April/May 2006

Volume 46, Number 5

Making the Most of Project You: February Chapter Meeting Review

by Ron Arner

In February, members of the STC RMC met to hear author, speaker, and trainer Bonnie Biafore talk about the most important project you'll ever have to work on: Project You.

Biafore first outlined three keys to success you will need in order to make your project successful:

• Identifying Success
• Building Success
• Managing Success

The Three Successes

The first key to success begins by identifying what success means to you. Where are you going? What are your objectives? What are your customers' objectives? What you're shooting for is a gameplan in which your goals are aligned with your customers' so that you have a win-win situation.

The second key to success, Building Success, is delivering quality, pure and simple. This can mean going above and beyond your customers' expectations. There are times, of course, when we simply can't deliver what's expected. Biafore recommends coming up with an alternate plan if this occurs, and then communicating that plan to your client ASAP!

The third key to success is Balancing Success. Success does not come without time commitments. In fact, the more successful you are the less free time you may have. Biafore believes the best way to keep success from taking over your life is to:

• Know your goals
• Plan
• Focus on what's important

Planning and Tracking for Success

Biafore then shared with those present how she plans and tracks her time for success. She recommended using a PM (Project Management) tool for complex projects, and also said you should track your time even if your employer doesn't. To help you organize your time more efficiently, she suggested reading Take Back Your Life by Sally McGhee and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

Biafore concluded her talk with more suggestions for optimizing success such as working when you're most productive and switching to something easier when you're stuck. She also gave some advice on how to further control success by weeding out unprofitable customers and learning how to say no without burning bridges.

If you'd like more information on Biafore's keys to success, just visit her Website at: http://www.bonniebiafore.com/. You'll also find a complete list of the books she's written and more on her site.