Who's your best friend?

At work I mean.

If you are a to-be-PM, be careful about selecting your best friend at work. In most cases it allows people (includes bosses) to understand you better by watching the type of people you hang out with. If you are seen with the trouble maker at work, it is assumed in most cases that you might not be the right person to be trusted with any confidential information.

Employees with the right company have chances of getting the best options when it comes to work.

Choose the right person and find ways to learn from the best. Try to let your immediate boss or PM know about your aims and ambitions; that you would be willing to take some extra work and learn the ropes. Everyone loves a hard working employee with the right attitude.

(Picture:Google Images)

Blogging Secrets

I have been blogging for sometime now and I have friends who are interested in blogging and more so since they see mine doing so well. So, I thought why not post it right here, for my friends and for everyone who might want to know a little more about the blogs and how you can do it.

All about blogging:
What- What do you want to blog about? What’s your story? Find what you are interested in and start writing. You have to really enjoy it, to post 3-4 times a week.
Where- It’s free. I use Google's blogspot to write; it’s simple and all you need to do is register.
Who- Anyone can blog, all your have to do is register. You can write about anything, keep it personal or make it public.
How- You simply type in your content and publish. You don’t need to know programming or have any technical knowledge to do so.

How to reach your audience - When you write about a specific subject, getting the right audience is easier. It also helps you to network, find people with similar interest and even learn better in the process. If you are as lucky as I have been, you get some amazing tips and encouragement from the experienced lot. You can always track your readers with Google Analytics, the country they visit from and number of visits etc.

To read more about the benefits of blogging professionally, see this and this.

IPMA Certification and Laura

I am on vacation but how long can i stay away from the blog is one big question...rather project management.

So, I decided to browse through some blogs and while reading Elizabeth's, I had to write this one. Hurray for women in project management!!!

Laura Magahy is the first woman in Ireland to hold the IPMA Level A certification status. To know more about the certification and her experience, read here.

Will be back on OCt 13.

If you have been wondering why I havent been posting- well, I am travelling and will be back on October 13 with new posts.

See you soon.

CAPM Preparation

My sabbatical's over and I need to focus back on my studies for CAPM. I have tried hard to forget the pains of not getting it last time and with some other issues all snowballed into one it has been one heck of a tough time.

I function better in a scheduled environment, so no matter how tought it seems it's time to get back. I will be sharing my plans for the exam. As of now my primary goal is to get back to my study materials and not forget what I have been studying.

The goal is to be as prepared as I was on the day of exam and start from there with other prep materials. I haven't scheduled exam dates anymore but I am hopeful I will be taking it during December.

Here's my plan from tomorrow-

5.30 am -Wake up and out for my walk

6.00am- Back to my apartment and half an hour of yoga

6.30am- Shower and tea

7.00am- Exam Prep

8.15am- Start getting ready for work.

8.40am- Off to work

8.30om- Back home

9.30pm-Prep

11.00- Sleep

The schedule is not going to work perfectly right now since my sister flew in from London a few days back and it has been rather hectic. However, I am sure I will be back to this schedule very soon. As much as I would love to include a few more hours of studies it seems possible only on weekends. I might squeeze in an hour or so while travelling and during lunch.

(Pics: Google Images)

Dear Reader

Dear Reader/s,
Thank you all for the comment/s and encouragement for the blog. I appreciate the feedback and encouragement through your comments and emails.

When you leave comments like one given below, please make sure I have a way to get back to you. If you are not comfortable sharing your information in the blog, please email. I don't discuss my emails publicly.

So, the anonymous user, thank you for sharing the thought and we would like to know a lot more about your transition.
Soma, for what it's worth, I sucessfully made the move you're trying to make. I started my career as a lowly buyer with no engineering experience and made my way into project then program management. I'd be glad to offer my thoughts if you're interested.

Yours Sincerely,

Project Management- art or science?

Introduction into PM always initiates with a debate, the authenticity of it being either a scientific process, more of a technique done perfectly well only by technical experts or the art of doing it all well and keeping the team intact. What is more important supervising the software architecture or having a perfect team?

PM I think is both an amalgamation of art and science. Fascinating!

The technique, methodology, planning, software usage, efficiency calculations are ongoing features for a project; however soft skills are an equally important counterpart. As they say PM is 90% communication and is all about the people.

No technique or scientific analysis can solve the issues of resource management. What do you do when an I-am-all-technical brains doesn’t co-operate with the other team members? There are no calculations available to save the day.

You cannot say -Here's your project. Come back in six months with it done right. Odds are it’s easy to become technically sound to an extent but it’s tougher to work with various personalities and keep your team together. So, for all the to-be-PM’s (including me) it’s more important to understand your team and the people you work with.

Here are few pointers that I try to follow-

• Respect- Treat others as you like to be treated yourself.
• Welcome- Give new members a hearty welcome and make them feel comfortable.
• Plan- Your work should be water-tight-compartment-like planned ( I try).
• Care -Once in a while I bring in chocolates for the team.
• Listen- Try listening, or better understand the real issue (in most cases hard core technical people don’t have the best of expressive behavior).
• Trust- Rely on your team and let them trust you ; don’t discuss their issues publicly without prior permission if need arises.
• Patience- Don’t snap at people if they don’t agree with you and at the same time don’t let others take you for a ride.
• Smooth- Make the entire process of working as smooth as possible and people will thank you for it.
• Respect for yourself- Keep your word/promises always. If you promised something , well do it.

(Pic: Google)