Process for Project Management

By Cristina Lee, COO, The Tatham Group Phils

 If you think managing a project is all about using good techniques and tools, think again. There is a process for managing a project, more than just using tools!

A lot of instances (and I have seen this happen so many times), there is a tendency to start out building a GANTT – and project management software prompts this behavior – without considering the fundamental purpose of the project, or even have any clear idea of how to systematically go about it. In other words, the project management tools drive and manage the project.

It should be the people driving the project.

Boot Camp – A Confidence Builder?

By Rosario Ocampo, Coach, The Tatham Group Phils

When I first started working with one of our client’s redesign teams I was a bit nervous to face them, let alone coach the team. 

 However, I was confident in the thought that I was equipped with the things I learned at Boot Camp. I was also given some Tatham team deployment materials to read, background information on what step the team was on and some coaching on what to expect. This provided me with all the knowledge I needed to help me think ahead and plan for the next steps with the team.

An Unnatural Switch

By John Munce, Deployment Executive, The Tatham Group

I’m a solution-ing hero from way back.  Even when I didn’t have a solution I was the first to hop up and lead the group to one – quickly.  My theory for why this was the right thing to do was simple:  (a) the solution couldn’t be that hard and (b) if it didn’t work we’d just do this again.  This way was successful – some of the time.  When I was asked to abandon this solution-ing method and replace it with a systematic problem solving method I had a very difficult time adjusting to the discipline and pace.

Error-Proofing Healthcare

Michael J. Tatham knows a thing or two about safety. As a pilot with over of forty years of experience and the owner of his own airplane, he has been in many dangerous situations. Yet each time he faces a critical scenario, he successfully pulls through by applying one simple principle: the principle of process. In the following story, Tatham recounts how process can improve safety in any industry.

“Three years ago, as part of the routine re-certification for all pilots, Transport Canada required me to put together a formal Safety Management System for operating my aircraft. The federal agency even withheld my private operators certificate until I could prove that I had implemented a system that passed their test. When they finally inspected my system, they said it was the best one they had ever seen submitted by a private pilot in Canada, and they issued my Private Operator Certificate immediately.

Manage risk in any industry using one simple tool: a checklist

Great story in the Globe and Mail yesterday about how a simple checklist could save the entire Canadian health care industry billions of dollars in medical errors. While we’re pleased to see more people paying attention to this concept, these findings aren’t new. A similar study was done in the U.S. to assess and triage cardiac patients in the ER. This study found that using a checklist significantly reduced the number of patients who were improperly diagnosed, and thus increased the likelihood that those who truly were having a heart attack got treatment faster.

At The Tatham Group, we believe that using checklists to follow a process is paramount – and this concept is built directly into our method. In fact, our work with The Credit Valley Hospital points to the benefits of applying a systematic method to ambulatory care. However, there are two small details that seem to have been overlooked. The first, is that a checklist will only be successful if it’s based on a good process. What we mean by this, is that if the process itself is broken – no checklist will make things any better. And secondly, unless people are being measured by how well they can follow this checklist, it will fall by the wayside. But a well-designed process and checklist for following it, with measurable goals is the best way for hospitals to manage the risk. Or any industry for that matter.

The importance of baseline measures

You’ve got to know where you are if you want to know where you’re going

“Well, I’m not going to sugar coat it for you. If you don’t change your habits now, you’re looking at a very long road ahead.”

That’s what the ultra fit and sculpted trainer who had been poking and prodding at my health history for the last hour said when I attended my very first fitness assessment.

“Ouch,” I thought. “But I work out all the time,” I pleaded.

“Yes. And that’s why I know you’ll reach your goals. See, the good news is that there is a huge amount of room for improvement,” he added cheerfully.

Double ouch.

What’s your ripple effect?

They say if a butterfly flutters its wings in Brazil, it creates a breeze, then a wind, eventually fuelling a storm on the other side of the world. Commonly known as “The Butterfly Effect”, it suggests that everything is connected to everything; where even the smallest change can have enormous consequences.

“Anyone who runs a business should see where our garbage goes,” says Remi Cormier, president of R.Environs, a sustainable landscape design company. “It will change the way you manage waste forever.” On a cold, rainy afternoon, we’re driving through mounds of debris. The smell is so putrid I clamp my nose to suppress my gag reflexes from actually doing their job.

Six months ago, the young entrepreneur challenged me to visit the city’s landfill so I could see what happens when my trash lands at the curb. He argued that, “Even though we’ve found creative ways to deal with waste, it’s not enough. Real change happens when we see how all of our actions are connected.”

Doing the right thing for your business…

…MEANS DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR YOUR CUSTOMER FIRST

One of the fastest growing priorities in the business world today is how companies can be more responsible. Even though people want to produce cheaper, faster, better and more efficiently, many are also asking, but at what cost?

In fact, the world’s collective consciousness is waking up to the enormous impact that capitalism is having on the environment and society. More and more, we are choosing to support companies that reinvest in the community, rather than those who simply seek profits.

You’ve Got Mail!

Late one morning in the dead of summer, I checked the mail at the front door of our Madison Avenue office. Strewn among letters, flyers and magazines was a mysterious little black book with a bold claim: “Master your Whole Life” by Bob Reed.

Master my whole life in 120 pages? Yeah right. I can’t even master my day in 120 pages! Nevertheless, curiosity got the better of me and I flipped open to the first page.