It is Friday 5pm somewhere.....time to log off and enjoy the holiday season. In the meantime, enjoy a short but beautifully curated selection of randomness from around the web.

Are you enjoying this blog? If so, please forward this email to a friend or colleague and suggest that they sign up here.

It is free and they will receive a coupon code to allow a free download from our store + regular updates on tools, templates and interviews to help get it done !

You may also find some of the tools and templates  and resources that I have used to deliver projects for startups here, including the most popular item in the store, a project quote tool that helps you build a fully costed project commercial model. You can find it here. There is even a video on Youtube showing how easy it is to use, check it out here.
All products are offered with a money back guarantee.
​
Thanks for reading.


Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings and have a safe new year.

Andrew Everett

This week

1. Christmas Eve traditions. After lighting the tree and wrapping the presents and preparing for the family arrival on Christmas day, our tradition is to watch the tongue in cheek goodness of High Grant pretending he could be a British Prime Minister in the movie Love Actually. So many awesome cameos. Only to be watched once a year.
2. The Destruction of Memory- Pre Release Trailer is out now. This documentary film which I have been supporting through the crowd funding platform, Indiegogo is almost ready. Very thought provoking.
3. Christmas lunch. Have been watching the new season from Gordon Ramsey on how to do everyday food......might try and include some of these concepts on Xmas day.
4. Boxing day. The tradition continues with the start of the boxing day test match between Australia v West Indies. Bring it on !!!
5. Christmas quiz from the ABC. As you slowly digest your Christmas lunch, test your knowledge of pop culture and Christmas traditions.

If you have enjoyed this week's brief but beautifully curated walk through the web, please feel free to share or forward this email.

​This week's blog post was, Project Delivery Checklist.
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Recently I saw an interesting question posted on reddit about How do you organise your PMO?

The PMO should seek to add value to the project delivery process by providing a suite of standard tools and templates for projects to use as well as providing a review process through various stages of the project to help keep projects within agreed tolerances in terms of scope, time, cost and quality.

This post is part of a number of articles on how to set up your project, you can read more here.

• Video: How to price your project
• Project delivery checklist
• PMO Project checklist​
• Starting up a project a checklist of 101 things to think about

There is also lots of useful stuff on project management methodologies and how to start a project and checklists that you can use.

There are also some useful templates that you can use to start a project including a statement of work template. Also the most popular product, a simple to use template to price your project so that you can actually see if you will make or lose money.

Are you enjoying this blog? If so, please forward this email to a friend or colleague and suggest that they sign up here.

It is free and you will receive a coupon code to allow a free download from our store + regular updates on tools, templates and interviews to help get it done !

How do you organise your PMO?

• Objective of the PMO
• Functions of the PMO
• Work products of the PMO
• Things that the PMO check

Objective of the PMO

The objective of the Project Management Office (PMO) is to provide a good framework for the delivery of projects. It should provide project managers with the tools and processes to run projects in a standard way. The PMO should also help set up the governance framework for tracking and reporting of projects. The PMO should also set up guard rails that assist projects managers keep their projects on track for example by scheduling regular reviews or audits. 


Functions of the PMO

• Scope management
• Scope change control
• Cost control
• Commercial management
• Quality assurance
• Quality control
• Project control
• Resources
• Administration
• Risk management
• Project close out

Work products of the PMO

The PMO should provide a number of templates that all project managers can use quickly and easily to ensure that projects are delivered and managed in a standard way.

These work products include

• Project delivery checklist
• Project schedule or project plan
• Project management plan (PMP)
• Project risk template
• Project issue register
• Weekly status report template
• Commercial management reporting template
• Change request template
• Project close down checklist template
• Deliverable sign off and acceptance process
• Project review checklist
• Steering committee template
• Statement of work template
• Meeting agenda and minutes template
• Timesheet template

Things that the PMO check

See blog post here of the PMO Checklist for good project governance.

Thanks for reading.
​
Andrew Everett
#helpgetitdone

Last week I saw this post on reddit about one of the challenges of project management and freelancing.

After posting a brief response I thought the topic deserved some more detail.

The situation is common. A client has a project in mind but has not got the scope fully defined. The features and functions have not been defined. But they know they need to get going.

In addition the client needs to know the cost of the project.

The challenge with quoting with this type of project is that the scope, time to deliver and cost is unknown. But business being business you need to move ahead.

Several options exist and each has pros and cons.

You can read more about how to price your project in these other articles.

• Video: How to price your project
• Project delivery checklist
• PMO Project checklist​
• Starting up a project a checklist of 101 things to think about

There is also lots of useful stuff on project management methodologies and how to start a project and checklists that you can use.

There are also some useful templates that you can use to start a project including a statement of work template. Also the most popular product, a simple to use template to price your project so that you can actually see if you will make or lose money.

Are you enjoying this blog? If so, please forward this email to a friend or colleague and suggest that they sign up here.

It is free and you will receive a coupon code to allow a free download from our store + regular updates on tools, templates and interviews to help get it done !

Option #1-Provide a Time and Materials (T&M) rate for your time.

This is usually expressed as a daily or hourly rate. A low risk approach for you but very hard for the client to understand the total cost of the project. 

Pros

• Low risk approach for the supplier, as costs are covered for work done.
• It can be a way for the two parties (supplier and client) to engage quickly as the cost can be forecast on a week by week basis and can usually be turned off very quickly if the project is stopped for any reason.

Cons

• The client is taking on the risk and does not know the total cost for the project. For most clients this is a major issue as they do not have endless budget allocations and need to know the total cost.
• For the supplier this is not a great long-term engagement model as the supplier is essentially body shopping resources to the client, which does not allow for economies of scale and associated cost savings. Also it means that resources engaged on the project do not have much opportunity to cross skill and up skill on other in flight projects as most clients expect to see resources that they are engaging on a time and materials basis ring fenced and 100% allocated to their project.

A time and materials engagement can be a quick way to start a project but is not usually suitable for a longer-term engagement.

Top tip

If a client does not know their requirements then suggest that you can start on a time and materials basis and work with them to define the requirements or complete the design phase of the project. At the end of the design phase you will then know the scope of the project and can quote more accurately.

I was listening to a podcast by Tim Ferriss recently and noticed that he often asks his interviewees which books that they have given as gifts the most.

I am not sure whether the person being interviewed has had a chance to prepare their response but the answers can sometimes be insightful and sometimes droll.

It is also a great small talk question, much better than "what do you do?"

It got me thinking about the books that I have given most as gifts. So without further ado (cue drumroll).....

The top 5 books I have given as gifts:

1. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. In a high school essay I described it as an intellectual version of Rocky. It is the story of a seagull who is bored with fighting for food and seeks to learn to improve his flying and along the way finds others who are also motivated to push themselves and as a result becomes happy. A great short book to inspire whether you are 10 or 80 or anywhere in between.
2. Oh the places you will go by Dr Seuss. This well balanced motivating book is my go to gift for any child's birthday party that I attend. From age 3 to 18 years old it has great life advice from being prepared to wait, to celebrate the wins and also be prepared for losses. We also have about 4 copies in various states and scribbled notes around our house. 
3. On the road by Jack Kerouac. A great travel journey and celebrated for its description of the Beat generation. I read this book on a long train journey from Paris to Portugal through Barcelona and Madrid. It was so good that I forgot to look out the window and resolved on the return train journey to not start any new books so I could look out the window. But it was that good a book.
4. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. Written between the 2 world wars it tells the story of 2 families of children and the sailing adventures they have in the English countryside in the Lake District. Filled with plenty of nautical references as the children immerse themselves in a world of pirates and explorers and natives in a mix of Patrick O Brien and Robinson Crusoe. Very British, illustrated with helpful sketches every 20 or so pages it inspired a love of adventure and sailing when I was growing up that continued into my passion for travel. 
5. Freaknomics by Steven D Levitt. An awesome book that uses economics to delve into the hidden side of everything. I did economics at university...before this book was published and wished that the teachers could have made what can be a very dry area of study way more interesting.

What books do you gift the most ?

Thanks for reading

​Andrew

It is Friday 5pm somewhere.....time to log off and enjoy the weekend. In the meantime, enjoy a curated sample of this week's top 5 links from around the web.

You may also find some of the tools and templates  and resources that I have used to deliver projects for startups here, including the most popular item in the store, a project quote tool that helps you build a fully costed project commercial model. You can find it here. There is even a video on Youtube showing how easy it is to use, check it out here.

All products are offered with a money back guarantee.

​Are you enjoying this blog? If so, please forward this email to a friend or colleague and suggest that they sign up here.

It is free and you will receive a coupon code to allow a free download from our store + regular updates on tools, templates and interviews to help get it done !

​Thanks for reading.
Andrew

​This week

1. TEDx Orange has finished, but the video content is available. There were some awesome speakers and music. A very well organised event and supported by the local people from Orange and the Central West. I was privileged to be a paying guest and would do it again and encourage others to organise their own TEDx events. In particular I was inspired by the talk from Professor Gordon Parker AO who was written a book "A Piece of My Mind a Psychiatrist on the Couch" and his talk was about the need to talk more about mental health and his vision to leverage technology to enable more regular health assessments. Watch this space as I am inspired to see how to help.
2. National Motor Racing Museum in Bathurst was the location for the AGM of the RDACentral West. It was awesome to take a trip down memory lane and see the winners of the Bathurst 1000.
3. John Deere S680 Combine Harvester Youtube Video On Sunday I was invited to spend some time with a farmer, Charles Balcombe, during harvest 2015. I got to see some seriously big toys in action and the start of  foods journey from paddock to plate. A short video showing the John Deere in action including the unloading operations.
4. Black Friday. Black Friday is on the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday 2015 will be on November 27. I have my eye on this GoProHero4, perfect to record all sorts of summer fun and games. The videos on youtube of the stuff people are doing is amazing.
5. A history of the world in 100 objects. This is a great podcast that I am listening to from the British Museum. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 podcast/ programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made. This is loaded up ready for the long summer holiday drives ahead.

If you have enjoyed this week's brief but beautifully curated walk through the web, please feel free to share or forward this email.