Project management ideas sometimes come from unexpected places. Take Santa Claus – did you know the jolly fat guy was secretly a PM ninja? It’s true. If you’re looking for some project inspiration this holiday season, check out these tips from Santa himself.
1 – Learn how to focus your energies. Santa must have developed tremendous discipline over the years to be able to deliver all those presents in just one night. Multi-tasking is a great skill to have, but sometimes you just need to push everything aside and zero in on your top priority.
2 – Value your creativity. What would the holidays be if Claus hadn’t seen the headlight potential in Rudolph’s nose? Encourage innovation among your team, and use frequent brainstorming sessions to tackle the challenges that block your path.
3 – Keep your stakeholders engaged. Santa could use a cloaking device to keep his toy delivery methodology a secret, but instead he keeps good boys and girls everywhere on their toes by involving them in the big night’s festivities. You don’t think NORAD just makes up the information on their official Santa Tracker website, do you?
4 – Avoid panic mode. It’s a sure bet that the elves aren’t frantically putting millions of toys together at the last minute. No, it’s more likely that they start early in the year and carefully track their pace against a can’t-miss deadline.
5 – Make a list and check it twice. The importance of lists in the PM environment can’t be understated, so take a page out of Santa’s play book and craft yourself some master checklists for all those important project details. And not only should you regularly review your lists to be sure they’re current and comprehensive, it’s also a good idea to have others on your team look them over as well.
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