Monday, October 02, 2006

Tools of the Trade

What should be in every Project Manager's toolkit? In other words, what should I say when:

  • The sponsoring manager wants a 1,500 hour project completed in three months by two people?
  • The user asks if they can have all the screens reorganized, and still get the project done in the next week?
  • The project team asks if they can get an extension on the project, when their self-inflicted wounds have already caused it to be delivered late?
  • And...not to leave myself out...when the Project Manager asks if there are any ways to shorten the timeline without affecting quality?
This:





Cheers! (Hat tip to Mr. Schreiber, who showed me the video on Saturday at his son's birthday party.)

9 comments:

Rick said...

BTW...hat tip to Scott for finding this one.

Des_Moines_Girl said...

LOL!

I'm still waiting for "Grand Mal Seizure Elmo."

I'm having one of those days too. With people gone today for maternity leave, vacation, professional development, and pnemonia it's down to me and the new guy, which makes me the ranking communications person. I am drunk with power!

Barb the Evil Genius said...

Good, fast, cheap: pick two.

There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over.

And lastly, how many hat tips are you going to give Scott? I mean, we wouldn't want him to get a swelled head or anything.

Kayla said...

Hilarious!
I had never seen Elmo "do his thing"
Contagious laughter

And could you go ahead and solve the problem of world hunger while you're at it?

Rick said...

Barb: my inner grammar nazi kicked in, and I made a change to the post along with adding the hat tip. However, the post didn't take, or so I thought, so I added the comment. Sue me. :-) BTW: when did you learn PM-eze?

DMG: Watch out for that power hangover; it's a doozie. What does a power drunk clown look like?

Kayla: I'll add "Project WoHu" to the list. Hours estimate: 4 hours. Project duration: eternity. I'll have the feasibility study done after we complete the project, but we'll have to outsource it to India. :-)

Barb the Evil Genius said...

I learned PM-eze during my pre-children job with the federal government. I'll take the job I have now, thank you!

Genuine Lustre said...

Since it came from Scott, I was expecting a shotgun blast.
A perfect example of why battery operated toys that come into our house go right into the Goodwill bag.

Genuine Lustre said...

I meant say, I was expecting a shotgun blast at the end of the video clip.

Rick said...

Polly,

Scott has that warped sense of humor, though. I would never want that toy inside my home. At the office, however....heh, heh, heh!