I’ve been looking around at some online timesheet tools and Miles Burke at Bam Creative suggested 88 Miles from Mad Pilot

Having looked at a heap of timesheet tools, this looks like a really good tool - and by good fortune developed in Perth.

Some of the features I was looking for included:

1. Web based (a given really)
2. Allow multiple clients
3. Allow multiple projects
4. Allow multiple consultants to work on any mix of the above
5. Provide individual timesheets
6. Provide team reporting
7. Be easy to use
8. Fairly priced

Some new features coming are likely to include additional reporting and adding your own logo to timesheets.

So far I’m impressed and have started using it, worth giving a try….

You can get the gist of medical insurance if you have been through life insurance quotes. However to comprehend something like a cheap car insurance, you will have to read the relevant insurance quotes.

I’ve got to say I have an interesting concern - but a sense of delight at the possibilities - about the speed and capacity of change of Enterprise 2.0. Let me explain…

In the world of application development, there is a serious and mounting argument from the rapid development / iterative prototyping camp versus the waterfall (requirements, design, build, test, deploy, support) purists. When it comes to applications that affect corporations - that is, across the enterprise - I am a firm believer in the latter.

Iterative development is great when there are only a few people involved - or a small point solution that only affects a few people. When you start getting more people involved, the challenges go up.

The challenges include:

• People - commitment to using a new process and a new underpinning system - and a common way of doing so
• Process - is the process we are using common to all? Do we all do our own thing?)
• Technology - solid analysis of the problems and a clear view of how to resolve them with technology

Now with Web 2.0 / Enterprise 2.0, the beauty is that these applications are breaking new ground in making the process neatly tied up in the applications and making it really simple for people to follow the process without having to think too much about it - or having to refer to training manuals or help guides. However, the ease of picking one up, configuring them differently according to different needs - but at the same time missing the opportunity to apply them consistently is the challenge.

The takeaway points to consider:

• If you are going to go for a Web 2.0 application, do document your processes and make sure people apply it consistently within the organisation
• Software developers can learn from the myriad of Web 2.0 projects smart ways of developing inviting interfaces and very simple and fast sign up and use approaches
• The next raft of successful enterprise scale applications from the Web 2.0 environment will make a dent on traditional software only when sold, implemented and supported like enterprise software

All comments welcome!

I was speaking with a friend today who was feeling pretty frustrated. You see, he had purchased a CRM product for his business, but it wasn’t doing what he wanted. The vendor had considered that he had done his part - sell the product, install it on site, provide the user documentation, all thumbs up….

What the client actually needed was:

1. Assistance to clearly understand how to implement CRM as a strategy

2. Get the people on the bus committed to the approach

3. Define the new processes, and define these into an agreed requirements document

4. The vendor to configure the application to meet the defined requirements

5. The vendor to train the users and the administrator in exactly how to make CRM technology deliver on the CRM strategy

6. The vendor to come back and check / realign things after staff have been using it for awhile

My recommendation to you - be very, very wary of buying any software that runs across your business without buying implementation services (not just technical ones, but solid business analysis).

So, what is your experience? Please share the good, bad and the ugly, I’d love to get your feedback….

See my post on people, process and technology for more on getting software implementation right.

If you have found yourself in a situation where the process seems to change, accountabilities are uncertain and deadlines are missing, then perhaps you have a people, process and technology problem. Getting all 3 aligned is absolutely essential to ensuring a change process will work.

And they have to be resolved in that order.

1. People - what are the key issues: who owns the process, who is involved, what are their roles, are they committed to improving it and working together and importantly are they prepared to do the work to fix the problem

2. Process - a process can be defined as starting with a trigger event that creates a chain of actions that results in something being prepared for a customer of that process. Starting at high level and identifying the key big steps is important to see the process from end to end. Then moving into more detail to capture the various layers involved and various exceptions. Focussing on the high frequency (Pareto principle) transactions can have significant benefit to standardising the process. But also remember that it can be the non-standard transactions where service is slipping most or the potential for significant failure in the process may exist.

3. Technology - Now that people are aligned, and the process developed and clarified, technology can be applied to ensure consistently in application of the process and to provide the thin guiding rails to keep the process on track - to make it easier to follow the process than not do so.

Of course there is much more to getting a technology project right - but get the above 3 sorted out and you will be a long way down the path to project success.

Got any experiences or tips you’d like to share? I am keen to hear from you, so please add a comment….

With bad credit, credit cards are usually proven useless. A Mastercard is not meant for credit card consolidation. A credit card should therefore be used sensibly.

In a meeting today I was talking with a client who has a particularly dry sense of humour, and a great philosophical perspective on ensuring successful delivery of projects. We were talking about change management.

His simple and insightful comment was this:

“You have two tools you can use for change management - they are a carrot and a stick. You can dress it up any way you like, call it anything you like, and do as many Powerpoint presentations as you like - but at the end of the day, every change management process is about a combination of a carrot and a stick”.

I’ve got to agree…..

Having discovered your strengths, it is time to think about what your point of difference. In advertising parlance, this is the unique selling proposition - and the difficulty is trying to refine the many things you offer into a simple phrase of about 4 words.

A good place to start is thinking about your friends and colleagues, and the positive things they bring to your business and personal relationship. Once you start doing that, you can get a good sense of how you would like people to talk about you.

Let’s take an example: we have a really great bunch of project managers in our team at the Consulting Division of Ross Human Directions, but each brings a difference nuance and skill to this particularly difficult role. One absolutely prides himself on delivering projects on time and on budget. He has never delivered a project that wasn’t delivered on time and on budget. He also particularly delights in his ability to be able to project manage, team lead, undertake business analysis and cut code - basically every role in a team. We have another that is particularly good at really, really difficult projects - those with complex requirements, tricky stakeholders that can be a bit vague with their requirements. He is particularly good at nailing these requirements down and ensuring nothing is vague prior to build.

We have another that is great at delivering projects - but also particularly strong at mentoring staff. Another is particularly good at bringing parties together, being flexible and meeting all parties needs.

As you can see, all sorts of different skills sets, and what we work on matching our clients and project managers for best result.

Have a think about the people around you in the same way and pretty soon - at least in a business context - you will have a great idea how you would like people to think of you.

I once had a meeting with a guy that was supposedly a leader in the whole ebusiness area.

He opened the meeting by saying, “I don’t subscribe to that pay the vendor for work model…”. He didn’t particularly articulate how we should get remunerated for what we were doing, but we held our breath and kept listening assuming it would come.

The meeting got more interesting when we got to the specification of what he wanted.

“We are gonna deliver something… in Jan’ry.” (Bear in mind this was late November and nothing had been started..)
“Yeah, we are gonna deliver somethin.. in Jan’ry, Feb’ry, sometime, and its gonna be gooood….”

Jan’ry Feb’ry became part of the kmp venacular - whenever there was a crap specification - or no specification - or someone that clearly didn’t have a clue. “Jan’ry Feb’ry, it’s gunna be gooooood…” said it all.