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Project Manager based in Manchester UK

Who needs a #business plan ?

Posted on February 20, 2013 by admin

Every Business needs a Business Plan.

It is commonly recognized that 4 out of 5 new start ups fail in the first 12 months and a key reason for this is a lack of a proper Business Plan. Your Business Plan is not just used to gain financial support (although this is obviously a key reason) but to act as a “roadmap” for the Business by which progress can be measured and tracked.

If you are starting a new business a comprehensive Business Plan is essential. If you want help with your Business Planning get in touch for a free consultation.
chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Success in Project Management by improving people skills #pmot

Posted on February 6, 2013 by admin

Whatever type of Project you are Managing results will be improved by paying more attention to your people skills:-

Treat others as you would expect to be treated yourself – it’s so obvious but so easily neglected. When the pressure is on it’s even more important. Every word you say, every action you take needs to take into consideration the impact on the feelings of those around you. It sounds a bit ‘wet’ but if you consistently neglect the impact your actions have on others you will pay the price of poor Team performance and morale.
Communicate – keep the team informed by giving regular briefings and updates.
Don’t rely on email – it’s a great way of communicating complex information but terrible at conveying emotions.
Face to Face – the most effective way of communicating. Sit down with your key team members at least once a week.
Leave the door open – always make yourself available for a private chat.
Make it fun – it’s all too easy to get bogged down in the bureaucracy of project management – keep a sense of humor & maintain a positive outlook.
Never criticize anyone in front of the Team – keep it for your one to one.
Open & Honest – personal communication should make your team members aware of your thoughts. This means telling people face to face what you think is good & what you think is bad. This requires you to listen openly without interrupting & being argumentative. Through this process your team will gain respect for your point of view & learn that you are a good listener.
Treat people equally – whether they are the cleaner or the CEO.

These issues will be further explored in my forthcoming book – ‘The Projectsguru guide to effective Project Management’
chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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10 tips to eliminate the blame culture…..#pmot…#leadership

Posted on January 30, 2013 by admin

Changing a company culture is not an easy thing to do & the blame culture which is endemic to many organizations needs to be eliminated for innovation to thrive. Here are some tips to eliminate the blame culture:-

Adopt a leadership position by ignoring the accepted blame culture & practicing a solution based mind set.
Instead of asking who did what & why identify the steps required to move from the current position to the desired one.
Look to the future not the past, develop a vision of where you want the organization to be.
Ignore the jibes of others who try to lay the blame by focusing on the steps required to achieve the desired outcome.
Lead by example – people will begin to notice & copy positive behavior.
Reward positive behavior with encouragement.
Deal with negative behavior by ignoring it.
Promote positive people within the organization at the expense of those who cannot change.
Forgive those who exhibit redemption.
Celebrate success & generate genuine teamwork.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Buy British because it’s British ? #business

Posted on January 15, 2013 by admin

There has been some debate in the Media recently about buying British products as a way of reducing the impact of the recession & preserving British jobs; so is this a good idea ?

We live in a Capitalist society (whether we like that or not) based on competition. The consumer has a free choice of which products to buy or not to buy & we tend to seek good value for money, regardless of origin. As a consequence we are pretty good at identifying products which deliver most “bang for the buck”.

In the 1970’s most of our Electronic products originated in Japan. Some people complained this wasn’t fair to British manufacturers but consumers continued to buy Japanese products because they were better quality and hence better value for money.

Now most of our electronic products are manufactured in China or Korea & people buy them because they are cheaper & better quality than their Japanese counterparts.

Jaguar Land Rover has been in the News recently because sales are up over 30% compared to last year, is this because these products are manufactured in Britain or because they are of exceptional quality and, though expensive, represent good value for money.

Over time products evolve and the companies which make them either grow – & their shareholders get richer or, if their products deteriorate the company shrinks, the shareholders lose money & eventually the company is bust.

So, in the long run, is the best way to preserve British jobs to buy inferior goods just because they are British or to buy the best value products whatever their origin & ensure quality increases & the fittest survive ?

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Our New Year hopes for 2013

Posted on December 31, 2012 by admin

2012 has been a pretty miserable year with freakish weather on both sides of the Atlantic, in the U.K the highest rainfall since records began saw people washed out of house and home and businesses ruined. In the USA Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast and several lives were lost, homes ruined & businesses destroyed.

Scandal followed scandal in the world of banking, PPI miss-selling, Libor fixing, Rogue traders etc etc

As austerity measures bite, wages decline & the economy bumps along the bottom like a flat baloon.

OK, so that was 2012, what do we want from 2013:-

Less emphasis on GDP and more on sustainability. The current system based on mass consumption, Consumerism & unsustainable growth fed by mountains of debt is bust ! We need to replace it with a more responsible, ecologically sound system based on managing the worlds scarce resources more effectively and equitably.
We need to take environmental change seriously. Whether there is a direct link between recent extreme weather & man made global warming is up for debate but there is irrefutable Scientific evidence that carbon dioxide emissions are having a direct impact on average global temperature. The long term consequences could be cataclysmic.
More People Power – the disaffection with the banks has led to huge defection to “community” banks like the Co-operative bank. Long may this continue. We are the mass consumers and we can have a massive impact by promoting ethical business practice & behavior.
Reduce our thirst for Oil – despite most of the Western world being in recession (or near) the price of Oil remains stubbornly around $100 a barrel. There are a number of factors at work here but there is little doubt we have reached “peak oil” where future supplies will gradually decline and the price rise. We need to break the cycle by urgently seeking alternative energy sources AND reducing consumption. The Automotive industry has made great strides in recent years but nowhere near enough. Much more Innovation is needed in this area.

A flatter playing field – whilst workers real wages & salaries have reduced year after year the income of Senior Management & Board members has continued to rise. The gap between rich & poor gets larger every year. This defies rational thought. It is up to us to change things by greater political action, workers representatives on company boards, greater shareholder influence on remuneration committees etc etc. There is NOTHING inevitable about allowing this obscene poverty gap to continue increasing.

So there are some of our wishes for 2013. Whether they come true is up to me and you. All the best.
chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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#innovation project of 2012 – Discovery of Higg’s boson at CERN

Posted on December 27, 2012 by admin

“It really is an incredible thing that it’s happened in my lifetime,” said Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh. Higgs was speaking on July 4th this year shortly after Scientists at CERN announced the discovery of the sub-atomic particle named after him which he first proposed back in 1964.

Several physicists independently dreamed up the idea of an energy field that would have permeated the early universe (and persisted to the present).

Like a puddle of treacle, the field resists the motion of particles moving through it. Such resistance to motion, or inertia, is the defining quality of mass. Subatomic particles therefore acquire differing amounts of mass depending on how strongly they interact with the energy field.

Known as the Higgs field, its existence also required a new particle — the Higgs boson. (Bosons are a class of fundamental particles defined by their quantum properties.)

Today, CERN scientists hunt the Higgs by smashing two beams of protons together at the $10 billion LHC. (Large Hadron Collider) Out of a trillion proton-proton collisions, perhaps one will create a Higgs particle, which then decays almost instantaneously into other particles. Sensitive detectors placed at the sites of these smashups look for signatures of several ways the Higgs might have decayed.

If each of the LHC’s 500 trillion collisions were represented by a grain of sand, they would fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, said Joe Incandela, a physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a spokesman for one LHC experiment. Yet the grains from the signals of interest — the possible Higgses — would cover only the tip of your finger.

The ramifications of the discovery of the Higgs boson particle are largely unknown but it’s impact on human knowledge will far outshine the current economic malaise as viewed by future generations. It is a major stepping stone in our understanding of the Universe.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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10 great reasons for #freelancing & #contracting

Posted on November 28, 2012 by admin

Following on from our last post about Freelancing here are some great reasons
you might want to go down this career route:-

Have you got a low boredom threshold ? – Freelancing allows you to choose
the length of your contracts based upon your own preferences. 3 months, 6 months, 12 months – whatever suits you so your never anywhere long enough to get bored.
Do you thrive on a challenge ? – instead of sitting around doing the same old thing, getting stuck in a rut every contract opportunity presents a fresh challenge, new people to meet, new things to do.
Do you like traveling ? – open up your horizons by working in different
parts of the country……. or even other parts of the world.
Fed up of Office politics ? – Freelancing allows you to ignore petty
politics & get on with your job. You’re there to complete a task to the best of your abilities not to impress the boss into giving you promotion.
Would you rather have the cash than holidays or other perks ? – contracting offers higher rates of pay without the frills associated with “permanent” employment.
Do you enjoy looking for work ? – a serious question, if you love interviews you will love freelancing !
Are you available at the drop of a hat ? – if you are you may be offered a contract on the basis of a telephone interview as long as you are prepared to start immediately.
Can you handle uncertainty ? – some people love not knowing what they will be doing in 6 months time – if you can embrace this you will get a buzz out of freelancing.
Are you sociable & outgoing ? if you don’t enjoy meeting people &
integrating you had better stick to that day job.
Are you flexible & adaptable ? – If you can join a new organization & hit the ground running, adding real value & making a big difference – contracting might just be the career for you.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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#Freelancers earn loads of wonga………..#HFD2012

Posted on November 21, 2012 by admin

It’s Freelancer day today so lets debunk some of our favorite myths about freelancing:-

Freelancers earn loads of wonga – Freelancer pay is very much dependent upon industry, location, length of contract etc. In Engineering a typical freelancer may earn 25% more than a “permie” but that’s like comparing apples & pears as the freelancer gets no paid holiday’s, sick pay, pension, bonus etc etc so a direct comparison needs to take into account the monetary value of these “permie” benefits.

Freelancers pay less tax – There is some truth in this. By owning a Limited Company a Freelancer may structure his pay to take home more income (perfectly legal) but the biggest benefit is being able to deduct legitimate business expenses like car mileage from taxable income. It should be stressed that legitimate Freelancers pay their full contribution according to UK tax law.

Freelancing is insecure – This is largely down to career management. In a lot of respects it can be more secure because the contractor has more active control. Rather than being at the whim of an employer the Contractor tends to be secure for the length of his contract & needs to be active in seeking another towards the end. If her Network is well developed this is perfectly manageable.

Freelancers can’t get a proper job – some people move easily between Contracting & “Permanent” roles. The majority, however, prefer freelancing. Most Freelancer’s wouldn’t take a permie job given the choice.

Freelancers are ruthless opportunists – no more so than the companies who employ them on short notice contracts. Freelancers are certainly not naive & are perfectly capable of exploiting an opportunity should it arise.

Freelancers are essential – Of course I would argue this but who else is going to step in & cover for 12 months maternity leave or provide invaluable support through a period of rapid growth. If it wasn’t for Freelancers the corporate world would be like a Swiss cheese.

Freelancers are competent Professionals – undoubtedly true. To survive without the fluffy blanket of corporate support, to learn on the job, hit the ground running, contribute immediately & be effective are all signs of competent professionalism. If you want an easy life don’t go into freelancing.

So why would anyone want to go into Freelancing ———that’s for the next post.

Happy Freelance Day!

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Author Archives: admin

About admin

Who needs a #business plan ?

Success in Project Management by improving people skills #pmot

10 tips to eliminate the blame culture…..#pmot…#leadership

#innovation project of 2012 – Discovery of Higg’s boson at CERN

10 great reasons for #freelancing & #contracting

#Freelancers earn loads of wonga………..#HFD2012