How to get "buy-in" to solutions

The next generation of me.

How to get people to accept a solution:

1. Identify the problem at hand as you understand it, but refrain from proposing a solution.
2. Being a natural tendency for people to maintain their status quo, they will assess the threat that the problem presents.
3. If they perceive the threat as a bad thing, then they will attempt to avoid it.
4. If they perceive the threat as a good thing, then they will embrace it.
5. Allowing people to make their own decision will lead to a greater level of success and less frustration on you.

So the moral of this story is to always position your threats as good things.

If that doesn't work, then loosen them up with alcohol first. :)

Hey Hey - here's what I have to say about Planning & Scheduling

Woo Hoo !!! Entry numero uno.. Soo.. thanks for dropping by.
Ok - I believe in the value of planning. If I had to rate my preference on a scale of 0 - 10, where 0 = fully intuitive and 10 = fully planful, I would come in around 7.5 This is somewhat driven by what motivates me instead of what I know I should be doing. As such I may not always practice what I preach.

Planning & Scheduling software I use regularly:
MS Project - Yeah.. great tool.. wish I was a better master of it.. Maybe I should join MPUG and stop crying about what a hack I am (or maybe my attitude about this is like golf, the better you get the more you beat yourself up about not being better). I think I'm a hack because I don't take full advantage of linking tasks or creating the right kind of task. I think you can't take advantage of links where meetings are fixed. Then there is the choice between a task based on fixed duration, fixed work, or fixed whatchamacall it. Which then takes into consideration the resources, their schedules, etc.. yeah.. it is all good, just that it is complex and therefore cannot be picked up by the first time user easily.. and what about those reports and views - excellent yet again.. if only, if only.. which leads me into the next tool - the excel conglomeration-

Excel Conglomeration - this is a homegrown tool that I've been developing over the last few years. It is simple yet with the help of some macro code, gives the user a way to view tasks due each month, reschedule tasks, and track attainment. With the right behaviour, it can be pretty effective. This tool is the tool of choice with the groups I work with. The reason being that it is based on excel, a platform that they are comfortable with. There is no linking of tasks. The planner is asked to break down the project deliverables into discrete tasks that will take no longer than 1 month to complete. The approach is to review the tasks due in the upcoming month, therefore providing the person has enough leadtime to think about the issues, and communicate their requirements, and confirm commitment to the involved parties.

Well .. enough said for now.. please feel free to comment about what you have read. I'm keeping this short for the time being until I learn more about blogging. Hopefully I can start attaching audio podcast to these entries.