MSFT EPM in the magic quardrants

Microsoft Office Project Positioned in the Leaders Quadrant for the 2007 IT Project and Portfolio Management Applications Magic Quadrant

"Microsoft Corp. , a leading provider of project and portfolio management (PPM) software, today announced it has been positioned by Gartner Inc. in the "Leaders" quadrant in the 2007 IT Project and Portfolio Management Applications Magic Quadrant report. The report evaluates services and products that include the Microsoft(R) Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution."

Via : CNN

In the Beginning -The Risk meeting

In the Beginning...

The opening moments of an effective meeting are a very big deal. You have the opportunity to win hearts, change minds, or at least ensure that others are listening in the opening 20 to 30 seconds. This is vital time. This is where participants decide whether or not they will be players in this event. Consider four simple approaches to get things started more effectively:

1. Open with a promise -- By the time this meeting is over, we will have solved the XXXX problem, one of the great concerns facing our organization today.

2. Open with something they'll get from the gathering -- When we're done, you're going to have four new tools to work with to overcome the range of risk challenges we face.

3. Open with a short story -- If you read this morning's paper, you know that wildfires are burning just 40 miles away. We're going to take something away from the lessons those firefighters are teaching.

4. Open with a challenge -- You have an opportunity over the next 45 minutes to create an indelible mark on the project, but that means I'm going to put you to work for the next 45 minutes....

 

To ensure that sense of accomplishment, meeting facilitators need to identify the following:

• What will be done with the information
• What the next steps are for the participants
• What they've accomplished
• When those actions will be evident

Facilitating meetings is challenging for some of us, as we believe there's just information to be shared and everyone should be willing to share it. That's not as common as it might sound. In many instances, introversion, fear of rejection, or simple impatience drives participants to remain as silent partners in the overall meeting experience. There are ways to drive that out of the risk discussion. The keys are a sense of safety and a sense of value-added.

Via: Cutter