Mistakes to Avoid in Project Management

By Jennifer Mears

When it comes to managing your projects, you should know that mistakes can and will happen even in the most meticulously-planned ones. It is more important for project managers to understand how team members and they themselves can learn from such mistakes and never repeat them again. Nevertheless, these are some areas where Project Management can decrease the possibility of mistakes and errors from happening.

Communication is key

You can never have too much communication between team members. It is important for you, as project manager, to ensure that every team member involved is updated constantly – be it on what is generally happening with the project, its time-frames and dependencies, as well as on their role. When you don’t communicate often with the team member, what you believe is a looming disaster – your team may only treat it as some minor glitch. Make sure you tell all project members what information is required, the format of the report, and how often you would like to be informed.

Define the goals and expectations clearly

Set goals and expectations of the project from the get go and communicate this information to all stakeholders clearly. Define the time, details, and resources, as well as the budget so that each stakeholder knows what to expect and no one will get disappointed. Don’t over-promise just to impress stakeholders. It is more important for you to set accurate and realistic timelines for the project.

Flexibility is required, but set the limit

When you started the project, your stakeholders will most likely come up with a long list of wishes. While you should try to be flexible in accommodating those wishes, only you as the PM and your team member that know what is really feasible and applicable. You may have to be flexible and accept some changes proposed by the stakeholder, but learn to say no if you know that the wishes will bring the project to over budget territory.

Don’t start until you hear the whistle

Before you have a signed any contract and all the terms have been agreed by the two sides – you shouldn’t try to start the project early. This is especially true in the case of a new client. It is not uncommon for customers to have a change of heart and opinion – one that may leave you in the red. Unless you already build a long term relationship with the client, always wait until you prepare all the necessary documents and agreements.

Risk management isn’t an option

When it comes to cutting corners, some project managers treat risk management as an option. Fact of the matter is, risk management is something mandatory – should you wish you avoid any surprises along the way. Take the time to brainstorm with the team about the risks and properly estimate and calculate them in the planning and controlling phases of the project.

To conclude, it is not always possible to avoid errors and mistakes 100% in a project. But these guidelines should help reduce the possibility of their occurrences. The biggest mistake of them all is one that you will face when you are not learning from past mistakes.

Jennifer Mears is a freelance author who writes about various computers and business training topics, To know more about Jennifer’s Training ideas please visit. http://www.progressivetraining.ie.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Mears
http://EzineArticles.com/?Mistakes-to-Avoid-in-Project-Management&id=6542890

In this “new economy” marketing and lead generation is a big challenge for the individual business professional. Many Americans are not willing to spend money as “freely” as they were before. Likewise, many business professionals had to “tighten” their marketing budget and reduce lead generation spending. In addition, many of them commonly make some very BIG MISTAKES when it comes to marketing and lead generation, and that makes the difference between huge success, or giant failure. So, get ready because I’m about to reveal the 3 deadly sins that individual business professionals are currently making when it comes to marketing and lead generation in today’s economy.

A) Ineffective lead generation pieces – when creating a lead generation piece it must be comprised of several components. Two of the most important components a lead generation piece should have is a deadline and an offer. So for example if you are selling “widgets,” your ad that reads, “widgets on sale now, great prices, call today,” is not an offer. Your ad should read more like “25% off all widgets. Must call before July 25, 2010.” As an added bonus to help increase response, put what is called a secondary reason for response. For example in your ad say “be one of the first 25 people to buy widgets and get a free gift valued at $27.”

B) No follow up system- I can’t tell you the number of individuals that spend money to generate leads, and then have no idea what to say or do when a prospect responds! Furthermore, most individuals talk to the prospect once, maybe mail them once or twice, and then just give up. It might help you to know that most people do not buy anything at all until at least the 5th contact. So, the next time you consider a lead generation campaign, you might want to consider how many “follow up” steps you have to support it.

C) Spending money on brand marketing- Unless you have millions of dollars to spend (and maybe more) on “branding” your company, you might as well roll the window of your car down and start throwing out $100 bills. Your marketing and lead generation results will be the same, in that you will probably not find any “paying clients” this way. I refer to people who like to “brand “market as “marketing victims.” These are people who spend money on things like billboards, park benches, sponsorships, radio, TV, etc.

Now you know the 3 most common reasons why an individual business professionals’ marketing and lead generation campaigns do not work in today’s economy. Keeping that in mind, here are 3 things you can do right now to begin to automatically increase your income and begin to build a steady and predictable high income business.

1) Pull out all current marketing pieces and check to make sure they contain offers and deadlines. If they do not, edit the marketing pieces and put these in.

2) Decide on what it is you would like the prospect to do when they receive your marketing or lead generation piece. Do you want them to call for more information, go to a website, fill out a form, etc. For each marketing or lead generation piece you use, guide the prospect to the next step. Create 5 or 6 steps and you will have the “follow up” I described in section “B” above.

3) Review all marketing and lead generation campaigns and see if they fall into the “advertising victim” category. If they do chances are they are not producing any real results and you may want to save your money and stop them.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daryl_Spector

Tools for Motivating Your Sales Team

by: Danita Bye

By Palo Alto Software, Inc.

Not everyone who starts and runs a business begins with a business plan, but it certainly helps to have one. If you are seeking funding from a venture capitalist, you will certainly need a comprehensive business plan that is well thought out and demonstrates sound business reasoning.

If you are approaching a banker for a loan for a start-up business, your loan officer may suggest a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, which will require a business plan. If you have an existing business and are approaching a bank for capital to expand the business, they often will not require a business plan, but they may look more favorably on your application if you have one.

Reasons for writing a business plan include:

• Support a loan application
• Raise equity funding
• Define objectives and describe programs to achieve those objectives
• Create a regular business review and course correction process
• Define a new business
• Define agreements between partners
• Set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes
• Evaluate a new product line, promotion, or expansion

What’s in a business plan?

A business plan should prove that your business will generate enough revenue to cover your expenses, but a business plan may vary depending upon whom your audience is. If you are writing a plan for your colleagues and partners, for example, to expand an existing business, then the focus of that plan may be more operational than financial. Yes, you are going to show your partners how this expansion will mean more revenues, but they are going to want to know the nuts and bolts of how this new venture is going to be implemented.

If you are writing a business plan for a bank, your bank manager will want to see that your ideas are well thought out, but the most important aspect to him or her will be your financials. Are your assumptions realistic? And will the cash flow of the business be enough to ensure that you can make the monthly payments for the loan that you have requested? If your business is making $1,000 a month and your payments are $1,200 a month, the bank is likely to turn you away.

When considering an investment opportunity, most venture capitalists look at the obvious trends and market niches. Transcending the business elements, however, the most important factor in a decision to invest in a company is the quality of the people. In real estate, the three biggest criteria are “location, location and location.” The venture capital axiom is “people, people and people.” VCs will ask, how experienced are the people that are going to run this business? Do they have knowledge of the industry? Have they started successful ventures in the past?

What makes a successful business plan?

• Presents a well thought out idea
• Contains clear and concise writing
• Has a clear and logical structure
• Illustrates management’s ability to make the business a success
• Shows profitability

Bringing it all together…

Your business plan is like your calling card, it will get you in the door where you’ll have to convince investors and loan officers that you can put your plan into action. You want your calling card to look impressive, so make sure your business plan is printed out on good quality paper, you have checked the spelling and grammar and that your numbers add up. Anyone who sees errors while reading your plan will wonder whether you are going to make similar errors in running your business.

A great business plan is the best way to show bankers, venture capitalists, and angel investors that you are worthy of financial support. Make sure that your plan is clear, focused and realistic. Then show them that you have the tools, talent and team to make it happen.

Source: bplans.com

Newsletters have started out as a print-based material. These require, for the creator, to gather news, feature articles or information that can be featured on the newsletter; layout and design using Microsoft Office Publisher, Office, or any other computer program; copy and proof reading; and then printing it out en masse for distribution. The whole process of production is labor intensive, not to mention costly. Any company or organization need to invest money on production.

Imagine: if you have a thousand subscribers, how much would you need to produce and distribute newsletters? The hard work and effort can be time consuming.

For those businesses who want to save money, but still be able to produce newsletters for their clientele, they can make use of online newsletters. These online newsletters are a practical way to help market your business and of course, your products and services. Online, there are different companies that offer such service. Or you can just opt to make your own using tools for newsletters online. Newsletters can be available with a fee, sometimes, for free over the internet.

Newsletters that do not come with a price are often given to those businesses who want to undergo a trial period for a maximum of 30 days and sometimes more; to experience how the product works, how they can use it to their advantage, and how the feedback will be from their clients or customers. This comes with a free use of newsletter templates as well as distribution to their clientele’s email addresses. You just need to have a mailing list, complete with contact information.

Making email newsletters on your own can be easy. You just need to be, of course, connected to the internet. Websites that offer such service have templates you can choose from. Just browse through their selection, and choose the one that best fit your business image. Once you have selected the template, you can edit according to your preference: font, color, table, layout, etc. You can also replace the images with your own. Put pictures of your products, if you like.

Always make sure that you get to save your work once you make changes or when you are already finished. You will be directed to a send or even a review option. Before you go and send it your clientele, make sure that you have proof read. Go over the news, article, or promo sections to check the veracity of the information contained. Then click send; you will be asked to enter all the names and addresses of your clientele beforehand or during the latter part of the process.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martha_Killian

By Imran Zaman

What is Web 2.0?

The answer is a rather interesting and complicated one. Web 2.0 in its simplest terms means any website that in some way gets content or services from its users. Virtually every website except for static Web pages benefit from Web 2.0 inputs or manipulation and with the addition of Google’s Sidewiki, even static websites can show benefit or detriment from Web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0 technologies include the ability to make comments, do reviews, post URLs, send emails concerning the site and a variety of other social interactions.

At its most complex, it means total information sharing and awareness through a variety of means – forums, blogs, newsletter subscription forms, email forms, order forms, website store applications, testimonial boxes, guest books, RSS feed widgets full of related content, and 24 hour live customer service applets – all working together to help your company connect with the consumer in the most meaningful and profitable ways possible.

What are the benefits of Web 2.0 for organisations?

Web 2.0 is highly beneficial to organisations because of the social nature of the technologies involved. The ability of consumers to discuss a product or service between themselves, with company added content seeded in amongst the conversations, can create spontaneous or viral buzz that can greatly benefit a corporation’s promotional effort as well as their branding efforts. Web 2.0 technologies can also make it easier for a company to communicate with its fans from a centralised location that allows for input back from the consumer.

Websites such as MySpace and Facebook are social networking sites. They both use Web 2.0 technologies to connect groups of people together for business and non-business purposes. Websites such as Digg and Reddit provide a social news experience unlike anything in the history of content presentation where consumer activity determines what most people who visit the site see on the main page. Work related sites such as LinkedIn are primarily used as work related informational sharing and networking sites. Search engines such as Google use Web 2.0 services to improve their search results by allowing searchers to determine the type of searches that come up first and then use this data to fine tune their ranking of relevant content.

Properly presented Web 2.0 technologies can be a dream come true for companies and individuals. Never in the history of capitalism has it been easier for your fans to boast about you if they like your product or service. Likewise, if they dislike your products it is equally easy for them to display their anger and dissatisfaction with you and your company. With the widespread use of ready-to-type blog services, people can log in and write a negative review about you or your company in five minutes that will probably be impossible to remove from the Web unless the person who wrote it voluntarily removes it.

These risks should not deter anyone from the use of Web 2.0 technologies as a means to improving their offerings on the Web because with so many companies providing them you would be putting yourself at a disadvantage by not utilising them. If negative reviews become a problem the simplest way of handling them is to contact the writer and ask them what it will take to get rid of the negative review and turn it into a positive one. While it may sound like giving in to blackmail, Web 2.0 technologies have given the consumer a power they have never had before and the best option for a company or individual is to go back to a forgotten rule of business that says the customer is always right.

How can your business successfully implement Web 2.0?

If your IT staff is not up to date on the latest Internet technologies you should probably hire someone to train them in all aspects of Web 2.0 and how to use it to benefit your particular business or situation. Web 2.0 is all about bringing the customer and the business closer together. Whatever is appropriate for your website will be beneficial – ranging from a forum or blog, to an email harvesting application connected to an automated newsletter service.

The Internet was created as a means of communication and Web 2.0 technologies are giving us an increasingly large number of means to communicate. Given that fact, it is clear that the Web is becoming increasingly interconnected and Web 2.0 technologies are at the forefront in achieving this.

Hi, my name is Imran Zaman and I run the daywatcher.com Blog. The blog aims to (in an informal setting) to disseminate free articles, stories and bookmarks to interesting resources on the web covering Business, Technology, Innovation and Digital Media.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Imran_Zaman
http://EzineArticles.com/?An-Introduction-to-Web-2.0?&id=3397346

This web-published article by Michael Greer is an excerpt from “Chapter 6: Planning and Managing Human Performance Technology Projects,” Handbook of Human Performance Technology, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1999

1. Project managers must focus on three dimensions of project success. Simply put, project success means completing all project deliverables on time, within budget, and to a level of quality that is acceptable to sponsors and stakeholders. The project manager must keep the team’s attention focused on achieving these broad goals.
2. Planning is everything — and ongoing. On one thing all PM texts and authorities agree: The single most important activity that project managers engage in is planning — detailed, systematic, team-involved plans are the only foundation for project success. And when real-world events conspire to change the plan, project managers must make a new one to reflect the changes. So planning and replanning must be a way of life for project managers.
3. Project managers must feel, and transmit to their team members, a sense of urgency. Because projects are finite endeavors with limited time, money, and other resources available, they must be kept moving toward completion. Since most team members have lots of other priorities, it’s up to the project manager to keep their attention on project deliverables and deadlines. Regular status checks, meetings, and reminders are essential.
4. Successful projects use a time-tested, proven project life cycle. We know what works. Models such as the standard ISD model and others described in this text can help ensure that professional standards and best practices are built into our project plans. Not only do these models typically support quality, they help to minimize rework. So when time or budget pressures seem to encourage taking short cuts, it’s up to the project manager to identify and defend the best project life cycle for the job.
5. All project deliverables and all project activities must be visualized and communicated in vivid detail. In short, the project manager and project team must early on create a tangible picture of the finished deliverables in the minds of everyone involved so that all effort is focused in the same direction. Avoid vague descriptions at all costs; spell it out, picture it, prototype it, and make sure everyone agrees to it.
6. Deliverables must evolve gradually, in successive approximations. It simply costs too much and risks too much time spent in rework to jump in with both feet and begin building all project deliverables. Build a little at a time, obtain incremental reviews and approvals, and maintain a controlled evolution.
7. Projects require clear approvals and sign-off by sponsors. Clear approval points, accompanied by formal sign-off by sponsors, SMEs, and other key stakeholders, should be demarcation points in the evolution of project deliverables. It’s this simple: anyone who has the power to reject or to demand revision of deliverables after they are complete must be required to examine and approve them as they are being built.
8. Project success is correlated with thorough analyses of the need for project deliverables. Our research has shown that when a project results in deliverables that are designed to meet a thoroughly documented need, then there is a greater likelihood of project success. So managers should insist that there is a documented business need for the project before they agree to consume organizational resources in completing it.
9. Project managers must fight for time to do things right. In our work with project managers we often hear this complaint: “We always seem to have time to do the project over; I just wish we had taken the time to do it right in the first place!” Projects must have available enough time to “do it right the first time.” And project managers must fight for this time by demonstrating to sponsors and top managers why it’s necessary and how time spent will result in quality deliverables.
10. Project manager responsibility must be matched by equivalent authority. It’s not enough to be held responsible for project outcomes; project managers must ask for and obtain enough authority to execute their responsibilities. Specifically, managers must have the authority to acquire and coordinate resources, request and receive SME cooperation, and make appropriate, binding decisions which have an impact on the success of the project.
11. Project sponsors and stakeholders must be active participants, not passive customers. Most project sponsors and stakeholders rightfully demand the authority to approve project deliverables, either wholly or in part. Along with this authority comes the responsibility to be an active participant in the early stages of the project (helping to define deliverables), to complete reviews of interim deliverables in a timely fashion (keeping the project moving), and to help expedite the project manager’s access to SMEs, members of the target audience, and essential documentation.
12. Projects typically must be sold, and resold. There are times when the project manager must function as salesperson to maintain the commitment of stakeholders and sponsors. With project plans in hand, project managers may need to periodically remind people about the business need that is being met and that their contributions are essential to help meet this need.
13. Project managers should acquire the best people they can and then do whatever it takes to keep the garbage out of their way. By acquiring the best people — the most skilled, the most experienced, the best qualified — the project manager can often compensate for too little time or money or other project constraints. Project managers should serve as an advocate for these valuable team members, helping to protect them from outside interruptions and helping them acquire the tools and working conditions necessary to apply their talents.
14. Top management must actively set priorities. In today’s leaner, self-managing organizations, it is not uncommon for project team members to be expected to play active roles on many project teams at the same time. Ultimately, there comes a time when resources are stretched to their limits and there are simply too many projects to be completed successfully. In response, some organizations have established a Project Office comprised of top managers from all departments to act as a clearinghouse for projects and project requests. The Project Office reviews the organization’s overall mission and strategies, establishes criteria for project selection and funding, monitors resource workloads, and determines which projects are of high enough priority to be approved. In this way top management provides the leadership necessary to prevent multi-project log jams. (For related information, see my online article What’s Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and Why Should Project Managers Care About It?)

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(C) Copyright 2009 from Michael Greer’s Project Management Resources web site.  The URL is http://www.michaelgreer.com.

As you can imagine,  my MBA program covered a vast array of content. Reflecting back, I must admit marketing came naturally to me.  SWOT analysis, the 4 P’s, competitive analysis, strategy I couldn’t get enough of it.

Creating a marketing plan has been a valuble tool in my businesses.  It guides my decision making and really made me spell of the details of my venture. Identifying your strenghts and opportunities  is an empowering exercise. While being transparent about weaknesses and threats support the development of innovative alternatives to reach your goals. 

Many entrepreneurs get stuck while developing business plan. If you are already operating your small business, it may be easier to get started with a marketing plan. Once you see how this business tool works you may feel more confident with break even analysis, operations plans and complex financial statements.

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