Business

Reporting – The First R is . . . Reporting

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Last week I mentioned why Reporting, in a way is a core part of the P(x)M jobs – Program, Project, and even Product Managers. Basically knowing is core to what we do, reporting is key to knowing, so like it or not it’s a part of your job. Fortunately I like reporting, which is both an advantage an possibly a cry for help.

So what happens when you come onto a new project and need reporting to run? Well that’s my next focus here, and I’m going to explain my seven stages of reporting, each of which conveniently begins with “R”. It’s like the five stages of grief with spreadsheets and my usual display of anal-retentiveness.

When you come onto a project, one of the first things you need to do is get reporting running so you and everyone else are informed about what’s going on. Admittedly when you know what’s going on it could result in panic, but we’ll actually cover that in stage five.

So what’s your first step in getting reporting running.

Step One is . . . Reporting.

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Project Management Time: The Horizontal And The Vertical

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As a Project Manager I both have to run processes, create processes, and get people do to them. It’s not as exciting as it sounds (and if the idea excites you then . . . well, we’re a lot a like).

The problem is that people don’t want to follow process for the most part. Who does like to fill out forms, do documentation, get the right boxes checked, etc.? People don’t enjoy this for the most part, and at best tolerate it.

Yet, at times, you’ll notice some processes do get done. Sometimes automatically, sometimes grudgingly. But they get done (and usually get done without coercion, or much of it).

So why does this happen? What is the difference between things that get done and things that don’t?

My answer is that there are Horizontal and Vertical Processes.

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This Is The Kind of PM I Am

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I heard about how the VA has various challenges, one of them being Project Management.  It says a lot about me that I wanted to find out more about these, and wondered how I could solve them.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.