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South Africa12 Chic Summer Event Ideas Inspired by Glamping
Posted in News on 23 May 2013From tricked-out teepees to modern takes on s'mores, check out these decor and catering ideas for a glamorous camping-themed party.
Google Apps set for a communication upgrade with deeper Google+ integration
Posted in News on 23 May 2013
There may not be any new hardware announced at Google I/O, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any surprises. Multiple sources have told us that Google is going to bring Google+ into Google Apps as a back-end communications system, allowing you to talk to co-workers while simultaneously working on a document.
Sources say that as cloud-base collaboration is becoming more and more important, Google is looking to introduce Google Circles and other concepts like Google Hangouts to its Apps users. You can already use Google+ within Google Apps for Business as a collaboration and sharing tool, but it doesn’t extend into the apps themselves.
We are told that Google Talk would give way to a new kind of a “unified messaging” product where focus is less on voice and more on data and video. More details will arrive later: make sure andcheck out our live blog here for the official news when it arrives.
These new Google+ social features are a good way to help reinvent the enterprise apps. The company has already been making some changes Like checking for sharing permissions for a Google docs when you email a link to people), but we will see something bigger in a few hours.
A good application of Google+ would mean company wide circles which would in turn allow easy communication and sharing of docs. This would put them in competition with Yammer, HipChat and other such products.
HTC One and the harsh reality of the Android ecosystem
Posted in News on 23 May 2013A few days ago when hanging out with a friend, I got a chance to play around with HTC One, the newest and shiniest Android phone on the market (of course until it wasn’t when Sony launched its Xperia Z.) I was quite impressed by the build quality, the industrial design and the beauty of the device. Despite its supersize — I have normal people’s hands — it did feel like something I would want to buy, especially if I was picking amongst the ever increasing array of Android smartphones.
Maybe, I thought to myself, HTC was going to make a comeback. I mean, these were the guys who jumpstarted the Android smartphone ecosystem in partnership with Google and T-Mobile USA. These were the guys who innovated fast and even came up with their own skin for Android. They pushed the design and speed envelope. They had edgy marketing. They were the first movers and their early sales were red-hot.
And yet, when they spent $300 million on headphones maker Beats by Dre, it became obvious that this company was going to run into some stormy weather. Of course, it was an idea that didn’t go down well with many of its fans and its investors — HTC eventually sold back half its stake.
This (relatively) tiny Taiwanese company was going to get squeezed by cheaper Android phones on one end and Samsung on the other. In fact, as far back as 2010 we have argued that the real smartphone battle was going to be between Apple and Samsung. And when it comes to hardware, nothing really has changed. It is Apple vs Samsung.
According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung now accounts for about 95 percent of the total operating profits of the global Android business. During the first quarter of 2013, Samsung had an operating profit of $5.1 billion, while LG made $100 million and all other vendors (HTC, ZTE, Huawei, Sony and no-name brands) collectively made $100 million in operating (not net) profit.
It is hardly surprising to see that HTC is in trouble. A report in The Verge suggested that HTC’s chief product officer, Kouji Kodera, has left the company. The report also implied that other senior executives are leaving the company. The most recent high-profile bet — the HTC First, which was launched in partnership with Facebook — has been a flop and one wonders if the company really has the wherewithal, both intellectual and financial, to undertake such experiments.
I am not sure if people remember, but Motorola was another company that found itself on a Sysephian quest and eventually found a $12 billion bailout from Google. The trouble with the smaller Android players is that despite all the talk about a PC-like ecosystem of sourcing components and using others to assemble their products, it is fundamentally not true.
Apple has used all the billions in the bank to lock up supplies for processors, memory chips, radios, displays and other such components at favorable prices. It has worked out long term manufacturing arrangements with the likes of Foxconn. It has its own retail outlets. While most of us try and focus on Apple’s hardware and software integration, we forget that it is software, hardware and supply chain integration that allows the company to sell 37.5 million phones in the most recent quarter. It allows the company to make phones that meet the needs of different carriers.
Samsung too is an integration beast. It owns memory chip plants. It makes its own processors. It makes displays and it owns the factories. It has the unique ability to churn out new products faster than anyone else in the consumer electronics business and thus overwhelm the market with dozens of models. Just look at the many flavors on its latest Samsung S4 device and you start to see that this is a game only for big boys.
The only other company with Apple and Samsung-like manufacturing oomph was Nokia. I say was, because they are losing a grip on the phone business. However, their supply chain and manufacturing was legendary. It still is. I have yet to see a badly made Nokia smartphone — I just see smartphones with an OS that makes no sense. I bet if they entered the market with their own flavor of Android — something we suggested in 2010 — they would instantly become number three in the smartphone market, behind Samsung and Apple.
Sadly, smaller players like HTC can’t compete with the manufacturing and marketing capabilities of Samsung. The HTC One, which is an awesome looking device, was hit by manufacturing issues earlier this year. So it needs to rethink its strategies. HTC needs to become comfortable with the idea of being a one or two product company, and hope that it can keep comping up with winning products every single time. Even that is a long shot. The marketing budgets of Samsung and Apple are enough to finance some small nations.
HTC’s story is all too familiar to those who have studied the first mover phenomenon. A story in Economist points out that innovators captured seven percent of their market over time. THey point to various examples like White Castle who invented the idea of fast food burger joint but McDonalds is the big daddy now. Apple and Samsung are going through some of that as well. The lesson here for everyone — even tiny startups — is as Scott Anthony once perfectly said (and I paraphrase him): no one remembers who was leading the race midway through, and everyone remembers who finished first. And in order to finish first, a lot has to go right.
So where do companies like HTC go? And sad as it might be, perhaps nowhere. I am going to do my bit to give them some support — I will buy that HTC One, just because it is actually a great little device. It truly is.
Become a Proactive Project Manager
Posted in News on 23 May 2013Proactive project manages are people who focus their efforts and attention on the long-term as opposed to being reactive in the present moment. They believe that their actions matter and that they can positively influence a situation by doing something about it.
One of the best ways in which you can be proactive as a project manager is to work with your team and stakeholders to actively identify, analyze and mitigate project risks before they turn into issues. You can also make a concerted effort to build strong and lasting relationships with your stakeholders so that you are able to draw on their knowledge and support the day you need it. When you keep your stakeholders abreast of developments and have an excellent rapport with them, they are very unlikely to ever turn against you. They respect you and they know that you are actively working to improve all aspects of the project on their behalf.
Another way to be proactive is to carry out project reviews and to liaise with your team members on a one-to-one basis. Ask for feedback and investigate if there is anything at all you can do to optimize the way the team works. In addition, be proactive and explore if your QA activities are as good as they can be. Poor product quality is one of the biggest reasons for project failure.
Reactive is the opposite of proactive. Reactive people often hold a belief that they have no control over a situation. This could relate to the behavior of an unreasonable stakeholder or the issues that arise during a project. They surrender and wait until a potential problem has become a burning issue before they take action.
One of the reasons why some project managers give in and become reactive, is that their workload is so big that they feel they have no option but to fire fight in the present moment. But in reality we always have an option even if it is not an easy one. If you feel overloaded and overworked, look at how you can delegate more, how you can get better at saying ‘no’ to new requests and how you can optimizing the way you manage your time.
To become more proactive, make it a habit to regularly engage in the following:
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Spend time on your own and with team members identifying anything which could go wrong on the project. Thoroughly analyze the risks and identify an owner and mitigating actions. Do this as often as possible.
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Ask team members as often as you can what is preventing them from moving forward or what could make them work more effectively.
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Build strong relationships with all key players on the project. See things from their point of view, understand their interests and address their issues and concerns.
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Carry out project reviews and encourage a culture of learning and contribution. Discuss how past issues can be avoided and take action to make improvements.
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Demonstrate and prototype the solution to the customer and end users as often as possible. Ask for feedback and verify that what you are building matches their requirements and expectations.
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Identify and review your project controls on a regular basis. Assess if they are working as expected and keeping cost, quality and time under control.
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Actively manage your stakeholders’ expectations through face-to-face meetings and regular project reporting. Make them appreciate which risks, issues and constraints you are facing. Make sure there are no negative surprises.
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Organize knowledge sharing and fun team building activities to improve morale and motivation.
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Assess your own working practices and determine how you can optimize the way you spend your time. Could you for instance start delegating more?
Organic posts are most popular social tactic but paid ads are more successful
Posted in News on 23 May 2013The latest ‘Econsultancy’ blog post is titled “Organic posts are most popular social tactic but paid ads are more successful: report”.
David Moth says, “Despite the marketing potential that exists in social networks there has always been an element of doubt over the efficacy of buying social ads.
Some of the most convincing arguments against social ads are that people don’t want to be sold to while they’re socialising and that you can’t always trust the validity of personal data on networks like Facebook.
Yahoo agrees to pay in excess of 1 Billion USD for Tumblr
Posted in News on 21 May 2013
It’s official: Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr for US$1.1bn
Photo by Leon Brocard/Flickr
Internet giant Yahoo! has ended days of speculation and announced its intent to acquire online blogging platform Tumblr for US$1.1bn.
Under the deal, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalisation technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers and content. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities.
Tumblr brings 50bn blog posts (and 75m more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences.
Yahoo! said in a statement it expects the acquisition to increase Yahoo!’s audience by 50pc to more than 1bn monthly visitors and to grow traffic by about 20pc.
Yahoo! also stated that David Karp will remain as CEO of Tumblr.
“Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,” Yahoo! said.
“The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.”
Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer said that while the two companies are different, they complement each other.
“Yahoo! is the internet’s original media network. Tumblr is the internet’s fastest-growing media frenzy,” Mayer said.
“Both companies are homes for brands - established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday.”
Karp said Tumblr’s team, roadmap and mission - to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of an audience - isn’t changing.
“We’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from,” Karp said.
The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second half of the year.
The Art of Project Management, Scale
Posted in News on 21 May 2013The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers. — Sun Tzu, military strategist
Creating principles
The basic principles of project management are fully extensible from the smallest initiative to the largest program. The key is that the project management practices should be understood as principles: accepted or professed rules of action or conduct. It is based on this belief that I encourage my clients to establish project manager guiding principles and to construct project management frameworks (not detailed, step-by-step methodologies). By maintaining the governance rules at the highest level (at first definition), the organization maintains the flexibility to scale the implementation of principles based on specific needs.
For example, one of the PM guiding principles could be:
The project manager is responsible for creating and delivering a written update of accomplishments, challenges, issues, and plans at the appropriate level of detail. This update is to be sent to the appropriate stakeholders on an agreed-upon regular cadence (e.g., weekly).
While this principle does not define the format, or the appropriate level of detail, it clearly establishes that for every delivery initiative with an assigned PM (regardless of project size), there will be a status report. Therefore, whether a small initiative, a sizeable project, or a large-scale program, each PM will generate some form of status report. Scale does not impact the principle.
Establishing focus
Scale is also important with respect to the level of focus. The importance of status reporting at the project level (on a project that is part of a work stream that is part of a program) will be much more laser-focused than status reporting at the program level. The project, work stream, and program will all have unique status updates to contribute, each with varying levels of emphasis. Again, the principle stands and the flexibility is implementing based on scale.
As Sun Tzu reinforces, “Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.” To paraphrase, once the principles are established, the implementation can be adjusted to the need. An overall program plan for a global program will certainly be at a higher level of detail than the specific detailed project plan for implementing a single project within the initiative. This adjustment to scale is critical. If a program does not adjust its implementation approach, one can expect to see a plan at the program level that is tens of thousands of lines long. The program plan loses its value as a conglomeration of project details with little to no meaningful summary, added visibility, or executive information. Without changing the “signs and signals” and differentiating between the focus needed to implement versus the focus needed to govern, governing bodies may make missteps when putting practices in place.
Standardization and value
Standardization and rigor are key to successful project execution, and varying levels of implementation rigor do not dilute this point. The ability to flexibly apply standards (based on scale) is crucial to successful implementations. While the reported project statistics are not overwhelming, seventy percent of projects executed by organizations with standardized practices are successful, according to the recent PMI 2013 Pulse of the Profession study. One of the reasons that the success numbers are so low—and decreasing over the past four years according to the study—is that 46 percent of respondents said their organizations don’t fully understand the value of project management.
Unfortunately, I’ve worked in organizations where the value is not understood. In one company, there was a recognized need for structure in delivery. The “PMO” was assigned to implement. Standard templates and control processes were defined and an authoritarian rule was cast over projects. However, since the organization had not clearly established the value proposition of the “PMO,” nor its new rigor, nor articulated the principles for success and the appropriate scalability for implementing standards across the organization, the “PMO” was seen as the red tape that hindered delivery instead of the grease that enabled success.
Creating standards is important. Scaling the implementation is key. Articulating the value is imperative. All of these are important if we want to improve our capabilities to deliver. To borrow from French writer and military veteran Francois de la Rochefoucauld, “The height of ability consists in a thorough knowledge of the real value of things….”
Therefore, as we look to improve the capabilities of our delivery teams, let us focus on the principles we establish, clearly articulating the value they deliver; then we can get to implementing based on the scale of the situation.
Carl Manello is a Solution Lead for Slalom’s Program & Project Management practice based in Chicago who enjoys exploring how to tightly couple the art and science of project delivery with business operations.
Getting the Best from Global Social Media Marketing
Posted in News on 21 May 2013
If you love social media, you’re in good company. Web users around the world have embraced social media as a way to connect and share.
Integrating social media into your digital marketing strategy is a wise move in any market. For most global companies, a presence on major networks such as Facebook and Twitter has become a key part of their marketing strategies. However, when it comes to reaching international customers, a single English language account on each network isn’t enough.
Social Media is a Smart Marketing Choice
Using social media as part of a global campaign has the advantage of being budget-friendly. Also, it’s fairly straightforward with most networks welcoming businesses and even guiding you through the creation of your profile or page.
The potential audience that awaits is another draw. As of March 2013, eBizMBA statistics estimates 750 million unique monthly visitors worldwide for Facebook alone. Twitter follows with 250 million, and LinkedIn has 110 million. Relative newcomers Pinterest and Google+ are both closing the gap at 85.5 million and 65 million respectively.
Why Going Global Means Going Local
All the networks mentioned above have a strong international user base and are well worth considering. This doesn’t mean they are the only choices or even the best ones for every overseas market.
For instance, the fact that Facebook has the largest number of global users might lead you to believe you’ve got the world’s social networkers covered. However, it’s not top in every country. In China, access to Facebook is restricted and the majority of China’s 513 million Web users instead network on local social media sites such as Sina Weibo and Qzone.
Although China is a special case, other countries have their own preferences for certain networks. Facebook saw rapid growth in Japan in 2012 but local social network Mixi still has 14 million active users, according to The Japan Times. Meanwhile, new messaging service Line has burst onto Japan’s social media scene, growing to 36.4 million users (as of December 2012) at an unprecedented rate.
Having an online presence on the networks that are used by your target demographic is key to successful global social marketing. Another aspect of this is keeping up with the ever-changing trends in specific overseas markets. After all, a couple of years ago who would have expected Pinterest to be so popular in Latin America, or Instagram’s most enthusiastic users to be in Singapore?
Cultural Effects on Social Media Use
Participating on the leading social networks for each nation is only half the battle. It’s important to take into consideration the ways in which different national and cultural groups use social media. For example, in Japan it is Facebook and not LinkedIn that has become the business network of choice.
Similarly, the ways in which people use Twitter is not the same in every country. The Palo Alto Research Center in California researched the differences in their Language Matters in Twitter study. They found that German speakers were the most likely to share URLs with others in their tweets, using the network primarily for information sharing. On the other hand, Indonesian and Malay speakers were the most likely to retweet, enjoying social interaction with other users.
One Language per Account
On the face of it, a single account per social media site might seem easier to manage. However, if you are there to win a following, mixing languages on a single page or feed is a bad idea. Why risk irritating and ultimately losing your network by bombarding them with messages in multiple languages? Instead, set up separate accounts for each language and let users choose which one to subscribe to.
How many languages you offer will vary depending on your markets. The golden rule is to go for quality over quantity with carefully translated content. Don’t forget to take into account the variety of language. For example, there are significant differences between French Canadian and the language of France.
Another benefit of keeping accounts separate is that it is much easier to cater to different cultural styles of communications plus, the content can be kept interesting for readers by only covering topics relevant to their part of the world. Anyone who has been excited by an online competition, only to discover at the last moment that it’s only open to residents of another country, will understand why this makes sense. Similarly, a localized presence lets you use local currencies, refer to local holidays and time zones, and appeal to regional tastes.
Global social media is a powerful opportunity. Use it wisely and you could get the whole world talking.
Maximizing Google+ For SEO
Posted in News on 20 May 2013
After much debate about Google+ and whether it is worthwhile or not, more and more people are accepting it and jumping on board. There are some definite SEO advantages to having a Google+ profile. In order to enjoy the benefits, you need to ensure you have it properly set up. Let’s take a look at the benefits and then go over the setup.
Some of the benefits that come with a Google+ profile are:
- Google+ allows you to link to all of your social media profiles, sites and Blogs in a neat, organized manner. You can also link to any sites that you regularly contribute to. All of these links are followed links AND you get to select the anchor text (in your bio).
Tip: The more people share your posts, +1 your posts or link to your profile, the more valuable these links become to you. The takeaway here is that you need to network and build connections that will help spread your content.
- Google will also follow the links in your posts and again the value of these links increases as the post is shared, linked to and +1ed
Tip: If your post is really good and goes viral or is shared by a high authority profile, the value of the links increases more.
- With many social media sites, you have little to no ability to edit your content once it has been posted. Google+ allows you to go back and make edits to posts as you see fit. They don’t restrict you. This is great if a post has spread and gained traction and you want to update the information. You can easily go in and add to the post, bringing the information current and to your satisfaction.
- Content on Google+ is indexed pretty darn quickly. Some say almost instantly. It’s a great way to get posts by you into Google’s index quickly when there is a hot topic.
- You can network with influencers in your industry (see more on that below).
- Author/Publisher markup (rich snippets) creates extra exposure for your listing in the SERPs (search engine results pages). This one is worth expanding on. Google knows you have gone to a lot of effort to create your high quality content, so they want to ensure you can truly take ownership of that content. The author tag is for an individual claiming content on a page. The publisher tag goes on the homepage and is for a business to claim ownership of a site.
NOTE: You need a Google+ profile in order to implement the Authorship Markup. And you do want to implement authorship markup. Trust me, you do!
The benefits are:
1. It makes your listing more robust, because it includes a photo, your name and links to more content by you. It’s a great way to make your listing stand out in the SERPs and get more exposure. There are also indicators that your authorship markup may give you a boost in rankings. While some say it doesn’t directly help, others have reported an increase in rankings after implementing it.
2. Your authorship markup also helps you build trust – wouldn’t you trust a nice smiling face next to a listing over one that has no imagery? It establishes you as a real person in the often anonymous online world.
3. It also allows you to claim your name (you don’t want someone trying to steal your name!) and your content (you’ll be seen as the original and rightful owner of the content and won’t have to worry about a copy scraper outranking you).
4. You can improve your click-through rate by playing with your profile image (which is what is shown in the SERPs). Most people are finding that different images get different click-through rates. Images that perform best seem to be close-ups where the eyes are looking to the right towards the listing in the SERPs.
Let’s move on to how to properly set up your profile to ensure you get maximum benefit.
To set up a personal profile, you can go to:
https://plus.google.com/?hl=en
Business profiles can be set up here:
http://www.google.com/+/business/
You can use the same login for both and in the upper right corner, if you click to the right of your photo, you’ll see the business page listed. All you have to do is click that to view/use the business page.
Below is a screenshot of my account as a sample. The button circled in red takes me to my personal profile and the one circled in yellow takes me to the business page.
Once you are logged in, click on Profile on the left hand side to bring you to the section you need to complete.
Business Pages:
Make sure you use keyword phrases (never stuff keywords, use them strategically) in the Tagline and Introduction boxes under the Story section. Google indexes this, so it’s a great place to ensure you write compelling info that includes your keywords.
In the Links section, you can link to your site and Blog. If you have a critical site page, you can also link to specific pages.
When you write your Description be sure you also use keywords and create links (don’t forget to use keywords in the anchor text). The keyword you choose to use should be related to the page you are linking to. Again, I have to remind you, Google won’t tolerate spammy practices so don’t turn your profile into a link farm.
Personal Pages:
On the personal profiles, it’s important to get keywords in the Occupation and Skills section and also in the Tagline and Introduction. Think of the Occupation section as your Meta Description tag (on a normal site) so you want to ensure you have your main keywords in there.
In the employment section, put a description of services offered and not just the company name.
Tip: Once you’ve completed your profile and you start posting, keep in mind that the first sentence of your Google+ post becomes part of the title tag. As you probably know, the Title tag impacts rankings and influences click-through rates.
Rich Snippets: Author Vs Publisher Tag
Don’t be fooled (I was) by Google’s ‘rel=publisher tag’. It’s still a good idea to use, but you won’t get the image in your SERP listing like you do in the authorship tag! I should clarify. What I mean is, if you test the publisher tag in the rich snippets testing tool, it looks like your logo will appear next to your listing. That is not the case right now. The tag will expand in the future so it’s worth using.
Right now, the author tag DOES display an image, so you may want to consider using that.
A couple things to keep in mind: you can’t use both the author and publisher tag on the same page AND if you use the publisher tag, it’s only for the homepage, not internal pages. You can use the author tag for internal pages with content.
Networking on Google+
There are a lot of different ways to connect with influencers in your industry. Networking with influencers is often one of the core focuses of people using Google+. It’s fairly easy to do because there are so many ways to do it, but be sure you don’t abuse the privilege. If you get known as a spammer, it’s going to be very difficult to grow your presence.
Here are some of the ways you can reach out and connect:
Depending on their particular settings, they will be notified if you:
- Mention them in a post
- Share a post with them directly
- Share a post and you’re in a circle they subscribe to
- Comment on a post they created
- Comment on a post after they comment on it
- Add them to a circle
- Suggest new people to add to their circles
- Tag them in a photo or tag one of their photos
- Suggest a profile photo for them
- Comment on a photo after they comment on it
- Comment on a photo they are tagged in or that they tagged
- Start a conversation with them
- Send them an invitation or update an event
- Any activity on events they created
The above actions are a great way to connect and let people know you are there. It’s worth repeating, do not abuse this system and spam people. Only reach out via one of these actions if you plan to truly connect and create a conversation of value.
While Google+ numbers aren’t as large as Facebook, they are growing and as with most things, it’s the early adopters that do well in the long run. Get in now and establish your position.
Looking to get active on Google+ without spending too much time? Take a few minutes a day and do the following:
- +1 great posts or comments
- Comment on posts and engage people in conversation
- Start a hangout
- Grow your circles
Tip: Ensure you add a +1 button to your pages so your visitors can easily +1 your content. Don’t forget to +1 your own Blog posts and key site pages.
Google+ is likely here to stay and also likely to get more important to your rankings and traffic.
The Benefits of Always Having a To-Do List at Hand
Posted in News on 17 May 2013A project manager can expect to always have things to do but do you always know what you need to concentrate on at any given time? It can be easy to let a task slip your mind if you aren’t organized, which is why I always make sure that I have a to do list near me. Let’s see what benefits this offers a busy project manager.
You Know What to Do
Of course, the simplest and most obvious benefit is often the best one. In this case, I think that having your to do list handy all the time means that you always know what you need to do. This is something I never needed in other roles but the job of project manager is one which often leaves you dealing with a number of things at one time and feeling that you are being pulled all over the place. Not every project is like this but once you get into the habit of having a list near you at all times then it becomes something which it is worth doing all the time anyway. If you have ever felt that you are lost because you don’t know what still needs done then this simple step could solve the problem for you.
You Can React
Project work also requires that you know how and when to react to changing situations. If you get a phone call or an email which throws your plans up in the air then it definitely helps to have a list of outstanding work to help you work out what to do. Each situation will be different but the fact that you have a note of what needs done right now will give you a head start in reorganizing the project. This is something which you will possibly come across a lot in your career so finding a way of dealing with it simply and effectively is going to be a great help.
You Look Organized
If you are in a project meeting and a stakeholder asks you a specific question it is great to be able to answer them clearly and accurately. This is an aspect of your work which you can greatly enhance by having your to do list near you. By having this information so close to hand you can quickly check the details and answer the questions thrown at you. As well as this, you will look more organized in general by having your list of things to do with you when you are discussing the project and talking about what you are up to.
You Can Make Changes
I don’t know about anyone else but my list of things to do always looks a mess by the end of the day. As well as my annoying habit of crumpling up any bit of paper which comes near I also make changes to it on a regular basis. In a typical day I might score off a task, have to add it on again for some reason, add another, score out another, change a couple and then do these same things all over again. Your to do list is likely to be a very flexible document and if all you have to do is write things on it then this is easy. However, if you try to remember all of this without writing it down then it is going to take up some valuable space in your brain which could be used for other things.
Sleep Well
I have never fallen asleep at work, although I once had to pinch my leg really hard during a spectacularly boring conference. No, what I am talking about here is being able to sleep well when I get home at night. If I don’t know what I have to do (and what I have already done) then questions will bounce around in my head all night and stop me from sleeping. This is something I really rather prefer to avoid, as insomnia isn’t a great friend of a busy project manager who also wants to enjoy life away from work. The mere action of writing down what I need to do helps me avoid the torture of watching the hands on my bedside clock slowly go round for hours on end. In fact, it works so well that I even use the same tactic at home now as well, with the same benefits.