Have you ever started a new project without having a plan in place? What was the outcome of doing this? Was is troublesome trying to figure out the project path you were going to take without a clue of how it was going to end? Then let me share a few tips on starting a project right so that you can ensure it ends correctly.
Some of the things that you should dow when starting a project are:

Determine the goals that you want to accomplish by the end of the project.
Determine the timeline; whether the project will have an end date …read more

Last week, I started a new journey of becoming radically transparent online and I shared about it in the blog post, “Journey To Radical Transparency, Week 1“. This week, I want to share about the continual process of being radically transparent. In starting my journey, I read how others are becoming radically transparent online and how it is helping them to grow their business and personal brands.

The focus this week ends the first section and starts the second section of the book entitled, “Radically Transparent” by Andy Beal and Dr. Judy Strauss. Below are the key points that …read more

Have you been trying to figure out a business solution that has you stumped? Does it seem like your business is in control and you are out of control? Then let me share with some great advice from Sid Kemp, from Entrepreneur.com.
According to Sid in an article entitled “6 Steps to Better Business Solutions“, one of the first things that he suggested that  you do is “List Your Problems“. Basically he suggest that you create a quick to-do list of things that you need to do so that you can create a “Better Business Solutions” that are very beneficial to …read more

Have you ever felt like someone looking for Waldo/Wally when it comes to your business plan? Has your business plan been missing or you just couldn’t figure out how to organize your business just like it is when someone is trying to figure out “Where’s Waldo/Wally“?
Just to explain for those who don’t know about “Where’s Waldo/Wally”, it is a book that has pages of different images which contain tiny people doing various things. The whole object is to find Waldo/Wally amoung all of the tiny people in the image. The image to the right is a sample of what a …read more

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Elizabeth Harrin who is a Project Manager and the author of “Project Management in the Real World“. Applying project management to a business is something that could help a business streamline their processes as well as bring organization to their business.
During the interview, she shared valueable information to help Project Manager or business owners understand the basics of project management and how to apply it in every day situation.
Below is the feedback from Elizabeth while I interview her via Twitter.
Question 1: Please introduce yourself to my followers.

Question 2: What are the key areas of your …read more

As many know, when you bowl a strike you knock down all 10 pins with the bowling ball. When you bowl a strike in business, you are excelling in 10 key areas of a business. The 10 key areas that this post will focus on are:

Finance/Accounting: understanding and managing how you spend your business funds.
Marketing/Branding: managing how people see and understand your business’ products or services.
Communication: using different types of media to share the message of your business.
Partnering/Joint Venture: connecting with other business owner to cross-market your services or products.
Social Networking: interacting with potential and current clients along with business …read more

A connected project team allows its members to grow and help each other refine their skills. A disconnected project team could fracture and cause it’s members to lose their focus.
Ensuring that your project team is connected and growing is a very important tasks as a project manager. Being able to identify the key aspects of a connected and growing team can mean the difference between success and failure.
To help you identify the differenct between a connected and disconnected team, the list below was created. It can help you make sure that their project team stays connected and continues to grow.

Connected

Disconnected

Inter-team …read more

When starting a new business, it is always helpful to have a plan that will help guide the direction of your business. One of the tools that you can use to develop your plan is a mind map. More details about mind mapping can be found on this website.

Project Management Tool: MindMeister acquires MindMaker
Using Mind Mapping for Project Management

Below is a sample mind map that I have created as a way to get started with mind mapping.
click to view larger image
This is a very simple mind map that has three basic branches.

Branding: ways that you can start “advertising” your business …read more

In the previous segment about project management and teamwork, I shared how it is important to have an environment of sharing between members. In this segment, I want to share some creative ways to deal with issues that may arise in a teaming environment.
A few issues that may arise in a teaming environment

To deal with issues on a project, different process methods can be used to help solve the issues. Depending on your team environment, you might use one of the following methods.

S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats): is a strategic method of evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats …read more

Sometimes it only takes a few words to get the job done. For example, David Zinger over at Slacker Manager requested what he calls 6 word management stories.
The results, of which he’s published 52, are amazing. Take these three for instance:

First, take care of your people.
I trust you, make it happen.
Once knew all. Now know better.

Aren’t those lovely? There’s some real writing here.
Write well and often,

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Image from http://www.sxc.hu