As I discussed in my post about commitment , active commitment is much more effective than passive. Research has shown that a commitment that is written and publicly stated is more likely to be taken seriously and worked on.

Making Goals a Reality. Some suggestions for making your business goals a reality:

• Use the SMART principle to create your goals; make your goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.
• Get input in writing your goals. If you have a board of directors, they should be involved.  Some of your shareholders might be good resources to help you figure out the details.
• Put your goals in writing. Make the written goal statements into a poster or brochure.
• Make your goals public. Put them on the company bulletin board. Call an employee meeting and let all your employees know your goals. Tell your CPA, your attorney, your banker about your goals.
• Keep goals front-and-center.  Reconfirmation helps us recommit, which is why certain prayers or mantras are effective.  A reminder about your goals at the start of every board meeting helps keep you, and your board, committed to the outcome.
• Put your goals in your business plan. A business plan is a fluid document; next time you review it, add your goals.
• Keep track of progress. Make one of those thermometers, if you want.  Or just stop every month or so to check progress.
• Celebrate the small victories along the way. If your employees are working along with you toward your goals, stop every few months and recognize individual and group efforts toward progress. All of this publicity helps keep you committed and less likely to ignore your goals.

We are all human, and we naturally tend to start out strong on a commitment then backslide as we go along.  Using these techniques to keep re-committing to your business goals will help you make them happen.

Image: sxc.hu

Post from: EveryJoe

Making Your Business Goals Happen

For those of you who need a little summary of what WE blogged about in January 2008, here is a month-end sum up of projectmanagement411. There are many excellent comments/points of view on these topics- check THEM out and add to the conversation! (The topics are arranged to be sung, with appropriate breathing- first three words very slow and the rest “rapid fire”):

We… wrote…. about….. living standards, innovation, carbon trading, collaboration…..(breath), strategy mapping, tech trends, role of commitment and preparation…..(breath), social security, business leaders, statesmen, project queues…..(breath), language barriers, PMOs, BI drivers, and swamp draining.

Just click on the topic and see what we discussed- be forewarned, many times it’s not what you think.

Of the topics covered, which ones are of greatest interest to you and why? Let me know.

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Post from: EveryJoe

January 2008 Projectmanagement411 Was Fascinating!

Recently a good friend told me that if you are not a man of your word that you can’t make, let alone keep, commitments. The corollary is that if you make a commitment you should keep it or risk degrading your “word”. A simple example is picking up a friend for work. You make the commitment but the night before you decide that you are not going to work the next day. You could justify not picking up your friend. But what would the impact be? What positive things could result from keeping your commitment? Your friend would upgrade their thinking about you and possibly make decisions about how they will react to needs that you might have.

Continuing my commitment to write projectmanagement411.com has required adjustment. I’ve adjusted what I write about, the reasons for continuing writing, and what benefits I personally receive. I look at this experience as a project that must be continued for my benefit as well as others. Keeping this commitment has resulted in learning things I never thought possible and establishing relationships that I would not have otherwise established. The personal reasons for considering breaking my commitment didn’t really matter to my “customers”. What matters is that I made the adjustments and continued.

One of the tough things to deal with in project management is resource allocation. Resources, like yourself, are asked to make commitments to multiple projects. Consider how you make and how you break commitments. Your integrity and word are at stake.

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FREE eBOOK for EMAIL Subscribers!

If you subscribe by email I’ll send you my eBook for free! Here’s how: subscribe by email in the right hand column PLUS send an email post that you receive to bob.turek@b5media.com. (Sorry for the extra step- we don’t have this automated yet.)

To preview the book, or to order a hardcopy, go to my publishing web site by clicking the book cover.

Post from: EveryJoe

Commitment Makes a Better Projectmanagement411

Commitment. It’s a word that creates more questions than answers because of the changes and distractions that follow commitments we make. I started this blog in October 2007 while working for a consulting firm specializing in project management software implementations. My rationale for the commitment was 1) it fit with my current position, 2) I wanted to learn about blogging and it’s potential for marketing and communication, plus 3) I like to write. I left the project management consulting firm soon after and had to make a decision. Do I stop blogging?

Stopping so soon after starting, although justifiable by most people’s standards, was not an option because I felt my word was on the line. I could not be a person of my word if I stopped doing something that quickly. People that I made a commitment to would “understand” but my actions would still result in impacting many and my reputation. So, I decided to continue.

Have you committed to do something that you later could justify not doing? Have you considered the impact of your decision? What will happen to the project you are involved with if you or others decide they can’t continue? Do the reasons have to be understood by all or just you? What happens to your “word” and integrity if you do not fulfill the commitment?

Don’t miss a post! Subscribe by RSS or EMAIL.

FREE eBOOK for EMAIL Subscribers!

If you subscribe by email I’ll send you my eBook for free! Here’s how: subscribe by email in the right hand column PLUS send an email post that you receive to bob.turek@b5media.com. (Sorry for the extra step- we don’t have this automated yet.)

To preview the book, or to order a hardcopy, go to my publishing web site by clicking the book cover.

Post from: EveryJoe

Projectmanagement411 Examines Commitment