Technical Author Required in the UAE
We need a Technical Author to commence work ASAP in Abu Dhabi, UAE for a 3 month period.
Processes need to be documented in English to describe how a new set of complex IT policies will be delivered upon as part of a service to the client’s customer. In addition to process documentation experience and the ability to write clearly and concisely, a considerable amount of time and patience will be required to interview and work closely with multi-cultural subject matter experts. Applicants are expected to be highly professional to ensure we maintain our strong reputation with the client.
Accommodation and 1 x return flight to Abu Dhabi will be provided.
Apply directly to author@gma.ae (no 3rd parties)
Please include your CV, earliest possible departure date and daily rate
GMA in the Middle East News
The Middle East’s leading business information company “Zawya” published this today across the Gulf, about GMA.
Deploying Strategy – 3 Times More Difficult than Developing Strategy
Successful leaders know that these days, if the company is standing still, it is falling behind, but making the right decisions and following through on them is challenging. Read more
Global Risk Management Survey
With the distrssed global economy, it has become even more critical to understand and proactively address business risk at every level of the organisation. In a survey by AON, less than half of the respondents report tracking and managing their total cost of risk (TCOR). This indicates that risk management departments are shrinking. Read more
The 25 Most Prestigious Tech Consulting Firms
In 388 pages, the sixth edition of the Vault Guide to the Top 25 Technology Firms covers everything from tech strategy stars to top implementers. The 25 top firms were chosen and ranked by over 1,700 practicing technology consultants. You’ll find 50 companies in this guide. Read more
A New Framework for Business Models – Video
Later this month Mark W. Johnson’s book, Seizing the White Space: Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal, will be officially published.
There isn’t really any consensus about what the term “business model” even means. Suggestions range from the all-encompassing, everything-in-your-value-chain approach to the reductionist “A business model is nothing else than a representation of how an organization makes (or intends to make) money.” That latter definition is from Peter Drucker.
Mark W. Johnson proposes a framework broken out into four boxes which answer the following questions:
1) Why would someone want to buy something from you?
2) How will you make money selling it?
3) What, exactly, are the important things you need to do to pull off the plan?
(there are two answers to question 3 – relating to resources and processes)
Watch the video interview with Mark below and read his book to learn more.
Is Your Head in the Cloud?
I’ve explored a number of cloud computing solutions over the last few years, more recently for CRM, document management and project management. A common requirement for many firms is CRM as no well thought through business can optimise they marketing without CRM, whether it’s an Excel spreadsheet, Microsoft CRM, SalesForce or Zoho, etc. Read more
The Vision of a CIO
The CIO’s strategic initiative should align with the company’s overall strategy, but from there, where and how should the journey take shape? Read more
Programme Management Lessons from Boeing
Steve Goo describes the Boeing Programme Management Best Practices, an integrated management system the company has refined over the past ten years to enable programmes of all sizes achieve high levels of performance and customer satisfaction. Read more
Keys to Working with Alpha Personalities – Video
Alpha personalities present unique challenges for those who work with them and you need a different set of strategies for getting along with an alpha boss than for managing an alpha employee. Read more
An Introduction to Portfolio Management
Paul Rayner has led a ProgM initiative to write an “Introduction to Portfolio Management” for the APM and I was one of a group of people who reviewed a draft version of the document and provided feedback. At that stage, the booklet consisted of 32 pages of clear and concise guidelines about the purpose of portfolio management and how it can be applied.
Achieving Excellence in Construction
The British Government’s OGC (Office of Government Commerce) provides an excellent online repository of documents addressing its guidelines for achieving excellence in construction. Read more
The 5th Habit and Programme Communication
I thought I would post this article that I wrote for the APM Programme Management Specific Interest Group (ProgM) newsletter some time ago. Read more
More Lessons Learned for Projects & Programmes
Whether it’s in the public or private sector, we often hear that failed projects and programmes in the context of being over budget or late. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in London has taken a closer look at some of the key areas of fault in failed government projects and programmes. Read more
How to Improve Professional Performance
Whether you are a CEO or an aspiring Manager, you can improve your performance Read more
Soft Skill Needs of Managers & Leaders
I’ve always stood by the belief that strong people skills (a far reaching topic in itself) are critical to the success of any manager or leader, whether they’re a Project Manager or CEO. Certainly there are those who exist without those skills, but their success and longevity are often minimal, as we shall see below. Read more
Achieving Outcomes & Realising Benefits
During the course of our Programme Management roles we will have determined the critical measures and indicators of success and made arrangements to ensure the programme remains appropriate and on track to deliver the intended outcomes and benefits. Read more
Work-Life Integration
Are you one of the many whose narrowed view of life consists primarily of work and sleep? Perhaps it’s time to step back, take a good look at yourself and ‘get a life’. Read more
The Top 25 Management Tools for 2009
Whether executives want to increase revenues, innovate, improve quality, increase efficiencies or plan for the future, management tools have become a common part of how successful executives achieve their goals.
Keeping Top Talent in Tight Times – Video
In this Harvard Business video interview, Sylvia Ann Hewlett of the Center for Work-Life Policy discusses how to keep engagement up when business is down. Read more
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
After working in many countries around the world in dozens of organisations with 1000’s of professionals from all walks of life, I’ve come across an interesting mix of managers and leaders. Some exhibit impressive displays of emotional intelligence (EI) which I have learned from and some cause me to shake my head in silence at their lack of basic EI skills. Read more
53% of Projects Cost 189% More than Estimated
Some time ago I liaised with Steve Lynn – a doctoral candidate at Kennedy Western University, USA and a Project Management Practitioner. He had conducted a survey to gather quantitative information on the importance of specific project management initiatives to their organisations. Read more
The Importance of Urgency in Change – Video
John Kotter is widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change. In this Harvard interview he discusses why without a true sense of urgency, any change effort is doomed and how managers create and sustain urgency in their organisations. Read more
Why Govern a Programme?
One of the authors of the Gower Handbook of Programme Management is Paul Rayner and just over two years ago, he conducted a survey which showed that whilst the world was moving closer to a common theory about what Programme Governance is all about in theory, the reality was very different. Read more
A Matter of Madness or Maturity
It’s all very well for an organisation’s senior management to hold up their hands and proclaim; “we have project and programme managers who manage our delivery” so we’re covered in that department. But how mature are those efforts? Do their projects and programmes portray madness or maturity? Read more
My Other Musings
Keeping the blog posts flowing can be a challenge when the business of delivering projects and programmes is also demanding. But this blog is part of my PR plan and it plays an integral part of my business development strategy so it too deserves attention. In fact the blog will continue long after every project is complete and I’d like to think that some of the people I meet along the way become regular readers of what I publish. Read more
Avoid Leading one of 70% of Programmes that Fail
Guiding change may be the ultimate test of a leader because no business survives over the long term if it can’t reinvent itself. But, human nature being what it is, fundamental change is often resisted by the people it most affects: those in the trenches of the business. This means that leading change is both absolutely essential and incredibly difficult. Read more
A Question of Risk
If you have approached your project or programme well, you will have developed a Risk Plan/Strategy document. Risk needs to be proactively managed, as opposed to allowing it to manage you and the environment around you. Read more
Green Recovery: Emerge from the Downturn
Andrew Winston, founder of Winston Eco-Strategies, explains in this Harvard interview, how to get lean, get smart, and emerge from the downturn on top. Read more
13 Programme Transformation Success Factors
Below are 13 programme transformation success factors which could, if taken into consideration when approaching a programme of work, increase the chances of success. Read more
