How can Project Managers help projects succeed in the recovery economy?
Please see the link below:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/04/22/imf.forecast/
Does the IMF really have a handle of its recession data?
How would you use that data to plan your projects in 2009 - 2010?
Please let me know how I can help your with your turn-around projects.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Outstanding Townhall Presentations Tips - from my buddy Duke in Texas
1. Don’t forget the 6 by 6 rule. Attempt to achieve no more than six words per slide and six words per line. Often in communication, slower is better and less is more.
2. Stay within the 8 slides, fonts and format. You are a part of a total presentation and consistency matters. A display slide can be added if it consists of figure, pictures (not more text)
3. Presentations tell a story. Not only what the Aim, Cause and Effect, Solution and Measurement was; but why it was important, what were struggles along the way, what was learned, what would be advice to others? You have 8 minutes of real estate, so use it well.
4. To come across clear, concise and natural…prepare what is to be covered; practice it in your head until it is second nature. Many a good presentation had trigger thoughts on note cards. Great presentations don’t come by accident.
5. Remember everyone is cheering for you. Nervousness is always bigger on the inside of us than what is displayed. Focus on helping them understand your project and you won’t have time to focus on how you look.
6. Work your audience. Throw out a question or thought that makes them think. Engage them in the thinking process your team went through. People love to relate to similar issues.
7. Mistakes aren’t mortal. If they occur, they are part of the process of sharing. During the webcast, we left some imperfections in because that was more natural than ten more retakes.
8. Don’t project what can’t be read. Adjust your graph fonts to be seen from the back of the room. Test: Print out the slide, lay it at your feet, then read it. If you can’t see it; your audience can’t either.
9. Remember that the audience does not know your department or its lingo. Giving context and understanding can help them step through your story. Avoid acronyms where possible.
10. Be yourself as best you can. The audience is just as interested in connecting with you as they are your topic. Remember, you share what you know, but you impart who you are…lester brown
2. Stay within the 8 slides, fonts and format. You are a part of a total presentation and consistency matters. A display slide can be added if it consists of figure, pictures (not more text)
3. Presentations tell a story. Not only what the Aim, Cause and Effect, Solution and Measurement was; but why it was important, what were struggles along the way, what was learned, what would be advice to others? You have 8 minutes of real estate, so use it well.
4. To come across clear, concise and natural…prepare what is to be covered; practice it in your head until it is second nature. Many a good presentation had trigger thoughts on note cards. Great presentations don’t come by accident.
5. Remember everyone is cheering for you. Nervousness is always bigger on the inside of us than what is displayed. Focus on helping them understand your project and you won’t have time to focus on how you look.
6. Work your audience. Throw out a question or thought that makes them think. Engage them in the thinking process your team went through. People love to relate to similar issues.
7. Mistakes aren’t mortal. If they occur, they are part of the process of sharing. During the webcast, we left some imperfections in because that was more natural than ten more retakes.
8. Don’t project what can’t be read. Adjust your graph fonts to be seen from the back of the room. Test: Print out the slide, lay it at your feet, then read it. If you can’t see it; your audience can’t either.
9. Remember that the audience does not know your department or its lingo. Giving context and understanding can help them step through your story. Avoid acronyms where possible.
10. Be yourself as best you can. The audience is just as interested in connecting with you as they are your topic. Remember, you share what you know, but you impart who you are…lester brown
Powerup in the Recession
"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." - Sam Walton, Wal-Mart
Today I spoke in Singapore at a meeting about how to Powerup in the Recession:
1. Be clear with hiring managers and customer targets
2. Be concise with your accomplishments, back them up with numbers, especially $$$$.
3. Be confident with all the people you meet and they will get the vibe!
4. Be a winner who breaks a sweat, practices more, plays more, and delivers more to employers and customers.
Today I spoke in Singapore at a meeting about how to Powerup in the Recession:
1. Be clear with hiring managers and customer targets
2. Be concise with your accomplishments, back them up with numbers, especially $$$$.
3. Be confident with all the people you meet and they will get the vibe!
4. Be a winner who breaks a sweat, practices more, plays more, and delivers more to employers and customers.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
China Has Changed; The Chinese Haven’t
From a pal in another network:
Has China changed? Companies bet millions on the answer, but it’s the wrong question. You should ask if Chinese have changed. China has changed; the Chinese haven’t.
Amazing changes! New politico/economic system. New laws, social structures, buildings and consumption patterns, different clothes. Sound familiar? It should—it’s happened twice in 100 years! (Three times actually.)
Go back 50 years. China’s 1959 changes (described above) were as amazing as changes today. But Mao and communism didn’t change the Chinese, and it’s naive to think MacDonald’s and capitalism will. China changes but the Chinese don’t.
Or don’t change in areas important for business. China’s changes are outside-in, important for what types of business can be done but not for actually doing business. That requires inside-out change, a harder thing.
China’s market is growing in two ways. First, more people with purchasing power, the new middle class. A few hundred million so far, with hundreds to come. Second, different consumption habits, coffee shops, convenience stores and beauty salons. Huge changes, yet neither affect how business is done.
Cultures develop unique ways of using language, their Rules of Communication. Chinese and Western rules are very different. Consider disagreement. Westerners believe state your honest opinion, even if you disagree. Chinese believe disagree in an indirect, discreet manner. Add the different ways each use to say No—Westerners say No directly whereas Chinese say No indirectly, if possible not even using the word No—and trouble is guaranteed.
Differences in building business relationships adds more trouble. Westerners feel the Contract determines the relationship, that differences are decided by referring to the Contract. Chinese think a Contract is a good place to start but if the situation changes then the terms and conditions should change. Meeting contract terms, doing the business, is where “Chinese haven’t changed” is clearest.
All business relationships must communicate and solve problems: success in both creates trust, failure destroys it. Misunderstandings are the biggest hidden cost in international business, eroding trust as well as causing mistakes and inefficiencies. Business without trust signals a “going broke” relationship. Westerners put faith in law, Chinese in relationships. “How can you ask me to lose money?” could only be asked by Chinese, “It’s not personal, just business” only said by a Westerner.
Westerners only see where China had changed and stay blind to where the Chinese haven’t, confusing what kinds of business can be done with the way Chinese actually do business.
How Chinese communicate, solve problems and build business relationships is changing, but slowly. Chinese control these changes, not Westerners, and fundamentals of culture don’t change easily. If communism couldn’t force Chinese to change it is folly to think capitalism will either. Use China’s outside-in changes to judge business opportunities, but let the slow change of Chinese inside-out “ways” determine how you actually do business.
One sure requirement to success is being able to see communication and business relationships as Chinese do. Westerners need to look at business through Chinese glasses.
For more: www.bicbiz.com
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Straits Times surveys CIOs in Asia
Some optimistic results at the link below:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_346408.html
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_346408.html
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Presentation Tips from my buddy Duke in Houston
Dutch Holland of Holland & Davis Inc. www.hdinc.com has a masterful way of passing understanding onto his audience. Reflecting back on what made his presentation more meaningful than just its content, I came up with ten features that could turn a good presentation into a great one. Duke Rohe drohe@att.net
1. Share strategic information in a homestyle way. Clear, understandable, pertinent. The best is when the material is profoundly simple. Common sense that is not commonly exercised. Remember: being ‘expert’ distances you from the audience; being human draws you nearer.
2. Use the audience to have fun. Keep score of smart-alek remarks, yawns, whatever helps them laughing at themselves.
3. Create a mood of humor which keeps a giggle on tap.
4. Ping-pong understanding between content knowledge, real world parallels (seasoned with humor or experience), and audience answers to questions.
5. Relay two takeaway things that are MOST important. If you remember anything, remember these.
6. Describe a problem that the audience commonly experiences, expose the clockwork behind it, then share the high-level strategy needed to change it. All in nugget form.
7. Be so good that you can give away your slides, packed with helpful how-to’s, without giving away your intellectual capital. So good you don’t need to sell, just share a useful ‘part’ of what the audience needs.
8. Pause to let the audience arm-wrestle understanding among themselves; yet move on to cover the essentials of the material. Burn-in learning through exercises or sharing real-life examples.
9. Shift the attention from sniper ‘inquiries’ which want to ‘show’ you what they know by humorously saying, “Oh, I’ll let you finish my presentation”.
10. Have fun while you present. If you had a good time, more than likely, the audience did too.
1. Share strategic information in a homestyle way. Clear, understandable, pertinent. The best is when the material is profoundly simple. Common sense that is not commonly exercised. Remember: being ‘expert’ distances you from the audience; being human draws you nearer.
2. Use the audience to have fun. Keep score of smart-alek remarks, yawns, whatever helps them laughing at themselves.
3. Create a mood of humor which keeps a giggle on tap.
4. Ping-pong understanding between content knowledge, real world parallels (seasoned with humor or experience), and audience answers to questions.
5. Relay two takeaway things that are MOST important. If you remember anything, remember these.
6. Describe a problem that the audience commonly experiences, expose the clockwork behind it, then share the high-level strategy needed to change it. All in nugget form.
7. Be so good that you can give away your slides, packed with helpful how-to’s, without giving away your intellectual capital. So good you don’t need to sell, just share a useful ‘part’ of what the audience needs.
8. Pause to let the audience arm-wrestle understanding among themselves; yet move on to cover the essentials of the material. Burn-in learning through exercises or sharing real-life examples.
9. Shift the attention from sniper ‘inquiries’ which want to ‘show’ you what they know by humorously saying, “Oh, I’ll let you finish my presentation”.
10. Have fun while you present. If you had a good time, more than likely, the audience did too.
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