Why a Creative Project Manager is Crucial to Any Business
In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business world, creativity is becoming an increasingly important factor for success. As a result, the role of the project manager has evolved to include a focus on creativity and innovation. A creative project manager is essential for any project, regardless of its size or scope. Here are five reasons why:
Encourages Innovation
A creative project manager is responsible for encouraging innovation within the team. They create an environment that fosters creativity and encourages team members to think outside the box. This can lead to new ideas and solutions that would have never been considered without the guidance of a creative project manager.
Ensures Effective Communication
Effective communication is crucial for the success of any project. A creative project manager understands this and ensures that communication channels are open and transparent. They facilitate communication between team members, stakeholders, and clients to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals.
Manages Resources Effectively
A creative project manager is responsible for managing resources effectively. They understand that creativity requires time, money, and other resources. They allocate resources appropriately to ensure that the team has what they need to be creative and innovative while keeping within the client’s budget.
Encourages Collaboration
Collaboration is essential for creativity and innovation. A creative project manager understands this and encourages collaboration between team members. They create opportunities for team members to work together, share ideas, and build on each other’s strengths.
Manages Risk
Every project comes with risks. A creative project manager is responsible for managing these risks effectively. They understand that creativity requires taking risks, but they also know how to mitigate those risks to ensure that the project stays on track.
In conclusion, a creative project manager is essential for any project that requires creativity and innovation. They encourage innovation, ensure effective communication, manage resources effectively, promote collaboration, and manage risk. Without a creative project manager, a project may lack direction, creativity, and innovation, leading to failure.
Do you have a project that needs a creative project manager? If so, contact me for a free chat to see how we can keep your projects on track! Email me at info@itaskvirtually.com
The Virtual Assistant Industry and Large Businesses – A Great Mix.
Is the virtual assistant industry just for small business? Nope! The virtual assistant industry is not just for small businesses. The virtual assistant industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. In fact, according to an article in Entrepreneur magazine, it’s grown in 2001 to over 50,000 in 2015.
Large companies are recognizing the value of the virtual assistant industry.
What do these numbers show us? It shows us that people are not “freelancing” anymore. They are making a verifiable full-time business out of it.
With the internet that has shrunk the world with a tap of the keyboard and the enter button, the world and all businesses are at our fingertips, literally. Are the days of the daily commute grind, tall office buildings, smog-filled high rises, buses, trains and pedestrians coming to an end? If statistics are any indication of what’s to come, then maybe so.
Companies of all Sizes are Looking to the Virtual Assistant Industry.
A lot of business owners from small, one-owner type companies to the large 1,000+ employees are looking to expand their staff to the virtual assistant industry. Just a few weeks ago, I spoke to a business owner of a large company outside of New York. Their reasoning behind wanting to hire a virtual assistant is that their own office manager and administrative assistant were overloaded with work and instead of bringing another employee on board they wanted to go virtual. So, in this case, for them, it was more financially beneficial to hire someone in the virtual assistant industry.
The reasons large companies may opt to hire someone in the virtual assistant industry are many. One reason could be due to an employee who is on a leave of absence. Another reason may be for a one-time project that needs to get done. One-off projects don’t warrant hiring a full-time employee. This is not to say that companies won’t hire a long-term virtual assistant, definitely, a lot of businesses contract other more long-term projects as well.
“Most people in the virtual assistant industry have specific niches and some have more than one skill they can offer.”
Let’s say a company needs to look off-site for someone who can do some research for images for their marketing materials, website or blogs, looking for an Online Business Manager that specializes or offers research would be an excellent choice. Same thing for wanting a website, the company should search within the virtual assistant industry for someone who offers WordPress websites. Project management is another area where a specific virtual assistant can be immensely helpful. The Project Manager Virtual Assistant can usually get the project started, get the team involved and give proper direction as to the scope and deliverables of a specific project while never having to step foot in the office which may be located in another state.
You may also want to read: https://itaskvirtually.com/10-smart-ways-a-business-owner-can-outsource-to-a-virtual-assistant
If you’re a large company and need some assistance in any area of work, looking to the virtual assistant industry is not a bad idea. Take a look here and see if I can help. We’re always available for a free 30-minute consultation on any upcoming business needs your company may have.
Happy New Year!
Ugh! The thought of making another list of New Year’s Resolutions can make some of us cringe. So, I thought I’d make just one New Year’s resolution this year.
Did you know only 44% of Americans made resolutions in 2015? And of that probably 1 in 3 abandon them by the end of January? So I decided to ditch the list and come up with something different and at the same time increase my profit.
Just yesterday I was going over the past year and making a plan as to how I was going to make this year better professionally. I’m sure all of you were inundated with everything from emails to Twitter and Facebook posts on New Year’s Resolutions, from how to keep them, to the lists to make, apps that remind you about them and what to do when you fail at keeping them, etc. It was this that prompted me to want to write this quick New Year’s post.
Making a list of resolutions can lead to a lot of negativity because when we don’t hold up our end of the bargain and don’t keep to a promise we made to ourselves, guilt sets in, and we get down on ourselves. Who wants that guilt trip immediately into the New Year? Not I and I know you don’t either. Entrepreneurially speaking, when you’re in business for yourself, failure is not an option and neither should be “good enough”.
So here’s what I propose we do instead. This one thing is all you have to do and I know you will have a great, guilt-free year. Day by day you’ll notice a difference in your outlook and your self-confidence. I wouldn’t call it a New Year resolution; I’d call it a shift in perspective because this doesn’t have to anything to do with a list. It has everything to do with our daily perspective.
Here it is; go the extra mile. We’ve all heard it before, but do we actually do it? Every day we are committed to doing things: projects, reports, schedules, meetings, emails, etc. Sometimes we are so pressed for time that “good enough” becomes our best. Don’t let that happen this year!
As Zig Ziglar once said, “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.”
How will this affect your profit? Simple, when you go the extra mile for your clients, they notice. In return, you will gain not only an increase in your self-confidence but also an increase in the loyalty of your customers. People want to do business with people they like, know and trust.
So if you have a project you have to oversee, is it running well? Or is it just good enough to get by? Take that extra few minutes, clear your head, focus and think about what’s in front of you. Ask yourself, “What can I do that takes this from “good enough” to great? If you apply this one thing with each task, you’ll feel great, you won’t feel that you did just enough to get by.
Being professional means going that extra mile, doing your best. So this year, rise above the crowd that makes lists of resolutions and keep it simple. Make just one New Year’s resolution – go the extra mile.
Stats from an article written by Mona Chalabi – a lead writer for FiveThirtyEight. (http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/only-44-percent-of-americans-made-new-years-resolutions/)
