doug smith training

What do the people on your project teams get out of working on your project teams? I'm not talking about money. I mean attention, growth, opportunity. Are you making your projects the coolest possible things your people could be working on? Do they look forward to each meeting, each task, each opportunity? Is each project encounter a new creative possibility? What are you offering your project teams that they can't get anywhere else? Elevate your project teams by increasing the level of creativity. Try new things. Value new ideas. Get wild and crazy in your brainstorms.  When you find that and deliver, your teams will do whatever it takes to complete the project. Isn't that what you want? -- Doug Smith

How do you begin a project? Are your goals clear? Is the goal of the project an ART goal (action word, results, time)? Have you involved the right people? Getting a project started correctly is critical to its success. A slow start or a poor start or an uncertain start will hobble your project from the very, well, start. Launch your project with enthusiasm by getting it started with these key components: - An ART goal - A group of people who are interested in the ART goal - A real problem that your ART goal solves - Focus, dedication, commitment, and creativity What else would you include? -- Doug Smith Bring our workshop "Creative Project Management" to your location to get your projects started right.

Do other people understand and support your biggest project? I sometimes take for granted that people who should care about my project do care about my project. It's not that easy. People need to know about what's going on. They need to be involved. They need to connect with the creative reasons for even doing the project. And, they need to understand the benefits to a project. Just because you take your project seriously doesn't mean that anyone else will -- unless they have a reason to. Do you know the reasons why people should take your project seriously? -- Doug Smith

How do you feel about the status quo? In the project management world, status quo is not enough. We must keep moving. We must act relentlessly on our plan. We must stay creative. I'm fond of quoting my friend Andrew Oxley about this: "In nature there is no stasis. We can choose growth or we can choose decay but there is no standing still. Life only knows those two directions." That's your project. There is no standing still. If it's standing still, it's decaying or getting worse or falling behind schedule or running over budget. There is no stasis. There's no standing still so we might as well move in the direction we need to go. Keep moving. It's your best option. What part of your action plan has been standing still lately? What will it take to get it moving? -- Doug Smith

Does your most important project include a financial business case AND a compelling story? I've noticed that project leaders tend to forget one or the other. You need both. Why? Because half of the world is laser-sharp focused on the financials while the other half cares about the financials but needs a compelling story. A compelling story is the cool reason why you are doing a project. It's the people side. It's the part that when the project is finished makes you and your constituents feel warm and fuzzy. Maybe you're not a warm-and-fuzzy kind of person. I'm not. But, I've learned that the chances of sustaining support and achieving the project goals improves dramatically when the project includes both a business case and a compelling story. The business case shows the financial impact of your project on the organization. It shows how will your project improve your results in any of these areas: Revenue Expenses Customer Happiness Team Member ...

Do your action plans ever weigh you down? I've been on projects where the action plans were so detailed, so precise, and so constricting that each task felt like a burden in my day. It took the fun right out of it. Yes, we do need detailed plans to achieve our goals. Yes, we do need to relentlessly follow our plans in order to overcome certain obstacles. But, we can have fun in the process. We can add our creativity. We can embrace new possibilities. We can improvise a new script when the old one seems stale. Goals are meant to give us more hope, not to chain us to a plan. When the plan slows us down, dance! Well, maybe not really dance. But I have been known to break into dance and noticed that it helps. What works for you to get your creative juices flowing? -- Doug Smith