by | 12 September 2012 · 6:19 pm

Clichés – love them or hate them – can they make you a better project manager?

Are we totally over clichés or is the jury still out on that one down under?  According to social researcher Mark McCrindle – at the end of the day, it’s not rocket science, Australians hate clichés. But could some clichés help us to become better project managers? Duncan Haughey seems to think so…

I stumbled across this article on ProjectSmart. I’d love to hear what you think of it. Anyway, enjoy!

Know any PM clichés?

Clichés are funny. We don’t like to hear them, but we often use them in everyday conversation. Clichés are a useful way to make a point because the meaning of them is universally understood, even if not entirely true.

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by | 22 August 2012 · 7:28 pm

This Is How Women And Men Are Different In The Workplace – Sneak Preview

Rosie the Riveter – read more about her fascinating role in WWII at the bottom

OK – I don’t want to make today’s whole blog about how the sisters are taking over the world, (cue maniacal laughter), but I guess one sees what one is thinking about, right?

(You know, like someone says “pregnant” and for the next day all you see on the streets is babies?)

So anyway, I was roaming around the net and found this interesting commentary from Business Insider. What do you think?

Men and Women – the Difference at Work

There is a major shift occurring in the workforce and women are at the centre of it.

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by | 22 August 2012 · 7:26 pm

Women set to rule the workplace

How weird that this article should pop up on my computer screen five minutes after I posted an introduction to myself! Not that I happen to think MDs should “rule” their companies – guide would be a better term, in my opinion – but the coincidence really is peculiar. Anyway, what do you think? Is the glass ceiling really shattering or not? With thanks to Yahoo.

Apparently, women are increasingly going to challenge the male dominance of the workplace and will seek out organisations that support them, a report claims.

Women are set to rule the global workplace over the next few years with a record number of graduates prepare to enter the workforce.

A paper released by Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workspace, confirms there will be an influx of female talent and that over the next three years 70 per cent of graduates will be female.

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by | 17 August 2012 · 1:24 pm

Stopping burnout; the changing pressures of modern living, and how to deal with them

This is really good stuff – we will take all this into account in managing TDC, and in the way we treat our consultants. Fascinating read.

Well, This Is What I Think

 

I am indebted to Jenie for forwarding me this excellent article on the way our brain works, and how it is coping – or can be encouraged to cope – with the new styles of living we are putting in place.  I reproduce it in whole as I think it includes more commonsense than I have read in many years – not to mention a few brilliant clues for office workers and home workers alike – and it especially resonates with me as I now work from home, writing, and blogging. In the Wellthisiswhatithink office (which is usually my bedroom) I am often up at 2 am replying to a comment or bashing out some thought that has occured to me, grumbling wife beside me asking when I will ever sleep. It originally appeared wholeliving.com and kudos to them for a great story.

I warmly recommend reading it –…

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by | 2 August 2012 · 12:45 pm

The five steps to leading a great team

Really, it couldn’t be this simple, could it? Yes, it is. Follow these five rules, and your new team will be productive, happy and support you.

OK. You’ve been through the interview process, done your due diligence, and have an understanding of why there was an opening.

Perhaps the last guy got a promotion, won the lotto, or was simply not great at the job – whichever way you’ve landed the role, you’ve been brought in to replace them. So how do you get your new staff to accept you as their new leader? In my experience, there are five simple steps you need to follow.

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by | 16 July 2012 · 5:54 pm

10 Tips for Successful Business Networking

If only we knew everyone who needed our help … or who we could help.

Like any businessman, coach and consultant, I spend a fair amount of my time moving around the marketplace, making sure I know what’s going on, and keeping in touch with friends and colleagues. It’s just second nature, really.

I don’t go to networking events just to drum up business. I go to maintain comradeship, to learn what’s going on, to seek new ideas, and to contribute my own opinions, support and friendship to the process. When I remember that’s what I am doing, I find business pops up in the most unexpected places!

So I took a moment today to jot down my “Ten Successful Strategies For Networking”. They seem obvious, but I often forget them, so writing them down was a useful reminder to me, too!

Effective business networking is the linking together of individuals who, through trust and relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another.

THE TOP TEN TIPS

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by | 18 June 2012 · 4:38 pm

In case you didn’t already realise, I’m a Pig

You know, some people have been saying that for years! But no, I don’t mean I’m an ill-mannered, rude, uncaring bigot. I simply mean I am fully committed to achieving my goals.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the riddle ‘In a bacon and egg breakfast what’s the difference between the chicken and the pig?’ – ‘The chicken’s involved but the pig is committed’.

Are you committed, involved, or something else?

It’s been applied to all manner of things from scrum agile project management to sports. And yet it’s a concept, when expanded, which can be applied to nearly any endeavour. I was thinking about this and you know what? I felt there’s a whole farm that needs calling out.

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by | 18 May 2012 · 4:12 pm

The Euro crisis explained by Blackadder

Baldrick: “What I want to know, Sir is, before there was a Euro there were lots of different types of money that different people used. And now there’s only one type of money that all the foreign people use.

And what I want to know is, how did we get from one state of affairs to the other state of affairs?”

Blackadder: “Baldrick. Do you mean, how did the Euro start?”

Baldrick: “Yes, Sir, if it please you, Sir.”

Blackadder: “Well, you see Balders me lad, way back in the good old 1980s there were many different countries all running their own economies and using different types of money. Oh, the messy, wild fun of it all!

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by | 12 May 2012 · 1:34 pm

This Mother’s Day – send hope, not flowers.

The following article is from Julie Ulbricht at mamamia.com.au. It’s reproduced in full.

Send hope, not flowers by Julie Ulbricht

Last year a girl I went to school with died in childbirth. I was in  shock when I heard the news. She went into labour in a hospital in  Melbourne, there were extreme complications and she died – leaving her  baby to be raised by her devastated partner. Everyone I ran into that  knew her was dumbfounded. Who dies in childbirth in Australia?

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by | 9 May 2012 · 6:36 pm

Quadruple Bottom Line Reporting – Would You Adopt It For Your Organisation?

QBLR – the way of the future?

By Shane Thornton – an excellent article, which I stumbled onto on eHow, and I really recommend it. It’s very thought-provoking. Everyone knows about Triple Line Reporting, but Quadruple Line?

As an organisation specifically set up to marry good business practice to philanthropic outcomes, this fascinates me, especially as it touches on the personal aspects of peope’s lives. I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who has implemented QBLR, and their experience of it, or anyone who is interested to explore it, but doesnt know where to start. Is this something The Different Company should be helping people to achieve?

Cheers, Tippo.

Quadruple bottom line reporting uses the idea of triple bottom line reporting as its foundation; it makes businesses accountable and responsible for the economic, social, environmental and spiritual effects of doing business. Although triple bottom line reporting is much more popular, the newer idea of quadruple bottom line reporting and the addition of a spiritual aspect is quickly gaining support.

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