1. Focus Management
2. New Website Launched
3. Another Website Coming 

1. Something that I have been learning more about is Focus Management.  Basically it means, managing to focus on one thing or objective.

I have been focusing on a new PM project that is VERY large (will take the next two years), and I have had the occasion to travel to Denver, Colorado as well as meet some great people.

I have also met some great musicians (see previous post).

2. I had my brand new website launched (http://www.christianconnett.com) this week for my music side of things.   This blog will stay intact at the this location, but I needed somehting suitable for the music side of things.

3. Another website that I am looking forward to launching by October 1 is VST Source.  This site will focus on Virtual Studio Technology Instruments (VSTi).  I will post VST reviews, downloads, insights into the designers/developers of the VST’s, tons of FREE VST and VSTi, and some more goodies surrounding Virtual Music and Instruments.

I hope to have a couple of columnists posting about Recording Studio Tips and Tricks, Working with VSTi’s in a Live rig set-up, Customizing your VSTi, and more.

I have been busy, and I am enjoying every minute of it, although I am most excited about getting back home to my Family!

Keep Pressing Forward…

• The title says it all.  I pride myself in being a Film Score Composer, and I am of course, a Musician for Hire.

 I have been in Denver recently on business (Project Management Business).  However, in the evening after work hours - I have had the fortunate experience of meeting some wonderful people in music.  Here is my list of favs from this week:

GoGoLab - CHECK THEM OUT!
Brian, Eric, and Bijoux were some of the greatest guys, and accomplished musicians

Pickles, great talking with you, and THANK YOU for getting me with GoGoLab!
Jeremy, I look forward to hearing his music/aspirations

Nick, Great musician as well, key master!  Thank you for the E-MU, and I look forward to many more conversations and music making session, albeit a little ‘virtual’ (pun intended).

The serious side of things, I am embarking on a great career changing opportunity with this project.  It will encompass the next couple of years of my life, and I am sure to gain more knowledge and experience in many facets of PM work.  I am looking forward to working with the Team and Stakeholders that I have been so dilligently working with thus far.

 To forward thinking… always

One of the most challenging management gigs, is managing your own career.  I have been managing my career path for the last few years as a consultant for-hire.  While I enjoy the short-term involvement, just long enough to develop a project plan, execute the project, close the project (sometimes with 30 day guarantee), then out the door.  This exposure has afforded me a tremendous amount of experience across business lines, and the ability to work with Business Analysts, Management, the (Corporate) Business itself, and others at all levels.

This has taught me many lessons in dealing with projects, and realizing the potential that projects have (both positive and negative).  I have developed the knoweldge to see things ‘coming down the track’.  Being involved in such a diversity of projects, from Integrated Voice Recognition to Web-based Applications, I have garnered the ability to forsee issues, mitigate risk where some others may not see it, and have an insight to the outcome(s) of projects.

This is also a vice at times, because knowing what may well happen on a project, sometimes precludes me to expect something to happen.  Often times, I am very right.  But once in a while, I can expect great things, when the unexpected happens… the budget falls out of the bottom.  Didn’t see that coming…

You can’t predict everything, no matter what your experience level.  You can work as hard as you can to determine the outcome of the project, but in the end, it’s your hard work during the project that matters most.

I am guilty of forward thinking, I typically trandscend the norm.  But I do not, and cannot forget that all projects have a ring, and sometimes that ring can be broken.

Esther Derby has now posted about Feedback and encouragement.

I really appreciate her thoughts on the fact that feedback is not all about ‘gratitude’ and patting on the back.  Feedback is constructive criticsm(?) and focus points.  I have learned now that constructive feedback consists of some recognition of goals/focus, however the latter (focus) should be viewed as ‘this is what you can do in the future’, or ‘this is what I would like to see you focus on more’.

Esther states:

Reinforcing feedback is information about a result or behavior to that’s working well–something to continue. For example, “Jane, as I read your report, I really noticedd the way you’ve presented the evidence. Each fact builds upon the previous data. The way you’ve organized this report makes it easy for me to follow and builds a compelling case.”

I am with you Esther…

One of the most difficult things for me as a Project Manager is giving feedback. I can give praise all day long, if it’s deserved. Telling someone how they should do something is a bit of a challenge for me.

I am overcoming this hurdle, and I suggest these articles from Fast Company:

• Gina Imperato: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/17/feedback.html
• Seth Godin: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/80/sgodin.html

While not everyone shares my view (too bad), reading these articles gives great insight into the mysterious feedback monster…

I engaged Tom Foster over at Management Skills Blog where he writes about The Delegation Trap.  He gives a story that basically tells the story of how delegation could, and should work.

In Tom’s story, a partial list was generated for the basis of delegating a task or project to the right person.  The list answers the question “…what’s the major benefit(s) for the person you would delegate this to?”…  The list includes:

• A sense of accomplishment.
• Feeling a greater part of the team.
• Feeling more valuable to the team.
• A sense of contribution.

Most of our delegation emits from trying to save more of our own time, rather than thinking of the most suitable cause and situation for delegating.

Read Tom’s post and gain some delegation leverage!

This weekends plans include: CAMPING - We will be camping at the exquisite Lake Ahquabi. We plan on entertaining our fellow campers, friends, family; and the poor souls that pitch next to us…

I am looking forward to this weekend, as I need to relax after this last two months of becoming acclimated at the new company, and suffering a waterfall of vehicle issues. What are your plans? Have you started planning? Hmm… As a Project Manager, you should have had the Intiation completed by June 15th, and the Execution plan should be under way!

A.J. over at Project, Process & Business Improvement found this great resource, which I had to add to my blogroll…

A quick review of the Business Advisor Online Site shows that you can easily access hundreds of high quality Articles, White Papers, and Business Management Tools, as well as links directly to relevant information on other sites. Each of these has a brief summary letting you know what to expect and every article is rated in several different ways to tell you what type of information it contains.