This Focused Performance Weblog started life as a "business management blog" containing links and commentary related primarily to organizational effectiveness with a "Theory of Constraints" perspective, but is in the process of evolving towards primary content on interactive and mobile marketing. Think of it as about Focusing marketing messages for enhanced Performance. If you are on an archive page, current postings are found here.
Friday, September 27, 2002
• Marketing yesterday and project management today -- It must be CIO week. From Gantthead, a site dedicated to issues of project management, Five Things the CIO Can Do For Us lays out a short list of advice for what the author (John Sullivan) thinks would "help create a more loyal and dedicated IT staff and save a few bucks in the process."They include:
• Stop Coddling the Executive Staff...
• Back Our Efforts to Change the Business...
• Enforce Project Governance
There is a huge gap between company priorities, departmental projects and individual goals on performance review forms. To bridge that gap, some departments and people consistently go outside the project governance system to get pet projects done, and these folks wreak havoc on staff morale--and the IT budget. You know who they are, yet do nothing about them. Apply some pressure to these people and their VPs to start complying with existing policies. This is one battle you should pick because it will focus staff and budget on the priorities that you actually want done.
• Fund Training...
• Help Change the Company Attitude about Consultants...
I liked the sound of that last one, but he's really talking about making contract programmers that most companies rely on part of the team. ;-)
I included the full quote from the bullet on project governance, since I feel it should be at the top of the list. The impact of the failure of management to set an maintain priorities, or at least explicitly recognize when they change (and act accordingly) is at the source of so much wasted time and effort in these environments, due to the pressure for multi-tasking that it generates. (By the way, Gantthead requires a free registration, but it is, in my opinion, the best site dedicated to the broad scope of project management that I've seen. Their forums even seem to appreciate my comments on the use of Critical Chain PM processes. If you're interested in PM, it's worth the sharing of minimal info about yourself and visiting Gantthead every once in a while.)
posted by Frank - Permanent Link -
|
View Frank Patrick's profile
