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Problem-Solving Success Tip: Use Your Project Management Skills
Solving a big problem is a project: you're far more likely to solve it successfully if you treat it like one. That means you'll need to identify tasks, make and adjust assignments, and keep track of what is due when. Get on the right track immediately by starting a task list as soon as you start working on the problem. Every time you think of something that needs to be done, put it on your task list along with the owner, due date and completion criteria (how you're going to know the task is successfully completed). That way, you won't have to worry about forgetting important details, or waste time constantly reconstructing the list in your mind. Once the problem is defined, you can lay out a project schedule and estimate the resources you'll need. At the very least, you'll need access to key people who have knowledge of the problem. Some of them may need to be released from other responsibilities to work on your problem-solving team. You may also need money for travel, special equipment, exclusive use of a conference room, etc. Figuring this out in advance and making sure it is allocated will help you run your project smoothly. In addition to the tasks to analyze and solve the problem itself, you'll also need a communication plan and a contingency plan. The communication plan will identify who needs what information about your problem solving effort, when they need it and how you are going to provide it. The contingency plan identifies the things that could stop you from solving the problem and specifies what you are going to do about it. Add the appropriate tasks to implement your communication and contingency plans to your task list. HINT: Orient tasks to deliverables. Each task should result in something tangible, which will help you make sure the tasks actually accomplish something. copyright 2005. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved. Jeanne Sawyer is an author, consultant, trainer and coach who helps her clients solve expensive, chronic problems, such as those that cause operational disruptions and cause customers to take their business elsewhere. These tips are excerpted from her book, When Stuff Happens: A Practical Guide to Solving Problems Permanently. Find out about it, and get more free information on problem solving at her web site: http://www.sawyerpartnership.com/.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news News 8 Red Cross blood drive in Orange News 8 and the Red Cross are teaming up again today for a 'Remembering 9/11 Blood Drive'. News Near You for Sept. 10 NEWS NEAR YOU HanoverThe annual winterization program in Hanover County is accepting applications from low-income, elderly or disabled homeowners and volunteers who want to help them. News by location Get local and national news updates via E-mail. Duke University School of Nursing will offer several graduate courses in Fayetteville in 2011. Participants will meet once a month at the Southern Regional Area Health Education Center at 1601 Owen Drive. Each course will involve online learning. News media giants tap new media to stay alive Traditional news media outlets are staving off their much-reported impending demise by learning to use the very social media tools that are supposedly clobbering them to death. News 8 Follows First-Year Teacher Throughout the school year, News 8 will follow Darryl Wende during his first year of teaching in a series of reports called "Making the Grade." News by location Get local and national news updates via E-mail. A small fire that someone set on a street in west Fayetteville may have been a ploy to get inside homes in the neighborhood, police said. News by location Get local and national news updates via E-mail. An investigator with the Consumer Product Safety Commission was at Fort Bragg on Thursday conducting tests inside a military home where three families were staying at different times before their babies died mysteriously. News Animation Goes Political: Knocks Pres. Obama Speech In New Video The Taiwanese NMA News animation videos are coming out with increasing regularity , and are getting more timely and news-worthy . In the past, they've been fairly fun in their bipartisan ribbing toward both political parties - but their latest Pres. Barack Obama video takes some sharp jabs at the Commander-in-Chief. News by location Get local and national news updates via E-mail. You had to feel good about how the rest of the state of North Carolina felt about Fayetteville and Cumberland County football this week as reflected in the first Associated Press high school polls. News by location Get local and national news updates via E-mail. Two men are accused of robbing a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint Wednesday night, off Rosehill Road. Site: news - Google News Adobe, Google on Apple's App Store Changes: 'great News' - PC World
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for management Management Tip of the Day: 3 ways to drive real change The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (http://www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters. Weight management program for youth KidShape, a weight management program for families with overweight children ages 6 to 14, will be offered weekly beginning Sept. 21 in Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 26 W. Commerce St. Life Management Center Of NW Florida Hosts Suicide Prevention Conference In Panama City, Life Management Center of Northwest Florida hosted the inaugural suicide prevention conference to educate mental health professionals and the public about the issue. Investment Management Consultants: What's Behind the Veil? Investment Management Consultants: What?s Behind the Veil? Chairman?s Opening Speech at Agendus calendaring, time management app comes to iPad Iambic has brought its calendaring and time management application, Agendus, to the iPad. Agendus for iPad provides the same functionality and features as the Agendus iPhone app, but with new views and layouts tailored specifically for the iPad?s larger display. Education Management Corporation Urges Department of Education to Reconsider Gainful Employment Rule Education Management Corporation , one of the largest providers of post-secondary education in North America, today provided an official response to the U.S. Department of Education's proposed rule defining "Gainful Employment." Strategic Management & Opportunity Corporation Prepares Materials for Current Information Reporting CLINTON, Wash. -- Strategic Management & Opportunity Corporation announces that the company is preparing required documents and filings necessary to achieve OTCMarkets Current Info Tier status. Institute of Management Consultants USA Earns ISO Accreditation for Its Certification Process of US Management ... WASHINGTON----The Institute of Management Consultants USA , the certifying body and professional association for U.S.-based management consultants and management consulting firms, has earned the prestigious International Organization for Standardization ISO/IEC 17024:2003 accreditation for its Certified Management Consultant? certification process. Paulson Management Group, Inc. Opens London Office, Announces Sponsorship at a4uexpo Affiliate Marketing Conference Paulson Management Group, Inc., a top US affiliate management company, is expanding their operations to the UK under PMG Affiliate Management LTD. Paulson Management Group, Inc. is also opening an office in downtown London, and has announced plans to sponsor at the a4uexpo in October 2010. Management Controls Appoints George Moody VP Sales & Marketing HOUSTON----Management Controls, Inc., the leader in contractor cost management software, announced today that it has appointed George Moody to vice president of sales & marketing, effective immediately. Site: management - Google News Goldman Names Asset Management Chairman - New York Times (blog)
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