January 20th, 2012 by paul mayes
Over recent years I’ve developed some effective material and activities to help make project teams more effective at communicating. However, a new entry in Jo Ann Sweeney’s blog at http://www.commsabilities.com/blog.asp?blogid=109 contains a useful new checklist of communication routes as well as an activity she describes as
“Create a three-column table, with as many rows as you wish. Label the columns – Comms tool – key elements – responsibility. In each row in the left hand column list each of the communication tools you use in your project. In the middle column list the key elements you need to deliver each of the comms tools, In the right hand column list the team members who have the capabilities to manage each of the key elements you have listed.”
Posted in communication management | No Comments »
January 12th, 2012 by paul mayes
I was pleased to see that possibly the best article I’ve read on how knowledge of project management can help in working in higher education is available online at http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/03/18/musgrove. I’ve recently checked with Laurence Musgrove (the author) but sadly he hasn’t written more on this subject but his work on using drawing in learning and teaching is fascinating (see www.theillustratedprofessor.com)
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
January 9th, 2012 by paul mayes
My main work this week is helping a contact to get his mutli-faculty project off to a solid start though ensuring the project team works as well as possible. In addition to the usual team building, I’m impressed that he is willing to spend hard-pressed time on clarifying with college and grant-giving stakeholders the actual time requirements for the members of the team. We are using the JISC infoNet material at http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/project-management/resourcing-the-team as the starting point for a presentation to the stakeholders
Posted in team requirements | No Comments »
January 3rd, 2012 by paul mayes
2011 was a good year in terms of the development of my training material on how having a strategy for measuring project benefits, impacts, etc will help strengthen a project proposal or bid. The material previously included market research but recently I’ve included more on having a ‘listening strategy’ for all the complex information generated in some way on social networks by your project. To quote from a really useful recent article at http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-steps-to-create-a-social-listening-strategy/?utm_source=dlvr.it
“Social analytics starts with listening. The future is all about hearing what your business ecosystem (customers, business partners, constituencies, employees, etc.) has to say and collaborating internally and externally to meet their expectations.”
Posted in listening strategy | No Comments »
December 31st, 2011 by paul mayes
My last job for a client in 2011 has been to produce training material on ‘to do lists’ to complement earlier material on task prioritisation. I was pleased that an excellent recent article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204296804577124742529431640.html adopted a very similar approach to mine including the use of the many free varieties of the Remember the Milk multitasking software (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/)
I would like to wish all my readers a healthy, happy and prosperous 2012
Posted in to do lists | No Comments »
December 27th, 2011 by paul mayes
I’ve had recommended to me a filled-out template from 2006 from Edinburgh’s Telford College (at http://www2.napier.ac.uk/transform/case_studies/institutional/files/tel_festivalbusinesscase.doc) . It is for a learning and teaching project and the material in the example contains lots of useful ideas for jusifying a project
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
December 23rd, 2011 by paul mayes
Every so often I get recommendations about educational institutions that have good resources on their project management approach within the institution. Today I had a recommendation for Imperial College London at http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/projectmanagement
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
December 18th, 2011 by paul mayes
I’ve had a couple of e-mails about an actual example of a quiz that ensures a project team is aware of the key functions, priorities, publications, etc of a potential stakeholder. I have put a 2009 example used in the UKAN-SKILLS project for download at http://www.mediafire.com/?2k033wu9wo7k8xi
Posted in stakeholders | No Comments »
December 16th, 2011 by paul mayes
My main task this week has been to write for a client a draft marketing plan for the outputs of a proposed project. It wasn’t too difficult but I noticed an interest in measurable benefits / return on investment in the grant body’s briefing material. I therefore included measures based on the findings on social media marketing measurements / ROI in the new Lenskold Group 2011 Marketing ROI and Measurement Study. This is available for download at http://www.lenskold.com/content/2011_ROI_study.html
Posted in marketing | No Comments »
December 11th, 2011 by paul mayes
Anything written by Brain Kelly is bound to be interesting but his presentation “Blogging to support project work” (available at http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/blogging-practices-to-support-project-work) will be especially useful to any project manager
Posted in blogging | No Comments »