In this Edition

Note From the Editor: Getting Back Up on the Horse: The Difference Between Mistakes and Failures
Feature Article: One Bad Apple and 3 Ways to Make Feedback Productive and Meaningful
Events: AtTask is Coming to Your City: Help Us Design Our Next Event
On-Demand Webinar: The Case For Social Project Management
Blog Posts: The Seven Deadly Project Management Sins: Creating a Sin Free Environment
Can Financial Planners Teach Project Managers How to Manage Risk?
In Project-Based Work is Failure an Option?
5 Tips to Build a Real Project Dream Team

Note From the Editor

In our last newsletter, I shared the story about our team’s lunch breaks cruising down the Provo Canyon Trail on longboards and rollerblades. I’m pleased to say that, other than our bruised egos, our collective wounds have pretty much healed since the accident. Other than a few potentially “knarly” scars to lend credibility to the story, I think we’ve come away relatively unscathed.

That being said, I was surprised at how difficult it was to get back up on the horse. We took a week or two off to let our bodies heal, but that first ride after the accident was a little unnerving. We were much more careful, established a few new rules about how close we could ride together, and with the addition of a pair of gloves, I felt more comfortable. I think it would have been a shame to stop our lunchtime ride, but if we didn’t learn from our crash and make some safety adjustments, our next accident would be just a matter of time.

I think the difference between mistakes and failure lies in our ability to evaluate, learn, make adjustments, and get back up on the horse. There is nothing inherently wrong with making mistakes, in many cases, that’s how we learn. Albert Einstein said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Thomas Edison also felt like mistakes were part of the learning process. When talking about his discovery of the light bulb Edison said, “Results! Why man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work.”

Regardless of how we plan, mistakes are just a part of the project management process. Whether or not we learn from those mistakes is the difference between mistakes and failure. Included in this newsletter is Michael Jordan’s take on mistakes, success, and being the best basketball player in history.

Feature Article

One Bad Apple and 3 Ways to Avoid Spoiling Team Morale

Because projects often tend to include a number of iterative processes, I’ve noticed that how we provide feedback to our peers and subordinates is often just as important as the feedback itself. With that in mind, here are three…

Read the complete article here

Events

AtTask is Coming to Your City: Help Us Design Our Next Event

Trade your opinion for an AtTask t-shirt! As we prepare to visit your city, your opinion is extremely valuable. Click here to complete an anonymous survey and tell us what you think an AtTask event should look like.

As a thank you for your time, we’ll send you an AtTask t-shirt

On-Demand Webinar: The Case For Social Project Management:
3 Imperatives that Will Drive Greater Project Success

As PPM methodologies spread departmentally throughout the organization, one of the greatest challenges facing business leaders is a lack of voluntary team member participation in the project management process. The traditional top-down work management approach doesn’t work with today’s workforce, resulting in:

1. Project information that executives don’t trust
2. An overly structured work environment that nobody likes
3. Frustrated project teams whose accomplishments often go unrecognized

Access the webinar and listen to guest speakers Tim Harmon of Forrester and Nate Bowler of @task discuss in depth The Case for Social Project Management and how to revolutionize how you manage projects for your company.

Click here to access the webinar

Other Events

Blog Posts

The Seven Deadly Project Management Sins: Creating a Sin Free Environment

Although the Seven Deadly Project Management Sins don’t include greed, lust, or gluttony, ignoring them can be expensive for project teams. Is there anything you would like to add to the list…

Read the complete blog post here

Can Financial Planners Teach Project Managers How to Manage Risk?

A balanced investment strategy has proven to be the most successful approach for maximizing return while reducing risk in an investment portfolio. Does this same approach apply to the successful management of…

Read the complete blog post here

In Project-Based Work is Failure an Option?

I don’t think anyone would deny that Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. However, did you know that he missed…

Read the complete blog post here

5 Tips to Build a Real Project Dream Team

“I’m not looking for the best players,” said Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 Gold Medal winning U.S. Hockey Team, “I’m looking for the right ones.” Brooks understood that building the best team involves knowing the strengths, weaknesses, and aptitude of everyone on the team—regardless of whether or not they are individual superstars…

Read the complete blog post here