said 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger' - well I have never heard of anybody dying through a bad review but that is good to know.

I have learnt a lot throughout the process of writing and publishing, and now marketing, and today I learnt that whilst you must welcome reviews on Amazon you don't have any form of 'right to reply'. The public pays there money and they can say what they want (well you can request removal if it is offensive but that doesn't apply to the above'.

So, whilst I was recovering from reading the review, I began to think about projects and lessons learned. I speak a lot about project retrospectives and lessons learned at the end projects and I am a big fan. Well if you have read The Lazy Project Manager you will know that. One of the key things about retrospectives is that you give everybody the opportunity to say what they feel - how else do you get to know as much as possible? But the second thing is that you do it with respect.

So I will take on board that the writer was disappointed - sorry, I guess it was not to everyone's taste - that he recommends reading a 'real' book on project management instead - fine, there are 10s of 1000s to choose from for sure and I myself have read a fair few, and indeed recommend a number in my book - and that I ain't going to get a job with the writer either... probably best, although I do love Canada.

OK, but I am going to exercise a form of reply about the 'holier than thou' bit... nearly all the stories in the book were about me getting it so wrong, and learning from the experience plus I absolutely believe that productive laziness needs to run throughout the project team, any other way and it won't work.

Phew got that out of my system. Moving on now.

G K Chersterton said 'A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author'.

I will leave you to make your own minds up about that.

PS: All reviews most welcome - especially in Canada.

With the continued support of all of you out there in tweetfacelinkblog world of course (and the real world)!

The diary is pretty much to capacity for the rest of this year, it has been a fantastic start but I am so looking forward to 2010. The Lazy Project Manager is open for any interesting offers for speaking and training and book activities so don't be shy and get in touch.

There are so many places I have never been to and so, so, so many people left to meet in and around the project management world.

After a good evening presenting at the PMI Chapter meeting in Barnsley last night - thanks Chris Field and Darrel Rogan for the invitation - the 'Lazy Project Manager' roadshow headed south.

Spent the morning at Project Challenge, Olympia and, as usual, met some really nice people.

So it is a 'Hi' to all the people manning the PMI stand - thanks for promoting the book - and to teams on the Compuware and PM Partners stands.

Also met up with Michael Finer to chat through old times and plan some future fun.

October already, and I look forward to presentations on 'The Lazy Project Manager' at an APM meeting on 13th October and PMI Sao Paulo, Brazil on 26th/27th October (it is a tough job but someone has to do it...)

As always looking for any other opportunity to spread the 'lazy' word so do make contact if you have any interest.

What is productive laziness

'Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.' Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)

By advocating being a 'lazy' project manager I do not intend that we should all do absolutely nothing. I am not saying we should all sit around drinking coffee, reading a good book and engaging in idle gossip whilst watching the project hours go by and the non-delivered project milestones disappear over the horizon.  That would obviously be plain stupid and would result in an extremely short career in project management, in fact probably a very short career full stop!

Lazy does not mean Stupid.

No I really mean that we should all adopt a more focused approach to project management and to exercise our efforts where it really matters, rather than rushing around like busy, busy bees involving ourselves in unimportant, non-critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that do not need addressing at all in some cases.

Science behind the laziness – being focused

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) states that for many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes. The idea has rule-of-thumb application in many places, but it's also commonly misused, for example, it is a misuse to state that a solution to a problem ‘fits the 80-20 rule’ just because it fits 80% of the cases; it must be implied that this solution requires only 20% of the resources needed to solve all cases.

The principle was in fact suggested by management thinker Joseph M. Juran and it was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of property in Italy was owned by 20% of the Italian population. The assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes.

So ‘20% of clients may be responsible for 80% of sales volume’.  This can be evaluated and is likely to be roughly right, and can be helpful in future decision making. The Pareto Principle also applies to a variety of more mundane matters: one might guess approximately that we wear our 20% most favoured clothes about 80% of the time, perhaps we spend 80% of the time with 20% of our acquaintances and so on.

The Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule can and should be used by every smart but lazy person in their daily life. The value of the Pareto Principle for a project manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters.

Woody Allen once said ‘80% of success is showing up’, I’m not so sure about that, I have seen projects where there was a physical project manager around but you would never have believed that looking at the project progress, or lack of progress.

No, better I believe to appreciate that of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results.

So, you should identify and focus on those things during your working day.

The Lazy Project Manager – a new book by Peter Taylor

Inside this book readers can discover:

• The intelligence of laziness – why smart, lazy people have the edge over others;
• Why the Jungle Book’s ‘Bare Necessities’ should be the productive lazy theme tune;
• How to get the maximum output for a minimised input;
• Quick tips to productive lazy heaven.

In addition, the author provides some interesting (and entertaining) things about eating dinosaurs, wearing ermine cloaks, and how to spot a psychopathic woman at a funeral. Also find out why you should never go ballooning, how to deliver a good Oscar acceptance speech, and why it is important for your team that you read the newspaper each morning.  And yes, you may also learn some, quick, simple but important things about project management.

In "The lazy Project Manager" Peter Taylor illustrates how to achieve more without expending more time and energy. Welcome to the home of 'productive laziness'. Here there is a more focused approach to project management and our efforts are exercised where it really matters - there's no rushing round involving ourselves in unimportant, non-critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that do not need addressing at all in some cases. It's all about working smarter and Peter Taylor, head of a PMO at Siemens, gives away his trade secrets. This is not a training manual. You won't turn into a project manager by reading this book. But Peter, acting as virtual coach, will help you to identify and focus on the key activities in your projects, do them well and enjoy the world of productive laziness.

I run a series of Google Alerts, very useful tools by the way, and one of these threw up teh fact I, and my alter ego – The Lazy Project Manager – are now on Wikipedia.

Exciting! But now what? All the entry says is:

Peter Taylor (Project Manager)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other people named Peter Taylor, see Peter Taylor.

Peter Taylor is a British project manager and author of ‘The lazy project manager’. The book promotes a 'productive laziness' approach to work that builds on the Pareto principle, inferring that only 20 per cent of work effort equates to 80 per cent of results. This approach will allow managers a better quality of life.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Taylor, Peter (2009-03-18). "If you only do one thing this week ... use your holiday". Guardian Online. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jul/20/work-holiday. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 

[edit] Works

• The Lazy Project Manager (2009, ISBN 978-1-906821-13-5)

[edit] External links

• [1], Project Management Blog

Reaching out to my network of supporters now – add to the Wiki entry if you can – especially if you have a) read the book and enjoyed it and b) attended one of my presentations and also enjoyed that.

Thank you

I am learning all about social networking these days – ‘tweetfacelinkblogging’ as Wayne Turmel of The Cranky Middle Manager fame has designated these activities. I have been enjoying Wayne’s podcasts recently, a nice selection of guests but my favourite part is Wayne’s introductions and famous person and quote section – check it out. Whilst you are at it also check out the Podcast Sisters for some good gossip and helpful ideas at The Podcast Sisters another podcast I am enjoying through iTunes.

Within the project management world I continue to enjoy and have also had the pleasure of being a guest on the excellent Cornelius Fichtner’s ‘The Project Management Podcast’ at  The PMO Podcast and Mark Perry’s ‘THE PMO Podcast’ at The PMO Podcast - check them both out.

For my part I have podcasts already on iTunes, look for ‘The Lazy Project Manager’, - which reminds me, for those of you who subscribe already, yes it is well past the time that I need to provide some new podcasts. I will get on that this week, promise.

Maybe you have some suggestions for other great podcasts I should be tuning in to?

Apart from that I am ‘tweeting’ away with news of the moment, a little limited on Facebook I have to admit, but an avid fan of LinkedIn – do link up if you want to peter.b.taylor@btinternet.com and do feel free to join my group on LinkedIn ‘The Lazy Project Managers’ – spread the word to your colleagues.

And blogging – well here it is – the new blog from The Lazy Project Manager at my own website www.thelazyprojectmanager.com

So that is that – fully ‘Tweetfacelinkblogged’

OK now I am off to research syndicating my blogs... so much to learn and so little time as they say.

http://careers.guardian.co.uk/forums The Lazy Project Manager speaks to The Guardian careers

A good work-life balance isn't only integral to your own well-being, it can have a positive impact on your performance in the workplace too.

Find out how to improve your productivity and manage your workload in more effective way by posting a question for our expert panel.

The panel includes:

Peter Taylor, head of a project management office at Siemens and author of The Lazy Project Manager: How to be twice as productive and still leave the office early. In his book, Peter discusses the idea of ‘productive laziness’ which encourages a more focused approach to work.

More panelists to be announced.

Post your questions in advance to be sure of a reply

(Weblog - usually shortened to blog) Blog is an abbreviated version of Weblog, which is a term used to describe Web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is a frequently updated, personal Web site featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles or other Web sites.

So here we go - a new 'Lazy Project Manager' blog aimed at those of you who are keen to hear more real time/up to date information about The Lazy Project Manager (the person - the book) and The Art of Productive Laziness (the life/work style experience).

It has been a very busy month - my real job keeps me busy of course but beyond that there has been the official book launch (virtual) and the articles in The Guardian (1st Sept) and the interviews on BBC Radio (again on 1st Sept). I am pleased to see the book moving up and down (well more pleased with the 'up' part) the Amazon book charts. It has been up to number 4 in the UK charts (for project management books - I think it peaked at the 10,600 th best selling book in the UK) and has appeared in the US, Canada, German and Japanese Amazon market charts as well.

I also met a couple of really interesting people this month - Rob Cole, one of the authors of Brilliant Project Management (the consistent number 1 UK best seller - for now, I have my sights set on the top spot very soon). Thanks for the lunch Rob and the insights in to publishing in general. I also met Lindsay Scott of Arras People - a short but informative meeting - let's get together again soon.

Yesterday I was interviewed for a piece in The News of the World/Fabulous Magazine - I will let you know when this comes out - all about 'bad' things that can be good for you. So being 'lazy' can be seen as bad but we all know done properly it can be good.

And next week I will meet with Tim Moore from Infinite Ideas, my publishers, for lunch. A real litmus test - if I get to pay then I am guessing book sales are below target...