ed@thebridger.co.uk

Ed is an enthusiast for technology as an enabler of progress in business and in life, but not just for the sake of technology. It seems an odd statement, but that seems to be a rare combination juts now. Blogging on this site is often about business subjects, but most definitely no to the exclusion of all else.

Amateur Excel wizards-the simplicity, scale and incredible consequences of their errors are gobsmacking!

Nobody imagines they can copy a bit of code off the internet and write the next messenger app, or heart monitor, but frequently people, whose position and professional standing suggests they ought to know more, make a hasty edit to an excel sheet in between meetings with extraordinary consequences. * An accountant omitted a single … Read more

Persuasion for project managers

Image via Wikipedia  This blog is intended to give a simple no nonsense overview of persuasion based on a single universally accepted theory that can be adapted to any set of circumstances, but I have presented it in a way that is focused more closely on the needs of the project manager. Six laws of … Read more

Communication for project managers-teaching skills

Image via Wikipedia Part two -Get your point accross Read Part one Basic teaching skills I use the word teaching because there is really no difference between teaching/learning and communication of any other sort.  Your role is to help people understand the concepts you are communicating and to see the world in the same way … Read more

API explained for laymen

An API is short for Application Programming Interface. it is very similar to  A user interface except that it is specifically for other applications to interact with the systems. Examples of application interfaces are SOA (REST and SOAP) interfaces that are widely used currently to connect to other systems via the internet.  Older forms of … Read more

Problem solving relies on what came before and what will come after

Sometimes it is not just what you do but the order in which you do it that matters. You absolutely must develop an ability to see several layers of consequences ahead of the solution as well as several layers of cause and effect behind the problem and then juggle them at once in the way … Read more

Requirements gathering the first big mistake.

Many seasoned project managers will start off a project by sending out his business analysis team to carry out requirement gathering.
Sometimes this is the right thing to do, in particular you should do this when you have a successful proven process that you want to automate using IT. Requirement gathering then educates the IT people responsible for system design (the features) on what they need to achieve.

This is a different scenario

Communication skills for project managers – Presentation skills

 Read Part one    Read Part two Presentation skills – Part three As part of a series on soft skills for project managers, last week I wrote a section on communication skills. It may seem that it is a little odd not to include presentation skills as a communication skill and I will certainly not argue … Read more

Delivering benefits is no longer about getting a system signed off

(Who’s minding the shop?) This blog is an attempt to stimulate discussion and understanding of the balance of responsibility for delivering business benefits from IT investment. It is now fairly widely recognised that this is not as simple as choosing a system, getting it working and reaping the benefits, but as yet we can call … Read more

Lernaean Hydra, your time is up.

Simple, but powerful tools to truly build a relationship with the customer, some obvious gaping opportunities to cut costs and some basic principals of architecture that even the bin man could understand in one lesson and yet are ignored by 99 percent of technical architects. If you are serious about competing in business, read this. … Read more