After working on countless projects, I realized that there is a common hiden key to project success - vision. And given how vital delivering bottom line results is in today’s business world, I’ve devoted an article to the topic.

As published in Project Times, “A Hidden Key to Project Success” discusses three main strategies to improve bottom line results: 1) Seeing the integration points and impacts; 2) Seeing the optimal sequencing points & patterns; 3) Seeing potential roadblocks.

I hope you enjoy the article, and I’d love to hear your feedback / insights. When I reflect on those successes which have had the greatest positive impact on my career, it always comes back to “project execution”. I have no doubt that following these secrets to success will yield results.

© Lisa Anderson 2010. All rights reserved.

Today uncertain economic climate is driving greater focus on risk management.

According to Industry Week’s article, “Riskier Business”, signs indicate that CEOs will be taking greater notice of risk in the wake of the economic crisis. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers’ latest annual CEO survey, fully 84% of respondents reported they anticipate making changes to the way they approach managing risk, with 41% indicating that those changes will be major ones.

Also according to the Industry Week article, a few pieces of advice are as follows: 1) Categorize your risk – strategic risks, big-picture operational risks, financial risks and compliance risks. 2) Assume greater uncertainty. 3) Mitigate credit risk.

I also recently addressed this topic in an article published in Project Times, “Project Risk – Should You Care”. In the article, I discuss three keys to success: 1) Identify what might go wrong. 2) Determine potential reasons. 3) Implement steps to mitigate risk. To read the article in full, click here.

© Lisa Anderson 2010. All rights reserved.

I’ve recently worked with multiple client on this topic. It is an important topic - if you can “guarantee” your strategy through solid execution, you’ll increase the value of your business. In my experience, few companies achieve their strategy. It is much easier to create binders full of strategic documents than it is to “make it happen”. What you find someone who not only can create a practical yet solid strategy “AND” execute it, you’ve found a gem!

I recently published an article on Project Times about this subject, “Why Project Planning is Critical to Attaining Strategy Goals”. The article discusses the keys to success in “making it happen”: 1) Executive committment and involvement. 2) Effective questioning (largely what I’m able to provide my clients to help them think through how to successfully execute their strategy). 3) A rigorous focus on the critical path. Read the entire article here.

Simply by focusing attention on strategy execution via a project planning process, you’ll be further along than most of your competitors. Why not give it a try?

© Lisa Anderson 2010. All rights reserved.

There seems to be an increase in interest in this subject matter - perhaps so many companies put everything on hold with the recession that they are just starting to dust off their old upgrade and new ERP selection projects. Thus it seemed like an opportune time to discuss the pitfalls to ERP project success - and how to overcome them.

I’ve been involved in “too many” ERP and other system selection and implementation projects. They can be monster projects to say the least but they can also be quite rewarding and provide significant results if handled appropriately.

I recently wrote an article in Project Times about the pitfalls to success. I’ve found the three most common pitfalls to be the following:

1. Trying to solve process discipline issues with systems.

2. Focusing on bells & whistles instead of core functionality

3. Focusing too much effort on system cost instead of implementation cost and risk

Read the full article here

© Lisa Anderson 2010. All rights reserved.

Are you interested in what all successful project leaders have in common? If so, refer to my recent article in Project Times about this subject: click here.

After evaluating what “works” from being involved in hundreds of projects ranging from the simple to complex, multi-million dollar ones, I’ve identified the top traits of the project leaders who delivered RESULTS: 1) Set direction. 2) Manage the critical path with rigor. 3) Listen and provide feedback. I expand upon these traits in the full article.

I’m interested in your thoughts and feedback. What have you seen?

© Lisa Anderson 2010. All rights reserved.

No! It isn’t part of the 80/20. I just wrote an article on this topic for Project Times: to read the full article, click here.

In essence, the article focuses on how there’s NO investment required to achieve the 80/20 of project management success. The bottom line is that I’ve found it to be imminently achievable to achieve project management results with current tools, software and resources. Instead, in 100% of the hundreds of projects I’ve either led or worked on in a diverse set of companies and industries, I’ve found that developing the critical path (whether manually or aided with project management software) has been one of the keys to project success.

Although project management software provides a few ease-of-use advantages (described in the article), the keys to success are available without software tools:

1) Focus

2) Questioning ability

3) Organization

4) Communication

Read more about these critical success factors in the full article.

© Lisa Anderson 2009. All rights reserved.

Absolutely - it “works”.

There are so many high quality people in the job search process in today’s environment - after all, unemployment rates continue to increase, even though it is increasing at a slower rate. Tell this “comforting” statistic to the exasperated job seeker. For example, California’s unemployment is 12.2%.

It is obvious that traditional job search methods no longer work. Instead, it is essential to stand out in the crowd (and the crowd is quite a crowd these days). In talking with a former colleague and supply chain expert earlier today, I discovered that she has achieved significantly more success since adopting project management principles in her job search process. These principles have resulted in higher response rates, increased interviews and follow-up calls. Now, this can be a comforting result.

So, what are the keys to success in transforming your current job search process into a project management approach? 1) Remember, identical to project management success, relationships are the key to success 2) Develop a simple task list and timeline 3) Prioritize 4) Follow-up 5) Track progress with a continuous improvement philosophy

To read about these five keys to success in more detail, please refer to the complete article: click here.

© Lisa Anderson 2009. All rights reserved.

This is exactly the subject matter of my recent article published in Project Times, “Throw Out Complex Project Timelines”. Thus, my answer is YES!

The current recession has made it all the more critical that companies deliver the expected project results - on time, on/under budget and meeting/ exceeding the intended results. Therefore, it is critical that we throw out the old paradigms, starting with the need for complex project timelines. I hear my project management colleagues thinking, “heresy!”; however, in my experience in working with companies ranging from entrepreneurial start-up’s to international, multi-billion dollar organizations, I’ve found that what “works” (delivers bottom line results) consistently is quite the opposite - simple, common sense, people-focused projects. So, what are the keys to success?

The three keys are 1) Start with people; 2) Develop a simple project timeline; 3) Lastly, follow-up is your key to success. Read about each of these three keys to how to achieve bottom line results without complexity in the full article reprinted on my website or directly on Project Times (FYI, it requires registration to view the entire article; however, I’d appreciate it if you registered and commented on the article).

I look forward to hearing your comments - and I encourage debate, as it is one of the best ways to get to an even better end result.

© Lisa Anderson 2009. All rights reserved.

Absolutely! I was recently quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Philly.com addressing this topic from an employer’s perspective re: job candidates. There is no doubt that communication skills are not only #1 in the job search process but also in career success in general - I’ve seen countless examples where superior communication (unfortunately with or without solid content backing it up) leads to success. You could have 2 PhD’s but if you cannot communicate effectively re: your ideas, you will likely end up in a dead end career.

The article discusses outsourcing in relation to multicultural awareness and communication skills. Re: this topic, my perspective is that the recession will have a reversing trend on outsourcing (which was one of the points in the article in Philly.com): Not everyone believes that companies’ global aspirations will spur demand for employees with multicultural skills. Some point to the growth in U.S. firms outsourcing business overseas. Others, including some prominent U.S. economists, see “reverse globalization” taking place. “In my experience, during times of economic turmoil and high unemployment, countries become more protectionist,” says business consultant Lisa Anderson, LMA Consulting Group, Claremont, Calif. “There has already been a reversal trend of globalization since the recession started.”

Even so, businesses will eventually consider returning part or all of their operations overseas, Anderson says, and it will be important to have employees in place “who understand the multicultural implications to ensure a comprehensive strategy and successful transition.”

In summary, communication is #1 - and multicultural awareness is one of the key components for overall success. To read the entire article, click here.

© Lisa Anderson 2009. All rights reserved.

Yes and no.

Websters defines multitasking as “the concurrent operation by one central processing unit of two or more processes”. So, if you interpret it as literally doing two things at once, I say “no”. I find that it is impossible to put the appropriate focus on 2 tasks at the same moment in time. On the other hand, if you interpret it as working on multiple projects/ tasks in the same general timeframe but working on 1 task at the same moment in time, I say “yes”. Although I am extremely poor at being able to focus on 2 items simultaneously, I am expert at working successfully on multiple projects during the same timeframe.

In today’s business environment, it is critical to be able to make progress on multiple fronts simultaneously; therefore, multitasking in this perspective is a key foundation block. This is a learned skill, so don’t give up. It is quite achievable to organize and prioritize such that you can successfully work on multiple projects.

© Lisa Anderson 2009. All rights reserved.