Tag Archives: projects

February 25, 2013, 11:00 am

Take One Small Step

Is there something you know you want to start doing, but you just can’t seem to begin? Whether it’s beginning a new piece of writing or establishing a daily workout routine, sometimes all the rational plans, checklists, and arguments in the world won’t be enough to get you going.

Maybe you know you need to go to the gym, but you never seem to make the time for it. Or you tell yourself that you will start writing that article when you have three hours free, or when your desk is organized, or after you’ve read just one more source. You fully intend to make a big effort, but then you don’t follow through.

Behavioral psychologist Robert Maurer suggests that when we find ourselves stuck, sometimes taking a teeny, tiny step is the best strategy. In One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way, he applies the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement initially developed in the …

March 3, 2011, 11:00 am

12 Basic Principles of Project Management

By Brian Croxall

Last week I attended a two-day training session on the fundamentals of project management. I had been looking forward to the opportunity as a chance to help me be more effective at my current alt-ac job, where I work in a team environment on several very cool projects (a THATCamp, a digital scholarship commons, some library games). Working in a team has been a relatively new experience for me. After all, graduate school—at least in the humanities—doesn’t often teach that skill set. For this reason, I thought it could be useful to share some of my training, in the same way that I did when I learned how to speak to the news media at the most recent MLA. Here, then, are twelve basic things that I learned about working with and leading a team: