MooPig's B2B Department :: "Project Priorities"

Corralled by Pat Darnell  |  Nov 14, 2012  |  Bryan TX

[Picture LINK]

How many times have you had this conversation with your boss: "There are so many projects going on right now, which ones are the most important?" They reply: "They are all equally as important, they are all high priority and they all need to be done yesterday!" What do you do when you get this type of answer? Simply follow these:

5 Tips for Setting Project Priorities

Use the following questions to help you set your own project priorities:

Question #1 – Does the Project Bring in Revenue?

Companies are in business to make money. That's why everyone goes to great lengths to get as much done as possible with limited resources and short time frames. You can never go wrong with this question if you are struggling with setting project priorities. Choose the project to work on that will bring in revenue to the company if you have a choice to make. For example, there may be one phase of the project that needs to be complete in order to receive the next payment of 25%. Finish this project first before you move on to a new project that may not be as close to bringing cash into the company.

Question #2 – Will Closing this Project Create Client Noise?

Unfortunately, sometimes projects don't go as planned. This is bad enough when the project is an internal project, but it can really cause friction when the project is for a client. Dates may begin to slip or functionality may not work as intended. Clients can become frustrated and may begin getting a bit vocal. This gradual crescendo of discontent can quickly escalate to a full-blown roar if not carefully managed. Payment can start being withheld, VPs start getting involved, and meetings designed to reset expectations are necessary in order to get things back on track. These are the next types of projects you would move up in the queue to work on as you prioritize your projects.

Question #3 – Will Closing this Project Create Internal Noise?

This question is a variation of quieting client noise. Internal noise can be almost as bad as client noise and many times a bit more intense. It sounds like this... "I would be able to finish my deliverable, but I'm waiting on the specification that is running 8 weeks behind!" That particular deliverable is a project that you have been assigned to manage. This deliverable may not be complete for legitimate reasons (for example, limited resources, shifting priorities, changing scope) but it is being used as the poster child for why someone else internally is running behind. These are the next projects you want to tackle and bring to closure.

Question #4 – Is it a Strategic Project?

Now that you have projects that are bringing in revenue and the noise is down to a dull roar, you can focus on those projects that are strategic in nature. These are projects that will be introducing a new product, taking the company in a different direction, or supporting some other strategic initiative the company has defined. These types of projects are typically less crisis-oriented and longer term in nature. These can fit in nicely around paying client projects while these new projects gradually shift the direction of the company.

Question #5 – What's Left?

You are now down to the final question. What projects are left? These projects are typically pet projects from VPs and Executives that they would like to get done. They may not necessarily further the company's big picture, but they will make their department's job easier. Or, these may be projects that fall into the "nice-to-have" category but would not be considered mission critical.

There is one exception to the order of the questions above. Question #4 can quickly move to the top of the list depending upon the current state of the company. The company may be on the verge of going out of business because of offering antiquated or out-of-date products or services. Nothing else matters beyond changing the strategic direction of the company if this is the case. Question #4 will rocket to the top of this list and everything else will become a lower priority.

So the next time you hear they answer "they're all important", use the questions above to help you manage setting project priorities. You will quickly find that this process will become second nature and you will automatically be picking the next best project to work on!

Prioritize your projects by using ProjectManager.com. You can include project priorities that range from "Critical" to "Not Important" and sort your projects accordingly.


__________________Reference
http://www.projectmanager.com/?utm_source=Constant%2BContact&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Method123%3A%2BOctober%2B2012%2B-%2BWeek%2B2
https://secure.projectmanager.com/online-software-signup-step1.aspx?plan=1&utm_source=Constant%2BContact&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Method123%3A%2BOctober%2B2012%2B-%2BWeek%2B2

Yen for Secondary Research

Do You Feel that Shift: Do You?
by Pat Darnell

Going Global Issues are more prone to be “unrealized” stumbling blocks that impose restrictions on freedom. It seems like issues for global business should be usable as implements to cultivate at least a navigable path to global markets.

In post 9 / 11 global business, eight years later, Tariffs and Terrorism are still two stumbling blocks in the path of blinded operatives. Moreover, nuclear threats aside, what commerce offerings are available from isolationist countries, if any? Security measures our USA imposes because of post 9 / 11 have been providing spin-off beneficial windfalls for neighbors, such as Japan who often becomes more Oriental than Western, when it is high Yen time. Ouch; that economic shift almost knocked me down!

Vision for New Millennium is also hope. To become a global firm, and world’s lowest-cost volume producer of the highest-quality products requires total cost management strategy? It will be the only trail blazer of any help for business to business. Who is the master of that? Let's look at some mile markers.

We have had eight years to discover what impact the attacks of 9 / 11 are on the global economic arena. All indicators point to a weakened state of affairs, for an already limp idea. Global commerce on shaky ground due to post 9/11 recourse, has a price tag that is bankrupting business to business enterprise. Choices for continued spread of USA-centric commerce, is on pause, almost the same as in one year after --

September, 2002: “For starters, financial markets have certainly hunkered down in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Global equities are still down about 13% from their September 10, 2001 levels (dollar-based ACWI index). Not surprisingly the US -- which still accounts for 54% of world equity market capitalization -- has led the way. The S and P 500 remains some 16% below its pre-attack reading, whereas the NASDAQ is off some 22%... “(Roach, Stephen, and Sept 03, 2002) Global: “One Year Later” (New York) Global Economic Forum, The latest views of Morgan Stanley Economists.

1. What is globalization? So far it has meant about 33% reduction in sales of automobiles in 2008-09 USA. “Globalization is a contentious process.” (Copyright 2000-2001 – Lechner, Frank)
It turns out, as a business pursuit; global business remains in the realms of controversial, debatable, arguable, litigious, and above all touchy universal context. At this point I highly advise to change the term global to something else.

Global > Comprehensive Corporate Come-on > One Size Fits All

Globalization: “...The question of globalization is this-- Are we better off through specialization or do we switch to focus on a diverse economy by limiting out-sourcing? Is this a too simplistic view or is this the center of what we as a nation must face?” There is still no answer to that.

2. For Example: "What does Mexico have to gain and lose from say Acme Autos operating in Mexico including issues of international sovereignty, employment, and GDP?"
Three million manufacturing jobs are gone from our Midwest USA. Mexico will gain entry level manufacturing jobs. Plants are established outside USA to assemble and produce products in the automotive industry. But even that trend has become unsteady, trendy, and in a state of flux.

Global Specializing: “...Economies are now non-static, meaning all of us in this class of business are here to find new marketable skills in the new economy. The pain of retraining is always tough to measure and to stomach but specializing in technologically superior products means less job loss in the future.”

“The challenges to respond to employee social and cultural forces increases as organizations expand operations globally. [In addition] each country has a different culture, when companies expand their operations abroad, [or across the borders], [organizations] encounter vastly different social values, beliefs, and attitudes.” (George, J. M. and Jones, 2006)

Limit outsourcing, is only applied to those countries that have special contracts with the USA. Mexico has NAFTA, which tries to control trade deficits. NAFTA is a mandated exertion to combine efforts; however, China and India have no such agreement with USA. Mexico may therefore lose opportunities due to their agreement with USA in NAFTA.

The difficulty of achieving global agreement on simultaneous policy may render such measures at best advisory - and thus not enforceable. Will people would be unwilling to undergo a depression or even sustained recession in order, for instance, to remediation of lost ecosystems?

It is noteworthy that the “quest for self-esteem is not a major driving force in collective cultures, such as Japan, where negative self-appraisals are taken as a path to self-improvement” (Fineman, 2004) The USA is not wholly a collective society. It is about individuality and self expression -- forms of perceived freedom -- of Americans and of its immigrants.

It turns out; Sovereignty is defined in as many ways as there are number of Countries. Some sovereigns are displaying “knee jerk” to attempts to industrialize their emerging markets. The countries in need will shift business without popular consent, and possibly create problems for themselves. For instance, again using USA as a point of reference: NIKE founder and controlling owner, did try to give back a factory to the Northwest where he started his products. He determined that Americans will not sit in a factory and make shoes all day, all year. It would be a "global" waste of time to bring "home" shoe manufacturing to Oregon workers.

Next time:
Knee jerking as a hasty reactive reflex, is caused when an autocratic authority circumnavigates the culture of the society. For instance in India, when lower caste individuals are employed at the outsource site, next to upper caste cultures, days are numbered for the smooth operations of that particular Business to Business, B2B.

CountDown to Barry's Big Day

by Pat Darnell
I am afraid, though, that war in Gaza is going to trump Barry Obama's big day.



The offense was showing motion in the backfield on TV early the Sunday morning when Israeli ground forces sauntered into Gaza.

I had the channel set to DIRECT TV News Mix so I could drift around eight channels and get several perspectives. Somewhere a signal put the Israel ground forces into motion. (continued)
_______________________

Obama, Spider-Man Appear In Inauguration Marvel Comic, LISA TOLIN | January 8, 2009
WASHINGTON — Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect.

Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a "shout-out back" by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief.

"How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief," Quesada said. "It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We're all thrilled with that." [LISA TOLIN | January 8, 2009; HERE]

_________________________________
(continued from top) Suddenly a vacuum pulled the heft out of the ballsy anchors of late, late night... in the wee hours, because no "talking heads" or "Israel/Palestinian" former speech writers, or "Heads of State" were awake. I thanked the heavens for the quiet.

I laughed so heartily that the neighbors rooster crowed. News anchors of that hour, including Geraldo, began filling the twilight with the most ridiculous bunch of crap I have ever heard.

"Uh, there's smoke," said one. Another said "We have just been informed that Israeli ground troops have *[grudgingly]* started across the borders into Gaza..."

"I guess so!!!" I shouted at the boob tube.

So I went to the web and found a neglected story in the making. But the announcers must have been calling "analysts" in their sleep as someone somewhere was startled from deep sleep and said something about Obama arriving in Washington with his family... blahh blahhh... *[click]*

I truly have enjoyed my year of following our campaigns, elections and this last event of inauguration. I am afraid, though, that war in Gaza is going to trump Barry Obama's big day. (fin) Pat. Pend.
_________________________________

The Bush Century 2005. The Dark Ages. The Black Death. The Hundred Years' War. The Great Famine. Disco. There are periods in history that feel like they will will never end and now, tragically, we are nearing the final curtain on eight years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. We will memorialize the passing of an era that has left its indeliable stamp on a new millenium, a proud nation, a trusting people, and the soft skin of many a detainee with an eight-part series that will run until Inauguration Day, 2009. Join us for a water-logged fifth chapter of Sturm und Dung as the storm rages, levees break, criticism rains, excuses flow, Libby leaks, Cheney dribbles, and the bubble's burst in The Bush Century 2005. [Jan 5, 2009; GEORGE THE FIFTH; Now What Media. HERE]

UPDATE: Flipped that Brewery: Return on Investment, [R.O.I.] -- 150 years, $52 Billion

MooPig Wants to Know: What Else is 150 Years Old??

You want to lose weight? Just re-read this article before you eat.

What's in a frog stomach? Solving a 150-year-old mystery (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Authors: PAPE, THOMAS; SZPILA, KRZYSZTOF¹; THOMPSON, F. CHRISTIAN²

Source: Systematic Entomology, Volume 33, Number 3, July 2008 , pp. 548-551(4)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

Abstract:

The nominal taxon Acanthosoma chrysalis Mayer, 1844 is revised, and a lectotype is designated. The species, which was described from Germany from a number of alleged parasites encysted in the peritoneal wall of the stomach of edible frogs, is shown to be based on first instar larvae of blow flies (Calliphoridae). Argued from the shape and configuration of mouthhooks and abdominal cuticular spines, Acanthosoma Mayer, 1844 is shown to be a junior synonym of Onesia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, syn.n., and A. chrysalis is shown to be a junior synonym of O. floralis Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, syn.n. This species is an obligate parasitoid of earthworms, and it is hypothesized that first instar larvae enter the frogs through infected earthworms.

Document Type: Research article DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3113.2008.00420.x

Affiliations: 1: Nicolaus Copernicus University, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Department of Animal Ecology, Toruń, Poland 2: Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, U.S.A.

And if I am reading this correctly:

Coming Soon To a Blog Near You !!!

WholeEarth Catch Phrases, Watchwords, Slogans
MooPig wants to know these unlikely correlations and many other things that cross their minds on a regular weekend of laying on a couch... "It pertains to our ever widening observations of philosophy on the streets -- that professor Kelleher elucidated in 1998 -- Candle Wax Effect of social welfare, so we do not assume everyone has an agenda -- techno barbaric-ism !! For instance:
Blogger Huggers

Interloping Webels W/O a CauseWay: Perfection meets total Destruction

Cinema speak:

• "Stay with me..."
• "What is the worst case scenario?"
• "A Must See !!"
• "Gimme the Key !!"
• "I'm an Actor !!"
• "In Harm's Way !!"
  
• "The best Thespians are the ones who dress like young women."
  

Global Strip Centers: No Handicap Parking Available

Way Out'ta Your League: Casino Royale [there is no system for Roulette]

Enjoy Your Stay, but Don't Eat the Cat: Part II [Pribek.net]

Who's Your God-- Daddy?

Rude & Cowardly Enterprise Integration
REality Expletives Deleted

Yantra's To Go: BOGO

BligZards: the Chameleon Review

Faux-Arts School: Teen NetWorkings

I Don't Know How to Thank you... Thank God, not me, He wants us to survive [The Pianist]

Pianist Review: That's the Relic we Need !!

• "The Historical Imperative is at work; so look on the Bright Side !!" [The Pianist]
  

SlamPoon: Swank Moogazine

• "What's all those years of wankering about, mean, anyway?"

Origins of Wickki -- Jewish Scribe? Rabbi? Contrived Anarchy Menorah?

• No Flame
• External Heat
• Wax Melts
• Leaves Wick Behind
• Wickkedly Wickki !!

Techno Barbaric: Cut/Paste Gone Wilde

Duke Ellington Statue in Central Park, Harlem side----------------------}

Strategy for Business Health

MooPig_Wisdom said... this is my story to wit, and I'm sticking to it.
I suggest that backyard inventing and garage-based tinkering are the healthiest state of mind.

Entrepreneurs are everywhere in the USA, tinkering. Garage businesses are the backbone of our free enterprise. Over half of business is Home-based in US. What is the first thing a newcomer to the USA does? He and she starts a job, then does a side job for cash, builds a cash flow, then buys a building.

There are plenty of buildings to buy, and with garages for tinkering with business ideas; viola'.

The government has little to offer the beginner. It is after all not a business. Government is a guidance counselor, and I shudder to think more than a few people think it is a panacea for business. Government is a lawyer killing a real estate deal. It is a collector of nickles and dimes.

Besides, there is a lot of slack in government, and slack is what makes us all unhealthy. Mark my words, "Soon they will be mowing lawns and building gizmo's in garages all over Baghdad, just you wait and see." For what was wasted in the Enron bankruptcy, $67 billion, we could have rebuilt Baghdad from the water table up! Lord knows they need water there. Ask Haliburton.

That is what we Americans take to the world; the healthy state-of-mind of Entrepreneur.

The value proposition is that you writers and readers Look at this, and make it sail:

Strategis: "This website has been created to share and present research on Global Value Chains for your benefit. Global value chains, GVC, include the full range of activities that are required to bring a product from its conception to its end use and beyond, e.g. design, production, distribution. The ability of [global] firms, [as entrepreneurs] to integrate and manage, GVC, is key to their future competitiveness and long-term economic viability.

This shift is also having a significant impact on the [North American] economy." http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/engdoc/main.html

That's the Report from the Middle; where the women are strong, men are good looking, and children are all above average.