Everyday Project Management

Develop Your Capabilities of Delivering Unrelenting Rock Solid Value, FAST And You Will Always Soar

What is the number one way to get or keep your job in today’s environment? I run a company that employs directly and indirectly about 200 people. Like every operation out there today, we have to be incredibly creative and focused on delivering real value to our customers. The people who we can afford to keep employed are the ones who can create real and measurable value TODAY, and EVERYDAY. It is no longer about your future potential, the home run you hit yesterday, your popularity or your abilities at political maneuvering that will keep you employed. Real results that bring in revenue now is what will make you invaluable. Here is how you do this:

1. Go after the projects that will show a very fast and measurable return on investment. If you need to learn an effective project management technique that will help you achieve outstanding results that doesn’t require you to spend hundreds of dollars on difficult to learn software, check out www.cheetahpm.com. You can be operational and effective with this method in less than two days.

2. Get your job done for the least cost possible. If you have resources that are not cost effective or have lost the value they once produced - cut them before someone tells you to cut them. You will be seen as being proactive with the best interests of the operation in mind. You can get some great deals right now, especially if you know how to use effective negotiation techniques. Take the Cheetah Negotiations course and you will quickly master the skills to get the most of every negotiation where both parties win.

3. Create an environment of possibilities and opportunities. Make sure you know how to evaluate the opportunities that will give your operation the highest return on investment. Check out our Project Portfolio course to see how you can select the projects that will give your operation the highest return on investment.

4. Find new ways to generate revenue for your operation. Even if you are not part of the sales or marketing team, they have projects too. We have a sales and marketing course that teaches you how to use project management skills to generate more business. Now is the time to do cost effective sales and marketing projects, especially when competitors may be slashing marketing budgets. You can capture a lot more market attention if you run your marketing projects creatively. Project Management can help you do this.

5. Learn how to manage risks. No one likes surprises, especially not now. If you can reduce the risks facing your operation, while creating revenue and decreasing costs, they will want to keep you around. To learn how to better manage the risks that could hurt your operation, check out our risk management course.

To help you get or keep your job in today’s environment, use the promotion code everydaypm09 and get a 20% discount off any of the courses Cheetah Learning offers. This offer is valid until Dec. 31, 2009.

Lessons Learned - Even on the coldest of days, there is tremendous beauty

We set up the second Wednesday in December for reviewing lessons learned. While most people focus on goal setting and resolutions at the beginning of the new year, we find it helps us to spend some time before we jump into that mode by focusing on the lessons we learned in the past year. We analyze just how well we did in meeting our biggest goals for the year, and determine what we could and should be doing differently to achieve better results going forward.

With the challenges we are facing worldwide, the inclination to review the past year is more urgent than ever. Reviewing the events of 2008 will help create meaningful change in 2009. Plus, life is a series of projects, and Lessons Learned is a critical step in all projects; it’s where you review what you learned doing your project so you can determine what to do differently – and how – on your next project to achieve better results.

Here are the top three lessons we learned for the year and how you can participate in lessons learned day with us:

1. When You Show Up and Participate, Good Things Happen (Participate in our lessons learned survey). We have a special “thank you” once you fill out the survey.

2. By Helping Others Find Success, You Find Success (Download our Free Lessons Learned Template). You can also take our online Lessons Learned Course and earn 2 PDUs.

3. Just by listening you join the conversation. (Hear our podcast on lessons learned day). In the Podcast, we reference a special thank you with the online course - PM of Holiday Parties.