Posts Tagged ‘virtual meetings’

7 Trends in Business Analysis and Project Management to Watch for in 2012

Posted: January 9th, 2012 by ElizabethLarson. Comments »

By Elizabeth Larson, PMP, CBAP, CSM and Richard Larson PMP, CBAP

The close of one year tends to make one reflect on what has occurred in the past year and ponder the future. Here we ponder some trends in the Project Management and Business Analysis fields for 2012. Here are our top seven predictions for business analysts (BAs) and project managers (PMs) in 2012.

1. Divergence of the PM and BA Role. In 2009 we predicted that as the economy tightened, organizations would decrease their project budgets and combine the role of PM and BA. For 2012 we believe that organizations will see the need for both roles, particularly on strategic projects, and move away from a combined role. There are several factors for this trend:

Is Your Meeting Worth the Time?

Posted: December 20th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. 2 Comments »

MeetingA couple of days ago I fired up my online calendar and started to schedule a meeting with my manager.  Our meetings are typically less than 30 minutes long, but I had  a lot to talk about, so I was going to make it an hour long.  Yessirree.  I had a lot of stuff on my mind, I needed an audience, and he was the logical person to hear me out!

Culture and Communications

Posted: March 22nd, 2010 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »

Keyboard Globe XSmallProjects cross cultural boundaries probably as often as not anymore.  How many people either go to other countries to work on projects, find themselves working with team member from other countries here in the US, or work with virtual teams that include people from other places? 

Of course, you don’t have to cross an ocean to experience cultural differences.  Cultural differences here in the US can even breed culture clash.

I was reading about someone from the Deep South who was communicating with a team member in the northeast part of the country.  The northern team member was offended that the southerner had called her “Ma’am.”  The southerner was completely flabbergasted that this could be considered an offense. 

Top Fundamentals for Successful Virtual Meetings

Posted: January 29th, 2010 by RichLarson. 4 Comments »

If you’re a project manager or business analyst and have ever facilitated or participated in a virtual meeting, you know they can be highly productive. And, highly frustrating if not run well. Here is a list of 5 things I think all virtual meetings should have to be successful:Picture1

1)      Test your technology. If you have never used the software or hardware for your virtual meetings, make sure you practice with a small group first. If you are doing a formal presentation, I suggest you reboot your PC right before you make it. We recently did a product demo where the presenter’s PC froze up right at the start. It took some fancy “tap dancing” to recover and keep the meeting going. Better to reboot first than to recover later.