Archive for May, 2011
The Importance Of Communication In Project Management
“Since I didn’t hear otherwise I ASSUMED all was going well” The Importance of Communication in Project Management
Second on Rick Klemms list of things most commonly overheard on a failing software project this remark is characteristic of Project Managers who are not in frequent and efficient communication with their staff.
Communication is key to successful Project Management.
If project staff do not know what their tasks are or how to accomplish them then the entire project will grind to a halt. If you do not know what the project staff are not doing then you will be unable to monitor project progress. And if you are uncertain of what the customer expects of you then the project will not even get off the ground.
Maintaining open regular and accurate channels of communication with all levels of project staff and stakeholders is vital to ensuring the smooth flow of instructions from customer to factory floor and sufficient warning of risks and changes to enable early assessment and preparation.
The Information that You Need to Give
As Project Manager it is your job to keep a number of people wellinformed. It is essential that your project staff know what is expected of them: what they have to do when they have to do it and what budget and time constraints and quality specification they are working towards.
It is also your job to keep the Project Board informed of project progress. The Project Board usually includes the Executive person ultimately responsible for the project and representatives from the User and the Supplier.
It is important that the Project Manager updates the Project Board regularly on the status of the project so that any changes or risks can be assessed project progress can be measured against the original Business Case and a project that is not fulfilling its purpose or matching the value of its investment can be called to a halt.
The Information that You Need to Receive
In order to keep the relevant people informed you must have regular and complete access to all information about the project: customer needs objectives plan constraints changes/risks and progress.
PRINCE2TM the governmentstandard Project Management methodology suggests that a system of management products documents used to make management more efficient is set up.
For example a Project Quality Plan relies on information about quality expectations provided by the Customer. The Quality Log is a record of quality checks performed by project staff. Both documents are necessary for effective management of product quality.
The PRINCE2TM method also recommends that Project Managers establish regular dates for Checkpoint Reports detailing the progress of individual teams and team members and Highlight Reports documents prepared by the Project Manager for the Project Board describing overall project progress.
With disciplined adherence to a system of regular and focused communication you will avoid the misunderstandings and delays that so frequently lead to project failure and ensure that all your project staff and stakeholders are secure in their knowledge of what has to be done and who is doing it.
About the writer: Simon Buehring is a project manager consultant and trainer. He works for KnowledgeTrain which offers training in project management and PRINCE2 trainingin the UK and overseas. Simon has extensive experience within the IT industry in the UK and Asia. He can be contacted via the KnowledgeTrain PRINCE2 project management training website.
The Fortune 500 List Of Companies
The Fortune 500 List is an annual compilation published by the Fortune magazine. It ranks the top 500 American public corporations based on their revenues. All numbers are based on revenue figures for each Fortune 500 Companys previous fiscal year. This may end on different dates for each company.
Since 2007 WallMart Stores hold the first position followed by Exxon Mobile the most profitable company on the Fortune 500 for the fifth year in a row. These two giants have been competing for the title of “Most successful American company” since 2001 swapping their positions constantly. The second largest US oil company Chevron which invested in energy alternatives including geothermal and bio diesel fuels is situated on the third position followed by General Motors which held the first position of the top until the year 2000.
Due to high gasoline prices weak auto sales layoffs buyouts and a looming recession the sales decreased to 12 and led to a 39 billion loss. However it is still considered to be the Worlds largest automaker. ConocoPhillips scored 5th due to the reputation of being the first US oil producer to cope with the greenhouse gas emissions. General Electric considered to be the secondmost profitable corporation in the Fortune 500 holds the 6th place. Ford Motors were internationally surpassed by Toyota due to the high gas price that affected the SUVs and pickup trucks but managed to take the 7th place.
Citigroup is placed on the 8th position. The Forbes 2000 firstplacer until 2008 was forced to post the worst fourthquarter loss in its 196year history: 10 billion due to the mortgage meltdown. Fortunately to solidify its balance sheet Citi has raised about 20 billion since November from investors in Abu Dhabi Singapore and New Jersey. From the same field of activity the Bank of America wasn’t hit quite as hard by the credit crisis as other financial institutions in 2007 therefore claming the 9th position.
ATamp;T the first telecommunication company to make it in the top 10 is the phoenix reborn from four different telecommunication companies: the old ATamp;T Cingular BellSouth and SBC.
These are only brief descriptions of the top 10 successful American businesses in 2008. Most of them are also highly ranked in the Forbes 2000 world wide top of the most powerful corporations which proves that the United States holds an important position in the Global Market System.
About the writer: I have studied economics for years and love to write about economic trends and conditions. I write for www.economywatch.com and www.economypedia.com.
Techfocus Picks Screen Pages To Push Online Sales Of Technology Accessories
Techfocus the Internet retailer of technology accessories has relaunched its online shop with extended ecommerce capabilities. The new website has been designed and built by Screen Pages the online retail specialist.
Techfocus is operated by Kinch Electronics and offers the latest innovative products in the technology accessories field currently focusing on products for the Creative Zen and Apple iPod range of MP3 players a huge range of FM Transmitter TomTom Charger. In addition the company stocks a wide range of accessories for wireless devices PC peripherals mobile phones and PDAs.
The new website at http://www.techfocus.co.uk has been designed and delivered as a fully bespoke ecommerce website.
The new website features clean simple navigation; best sellers filtered searches cross and upsells stock control informative product information and importantly same day dispatch. Customers can make purchases at many points across the site directly from the home page or from category pages as well as from product pages. Overall the layout design and usability of the site have been enhanced to yield a more professional knowledgeable approach.
Since launching overall site conversion ratios have improved by over one third 36 and the rate of bulk deals and multiple purchases has increased by over 100.
We are very pleased to be working with Techfocus said Roger Willcocks managing director of Screen Pages. Its a business that has grown rapidly in a clear niche and is a very effective online operator with excellent fulfilment.
Our internet business has been growing rapidly and it became critical to introduce a robust flexible platform that would give us an infrastructure to expand our sales and marketing activities as well as streamline our endtoend processing. Screen Pages approach and technology gives us just that said Sam Kinch founder of Kinch Electronics.
About the writer: Priyo Mukherjee is the author of this article. For more information please visit http://www.techfocus.co.uk
