John F Kennedy said “…..
By Raymond Keckler | February 24, 2009
“It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today, and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the tax rates….[A]n economy constrained by high tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance the budget, just as it will never create enough jobs or profits.”
Topics: Business | No Comments »
Monster.com reports theft of user data
By Raymond Keckler | January 27, 2009
If anyone has personal information on monster.com, change your passwords. You can find more info here: CIO info on Monster.com theft
Topics: Chatter | No Comments »
Tips on Managing Conflict
By Raymond Keckler | October 11, 2008
- Avoid talking about the person whom you have are in conflict. Talk TO them instead.
- There other person has a point of view that is also legitimate and reasonable to them as your point of view is to you.
- The other person may be as uncomfortable about the conflict as you are.
- If you are sincere about your intentions, the other person will often be willing to find a solution.
- Always keep to the issues of the discussion and avoid arguements that are personal.
- Instead of dwelling on who or what caused the conflict, move to what can be done to provide a solution or alternative to the conflict that exists.
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Some Insights into Project Failure
By Raymond Keckler | October 9, 2008
I hate project failure especially when it can be avoided. There are two issues I see happen all the time. These issues prevent the project from achieving the success it should have. These issues are easy to prevent. I guess that is what irritates me the most.
The first key issue I see is the lack of clearly defined projects at the executive level. We get vague outlines of the project. No clearly defined objectives or wants are laid out. With this comes the lack of prioritizing the projects. To many times I see a new vague project that comes out and it has to be done now. All other projects must be put on hold. What this does is to prevent the projects put on hold to actually come to fruition. When the vague project is started, scope creep sets in. Since it was not clearly defined, new ideas and wants get added in while the project is being worked. Some call this Agile development. Agile development is not adding in changes while the project is being worked. Agile development is small iterations that go through a full software development cycle. Each iteration is clearly defined and each iteration is a final release with minimal bugs. The iteration might not have all the functionality for a final release but the goal is to have a release that works. Again Agile development is not continually putting in changes while the project is being worked.
Topics: Project Management | No Comments »
Project Time Management – Part 3 Activity Resource Estimating
By Raymond Keckler | May 14, 2008
When estimating resources you will need some items. The activity list from the activity definition phase will be needed. It identifies the schedule activities for the resource that are estimated. The activity attributes will help provide the data input for the resource for each scheduled activity. We will also need a resource availability list. This list will tell us what resources are available and when. Resources might not be in the same geographical location. Scheduling will be an issue if this is not taken into consideration. In the beginning, both experienced and non-experienced personnel can be considered. Near the end, experienced personnel will be needed most. The pool of resources should be narrowed to those that are knowledgeable about the project. The last part needed is the Project Management Plan. We need the schedule of the project to coordinate the schedule of the resources.
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Topics: Project Management | 1 Comment »