Articles written by Roger Lever
Showing 100 Articles
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Dance with Chance by Makridakis Hogarth Gaba
Review of Dance with Chance by Spyros Makridakis, Robin Hogarth and Anil Gaba. An interesting book looking at chance, the illusion of control and the paradox of control.
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Review The Art of Strategy by Dixit and Nalebuff
Bestselling authors of Thinking Strategically return with this updated and retitled book. Game theory is explained and expanded to help readers develop winning strategies
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Book Review: Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott
Grown Up Digital is the latest book from the bestselling author of Growing Up Digital and Wikinomics and this book describes how the net generation is changing the world.
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Book Review: Making It All Work by David Allen
Bestselling author of Getting Things Done has followed up with Making It All Work, a roadmap for personal productivity and long term planning that builds on earlier book.
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Review: Motivate Like a CEO by Suzanne Bates
Bestselling author Suzanne Bates has followed up Speak Like a CEO with Motivate Like a CEO. This book is focused on connecting purpose and people to achieve results.
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Review -- Manias Panics and Crashes 5th Edition
Over the last four hundred years history is replete with manias, panics and crashes. Charles P. Kindleberger and Robert Aliber explore that history for modern lessons.
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Review -- Keynes and the Market by Justyn Walsh
John Maynard Keynes as an economist and government advisor had a significant world impact through his ideas. Less well known is that he made a fortune from investing.
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Review: Get to the Top on Google by David Viney
Online businesses must rank well on searches as many searchers never make it past page two of Google results or click on sponsored listings. This book helps to do that.
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Book Review: Web of Debt by Ellen Hodgson Brown
An interesting book that explodes myths about the current US monetary system. Web of Debt unravels the evolution of the money system and suggests a workable alternative.
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Book Review: Panic Edited By Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis, best-selling author of Liar's Poker, has picked a collection of articles by various authors on modern financial crises starting with Black Monday in 1987.
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Think Better Example from Tesco Business Problem
Tesco Fresh & Easy problem analysis and intended action is apparently superficial. This example shows how to think better about a business problem to find a solution.
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Gold Supply and Demand & Rising Gold Investment
Gold supply peaked in 2001 and since then production has fallen on an annual basis. Demand is driven mainly by jewellery but gold investment rose sharply in 2008 by 64%.
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Pros and Cons of Buying Gold Coins or Bullion
Buying gold coins or gold bullion involves physical ownership of gold as opposed to paper-based investment via gold shares or ETFs. Consider pros and cons of ownership.
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Think Better - Productive Thinking is a Skill
Think better by using thinking processes to help find innovative solutions through unexpected connections. Trying to find those connections is a skill that can be learned
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Investing Like Warren Buffet in the Stock Market
Warren Buffet is one of the world's most successful investors in the stock market if not the most successful investor. His investment style is simple but not easy to copy
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What Makes a Successful Project Manager?
Good project manager is essential to a successful project but being a successful project manager is more than the result of project management training; it takes ability.
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Use the Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes
Dr Eliyahu Goldratt developed Theory of Constraints (TOC) and originated thinking processes and specific critical thinking tools to help solve implementation problems.
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Think Better Using Critical Thinking Processes
Dr Eliyahu Goldratt wrote the novel The Goal and described his Theory of Constraints, and to help solve implementation problems he originated a set of thinking processes.
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IT Service Management ITIL v3 Service Strategy
IT Service Management with ITIL v3 has adopted the service lifecycle. The service lifecycle starts with the service strategy and is focused on satisfying customer needs.
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Introduction to ITIL v3 IT Service Management
IT is an essential part of a business. IT Service Management is transforming from simply being a cost overhead to demonstrating business return on investment and assets.
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Management Use of Resources to Achieve Goals
Managers are managing people to successfully achieve business goals and to execute the business strategy. Critical to this is performance and line management of employees
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Key Differences Between ITIL v2 and ITIL v3
IT service management has evolved from a process-centric view of ITIL v2 to a service lifecycle approach in ITIL v3 with a focus on strategy and customer desired outcomes
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Startup Tips for Starting a Small Business
Starting a small business is a big step, whether it is using an existing small business or a new business. Some startup tips will help to avoid common early problems.
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Managing Performance of Difficult People
Managing performance with difficult people requires adaptability to recognise difficult behaviour and use an approach establishing rapport and achieving a desired outcome
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Richest Countries by GDP and the Poorest Country
News media release attention grabbing headlines about trillion dollar debts and deficits. Use country GDP figures to place these scary financial headlines into context.
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Managing Performance with Performance Objectives
Managing performance effectively requires clear performance objectives and measures of achievement. Writing SMART objectives is an essential component of good performance
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Project Risk and Identifying Problems Checklist
Manage project risk by actively seeking potential project problems using a checklist approach. Having identified the risks then perform effective project risk management.
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Develop Presentation Skills for Maximum Impact
Presentation training is useful to develop presentation skills but nothing replaces practice. Effective presentations have targeted, simple, clear and repeated messages.
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Project Evaluation and Selecting Project Metrics
Project management metrics are important to the extent that they are used for project process improvement. The intent of project metrics is clear performance improvement.
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Performance Appraisal and Difficult Conversation
Performance appraisals may require having a difficult conversation with an employee as part of managing performance. Be prepared, be calm and focus on the desired outcome
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Project Reporting on a Project Status Checklist
Project status reporting is a key communication tool for the project. Use a project report checklist to ensure that content is concise and complete for intended audience.
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Project Planning for Effective Global Projects
Global projects have a project scope that requires project managers to do more initial project planning to address cultural differences and key communication challenges.
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Project Management and Using Leadership Skills
The leadership development level of a project manager is important to a successful project. Effective leadership skills must be used as needed over the project lifecycle.
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Quick Guide to Employee Performance Management
Employee performance management is about achieving business objectives, developing the capacity to perform and objectively appraising performance and areas of improvement
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Performance Appraisal and Managing Performance
Every manager with line management responsibility must engage in employee performance management. Regularly do performance evaluations to identify performance improvement
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Project Monitoring and Effective Project Review
Effective project reviews ensure the project is doing the right thing and doing things right. It acts as an early warning system of potential risks, issues and problems.
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Use Leadership Skills and Leadership Behaviours
Leadership skills must be complemented by positive leadership behaviours. Anyone can show effective leadership behaviours but they are essential skills for good leaders.
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The Origin of Financial Crises by George Cooper
A compelling analysis of the forces behind today's financial instability and economic crisis through an analysis of financial markets and the modern monetary system.
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Develop Effective Leadership Skills for Managers
Managers must develop effective leadership skills to lead teams and achieve set objectives. Understand basic leadership styles and action-centred leadership for results.
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Use Balanced Scorecard and Build Alignment
A Balanced Scorecard is an effective tool for strategy management. However, without alignment between the board and all the business units, strategy execution can fail.
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Essential Skills of Project Management Training
Project managers must develop essential skills in project management to achieve successful projects. These are acquired through formal training and on the job training.
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Use Strategy Maps with the Balanced Scorecard
A balanced scorecard helps a strategy-focused organisation to align and focus on strategic execution. Strategy maps visually describe the strategy using linked objectives
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Essential Software Project Document Deliverables
Project manager must deliver a successful project including key project document deliverables. Project planning must define system documentation tasks to build in quality
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Report Writing for an Effective Project Report
Project reports can cover a host of potential subjects such as product evaluation, feasibility study or performance assessment. The content must be planned and structured
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How to Buy Gold Coins or Gold Bars and Bullion
Gold has long held a special place in history as a store of wealth and as a global currency. Buying gold physically can be either by gold coins or gold bars or bullion.
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Electronic Document Management System Problems
Introducing an electronic document management system into the business can lead to a number of business problems. Understanding these many pitfalls helps to avoid them.
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Project Reporting for Project Summary Report
Regular project reporting will finish at the end of the project with a final project report. A project summary report must tell what was achieved and what is outstanding.
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Guide to a Project Plan for Project Managers
Project planning is the essential task of a project manager; if the planning is wrong everything is wrong. The result is a project plan, a blueprint for future action.
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Enhanced Electronic Document Management Systems
EDMS provides many core capabilities as part of a platform that is able to integrate other complementary technologies to bring additional functionality and capabilities.
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Start and Build a High Performing Project Team
Building and developing a performing project team often goes through group development stages identified by Bruce Tuckerman: forming, storming, norming and performing.
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Core Elements of an EDMS and Other Content Types
Solving the business need to manage documents with an EDMS led to the idea of other content types like web or rich media (image, video and audio) using the same approach.
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Effective Project Team and Resource Allocation
Effective project teams are made by combining skills, experience, motivation, teamwork and sense of urgency into a clear project structure and set of accountabilities.
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Project Planning and Identifying Project Tasks
Project planning must identify project tasks at a level of detail allowing a project manager to capture all significant tasks and so ensure a comprehensive project plan.
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Benefit of Electronic Document Management System
Managing electronic documents is much easier with a dedicated electronic document management system (EDMS). Business benefits for an EDMS are both tangible and intangible
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Need for Electronic Document Management Systems
Business needs to create and manage many electronic documents and consequently experience various document management problems such as where to find the current document.
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Detailed Project Planning for Project Managers
Detailed project planning is a necessary step for a successful project. It is important to capture all project tasks at a level of detail that avoids future surprises.
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Example Project Report Format for Project Status
Project status reporting is an essential and regular task. Project reports must be clear, concise and complete and contain the right level of detail for target audience.
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IT Service Management for Project Managers
IT Service Management is a framework of good practices to align IT services with current and future needs of business. To improve the quality and reduce cost of services.
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Stakeholder Management for Project Managers
Stakeholder management is essential to a successful project. Project managers must do stakeholder analysis and mapping to plan for effective stakeholder engagement.
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Project Tracking and Managing Project Time Delay
Project tracking is essential to monitor project progress and identify any project slippage or time delay. Treat effective time tracking as an early warning system.
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Guide to Successful Project for Project Managers
Project managers must focus on the vital few things that really matter to a successful project: scope, project planning, managing risk and change and project closure.
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Guide to a Successful Project for Managers
Managers must focus on the vital few things such as benefits, scope, requirements, business change management and testing that they control and really matter to success.
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Project Managing Change and IT Configuration DB
Project management must establish an effective change process for managing change to project scope and consequently delivered benefits as well as solution change control.
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Guide to Project Planning of Project Closure
Project planning extends to the end of the project to ensure an uneventful transition of the software solution to those responsible for its ongoing operational support.
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Software Project Implementation Management
Software project management provides tools and techniques to deliver projects successfully. Managing project delivery is to ensure that the implementation is done well.
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Project Report Format for Project Reporting
Effective project status reporting is to communicate situation and progress to all key stakeholders. It is a simple way to give out key project messages and information.
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Manual Software Testing Versus Automated Testing
Software testing is a time consuming but essential task. As software becomes more complex so does the task of testing it. Automated testing is designed to make it easier.
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Test Planning for System and Acceptance Testing
Software testing is essential for the business to ensure that the system meets the specified project requirements and is fit for purpose. Understand the types of testing.
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Manage Project Requirements Analysis and Design
Project management of software requirements must be managed to ensure right inputs result in the right outputs. Managers as well as the project manager are responsible.
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Redundancy May be a New Life Opportunity
The threat of redundancy or being made redundant is a life changing time. Time to reflect, self-assess and decide on whether it is time to start a new life opportunity.
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Project Initiation - Starting in the Right Way
Before a project formally begins the stakeholders must understand what business problems are being solved, what benefits will be achieved and therefore what the scope is.
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Benefits Management to Start and End a Project
Benefits management starts with planning and ends with benefits realisation. Benefits are the reason for doing a project and achieving them is the ultimate project goal.
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Weakness of Porter's Five Forces Model
Porter's five forces model for competitive analysis is very useful but it is missing key elements such as industry group, industry sector analysis or competitive forces.
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Managers - Match Project Manager to Project Type
Experienced project managers will have developed and honed their project management approach. Match those skills and strengths to the type of project for best results.
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An Example of Project Risk Management Planning
Project risk management planning requires thinking through the risks and applying risk mitigation strategies. Managing project risk is essential for a successful project.
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Project Planning, Estimation and Time Allocation
Project planning requires good project estimates for a realistic project schedule; that realism will be enhanced by allocating enough time to the schedule.
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Book Review: War for Wealth by Gabor Steingart
Steingart challenges globalisation and the flat world view, offering an alternative interpretation of global economic trends and elements like free trade and outsourcing.
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Identify Project Risks Early and Plan Response
Identify project risks early by looking at scope, people interaction and project approach. Assess the risk probability and potential impact to create a mitigation plan.
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Use Balanced Scorecard for Strategic Management
Use the Balanced Scorecard framework as a strategic management tool to do comprehensive strategic planning and then follow through with effective strategic implementation
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Project Failure a Common Business Problem
Project failure is high whether it is measured by actual cost versus budget, the final delivery date versus original schedule or business requirements met by the solution
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Define Effective Vision and Business Strategies
An effective business vision and set of business strategies requires good strategic analysis and strategic thinking and is based on business strengths and opportunity.
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Book Review: Economics For Everyone by Stanford
A concise summary that is an accessible explanation of economics that is aimed at everyone. Its topics range from work to globalisation, the environment to high finance.
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Book Review: Intelligent Portfolio by C. Jones
The Intelligent Portfolio by Christopher L. Jones is designed to help the investor make choices about investment risk and diversification using modern portfolio theory.
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Project Planning and Estimating for Managers
Project planning requires good project estimating to produce an achievable project schedule and a greater chance of on-time delivery. Managers should guide the process.
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Project Management Made Easy for Managers
Project managers should use the discipline of project management to achieve project objectives. Managers should understand the essential ideas to use it successfully.
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Porter's Five Forces Model-Competitive Analysis
Michael Porter's five forces model-New Entrants, Substitutes, Buyer or Supplier Power, Existing Competitors-is a simple and effective technique for competitive analysis.
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Book Review: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Why do some people achieve so much more than others? Gladwell says that the secret of success may be surprisingly simple and hinges on things like opportunity and culture
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How to Use SWOT Analysis Made Easy for Managers
Managers need to plan and organise SWOT analysis so that the people and processes deliver the desired results. The idea is simple; the execution is harder to do well.
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Detroit Big 3 Carmakers Closer to Bailout
Detroit's Big 3 auto makers Ford, GM and Chrysler moved closer to having their rescue plan approved. At stake - an American car industry and potentially millions of jobs.
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Book Review: When Markets Collide by El-Erian
Mohamed El-Erian delves into the dynamics of the modern world of investing and the changing global economy. Sharing analysis and insights of the secular transformation.
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Review: The World Is Curved By David Smick
Alan Greenspan, former FED chairman, noted: "...an essential read for those who wish to understand the workings, politics, and distresses of the global financial system".
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Use SWOT Analysis for Strategic Planning
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool to help a business see its own strengths and weaknesses and do external market analysis by looking at opportunities and threats
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Book Review: 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
The author shows how to create freedom of time and place and to use both however you want; a blueprint to live more and work less, an opportunity to change everything.
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Book Review: The Monk and The Riddle
A tale about entrepreneurs and their motivation. Make work pay in cash but also in experience and satisfaction. What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life?
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Book Review: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
Vagabonding is about taking time to discover and experience the world up close and personal, emphasising discovery and spiritual growth from those journeys and encounters
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Book Review: Walden by Henry D. Thoreau
Originally published in 1854 this book is the 150th anniversary edition. Walden draws on Thoreau's journal and explores living away from society and reflecting on life.
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Small Business Increase Sales to Make Money
Do comprehensive market analysis to select the right sales strategy: new, differentiated or price. An effective sales strategy should then exploit business strengths.
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Identify Common Business Problems
First identify business problems with poor leadership, weak strategy selection, superficial planning, business management issues and lack of organisation to solve them.
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Start a Small Business for the Right Reasons
Starting a small business is a big decision and there should be a clear business opportunity, with preferably a personal passion for the business and family support.
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Strategies to Improve Your Small Business
Improve or transform any small business by clearly defining the vision and strategies, and organising it into systems to execute the strategy and achieve results.
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