All Marketing Projects

I am off to Darwin early October to attend the Australian Institute of Project Management annual confernce - I can hardly wait!  500 Project Managers in the Darwin Conference Centre for three days, can you imagine?  This will be my first AIPM Conference - any excuse to get back to the Top End.

While in Darwin I am working with Tourism NT to deliver my Fundamentals in Project Management workshop - these are such great days working with their marketing and communications team.  And I am also going down to Kathryn for the weekend, last time I was there I was 16, but have vivid memories of the beauty of the area.  It's going to be an exciting week and a little piece of early summer will be very welcome.

Project Wendy continues - how stressful is it selling a house?  Friends now know not to ask 'how's it going?' ...... s-l-o-w-l-y is all I can say, lets hope its not too much longer and we can move into the delivery phase - Wendy back in Sydney!

Rock on October!

Love your work
M-J

My mother called me in May and announced that she would like to sell her home in Goulburn and move back to Sydney.  I could hardly contain my excitement after years of unsuccessfully trying to nudge her out of Goulburnand back closer to me in Sydney.  I have never been a fan of the country life.

So we started with a bit of a scatter-gun approach – so many things to do – prepare a home for sale, find an alternative, what to do with 50+ years of accumulated stuff of four daughters – I am pleased to say that my year 12 text books are now landfill.

I quickly realised a bunch of enthusiastic people were making it impossible to keep track of  who was doing what.  So, I did what comes naturally and created a plan.  Yep, my mothers move back to Sydney is now known as Project Wendy.  And what a difference, having a plan has made - ensuring that everyone works efficiently and to our strengths.

It’s a classic case of working with stakeholders who are not dedicated to the project – my sisters all have ‘day jobs’ and have helped where they can by referring to the plan and picking up a task they are able to deliver – and there have been surprises – never in my wildest dreams would I have thought my baby sister would get so much pleasure out of a pressure hose! 

So what are the key lessons for any Project Manager we can apply to all projects? 

1. Start with a plan and scope
2. Engage your stakeholders and ensure they are able to deliver
3. Communicate clearly and consistently – so we all know what everyone is doing

I like the end of the Financial Year, it's not as nearly emotional as the end of the calendar year where I wonder what I should be doing differently.  

Financial Year resolutions are easy by comparison.  This year I am definitely going to get a grip on only going to Officeworks with a list, no more rambling up and down the isles of stationery products and thinking that an 8 pack of post-it notes will save me a trip for next time.  I confess, I find great comfort in stationery on a stressful day!

Other good things to look forward to this Financial Year are - keeping the tax stuff in one folder, and sorting out my credit card so its a pin and not a signature - I reckon this is a real time saver.  
But most importantly its to continue to work with great people, deliver great work and enjoy myself.
 
Have you worked out your New Financial Year resolutions?

Love your work

M-J

The thing I love best about being a Project Manager is reading that my chosen profession is in demand following the financial crisis.  A recent article in The Australian Financial Review, states 'On international estimates, about 1.2 million project management positions will be created globally in the next five years .....'.

That's great news for those of us who are quietly 'spreading the word' that Project Management is a great skill that supports your professional approach to your work and no longer the doyen of the Construction, Engineering or IT industries.  

I recently spent two days with the marketing team of Tourism NT delivering a project management workshop.  In this course we spent a half day working on a 'live' project and applying the project management disciplines.  Over the two days, we worked to understand how the practical execution of project management can give clarity to the work you do and importantly you can see your progress and acknowledge your successes.

It looks like there will be a few more project managers in the world, now that can't be a bad thing!

Enjoy your week, love your work

M-J

No,no, no .... not me, but of all the holidays Easter has to be my favourite - not for the chocolate, but more for the time 'out' after a busy start to the year, and spending it with family and friends.  My mum came to visit and I've not been in my office for four days!  And I did not miss it one bit.

I'm off to Darwin the end of this week to deliver a two-day project management workshop to Tourism NT.  This will be my first trip to Darwin and I am looking forward to visiting this amazing city.

Another busy week ahead - if any of you have any 'tips' on what to see and do in Darwin, I would love to hear from you.

I love my work!

M-J

Its been a busy couple of weeks, thanks to everyone who took some time to check out my new website since it was launched - your feedback has been terrific - always good to know that my efforts are well received.  Did anyone see my school principal's reference in testimonials?  It's a couple of years old now, but I think he was on the money.

The past two weeks I have been traveling around Australia - I can now say I have visited Perth and Adelaide, although very quickly!  We conducted a series of employee feedback back sessions to build the business requirements for a project and what fun we had!  Seriously, each session was a very quick two hours, full of views and opinions all good rich information to ensure that the project delivers to the employees expectations.

What I love with this work is how enthusiastic people get - workshops always start off slow and a bit tense as I never know who will be in the room, but by the time you get through the reason why we are here - the audience is engaged and its all go from there on.

Another busy week ahead for all of us - and looking forward to my Easter break ..... I know its not for another two weeks, but that will fly.  Where has the year gone?  April around the corner!  Amazing.

I love my work!
M-J