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Reflections on 2015

2015Another year is coming to an end which calls for a personal reflection on the year of 2015. What a wonderful journey it has been with numerous highs and very few low points.

Memorable moments

There were plenty of highlights in 2015. At work we concluded a 14-month long Programme successfully. I facilitated a number of closing workshops and project reviews on lessons learnt. Many new relationships were developed with a few growing into friendships that will outlast the projects. What will make this Programme very memorable, is the honour of receiving a CIO award for Delivery Excellence at the end.

As one Programme came to an end, I moved on to the next Programme with its own challenges, complexities and relationships to be formed with new team members. And in that lies the pleasure and fulfilment of being a professional project manager. There is never a dull moment and what an interesting journey to get to know new processes, systems and new people. To work with and appreciate all the talented individuals who are chosen to work on big corporate Programmes.

Virtual Project Consulting

As far as Online activities are concerned, our presence through Virtual Project Consulting, continued to grow as a website with the most comprehensive recommended resources about project management software, training, products, books and events.

In the blog section appeared several articles covering leadership, change management, project methodology, project success stories from experienced project managers, guest posts, reviews of different project software, how to compare online project management software, Agile project management and emotional intelligence among others. Podcasts of our Best Practice articles, as well as the Success Stories have been published.

Contributing Author

This year a Book opportunity presented itself to me through an invitation to contribute a Chapter to a book about the Strategic Integration of Social Media into Project Management Practice, due for publishing in 2016. This came about as a result of the extensive research I have conducted in prior years around the use of social media for small business marketing, and more specifically in the project management context.

AnniversaryAnniversary

On the personal front, I am privileged to share that 18 December 2015 is my 22 year wedding anniversary, and I consider it a blessing to be happily married with three children as a reminder of our faithful commitment to each other.

Game Changers

There were a few events that shifted my priorities this year. I worked with a coach who really helped to broaden my perspective, but at the same time, who guided me to focus on getting specific things done that will contribute greatly to growing my online business in future. Some strategic partnerships were also formed which could lead to interesting new opportunities in the new year.

Growth Program for New Project ManagersI had my first experience of running my own webinars, of doing a Pilot training program and eventually developing a fully online, self-paced Growth Program for New Project Managers aimed especially at the many Accidental Project Managers in every organisation.

This makes me look forward to making more contributions to the project management field in future. Like a quote from Audrey Hepburn saying: “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible”.

I will continue to live and work my passions and to always be grateful. I wish you a happy and fulfilling time with your loved ones over Christmas and a Prosperous New Year in 2016!

Virtual Project ConsultingIf it’s your first time visiting, please subscribe to Virtual Project Consulting not to miss future future articles, tips and success stories!

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2015 – Project Managers are you up to a great start?

At the beginning of the year, we are motivated for new beginnings. We want to do new things, or we want to do things that worked in the past, even better.

sundowner-Sedgefield
Sunset beach picnic, Sedgefield, South Africa

After a period of holiday fun with the family doing camping, swimming at the beach, hanging out with friends and enjoying our wonderful summer weather, it’s time to get back into gear. Sometimes you have a slow start, other times you hit the road running.

I look forward to many challenges at work and initiatives from Virtual Project Consulting this year. We will launch our very own Podcast series in 2015! I am a contributing author to a book on “Social Media and Project Management” to be compiled by Prof Silvius of the University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Also look out for guest post contributions from well-known project professionals.

When you’re responsible for projects you work with people and to have great results you need to be a good leader. In a recent article I discovered these leadership lessons learned from nuns, which touched my heart. I want to make it part of my path to success in 2015:

  • Love the journey.
  • Live and work your passions.
  • Always be grateful.
  • Make mistakes.
  • Integrity is your most powerful asset.
  • Vision, no matter how right, can only be delivered through relationships.
  • Success is only success if everyone feels the win.

At Virtual Project Consulting we are working full swing on making new things a reality. To help with two of the most pressing questions project managers have, this is what we cater for:

  1. Where can I find the best project management training, software, products, books etc?
  2. How do I become a Project Manager, a PMP or maintain my certification?
Knysna, South Africa
Knysna, South Africa

Take a look around and discover:

Please let me know in the comments what specific topics you’re interested in? What would benefit you in your search for information about project management?

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Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and a Prosperous New Year

Merry Christmas

 

 

To all the people in my community, the loyal subscribers, friends, colleagues, clients and  blog visitors, I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.

May the message of Christmas fill your life with joy and peace. Best wishes to you and your family during this holiday season. May this wonderful time of year touch your heart in a special way.

As you look forward to 2015, remember that the New Year is an unwritten book, so choose your actions and words wisely and fill it up with pages that are worth reading by the end of the year.

Holidays

Linky

Reflections On Project Management Success In 2009

Project Management Success in 2009?

Reflections
Reflections (Photo credit: South Africa Travel Online)

Being in the middle of summer, I took my kids to a lovely beach, called Clifton(see picture on the right), in Cape Town. While spending the day overlooking the beautiful ocean, I had time to reflect on the past year and specifically what project success I have accomplished in 2009.

There is no denying that it was a most difficult year.  Yet, we all aim to be successful in what we do. Looking back at 2009, you can evaluate if you were successful, personally, professionally and with business projects delivered. There are a few simple questions you can answer:

 

  • What were your achievements on a personal level? 
  • What did you accomplish in your business? 
  • Did you have specific triumphs or project successes in 2009? 
  • What highlights did you experience and why were they highlights? 
  • What is it that you are doing well? 
  • What can you improve and do differently in 2010? 
  • Is your business profitable?What did you enjoy most/least in your business? 

Write Your Own Report Card for 2009

By doing this you can write your own Report Card to assess your accomplishments. It will help you stay focused on the positive things that you have achieved in 2009 and that you can be grateful for.

To give you a glimpse of my Report Card for Virtual Project Consulting, I wrote down my reflections on the past year.

  1. I established my own company, Virtual Project Consulting – providing project management consulting and social media solution services– for doing business online and locally.
  2. I created and customized my own website that is also a blog in March 2009.
  3. I did 40 blog postings on several topics and I am positioned to publish frequently and more consistently in 2010.
  4. I created a Project Management Toolkit, Solid-as-a-Rock to empower business owners and service professionals with little or no project management experience to manage their own business projects and services to customers.
  5. I created a Social Media Starter Project Kit to enable business owners and service professionals to become active in using social media tools to grow their business.
  6. I became social media active by implementing a social media strategy with many free tactics for traffic generation, lead generation, business networking and growing my brand online. I also use Virtualpm as my social networking persona as it compliments the virtual project management services that I offer.
  7. I learned constantly about Internet Marketing, running your own business and how to focus despite all the distractions you are bombarded with while being online.
  8. I connected with numerous other project management experts, with social media teachers and many business and marketing gurus from whom I keep learning.
  9. I am a guest writer on two websites/blogs, one about project management and one about Web 2 and social networking.
  10. I started to make money, but most importantly, I created and established a business brand that I am passionate about, where I truly want to make a difference and hope to contribute authentically and add value to my client’s lives to help them grow their business in 2010.

Looking back on 2009, I realized how much I have to be grateful for. I did more research in the past year on internet marketing, social media and other topics that interest me than in the 5 years before that. Being an optimistic, but impatient person, I learned the virtue of patience and of having faith to keep doing what you believe in with diligence and skill.  It really takes perseverance to become successful, but it takes a positive attitude to be happy in any circumstances.

Strategy for 2010

Do you have your business strategy for 2010 in place?

Do you have a Social Media strategy that gives you a plan, a strategic approach for social networking and many tactics to use to grow your business online, establish your brand and make more money?

Look at the Social Media Starter Project Kit!  social_media_family_smalls

I’m giving away the Social Media Strategy template for a limited time until 15 January 2010. Use the opportunity to create a social media strategy for your business as part of your overall marketing plan for 2010.

Thanks for the opportunity to share. Please feel free to share one or two of your own accomplishments and even 2010 resolutions…..

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Make projects work for your business!

Where the business owner and service professional learn more about project management skills, project management tools and templates and project management methodologies for managing business projects.

 

An effective way to speed up results with business projects is to apply a simple Project Management framework to deliver your projects on time, to budget and with desired quality.

For solutions to:

  • WHAT project management is,
  • WHY your business needs projects,
  • HOW to do project management,
  • WHEN to start a project and
  • WHO must do the work

Discover a basic tool to successful project management, download the Project Management Toolkit for all your business project management needs.

Take Action today and start making a positive difference to your business.