Archive for February, 2009

What makes a good project office?

Thursday, February 19th, 2009 by admin

The main point to remember is that a project office has one goal and one goal only: make everyone else’s lives easier so that they can deliver stuff. The goal isn’t “create loads of documentation so that when the project goes wrong no-one can blame you or your project manager”. If your project goes wrong baby, you know which way the sewer flows and you’d better have more than just a hefty PID to back up your argument when it does.

The fact remains that if you spend your time chasing people for reports which they have no time to write, maybe you should ask whether you can get the information another way. However, don’t set up an hour long meeting when you probably only need a 20 minute telephone conversation. A project manager’s time is precious and reporting (although important) is not as important as delivering.

Secondly, once you’ve elicited the information then give it back to the person who gave it to you. If you are asking for that information then somebody else is probably asking them for it too. At the very least they might need it themselves and they will no doubt thank you for putting order around chaos.

Finally, (but by no means least), if a project manager gives you some information about their project, then store it somewhere safe. Make sure its accessible next time you need to update your records because one thing’s for sure; if they told you it once, they don’t expect to have to tell you again any time soon!

For information about Project Office opportunities with Magic Milestones email chris@magicmilestones.biz

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Posted in Project Management, Project Office, Time Management, Tips, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Magic Milestones delivers BBCBrasil.com

Friday, February 13th, 2009 by cyeoh

The new look BBCBrasil.com website

Magic Milestones has been celebrating along with the BBC World Service Future Media (WSFM) team the launch of the brand new BBCBrasil.com.

In this, the 10 year anniversary of the birth of BBCBrasil.com, the new website offers it’s readers and listeners more. With it’s new wide format, more content is immediately available and there’s space to better promote BBCBrasil’s audio and video offerings. The brand new design provides a modernising refresh with it’s clean lines and white space.

The project, which commenced in early 2008, was managed end to end by Magic Milestones consultants. With happy customers and great positive feedback from website users, the project is being hailed as a brilliant success. It’s a big milestone in a programme of work that Magic Milestones is delivering for WSFM and marks the start of a period of rapid delivery. Ten more websites will be moving into the new wide format design and onto the new content management system over the next 6 months!

Congratulations to BBC WSFM and their colleagues in the BBC Brazilian service.

Posted in News | 1 Comment »

4-Hour Work Week: Myth or Magic?

Thursday, February 12th, 2009 by admin

I am reading the 4-hour work week by Timothy Ferriss with interest.

The first pertinent point is the fact that I am reading it at all. Until recently, I hardly had time to breathe, let alone read a book on time management! This is itself a sign that slowing down would be beneficial to me…

Ferriss’ general point is this: “its not the hours you put in but what you put into the hours”. It sounds like old news -it is to a point. However, I have found myself agreeing and learning from this book nonetheless.

A standard response to the assertion that one “has no time” usually falls into 3 categories:

1. Write it down and plan your time better

2. Prioritise

3. Delegate

I have done all of these things and guess what? I still have no time!

The truth is that if I don’t have something else to do with the time, work is an easy thing to fill life up with.

Hang on though!! I’m hardly stuck for stuff to do. If I wasn’t working, I’d be playing the fiddle, writing songs, watching girly films and spending time with my loved ones. Wouldn’t I?

The problem is that I have re-prioritised my whole life. It’s no-longer about doing the stuff I used to do, it’s about sacrificing those things for a “greater good”. That greater good just happens to be my work. However, when one looks at work and its purpose in life, the normal answer is a better life and more time. How odd that work itself is so diametrically opposed to these goals!

However, when we sacrifice these things for work we are signing up to a life akin to the one Seymour finds in the Little Shop of Horrors. “Feed me Seymour!” says the plant … and feed her Seymour does. The plant wants blood and so does a business - it will sap the life out of you if you let it. Don’t think this just applies to us business owners by the way… if you are still at work at 7pm at night then you fall into this category too Seymour.

The point is that I haven’t decided that I WANT to do that other stuff. If I planned “that stuff” into my day then I would do it. Instead work eeks out to fill the gap ad infinitum.

Once the focus of my business is to do that “other stuff”, Ferris argues that not only will I benefit but bizarrely, my business will too.

Watch this space. Maybe you will see it happening right before your eyes…

Posted in Entrepreneur, Philosophy, Time Management, Work /Life Balance | 1 Comment »