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100% Attitude!

03 juin

Your attitude will determine a lot, we’ve all heard the glass half full or glass half empty way off looking at things, both are the same thing, but are vastly different as well.  You have the ability to transform your life and reach new heights of success and fulfilment. Whether at this moment in time your attitude is positive, negative or somewhere in the middle you can take control of your life and set yourself free!  Everyone has potential, the unfortunate thing is that most people go through life and never realise or take advantage of this!

Firstly you must visualize what you want – you the dreams everyone has – unfortunately most people leave them as just that, dreams.  The second thing that you must do is see yourself in your dream environment, and see yourself getting there.  I can, I will and when I are the things you must say rather than the negative version I can’t, I won’t and if I!  Don’t worry if you fall into a more negative category – the good thing about attitude is that you can learn and train yourself to have a positive one given a bit of time and practice.

You’ve told yourself that it is going to happen and now must talk about it by doing this you are making yourself accountable and putting yourself under a little pressure to make it happen!  If you dream is to be on Millionaire Street and you are currently in debt – you must realise that this dream is not going to happen overnight in may take a few years – you don’t go around saying you are going to be a millionaire by next Thursday afternoon in three weeks time!  Don’t set unrealistic targets otherwise you may put yourself under undue stress and pressure to achieve, which can be detrimental to your cause.

Attitude isn’t everything – it is simply the first thing!  Remember it’s going to be action that actually gets you there and the attitude will determine what pace that will be.  You are the architect, the builder and the benefactor of all your life’s endeavors.  So when something doesn’t go your way the first place to look is inwards.  You must ask yourself what you could have done differently to have gotten a more favorable result, after this inward analysis is done then you look at some of the external issues that may have been amiss too.

Everyone has their fears; I don’t mean things like scared of the dark or spiders etc.  I am talking about fears to do with success, for example, it might be something that you haven’t learn to do yet, and you fear that you may fail.  Remember that if you don’t try you fail anyway, and if you do fail sometimes then success is that much sweeter because you actually had to get over obstacles to get to the end result.

In summary we’ll use something interesting to illustrate a point.  There are 26 letters in the alphabet, A = 1 and Z = 26 working on that basis we assign a number to each letter of the word attitude and add them up:
A(1) + T(20) + T(20) + I(9) + T(20) + U(21) + D(4) + E(5) = 100  -  100% Attitude!
Having a positive or optimistic attitude helps you to achieve more for yourself than a negative or pessimistic one.  Visualise what you want, take action to make it happen, overcome any fears and keep plugging away, remember that tree that you see in your local park didn’t get that big overnight.  You can learn to train your mind, and over time you will learn how to develop and maintain a positive attitude.

 
 

How To Manage Technology Projects

24 mar

As your business grows, you will likely find more ways to use technology to increase production (and hopefully, profits). Making the decision to enhance your technology environment in order to achieve your business objectives is a necessary milestone, but it is equally important to identify the scope and budget of your project before jumping into implementation.

This article explains a phased approach that will help you maximize your budget and provide the greatest results when considering a technology enhancement.

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Phase I – Business Need

This initial phase is designed to help you determine if you have answered the « why » questions as it relates to your objectives. You should be able to clearly identify the business benefit (return on investment) for your potential project after completing this phase. Here are the steps that will guide you through this phase:

1. What is the problem/deficiency that needs your investment in time and money to be solved?

2. Does your business challenge absolutely require new or enhanced technology?

a.Do your employees require additional training with existing systems?
b.Can the challenge be solved by changing the workflow or business practices?

3. Once the problem is clearly defined and the solution points to technology improvements, a preliminary budget can be established.

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Phase II – Budget & Scope

In Phase I we qualified our potential solution within the realm of technology and now we need to define the scope of the solution. Without defining scope, you will run the risk of your project growing out of control in both time and money. This is the phase where you should spend the time to clearly document the business requirements or « what » will be implemented.

1. Bring all the necessary players together to discuss the objectives of the project.

2. Determine how the problem that was identified in Phase I affects all key players.

3. Discuss how the problem can be solved with technology and be specific as it relates to your current business practices and workflows.

4. Document your findings and discussions.

5. Once the solution has been identified, you can present your documents to your preferred vendor(s) and obtain proposals or quotes.

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Phase III – Pilot

Implementing any technology project can be challenging in that technology itself changes so quickly and your employees may have different expectations with the solution. A pilot phase is very effective to « test » the solution and confirm all expectations are met.

1. Once your vendor has been identified, you can request a pilot or trial solution be put into place for limited use to test results.

2. After the pilot solution is implemented, be sure to measure the effectiveness and verify that the problems in phase I are being solved.

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Phase IV – Implementation

So now you have confirmed that the pilot is solving some or all the problems identified in phase I, now you are ready to rollout the full solution. It is very important to closely manage your vendor and be sure they are delivering what they promised within their proposal.

1. Create a project plan that consists of key milestones for the implementation of your solution.

A sample plan is shown below:

* Project Kick-off
* Budget review
* Set timelines for remainder of project
* Determine training requirements
* Technology install/enhancement
* Document the changes in your existing workflow
* Create a forum for employees to provide feedback during this process
* Develop a suite of tests that verifies the newly installed technology does not break any existing processes.
* Develop a suite of tests that verifies the newly installed technology meet the expectation of the proposed solution.
* Insure your timelines are being met and budget is not growing.
* Implementation complete
* Begin training

2. After the solution has been installed, consolidate all the documents and training materials in one repository for quick reference.

Phase V – Project Review & Closure

Now that the technology solution has been successfully implemented and everyone has been trained, you will need to setup measures to ensure that the solution is effective.

1. Create an anonymous survey for employees to provide feedback.
a. Survey questions should include: overall project success, training materials and responsibility impact.

2. Develop metrics that can measure the profit and/or efficiency that was achieved as a result of this project. This will help you identify the true return on investment.

3. Continue to refine training.

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This phased approach for managing a technology project is meant to be a guide. There are many details within each phase that would be too lengthy to describe here. There are also many books that can assist with successfully managing any type of project, not only technology.

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Here is a website that is a great reference for project management:

http://www.pmi.org

 

Seven ways to manage to your boss

08 fév

Does the idea of managing your boss seem like a paradoxical concept? If it does, then think again. It is said that « if you do not manage your boss, the boss cannot manage you« .

Research shows that the main reason behind many employees quitting is because of the unhealthy relation that they share with their bosses. It is also said that people do not quit jobs, rather they quit their bosses. Sometimes the responsibilities bogging the managers down may make them forget that the people working under them are humans too. So, if you need to work in tandem, you have to get your relation with your boss straight. Still wondering how? Read on.

giant-boss-manage-your-boss

The kind of roles that the bosses play today is completely different from the kinds that they played in the days of yore. Responsibilities as well as priorities have undergone a sea-change. If you feel that your boss is a monster who refuses to listen to you and is hell-bent on making your life as difficult as it comes, you are not alone. Everyday, thousands of employees seek the services of counselors both inside the office as well as outside it. The most frequent complaints are extremely high stress levels due to bad relationships with bosses. People spend considerable amount of time in their offices. In fact, the better half of the day is spent there. If you do not share a rapport with your seniors and colleagues, you are making life difficult for everyone. Is there a way out of the catch-22 situation? Can you be productive yet share a healthy bonding with your senior? The answer, fortunately, is yes! All we need to do is follow some easy steps and keep in mind that when one thing goes out of hand, another is waiting for your approval. It does not mean that you indulge in job-hopping. It just means that with a little effort, things could be made better and peace can prevail. Managing your boss well so that he can manage you better is what is needed.

The following 7 tips will help you to manage your boss better:

1.    Never gossip with anybody about your boss.

Although gossiping about how cruel your boss is to your co-workers might seem to be best way to vent your frustration, trust me, it is not. Gossip has a tendency to leak. It gives away a very negative impression. Your boss will surely lose faith in you forever in case he gets to hear about this. You may end up jeopardising your future prospects in the company if you get labeled as a motor-mouth.

2.    Talk to him straight.

Rather than grumbling how much pressure you have on your shoulders, it is best to talk to him straight. Tell him what kind of work you would prefer. It might seem like a futile idea to begin with but this is the stepping stone to a mature and understanding relationship with your boss. Learn to respect the fact that your boss will never come to know what you want until you make it a point to tell him directly. However, do not be disheartened if the strategy does not work out from the beginning. Be patient.

3. Remain committed to your boss.

No matter how irritating a piece of work might seem, if you follow through as you are supposed to, you will win your boss’s vote for sure. Remaining nonchalant and shrugging work are surefire signs of getting into your boss’s mental « non-working workers » chart. It is in the best interests of every body if people start co-operating and working towards the company’s goals rather than harboring petty rivalries.

3.    Provide solutions and not problems.

Instead of constantly hounding your boss with umpteen problems, try providing solutions sometimes. This will help bolster faith in you. No one likes to be served with a platter of problems everyday. A work well done is definitely your credit so try and solve as much as you possibly can on your very own.

4.    Be attentive.

Remember that your boss has more experience and does actually know more than you do. Learn to listen to his advice and act out accordingly. Never start office with a notion that the boss’s job is to make your life hell. He is just doing his job by being harsh on you. Meeting the company’s goals is his responsibility and not doing so lends him a bad name. Respect him as well as his advice.

5.    Find out what your boss prefers.

While some may like written reports, some may favor to talk it out straight. Find out what he likes and value his preferences. Contrary to popular belief, constantly rubbing him the wrong way is not how you should go about it. Every work place has a culture that must be respected and adhered to. Presenting reports in a manner he prefers helps you in the long run.

7. Remember that your boss is human.

A job at the top end of the spectrum is lonely and wrought with responsibilities. Forgive your boss for being cranky at times. He too, after all, is human.