The “Do’s” and “Don’t’s” of Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolutionIt sometimes amazes me how much energy, time and resources are being wasted on unnecessary conflicts. Projects are delayed because the stakeholders are not speaking to one another, e-mails are left unanswered because “how dare they?!”, critical information is withheld in a vain hope to reach some relative advantage, but in the end – everyone loses when company begins to lay-off people it cannot employ anymore. So today I’d like to talk about how we deal with conflicts and about the pitfalls that are awaiting us in this complex task. Continue reading

What we can learn from the difference in perception of Strategic/ Tactical/Operational levels in Business and Military worlds?

Strategic Tactical OperationalI’ve already mentioned how Planning in Management is influenced by concepts devised in the Military. It’s natural, therefore, that today we usually divide Planning into three analytical levels with a strong military flavor: Operational, Tactical and Strategic (a clear example of a classical proverb that in the Military everything consists of three parts :-)). Continue reading

Risk Assessment model – watch out for Biases!

riskIn my post on Risk Awareness  I promised to provide you with a comprehensive model for managing your risks, so here I am, fulfilling my promise 🙂

Successful managing of risks is based on their proper assessment, because the main decisions you’ll be making here would mostly be about dedicating resources for dealing with the risks. Knowing to assess the risks correctly will help you prioritize the investment of resources for each and every one of them. The model will help you Continue reading

Raising awareness of Risk Awareness

managing_risksLiving in an uncertain world makes proper Risk Management critical for survival. In our age of frequent natural and man-made disasters, volatile markets and economic meltdowns, recognizing and targeting of possible risks is of Manager’s highest priorities. Continue reading

Disaster Management – something to learn from

Disaster ManagementLet’s admit it: the crisis is no longer at our doorstep, it’s already making havoc inside the house. It’s not a question of falling or not falling from a “fiscal cliff”, it’s a question of having just further cliffs before you instead of straight road.

This may well mean that ALL MANAGERS IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS ARE GONNA BECOME CRISIS MANAGERS. Continue reading

Why the SKY doesn’t FALL on the ground or the myth of the Lonely Hero

Why the SKY doesn't FALL on the ground or the myth of the Lonely Hero1As you may have noticed from my previous posts, I’m a big fan of movies, especially classical ones, and nothing has more class on a square foot of film than the 007 series. I frequently find myself exchanging reviews with my friends and putting the movie’s messages (subliminal or obvious) under scrutiny, Continue reading

Employees’ Loyalty – Corporate vs. Personal

Employees' Loyalty – corporate vs. personalIn one of my previous posts we’ve already discussed Employees’ Loyalty and its importance for proper Team Management. Now it’s time to understand how it could be successfully defined, increased and sustained.

Let’s start with a meaningful definition. Continue reading

Decision-Making and Strategic Planning: how to fight Uncertainty

Decision making and Strategy planning: How to fight UncertaintyDecision-making by its nature has a natural connection to long-term planning: by trying our best to make our decisions better we’re trying to influence the future. Taking into account our decisions and their possible consecutive outcomes is practically the essence of planning strategically. The problem is: how can we know the results of our future decisions to plan our next move? How can we fight the uncertainty of the future? Continue reading

8 Myths on Project Manager vs. the “Real” Manager, Part 2

Myth

5. “Soft skills are for goofs such as the Project Manager because he doesn’t know how it all works”

It’s not smart to allow your level of technical knowledge to cloud the perception of human relationships. Continue reading

8 Myths on Project Manager vs. the “Real” Manager, Part 1

MythAs I promised, in this post I’ll discuss eight main misconceptions about the status of Project Manager as a “Real” Manager. There are probably more, but these are the ones I’ve encountered the most during my experience in different organizations. Take a look at them, and it might facilitate your work tremendously. Continue reading