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--Originally published at Site Title

While I was reading an amazing novel called “The Deadline A Novel About Project Management”, from the chapter 3 to 5. I realized something that is pretty important when you are the head of a group and that is the way your persuades people to do the tasks that you want and how to keep them motivate.

Be persuasive normally requires at least one characteristic, this aspect is the one that defines the way that you are going to be seen by the people you are rounded, for example, if you are a ruler of a country and the people love you, you will be seen like an Autocrat. However, if the people fears you, you will be seen like a Tyrant.

A lot of people differs about what is the best practice in everyday life, some believe that be feared is the best, because people is not allowed to say you no and is the only way is to do the things that you want, due to the fact that they are scared about the actions you can take against them, so they tried everything to accomplish their task and their motivation is the fear. Nonetheless, the problem of this methodology is when someone can not fullfill their activities, because if you does not apply the right punishment the rest is going to think that the things you say are only a lie, for this reason is just a matter of time to lose the power.

Meanwhile when you are a loved leader, the things work totally different, because you are surrounded only by the people that enjoy working by your side. Their motivation comes from the way you treat them, how you make them fell that are part of something important and their contributions are good for everyone. Continue reading "Feared or Loved"

--Originally published at Site Title

TI2011

Is very common to see how engineers get amazed about new software, computers, gadget, tools and everything related to technology, that is what make them who they are. However, now days in the industry that is not enough to become a manager in a big company, you need to know real stuff about development of a process, like finance, efficiency, cash flow and decision-making process, otherwise your product could be the best on the market that is going to offer world peace, but if you do not know how administrate the economy of the project form the beginning to the end, the only thing that you are going to produce is going to be a huge debt.

Knowing this concepts and methodology is kind of hard because it change everything about what you see in a project like engineer, because normally you want to create a new software so you think about how many programmers you are going to need, how many computers and servers are going to required, so you make a list with the best people for the job and the best equipment without knowing that no one is going to accept the project for all the money that is going to be needed for your request, so in this point is where a good manager arrives and make you realize that at first you do not need all this people and equipment, first you can start with only 3 persons and one server, while you get more advanced you can get more computer systems and people to work, but first you have to be sure that the project is going to keep alive until the delivery and that is what engineers sometimes does not see.

For

Continue reading "Economics of Software Engineering"

--Originally published at Site Title

TI2011

In the chapter 1 and 2 from the book: “The Deadline: A Novel about Project Management” you can read a story of an incredible manager who use to fall sleep and have livid dreams that teach you the basis of Project Management while you are enjoy a great novel that allow you to imagine every moment and create the same environment that the story is telling .

I really enjoy the way of learning important concepts of Project Management that sometimes people do not put attention because they think that this concepts and skills are not as important as the theory is and that is a HUGE problem. Due to the fact that management is about knowing how to deal with people all the time and getting the best for them and for you. For example, in the novel you find a moment where a group is taking a course about PM where the syllabus was only about charts, status reporting, a section on interfaces to the human resources department, conduct of weekly meetings, use of e-mail, filling out time cards, progress tracking, project milestone reporting; stuff that is important but only is going to help you in the office work. Nonetheless, what are you going to do when you have a problem with an employee, your team work is unmotivated, know who is the correct guy to hire, observe who is the better making a specific task and assign it directly to him to make the work more efficient, this things are the ones that makes you look like the best manager and the guy who do all the hard work, while the truth is that your team is the one that is making everything posibles because you put them in the right place.

This scene also Continue reading "Administratriv…trivia"

--Originally published at Project Evaluation and Management Blog

Engineers not knowing how to manage the economics of a company or a project it’s practically a cliché, it doesn’t matter how genius an idea is, it needs an economy plan. That’s why all companies rely on a team where everyone does their part where they are good at.

But when a group of engineers start a small project with no one to take care of the numbers, that often ends in disaster, and it doesn’t mean you always need a business manager, it just means that knowing the basics of economics can be the difference between success and failure, this understanding can help you manage a project properly when is needed, but more importantly it helps you communicate effectively with business managers and it helps understand the concerns that they look at.

--Originally published at Project Evaluation and Management Blog

So far this book has had a really effective way to keep me reading and learning by making things a little dramatic and awkward from time to time, for example what is the spy doing with a refrigerator bag with sodas in the middle of an auditorium.

But between the dramatic moments and all conversations the author casually drops bits of interesting information as quick lessons here and there.

For example, Mr. T claims that the most important thing in project management is people, and the 4 most important subjects are:

• People selection
• Task matching
• Motivation
• Team formation

And between all that he gets kidnapped by a spy and dreams he is in an infinite loop. So far, it’s great.