A One-Page Personal Plan is a must-have tool for all successful business leaders and entrepreneurs. It helps you keep focus, amidst daily challenges.
Barend’s Blog
Project Backlog – a single view of all the projects in your business
A Project Backlog is a tool that gives a single view of all projects in the business. It is a prioritized list of tasks that teams need to work on. Learn more about the value of a Project Backlog in this short article.
8 Mistakes to avoid during job interviews
It’s easy to make mistakes during a job interview. However, if you’re aware of these common mistakes, you can ensure you don’t make them! Here are 8 common mistakes to avoid during job interviews.
Strategic Planning Simplified
Having a strategic plan in place is one of the most important building blocks in the foundation of a business. In this article and video I share a simplified framework for strategic planning that you can use to future-proof your business in the new business landscape.
6 Tips for a Successful Job Interview
A job interview is a stressful situation. Having a successful job interview is the common goal. Here are 6 tips for a successful job interview.
6 Tips on How to Adapt to Different Workplace Cultures
Each workplace has a unique culture that you’ll have to adapt to, especially if you’re a contract worker or start a new job. Here are 6 tips to help you adapt to different workplace cultures.
4 Truths about Recruiting for Character and Chemistry
Do the elements of character and chemistry ever feature when you recruit, or when you design a job profile? Read these 4 Truths about recruiting for character and chemistry.
How to reduce the cost of mis-hires
Mis-hires cost a company an astronomical amount of money. Money that could have been put to much better use! How can the unnecessary cost of a mis-hire be reduced?
#bestpractical Setting Targets: Take Aim at your Overdraft
Poor cashflow is the biggest business killer. Cashflow is the oxygen of the business – without it you can’t breathe. Having said this, getting rid of your bank overdraft is possible if you set it as a target, as we’ll see in Kevin and Lucy’s story.
Create better management reports – the #bestpractical way
Management reports are crucial inputs in support of a meeting, in order to achieve a productive outcome. There are many ways to improve your reporting. Here are 3 tips to get you going.
Improve the quality of meetings – the #bestpractical way
As the speed of change increases, the quality of complex decisions become compromised due to dysfunctional meetings. Read on for quick tips for more productive meetings, which will improve the quality of meetings and decisions.
Innovation and Transformation – Fix the pothole forever #bestpractical
The reality is that businesses are under pressure to change. We will have to get much better at managing our innovation and transformation journeys.
Increase Business Profits
Every business can improve its profits. Sometimes, changing only one thing in an organisation can significantly increase profits.
Get Traction in Profit Performance
Business leaders focus on growing profit performance. Yet they are constantly challenged with various moving parts in their business and teams. A common experience is “we are spinning our wheels”. The COVID pandemic adds an additional layer of complexity that will take some time for all to settle into the new normal. It has taken its’ toll on profit performance of many companies.
SED Project Accountability: How to integrate accountability and transparency into the SED project cycle
In developing countries like South Africa, socioeconomic development projects have the potential to significantly improve the quality of people’s lives. In practice, however, the impact is often limited due to inefficiency, inequity, and insufficient accountability. Barend Cronjé, CEO of CoLAB, a leading project implementation consultancy, looks at improving the outcomes through integrating accountability into SED projects.
Identity Circles – Helping your team to realise their full potential
As a leader, having the right team member in the right position is essential not only to the success of a business and every project we manage on behalf of a client but also the growth and confidence of an individual.
Project Offices – The Corporate Rain Forests
A plea for a sustainable approach
Barend Cronje, chief executive officer of CoLAB Project Implementation, likens the current state of project offices within organisations to the deforestation of the earth’s rainforests.
“In the modern environment of project delivery, much has been researched and written about the case for project offices which, for ease of reference, includes terms such as project management offices, project support offices and project delivery capabilities,” he explains.
Why project management and change management must work hand in hand
According to PMI PMBOK 4th edition, a project is “a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result”. Essentially, says Barend Cronje, CEO of CoLAB, this means that a project refers to the introduction of a new or changed capability into a working environment for improved benefit. “This means that project management has to introduce change effectively in order to realise the value intended with the successful delivery of projects.”