To Meenakshi, before the Project Management Workshop

Dear Meenakshi

In the light of our conversation about the Workshop this weekend, I have put together a list of pre-reading for you. Please feel free to share this mail with your superiors as well, so that they can be aware of how what you learn involves and depends on them. We need to work in such a way that your work will support their management endeavours in an integrated way.

In our conversation, you mentioned habits. Here is one of many articles we’ve written about habits. This article is important, because it shows that it’s not only personal habits, but also team habits that are needed to improve Project Management.

https://projectmanagement.co.za/articles/leader-habit-builders

In conjunction with this, I mentioned that Project Management is not just up to the Project Manager. This short article summarises what I explained:

https://projectmanagement.co.za/articles/project-management-is-an-organisational-discipline

I asked you to draw the current authority structure(s) in your projects, and to bring along that diagram. I requested this so that we can ascertain whether there are any points where an imbalance between authority, accountability and responsibility which we must take into account in your personal work optimisation.

https://projectmanagement.co.za/articles/ineffective-project-authority-structures

Finally, I asked you to bring along your computer, so that we can do some work in Microsoft Project. We will also do some work by hand. Here’s why:

https://projectmanagement.co.za/articles/category/project-management-tools-techniques-methods

Please feel free to mail me one of your Microsoft Project files before Friday, so that I can glance through it in preparation for our time together.

I look forward to meeting you in person!

TANIA MELNYCZUK
Director: Programme Design