New Site Design
By Raymond Keckler | January 18, 2008
I decided to redo the site design. I found this template at Duct Tape Business Blog Theme Designed by Cory Miller in collaboration with Duct Tape Marketing. It has the three column layout and still kept the site simple.
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Fundamental Principles of Project Management
By Raymond Keckler | January 15, 2008
R. Max Wideman wrote an article, Fundamental Principles of Project Management. It is interesting because he shows how fundamentals and practices differ. The article tells us that there is a lot of literature on how to do project management better but hardly any on the fundamental principles. He defines what a principle is and what a practice is. Knowing the definitions helps in understanding the difference between the two.
Wildeman describes what a principle in project management should contain. The criteria are as follows:
- Express a basic concept or idea.
- Be universally applicable if a successful project result is to be achieved.
- Be capable of straight forward expression in one or two sentences.
- Be self-evident to project management personnel with considerable experienced of practical project work.
- Be capable of self-evident naming with one or two words.
- Provide the basis for research, practical testing as to value, and the development of supporting ‘Practices’.
Wildeman goes on to give 7 Fundamentals Principles of Project Management.
- The Success Principle
- The goal of project management is to produce a successful product.
- The Commitment Principle
- A mutually acceptable commitment between a project sponsor and a project team must exist before a viable project exists.
- The Tetrad-Tradeoff Principle
- The core variables of the project management process, namely: product scope, quality grade, time-to-produce and cost-to-complete must all be mutually consistent.
- The Primary Communication Channel (or Unity-of-Command) Principle
- A single channel of communication must exist between the project sponsor and the project team leader for all decisions affecting the product of the project.
- The Cultural Environment (or Suitability) Principle
- An informed management must provide a supportive cultural environment to enable the project team to produce its best work.
- The Process Principle
- Effective and efficient policies and procedures must be in place for the conduct of the project commitment.
- The Life-Cycle Principle
- Plan first, then do.
To read more go here - http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/1999/pmprin.pdf
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Ready, Fire, Aim review
By Raymond Keckler | January 11, 2008
I was looking for some interesting reading so I went to Barnes and Noble the other day. I saw this book, Ready, Fire, Aim. It is written by Michael Masterson. I had not heard of him but when I brought the book home my wife said she gets his newsletter, Early to Rise. Masterson writes extremely well. He captures your interest and does not seem to let it go. This books is suppose to tell you how to develop the essential entrepreneurial skills to improve your business. Once I have read it through I will let you know. So far it is very intriguing.
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SWOT Analysis
By Raymond Keckler | January 3, 2008
The Statements
Strategies are the way a company accomplishes their mission. Strategies come from a Vision
SWOT
A SWOT
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths and weaknesses come from the internal factors. The company looks at itself to determine its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are resources that can be used to increase a company’s advantage in the market place. Some strength includes a strong brand name, good customer service or a feature rich product. Weaknesses prevent a company from growing. Weaknesses could be a weak brand name, high cost for the product, or a lack of quality employees.
Opportunities and Threats
External factors are opportunities and threats. Opportunities reveal potential profit and growth for the company. Some opportunities could be new technologies or an unfulfilled customer need. Threats represent those factors that are detrimental to the company. Competitors could have released a better tool for the customers or developed that product customers wanted.
Strategy
Vision
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Happy New Year 2008
By Raymond Keckler | January 1, 2008
Well it is the start of a new year. New hopes and new beginnings. Everyone has New Year resolutions. They make a statement to stop bad habits or start good habits. After a while those resolutions fall by the waist side. How does one keep resolutions?
First, you must want to do it. Too many people say their resolution is to lose weight. They fail very early because they really do not want to put the effort into losing the weight. The reason they do not put the effort into losing the weight is because it is not really that important to them. So when you pick a resolution, pick something that you really desire. Something that you are passionate about. This will help in keeping you on track.
Second, write down the resolution and read it every morning out loud. By writing it down you bring that thought or desire into the real world by making it concrete. Writing it down puts thought into action. Read the resolution every morning out loud. You might even want to read it several times a day out loud. Notice I said to read it out loud. Reading it out loud forces you to hear the resolution. The more times you hear it the more you learn to accept it. Politicians do this all the time. They constantly give speeches saying the same thing. The more people hear them say it the more they will believe it is true. The same goes for reading your resolution out loud. The more you hear it the more you will believe it will be true.
So start the new year off right. Make resolutions you are passionate about. Write down the resolutions. Read the resolution out loud every day. Doing this will help you to succeed in accomplishing your resolution.
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