Christoph Jahn

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a pretty well-known tool for managing projects. It is a formalized way to split a complex task into many small (and by that more easily manageable) parts. So instead of “install computers in rack” you have list with e.g. check availability of rack space, request network and SAN connection, [...]

Here are the basics for a good presentation. This post covers things like content, slides, audience, planning etc.

The guys from Manager Tools have set up a special page with free access to some of their premium content. It covers how to deal with the consequences of recent events in the (financial) market. If you are not already a premium subscriber you should probably check this out.

When you look for a great selection of free material around management you can hardly avoid this website. It contains a lot of material from Marshall Goldsmith and you should also check out the blog. The latter contains a lot of posts one could call philosophical and it is one of the best blogs I [...]

The title is a bit dramatic, admittedly, but there are some pitfalls associated with using the BCC feature of email programs. More specifically the combination of BCC and the “Reply to All” functionality can put you in a pretty bad position. And the reason is quite simple:
You put people on the BCC list because you [...]

In a recent edition of their ZapFlash newsletter the guys from ZapThink (I could not reach their site when writing this, therefore no link is put in here) bring up a pretty interesting topic. They discuss the relationship between the role of a business analyst (BA) and that of an enterprise architect (EA). They put [...]

Meeting minutes sometimes seem to have become a “lost art”. I mean, they are not rocket science, rather a bit dumb. Let me therefore share with you the in my opinion essential points.

If you want to follow only one advice, here it is: Write in a way that allows someone who has not attended the [...]

My favourite podcast is Manager Tools, that offers an incredible amount of tips and useful background information on many aspects of management. A friend told me about it some 2 years ago and since then I’m hooked. The really cool thing is that all shows have actionable content. They typically last about 30-40 minutes, [...]

Today I would like to tell you about a very effective way to organize your work. It is the “Getting Things Done” approach from David Allen. Some people argue that due to its simplicity it does not deserve to be called methodology. In my view this is a completely academic argument. On [...]

This is a term from the (software) project management area. It basically means that deliverables are not fix in terms of content, which is the “normal” approach. The latter means that something has been agreed-upon as scope and will be delivered when that has scope has been implemented. Hopefully the planned deadline will be met, [...]