Page 91 - DMGT521_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Notes (b) Play the “If I were” game: Ask yourself “If I were ...” how would I address this challenge?
You could be anyone: a millionaire, Tiger Woods, anyone.
The idea is the person you decide to be has certain identifiable traits. And you have
to use these traits to address the challenge. For instance, if you decide to play the
millionaire, you might want to bring traits such as flamboyance, big thinking and
risk-taking when formulating an idea. If you are Tiger Woods you would focus on
things such as perfection, persistence and execution detail.

5. Employ Enablers: Enablers are activities and actions that assist with, rather than directly
provoke, idea generation. They create a positive atmosphere. Some of the enablers that
can help you get your creative juices flowing are:
(a) Belief in yourself: Believe that you are creative, believe that ideas will come to you;
positive reinforcement helps you perform better.

(b) Creative loafing time: Nap, go for a walk, listen to music, play with your child, take a
break from formal idea-generating. Your mind needs the rest, and will often come
up with connections precisely when it isn’t trying to make them.
(c) Change of environment: Sometimes changing the setting changes your thought process.
Go to a nearby coffee shop instead of the conference room in your office, or hold
your discussion while walking together round a local park.
(d) Shutting out distractions: Keep your thinking space both literally and mentally clutter-
free. Shut off the Blackberry, close the door, divert your phone calls and then think.
(e) Fun and humor: These are essential ingredients, especially in team settings.:

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Caution The project manager should be positively reinforced. It will help him perform
better. He should believe that he is creative.
6. Key Points: The ability to generate new ideas is an essential work skill today. You can
acquire this skill by consciously practicing techniques that force your mind to forge new
connections, break old thought patterns and consider new perspectives.

Along with practicing these techniques, you need to adopt enabling strategies too. These enabling
strategies help in creating a positive atmosphere that boosts creativity.

6.2 Monitoring the Environment

Organizational environment consists of both external and internal factors. Environment must
be scanned so as to determine development and forecasts of factors that will influence
organizational success. Environmental scanning refers to possession and utilization of
information about occasions, patterns, trends, and relationships within an organization’s internal
and external environment. It helps the managers to decide the future path of the organization.
Scanning must identify the threats and opportunities existing in the environment. While strategy
formulation, an organization must take advantage of the opportunities and minimize the threats.
A threat for one organization may be an opportunity for another.
Internal analysis of the environment is the first step of environment scanning. Organizations
should observe the internal organizational environment. This includes employee interaction
with other employees, employee interaction with management, manager interaction with other
managers, and management interaction with shareholders, access to natural resources, brand
awareness, organizational structure, main staff, operational potential, etc.

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