Posts tagged as:

risk

Safer Conversations with Management

by Steven M. Smith

You have what you believe is an important thought to share with management. You’re concerned though that management may dislike your message. How do you assess how safe it is to share your thought with management?
It’s certainly perilous if management regularly scowls, aims their finger at you and fires words such as: “You have no [...]

Read the full article →

But Is It Possible?

by Steven M. Smith

Your manager, Ellsworth, asks you, “But is it possible?” He wants you to tell him that it is possible for you to satisfy a project milestone despite the argument you presented him for the past five minutes that the milestone was unrealistic.
You feel like you are on the witness stand. Jack McCoy, the character from [...]

Read the full article →

An Impact of Corporate Culture

by Steven M. Smith

Project Managers from ABC and XYZ, which are located on the opposite side of the same street, differ in how they report project status: The PMs from ABC are forthright with their sponsors, and the PMs from XYZ are evasive.
Why do the PMs at ABC and XYZ have opposite approaches to reporting status?
Their very survival [...]

Read the full article →

Clarify the Story

by Steven M. Smith

Talking to upper management about information technology resource consumption can be a tricky proposition. Resource consumption is complicated but upper management demands a simple story that makes business sense to them. This article explains how an effective manager of a storage management group frames the conversation.

Read the full article →

Sales Project Management

by Steven M. Smith

I manage projects as an engineer. There are other people in my office that are sales people. They manage projects much differently.
Truly managing a project as an engineer requires identifying risks. That assessment isn’t for the faint of heart. You must find things that could go wrong. Sales people are often distressed by this search. [...]

Read the full article →