http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com en-gb thelazyprojectmanager.com 2012-5-2T00:00:00Z thelazyprojectmanager.com http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#117560 The following is an extract from The Lazy Project Manager and The Project from Hell Peter Taylors new book currently free as an eBook from Amazon Presentation Counts I was recently in a restaurant in a foreign land well foreign to me of course but less so to the locals. The location was good the d233cor and ambience very acceptable the company most enjoyable and the snow fell softly outside providing a winter wonderland visual delight through the large windows. But sadly all of that positive buildup for a great evenings dining was almost outweighed by the food and service. After an initial ordering experience the diners elected to eat the same main course but each agreed that the chefs vegetable of choice for the evening was not to their personal liking. It was the humble Brussels sprout a member of the brassica family that enjoys a somewhat tarnished image which considering its status as a nutritional powerhouse is perhaps a little unfair. Its reputation is perhaps mostly due to... 2012-5-3 16:27:16 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#117559 I recently presented at an ESI event for the PMO COE and some of these survey results were shared at that event. It as personally interesting and I think if you are PMO minded you will also find it of interest. New Survey Reveals Emergence of the NextGeneration Project Management Office Despite higher sophistication PMOs continue to be called into question by key stakeholders London 2 May 2012 ESI International the worlds leading project management training company today unveiled the findings of its latest annual benchmarking survey The State of the Project Management Office On the Road to the Next Generation. The survey which investigates the current role of the ProjectProgramme Management Office PMO its development to fullblown maturity and value for the overall business reveals the emergence of a new kind of ProjectProgramme Management Office that ESI has identified as the NextGen PMO. What is considered a NextGen PMO Based on responses from over 3000 respondents in mo... 2012-5-2 16:24:12 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#117081 It has arrived The Lazy Project Manager and the Project from Hell is now in stock on Amazon around the world. Back in the comfy chair for more productive lazy wisdom and then off to the time machine to save the worst project in history and all before tea time. More information on the Project from Hell workshop can be found at www.theprojectfromhell.com Download the book The book will be free for a period of time as an eBook just go to your local Amazon site today Please get everyone that you know to download the book and help get a project management book to number 1 in the Amazon charts You dont even need a Kindle to do this you can download to your PC. Hey you and your friends dont even need to read it if you really dont want to just download it it is FREE after all but I do hope you find it of some value let me know. Own the book You can also purchase one of a now very limited number of signed printed copies of the book from Peters Lazy Shop at www.thelazyprojectmanager.... 2012-4-25 12:08:43 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#115935 Its coming The third lazy book will be out on 25th April 2012 get your copy preordered now A signed and printed soft back copy of the new lazy book the eBook will be free on Amazon for a limited period but I have a limited supply of printed copies available. Will ship on 25th April 2012. Peter Taylors bestseller The Lazy Project Manager has been a project management phenomenon since it was published in 2009. In it he shows how adopting a more focused approach to life projects and work can make you twice as productive. The Lazy Project Manager and its sequel The Lazy Winner show how anyone can apply the simple techniques of lazy project management in their own lives in order to work and live more effectively. Now in The Lazy Project Manager and the Project from Hell Peter Taylor applies the lazy project management technique to a project that has gone seriously wrong. And in the spirit of The Lazy Project Manager I also have some badgespins available as well To Hell and Back in ... 2012-4-5 15:30:41 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#115156 You can help me with my new book Strategies for Sponsorship by contributing to the research and by offering up some insight in to your experience with project sponsorship. How Well two ways 183 A short survey can be accessed here SURVEY 183 Send us your sponsor story here STORY Alternatively you can just email me your short story about sponsorship good or bad as long as there is a lesson for us to learn that relates to project sponsorship. Strategies for Sponsorship Is being cowritten with Vicki James and Ron Rosenhead and will be published by Management Concepts. Project Managers Whatever a project manager may wish for the reality is that they have to work with the project sponsor that they are given you can choose your friends but not your relatives or your sponsors The book will show project managers techniques to get the best out the project sponsor they have. It will also show them what value a good sponsor brings to their project. Often a project i... 2012-3-23 09:17:17 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#115060 Hi all When we first launched PMBookClub.com our goal was to have 100 people participate in the first book study of The Lazy Project Manager by Peter Taylor. Yesterday we pass the 100 members mark so its time to get this thing rolling We will begin the study of The Lazy Project Manager on Saturday March 24th. In preparation for the study you should do three things if you havent already 1. Introduce yourself. Use the following thread httplinkd.inyNSGnb 2. Purchase The Lazy Project Manager. Heres a link to the paperback version httpamzn.toxlrXrZ and the electronic version httpamzn.toyosM4B. 3. Join The Lazy Project Manager subgroup. Use the following link httplinkd.inArs8vo This weekend I will post an Instructions thread in The Lazy Project Manager subgroup and then we will start the study the following weekend. I will also post a bio for Peter Taylor and a welcome recording he has created for the group. I look forward to studying and discussing The Lazy Project Manager with you ... 2012-3-21 17:41:31 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#115046 On the one hand The Apprentice is a businessbased reality show. But on the other it is frequently one of the funniest and entertaining television programmes around. This year we have the blonde assassin someone who declares when it comes to business I can be like an animal and I will roar my way to the top and another who expects to be one of Scotlands next big exports. So pretty much the shy retiring usual bunch there then. But also as usual I maintain that this is a great platform for project managers and project management. Not that is shows the true skill of a project manager of course it doesnt. Not that the project managers or team leaders as they are now increasingly referred to by Lord Sugar they themselves still call themselves project managers though have a clue about project management. And not that the challenges are in any way realistically attuned to what a real project is like. No but it is good for project management because it is a massive one of the top TV program... 2012-3-21 15:09:06 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#114130 HighEnd PM the new niche social network targeted toward the most successful and influential leaders in the project management industry today celebrates connecting members from over 50 countries. Our vision is to be the most wellrespected highly regarded global network of successful leaders in the project management industry. Bill Mabry Founder Chicago IL March 06 2012 Project program and portfolio managers from over 50 countries around the world have discovered a new niche project management social network HighEnd PM httpwww.highendpm.com HighEnd PMs membership is targeted toward the most successful and influential leaders in the project management industry. Its founder Bill Mabry states Our vision is to be the most wellrespected highly regarded global network of successful leaders in the project management industry. We intend to harness the best that social media has to offer to enable our members to effectively and efficiently grow their professional network learn and collab... 2012-3-8 08:43:15 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113424 There was a very famous at least in the UK advertisement for a type of beer that is brewed using bottomfermenting yeast at lower temperatures and for longer durations than those typically used to brew ales I of course mean lager. Now for those of you who may never have seen this advertisement then the joke was that whilst it was not allowed to declare that the goods a company sold and promoted were the best this Danish brewer and their ad agency came up with the tagline that their lager was probably the best lager in the world. Very clever probably the best. Now The Lazy Project Manager received an accolade recently that on the face of it may appear to be the exact opposite of such high praise and declaration but which is in my humble opinion exactly that high high praise indeed. Better than even probably the best. With the benefit of the international success of The Lazy Project Manager book I have been extremely fortunate to secure speaking engagements in Brazil USA UK Hungary I... 2012-3-5 12:50:40 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113423 Our customers really love us so they dont care if their projects are late and dont work. Is this what you think Is this what your project customers are really saying How about this We figure its more profitable to have 50 overruns than to spend 15 on project management to prevent them. Do you ever get to hear that one Now I am not sure what sort of project world that you exist in but in my world the commercial software world there is often a challenge in getting customers of our products to accept the need to invest in project management from us as the product and services supplier. Here are some ideas on how to address some of the common pushbacks that you might receive in this situation Im just buying the software and support from you I dont have a project Your response By investing in our technology you are internally committed to deploying a solution and as such you need to consider the management of your investment in terms of scope deadlines and budget This is jus... 2012-3-4 12:49:26 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113425 Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. Charlie McCarthy Edgar Bergen Do you want to do more with less effort Do you desperately want a better worklife balance Then you need to start by asking yourself some fundamental questions when the next job piece of work task or request comes your way. Tip 1 Do I want to do this piece of work job or task etc Even if I do want to do it do I need to do it Dont do something just because everyone else does it or because it is the usual thing to do. Just running with the pack is never going to allow you to take control of your own time and will only lead you in to overcommitments. If you really want to change things for the better then begin by asking yourself two questions Is this really necessary and Is this really worth doing If the answer is no to either of these questions then simply dont do it Of course there will be times when you ignore this advice because you are compelled to get involved because it is t... 2012-3-3 12:55:05 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113422 Critical to any projects success is having a good project sponsor but like the saying goes you can pick your friends but you cant pick your relatives and the same is true of project sponsors. So what makes a good project sponsor and how do you deal with the one you have just inherited for your project The Project Sponsor is the key stakeholder representative for the project and provides the necessary support for the Project Manager with the primary responsibility of achievement of the project objectives and benefits. An inappropriate choice of Project Sponsor can seriously impact the possibility of success of the project and provide you the project manager with an unwanted additional overhead. Now you cant practically ask a sponsor for their CV and put them through a formal interview process nice as it would be sometimes to utter the phrase Im sorry but I just dont think that this is the job for you right now. But you should evaluate the sponsor you have and complete in a subtle wa... 2012-3-3 12:46:14 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113421 Its not that Im so smart its just that I stay with problems longer. Albert Einstein There are probably as many definitions of intelligence as there are experts who study it. Simply put however intelligence can be described as the ability to learn about learn from understand and interact with ones environment. This general ability consists of a number of specific abilities including 183 Adaptability to a new environment or to changes in the current environment 183 Capacity for knowledge and the ability to acquire it 183 Capacity for reason and abstract thought 183 Ability to comprehend relationships 183 Ability to evaluate and judge 183 Capacity for original and productive thought Environment in this definition has a wider meaning that includes a persons immediate surroundings including the people around him or her. Environment in this case can also be something as small as a family the workplace or a perhaps a project team. A pr... 2012-3-2 12:44:53 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113678 1st March 2012 Arras People the project management recruitment specialists are 10 years old in 2012 and to mark the occasion they have launched Ten in Ten A Celebration of Project Management Prize Draws. For each and every month over the next 10 months Arras People are giving the project management community an opportunity to win some great prizes. Each month a Ten in Ten prize draw will feature an Arras People sponsor chosen because of their links to the project management industry and Arras People over the last ten years. Those taking part include the Association for Project Management APM Gower Publishing PMI UK PMI Synergy APMG TCC Training amp Consultancy Parallel Project Training DSDM Consortium and Management Concepts. Prizes include book bundles worth over 163600 training courses conference tickets and gadgets. Each visitor to the Ten in Ten web pages at Arras People has the opportunity to take part in the Prize Draw by completing a short 2 minute survey before bei... 2012-3-1 16:29:12 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113420 The importance of being accessible but in a controlled way Im all for being there for people honest I am. Its 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 noone 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 num... 2012-3-1 12:43:25 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113418 What should the theme tune be for all project managers I recently ran a survey to find out the answer to this critical question and all of you PMs out there in project management world climbed aboard the bandwagon and voted in your thousands. At the end of stage one of the LinkedIn discussions I had 187 suggested tunes and by the end of the full campaign over 200 tunes. No one can argue that the project management musical taste was not a full and varied one for sure There was even a purpose built or rather penned offering in the shortlist from Mr IPM Day himself Frank Saladis The Project Manager Blues. Beyond that we had suggestions ranging from classical to heavy metal and through punk and new wave and many more such as Bob the Builder and The Muppets theme tunes. Spoiler Alert This is the part where whilst there are no strobing effects or scenes of an adult nature you may just get upset and so I have to be cautious and provide a warning or alert to what follows. Therefore if yo... 2012-2-29 12:42:07 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113416 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 doesnt like then they rarely say anything to your face behind your back of course but not to your face. And mostly in business you dont do much that only carries your name mostly it is a team effort. But as an author you put it to the peoples vote and sometimes that just decide that you arent 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. Lets start with the painful one mainly because I dont want to be seen to b... 2012-2-28 12:40:48 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113406 Just to remind ourselves there are typically three styles of PMO directive supportive and controlling. The directive PMO actually manages the projects by using the project management team that is part of the PMO. The supportive PMO generally provides help in the form of ondemand expertise templates best practices and expertise etc. And the controlling PMO offers guidance and discipline with a desire to improve by standardising on the process and the method. The reality is that very few PMOs are just any one of these types but rather they are a blended mix of 2 or 3 of the PMO types. In a recent survey I undertook the results from 590 PMOs across the world showed that 80 were not directive PMOs but a mixture of supportive controlling and with 33 blended that is a mix of activities depending upon individual project need. So the majority of PMOs seem to avoid the direct self managing of projects. In my own PMO we aim to avoid direct ownership of projects except in a few specific cases... 2012-2-27 10:10:41 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113405 The project management office PMO is one of the fastestgrowing concepts in project management today but its not the only answer. The PMO was born to aid the project manager. Surely then the PMO and as a direct result you would benefit if there were a parallel organization for the technical managers consultants architects design specialists gurus of the world of application configuration and so on. The PMO is not and should not be an isolated body talking only to the project managers. It should be one of many business units leading the delivery of company strategy. Align the PMO to a single technical body no matter what it is and then align the two through a common process or methodology. Think about your own inhouse project methodology for a moment. Is it just for project managers or does it extend to integrate the technical tasks Does it recognize the nonproject management roles and responsibilities Does it involve the technical deliveries and control mechanisms It should. If yo... 2012-2-27 10:09:53 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113404 Just as a project is not for life A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product service or result we all know the PMBoK definition I am sure and a program is not for life either A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way again drawing from the PMBoK definition then as the home for project managers and projects and programs should we not consider the evolution of the PMO is the same light The PMO has become the place to be for many project managers and is perceived mostly correctly by the businesses that they support to be of significant value in driving the quality of the projects they oversee in an increasingly project based world. It is also a pretty good career move for many experienced project managers wanting to progress up the ranks. But there is a danger. If the PMO is seen as a body or unit that has no end goal then it will become purely a home for operational activity. If it is seen as only the home of process methodology... 2012-2-27 10:06:48 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113403 Taking it all a little less seriously can be good for your project health 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. In the years I have done many things to encourage team bonding lighten the darker moments of project hell and diffuse difficult project related situations. I have even accepted the full and complete blame for every problem issue and challenge to a project in front of a room full of project team members before walking outside and firing myself in a loud voice well voices one mine and one me pretending to be my boss. The net result... 2012-2-27 10:04:42 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113402 I have been doing a lot of driving recently which I enjoy as it gives me a lot of time to myself to think. One of the topics that I have been thinking a lot about is Green project management and sustainability in general. I was fortunate enough to attend the IPMA International Expert Seminar Zurich back in February 2010 which focused on sustainability of projects in the future. This was a great topic and one that the expert audience and me discussed passionately and at times strongly about but one which became challenging when specifically speaking about project management itself. Creating and initiating greener projects in the future is one thing but managing a predefined project in a green way is definitely something else. As a project manager our job is to deliver on time to budget etc and we operate within tight parameters and often limited authority. So back to the car Think of the project manager as a chauffeur. The project owner is the vehicle owner. So if the owner decid... 2012-2-27 10:03:26 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113398 How should new project managers learn from the Old beans When my kids were young they loved to play one particular game at the annual birthday parties. This game involved Beans all of the kids standing ready and waiting for instructions and then the cry would go up of Beans and the game would begin. Runner beans as a call would mean that everyone had to run on the spot. Jumping beans meant naturally a lot of jumping up and down in one place. French beans meant a chorus of Ooh la las and waving of arms in a posh French way. And Baked beans meant ... well you know kids so I am sure that you can work that one out for yourself. It goes without saying this is the one Bean that they loved the most. Then at the end a final call would be Human beans and the kids were back to normal human beings or back to kids anyway which meant even more noise and dancing around and general excitement. At my new company I hear a lot about Green beans and the challenge of inducting and developing raw tale... 2012-2-27 07:53:28 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113397 THE VALUE OF LESSONS LEARNED THE ART OF GOOD PROJECT CLOSURE Either you have been missing something or nothing has really been going on As we know there are known knowns There are things we know we know We also know there are known unknowns That is to say we know there are some things we do not know But there are also unknown unknowns The ones we dont know we dont know Donald Rumsfeld Department of Defence news briefing. That is one crazy set of words but actually there is a lot of sense in the whole thing. Here you are at the end of the project. It has been a success or at the very least is has not been a complete failure and you are about to head off to the next project. But wait do you really honestly know everything Do you know what you dont know Well of course you dont you cant possibly. So dont fool yourself that you do So what do you do about it Well what you do about it is to do something about it now is the time to conduct a retrospective of your project a review... 2012-2-27 07:51:43 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113396 Having my first book The Lazy Project Manager published by Infinite Ideas changed my professional life. I had ambitions to widen my audience and to get on to the international speaking circuit. It was only once I had a book to support and promote me that I began to be noticed. A book lends gravitas and authority to its author assuming its a good book and all the evidence suggests that The Lazy Project Manager is indeed a good book It can set agendas. It receives reviews in trade media that raise the authors profile. The book has helped me internationally too. The Lazy Project Manager has been a bestseller on Amazon Kindle store in the USA and Ive had a huge number of enquiries for speaking gigs and consultancy as a result I have presented in New Zealand Brazil USA Germany Poland France Romania Sweden Hungary Netherlands and many more. There are many project management books already in the market but there is equally an ever greater demand for knowledge and shared experience guidanc... 2012-2-27 07:50:48 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113394 If you wish to persuade me you must think my thoughts feel my feelings and speak my words Cicero Roman orator and statesman. And where better to focus the art of productive laziness than 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 7080 of a project managers time will be spent in communicating. That is 7080 of their 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 7080 of your time how much more relaxed would you be There is to my mind a great book Alpha Project Managers by Andy Crowe1 it t... 2012-2-27 07:49:36 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113393 Critical to any projects success is having a good project manager we all know but after that then it is pretty important to have a good project sponsor but like the saying goes you can pick your friends but you cant pick your relatives and the same is true of project sponsors. The job specification But what exactly is a project sponsor supposed to do Well the responsibilities for project sponsors typically include 183 Providing direction and guidance for strategies and initiatives 183 Negotiate funding for the project 183 Actively participating in the initial project planning 183 Identifying project Steering Committee members 183 Working with the Project Manager to develop the Project Charter 183 Identifying and quantifying business benefits to be achieved by successful implementation of the project 183 Reviewing and approving changes to plans priorities deliverables schedule etc. 183 Gaining agreement am... 2012-2-27 07:47:47 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113355 The Lazy Project Manager is pleased to announce that his book will be the very first book reviewed by the new PM Book Club About PM Book Club The Project Management Book Club is the online book club for project managers and project teams. Through our online book club forum PM Book Club members study and discuss popular and relevant books about project management and project teams WITH the book authorsHow Does This WorkThe process is simple. We pick a book about project management. We set a start date. We order the book. We study and discuss it in our members only forum. We plan to launch one new project management book study each month. We will assign a moderator to facilitate the discussion. The moderator will post an assigned reading for the week and members will use the post to ask questions and comment on the reading. And once again the AUTHOR of the book will participate in the discussions The first book we plan to study is The Lazy Project Manager by Peter ... 2012-2-26 16:35:36 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113352 A big yo yo from the master mixer TLPM That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet William Shakespeare from Romeo and Juliet Or to put it another way Hi My name is... what My name is... who. My name is... Slim Shady. Hi My name is... huh My name is... what. My name is... Slim Shady Eminem Marshall Mathers I do like to have a good contrast in life and that was certainly one of the extreme ones. But the point is that we all use tags nicknames brands titles whatever you would like to call them. Some such as Slim Shady aka Eminem aka Marshall Mathers aka ... more than most perhaps but we use them all the time. The other day I was cheerfully teasing my teenage son us fathers have to have some pleasures in life after all about his musical tastes a lot that I actually share with him and particularly about some of their names. Tiny Tempah being a good example. A huge star these days but excuse me if you will a rather silly name I think and one that would have ... 2012-2-26 16:31:09 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113349 I have seen in the companies that I have worked for and I am sure that you have all seen it as well the special ones amongst us that are on a fast track up through the organisation destined for the hallowed ground of C level appointment. And there is nothing wrong with that at all. They experience the company as broadly as possible with experiences in finance and in sales and in marketing and even sometimes in services perhaps. They get firsthand experience of the components of the businesses that will one day lead and this is a really valuable preparation. These are the one identified as having future leadership potential and any company will invest in such people for their joint futures. Sadly I have yet to see a future C work their way through the project arena the PMO the project management practise. It seems as if when it comes down to it that the project side of the business as opposed to the operational side of the business is maybe a little less important a little less attrac... 2012-2-26 16:29:20 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113348 I suspect that you will all know this story Six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephants body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe. A wise man explains to them All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned. This is a good story which shows that to explain and understand something that is complex requires the full picture. Each of the blind men was correct but together they had the greater understanding. Through a ... 2012-2-26 16:27:53 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#113347 The Lazy Project Manager and some more famous people As an author of my very first book there is a certain irresistible force that keeps me coming back to the world of Amazon book sales. Now these are confusing matters just check out the discussions on what an Amazon book ranking actually means as far as real sales are concerned and you will see what I mean. But as a new author beyond the twiceyearly royalty statements from my publishers the next best view of how the book is doing is these charts. How is The Lazy Project Manager performing Is it moving up or down the charts What are the new reviews like What are readers thinking 1 star or 5 stars In addition these days Amazon Central is a new offering you can register the books that you have written add an authors bio etc and then track some of the sales through graphical displays I say some because the one thing I have discovered in publishing world is that nothing is that simple. But I think the best are the top 100 listings. For... 2012-2-26 16:25:16 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#112094 Your help is needed please to gain some insight in to the state of project sponsorship today. Three ways you can help 1. Complete a short survey here httpswww.surveymonkey.comsStrategies4Sponsors 2. Go to the website httpstrategies4sponsors.com and share your project sponsor stories 3. Share all of this with all of your project contacts Thank you Peter Be Lazy 2012-2-8 19:34:52 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#110031 It is important to understand the balance of change if you want to change your ways to those of a lazy winner building on the concept of productive laziness which encourages people to apply more thought before leaping into action and throwing effort at a problem or task. Without reaching some sort of escape velocity as in space flight you will never do anything different. Deciding to be different or to bring about some form of change is most often easier done when you have no choice in the matter when outside forces give you no option other than to change. But we are talking here about reaching the point of conscious decision to make a personal change. Look at it this way. To move anyone towards change there is a balancing act that needs to be performed. There are a number of resistances that stop change taking place or at least allow you to put up personal arguments against changing these might be small voices in your head that you hear from time to time Cost. Everything has a ... 2012-1-9 13:04:54 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#109704 Three wishes for 2012 1 Travel to Iceland I have always wanted to go there anyone want a speaker in 2012 or PM workshop Three wishes for 2012 2 Get a sponsor for httpwww.thelazyprojectmanager.com and the lazy podcast anyone out there Three wishes for 2012 3 Finally write that novel and get it published of course. 2012-1-4 16:49:42 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#107755 200th Project Management Podcast released Popular podcast celebrates 200 episodes of helping people understand project management with an interview extravaganza show. SILVERADO November 29 2011 The 200th episode of The Project Management Podcast is released today celebrating 6 years of bringing project management topics to beginners and experts. The fourpart episode includes interviews with twenty project management experts who all provide their unique opinions about the numberone challenge that project management is facing today. Our bicentennial podcast both looks back at how far project management has come and reflects on the future says Cornelius Fichtner PMP President OSP International LLC and host of The Project Management Podcast. We are used to working with project management experts on the show but this is our biggest interview podcast ever. Im really pleased we have so many great contributions from industry leaders. The project management superstars shari... 2011-11-29 07:43:20 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#107696 It is your decision What do you get for passing GO in Monopoly Some play money. What do you get for taking over a troubled project Nothing. The only thing you probably get is a warm handshake and I am so happy to have you here you are such an experienced project manager you know how to master this. Welcome to daily madness. Everyone is on the run due dates are late the budget is exceeded the customer moans stakeholders shake their heads... And if you want to go crazy dont you dare to stop doing everything exactly as your predecessor did. Just continue and play your given role. I did not. I had no wish to end with a burnout. I assessed the project and decided to experiment. I developed and stayed with some personal convictions and I tried some techniques from the Agile project management. I started with a so called Swedish coffee. In Sweden so I was told by one of my team project teams use to sit in coffee corners and discuss project relevant matters of all kind and priority. No ... 2011-11-28 13:11:13 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#105455 Well a whirlwind three days lets go for a name check for some of the people I met in Dallas Cornelius Fichtner Elizabeth Harrin Rick Morris all the lovely people at RMC Mark Perry Jim de Piante Mark Gray Anna Massot Michel Thiry Andrew Filev Aaron Smith Todd Williams Dave Shirley Nathaniel Quintana and well and so many many more apologies if I have missed you off the list you are all great lazy friends. A special mention should go to Gantthead CEO and editor of a brand new book Project Pain Reliever Dave Garrett. This is an insightful easyaccess guide to the most common project management problems for new and accidental project managers. Project Pain Reliever is a unique book designed to satisfy the needs of new project managers and accidental project managers that exist in many professions and industries where their position requires that they manage projects as a temporary role but not a profession. Designed for quick and easy access it covers both the art and science of projec... 2011-10-26 16:15:30 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#105371 This week started early as I had to head down to Portsmouth to catch an overnight Ferry to Caen France. This was quite a pleasant experience. The crossing was smooth the ship Brittany Ferries Mont St Michel was modern and smart and it was very quiet as well with only a few passengers. I enjoyed a cabin to sleep in and in the early hours of Monday morning I found myself at the NXP building ready for the PMI France Atlantic event. My hosts Eric Maurice and Mark Gray once again looked after me well and I enjoyed a series of fine presentations from a number of people including finally getting to see Jim de Piante in action excellent. Congratulations to the PMI France Atlantic chapter for gathering such a great group of speakers I look forward to hearing news of future events. The audience received my keynote The Art of Productive Laziness very well and I feel I left a lot more wouldbe lazy project managers in France as I departed after an excellent meal with my hosts for the 11pm over... 2011-10-25 13:12:15 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#105050 Week 2 This week was filled with various radio interviews promoting The Lazy Winner but the big item was my trip to London to film a short piece for BBC2 The Daily Politics Show. They wanted to interview me relating to how MPs Members of Parliament could be successful and lazy. The recording took place just down from Parliament at The Cinnamon Club. They have a private bar where Simon Hoggart The Guardian and myself were interviewed by David Thompson from The Daily Politics show. It was a fast and furious process with question after question repeated and rephrased captured by the camera. Within a very short time I found myself back outside on the streets of London wondering how on earth they would make something good out of all that material. You can see the results here httpwww.bbc.co.uknewsukpolitics15290499 in addition there was quite a good discussion in the studio with the presenters and exMP Martin Bell. I took a stroll after the recording and enjoyed a coffee in the autumn... 2011-10-20 08:36:36 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#105049 Week 1 Now I talk all the time about being lazy and combining this with the smart working approach thereby being productively lazy. This month has really tested this theory or proved this hopefully to the limit. Let me tell you about what I have been up to. My new books are out Leading Successful PMOs Gower and The Lazy Winner Infinite Ideas which is great news. Strangely since they were written 6 months apart they ended up being published only two days apart and both needed some marketing activities right at the beginning of the month. For Leading Successful PMOs I have in conjunction with my publishers Project magazine the PMOSIG and some others started a global award for PMO Leader of the Year check it out at www.leadingsuccessfulpmos.com . And for The Lazy Winner it is a series of radio and TV interviews that take my time. I am also in the middle of reviewing the various case studies that I have had submitted by a number of collaborators for a future book Project Branding Go... 2011-10-20 08:24:45 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#105026 Local London event PMO Leadership On Tuesday 29th November 2011 the PMO SIG will be holding its last local London Event for 2011 and will feature two presentations covering the PMO. Hosted by CAFOD the international aid agency the meeting will start with an overview of the PMO within CAFOD by Anke Bysouth the PMO Manager. Delegates will then hear from Peter Taylor author of The Lazy Project Manager and more recently Leading Successful PMOs. The presentation is about successfully leading a PMO whatever you understand by those three letters to deliver better projects better business to the customers of those projects and to the organisation that you work for and to best serve the contributing project managers from both a professional and a personal perspective. Each local PMO SIG meeting allows time for networking with the opportunity to carry on the discussions at a local pubbar. To book a place for this event please click here httpwww.apm.org.ukeventpmoleadership 2011-10-19 19:38:49 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#104613 A guest post by James Resetco Business Development FindTheBest Thanks to the recession executives have to do more with less because of spending cuts reallocation of resources and layoffs. But that doesnt mean you have to give up your diligent commitment to productive laziness as a project manager PM. Using the best Project Management Software PMS reduces the cost and maximizes the efficiency of project completion by augmenting team collaboration and realization of results with visual benchmarks automated updates and consolidated of information. Why do Lazy PMs use PMS 1 Controls project through prioritization 2 Aligns and organizes strategies competing projects and budgetary constraints 3 Manages resources by identifying surplus and deficits and scheduling to maximize employee availability. What do Lazy PMs look for in a competitive software analysis 1 Open Source vs. Proprietary MAG Softwrx is an example of a proprietary technology ... 2011-10-14 07:51:23 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#102708 Chinese Proverb Pearls lie not on the seashore. If thou desirest one thou must dive for it. Two significant things have happened Firstly I registered for the PMI Global Congress in Dallas in October and secondly I had yet another very nice Chinese meal at my local restaurant. Now my local Chinese restaurant has in case you were at all interested 192 menu options and 14 set menus on offer. I strongly suspect that your own local Chinese restaurant will have a similar number of good things to eat on their menu. PMI Congress has again if you were at all interested 160 sessions that I could attend if I a wished and b could time travel in order to be in parallel sessions and c could survive. It is a fact that despite the 192 menu options that I could select I tend to fairly regularly go for the same options each time I dine Chinese style. Actually all of my family does the same thing. We arrive in the restaurant take our seats order drinks and then peruse the menu for 5 or 10 minutes ... 2011-9-18 08:20:03 http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/page24.htm#101679 Having my first book The Lazy Project Manager published by Infinite Ideas changed my professional life. I had ambitions to widen my audience and to get on to the international speaking circuit. It was only once I had a book to support and promote me that I began to be noticed. A book lends gravitas and authority to its author assuming its a good book and all the evidence suggests that The Lazy Project Manager is indeed a good book It can set agendas. It receives reviews in trade media that raise the authors profile. The book has helped me internationally too. The Lazy Project Manager has been a bestseller on Amazon Kindle store in the USA and Ive had a huge number of enquiries for speaking gigs and consultancy as a result I have presented in New Zealand Brazil USA Germany Poland France Romania Sweden Hungary Netherlands and many more. There are many project management books already in the market but there is equally an ever greater demand for knowledge and shared experience guidanc... 2011-9-2 19:46:39