Project Management

Stop changing the way people work!

It has occurred to me more and more recently that trying to get people to change the way they work is a pointless exercise and pretty hard work really especially if what you are suggesting challenges what they stand for and the very role they have become experts in over a number of years. InRead… Read more »

Service leaders in the community, nation, and world help answer the question “Why do you serve?”

Original post at http://www.andrewdwelch.com/2010/03/service-leaders-in-community-nation-and.html. Six weeks ago I started a regular Monday segment at www.andrewdwelch.com that features personal thoughts and reflections on service, written (usually) by those who serve. I get a number of questions about the segment, so decided that I would discuss the idea a bit and recap the stories told since weRead… Read more »

Tip 1 for Winning Government Contracts: Understand the full gamut of federal market opportunities and where your business could benefit from these. PART 2.

This is the third blog in the series of 10 tips for winning government contracts and growing in the federal market. You can see the previous post here. Point 2. Because of the market size and a smorgasbord of opportunities, you have to make an extra effort to keep yourself focused, or you will wasteRead… Read more »

Member of the Week – Savi Swick

I had the opportunity to speak with Savi Swick who works for the Health and Human Services Agency for the County of San Diego. She is deeply engaged in many county initiatives to better serve the community. I appreciate the time she took to discuss her role and ambitions. Thank you Savi! 1. What isRead… Read more »

Calling all healthy chefs… Anyone competing in Feds Get Fit?

Welcome colleagues, friends, and fellow Feds to my very FIRST blog post. Please bear with me as I tell my story… On my thirtieth birthday, I made a “to-do” list for the year, a bucket list of sorts, of activities and crazy things I have always wanted to do. There is no rhyme or reasonRead… Read more »

Career Disruption Stress or Surviving “The Jack Benny Dilemma”: When It Really Is “Your Money or Your Life”

This week I was the keynote speaker at the Forty Plus annual dinner (www.40plus-dc.org/), a volunteer-based, Washington, DC, career transition/support group. In general, members are white collar types, e.g., federal employees, managers, IT professionals, academics, even some entrepreneurs, who are “in between jobs.” With only 20 minutes of speaking time, my subject was definitely apt,Read… Read more »

A new kind of Council Web Strategy

You should know that the local authority web manager has a pretty hard job and is often stuck in between a rock and a hard place. Often with no budget, no resources, but yet still required to manage a service delivery platform, communications platform and a citizen engagement channel. How do i know this, wellRead… Read more »

On My Transformation from Social Worker to Public Servant

I read somewhere that the (median) average age of entry into the Canadian federal public service is 34 years old. That fits me reasonably well; this is my second career. For my first 10 years of “professional” employment I was a social worker, and my speciality was child and adolescent mental health. It was theRead… Read more »