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Letter from the CEO

Welcome to our May newsletter!

In this edition you will be introduced to:

Our Agile project management team
The value this type of project management can bring to organizations as well as projects
A case study where we are aiding a healthcare firm with a rapidly growing technology program.

Following along these themes of agility and cutting-edge technology, I want to focus my article on what I call the “controllables.” Too often when I meet with people, they are consistently complaining about things that have negatively impacted them, the projects they work on or even their organizations. In fact, most individuals “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” all over themselves. What if we shifted that mentality? What if, instead, we focused on all the things in our control:

· Mindset: Do you have a growth mindset that enables you to be agile, flexible and growing? Are you a perpetual learner? Do you believe you can learn new things and are you willing to level set your expectations as you venture into new roles, new hobbies, new projects?

· Perspective: What is your perspective? Do you spend time thinking about all the things you don’t have or the project team you didn’t get on or the house you don’t live in? What if you shifted that to say, “if I wake up every day in a free country, like the USA, and I have access to clean drinking water that 70% of the world does not have…it’s a good day.”

· Attitude: Do you believe that every person and every organization is capable of positive change? If so, work towards that in both your personal life as well as adopting this attitude on your next project assignment or for your next client.

· Resilience: What happens when you fail? Do you allow this to label you and then you view yourself through this negative lens? Or do you recognize that anytime you are trying to grow or improve something, you will have setbacks and possibly even failures? We must consistently remind ourselves that failure is not a noun but a verb…it happens at a point in time but doesn’t need to derail us from trying new things in the future.

So, as we near the midpoint of the year, what is holding you back from being the employee, the manager, the person you want to be?

- Misty Mayes

New Agile Services Offering

Management Solutions is pleased to announce that we now offer agile services to improve client project outcomes. Building on our core philosophy of simplifying complexity, we assist with the fast-changing needs and challenges clients face in a competitive global marketplace. What is Agile? For many, the term 'agile' might conjure images of lemurs or gymnasts.

Project Management Solutions for a Cutting-Edge Biotech Firm

While Ernest Hemingway's maxim, 'when people talk, listen completely' is most applied as advice for writing naturalistic dialogue, we think it has equal merit for management consulting. When our client, a cutting-edge American biotech firm, reached out to us for support on their complex mission to produce both a therapeutic component and a new production facility simultaneously, we embraced the challenge with open ears.

Project Controls Solutions Update

There is a tendency to think of effective leaders as being 'front and center' - so what would it mean to 'lead from the side'? Find out on Tuesday, June 9 at 6:00 am EST (11am BST), as PCS Senior Trainer Paul Darling, PMP, delivers his talk at the PCS Virtual Expo on the topic of "Leading from the Side: Leadership Lessons from the Military."

20 Year Anniversary Recognition

As you hopefully know by now, Management Solutions is celebrating 20 years in business. As we mark this significant milestone, we also recognize that no company achieves a milestone like this - alone. We acknowledge that it takes a village and each month this year, we are highlighting folks that were instrumental in our success and enabled us to be the company we are today.

This month, I want to thank two individuals that although they each had stellar, long-term careers elsewhere, both agreed to “come out of retirement” to help us get established. First, I want to thank Mike Willard. Mike is the former Manager of Human Resources for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). As expected, when starting a new business, the company had little to no support with hiring or employee policies or how to positively impact retention, etc. Through a mutual friend we were introduced to Mike. Although in his retirement he was an avid softball player and an active ‘Grandpa,’ he stepped in as our first Human Resources Manager. In this role, Mike brought clarity and best practices that have enabled us over the years to recruit and retain the top talent. He developed our first employee handbook and even stayed on to fully train his successor.

Secondly, I want to thank Harry Crotzer. Harry was a long time and well-respected Engineer/Project Manager for several companies in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge. Again, through an introduction by a mutual friend, Harry graciously agreed to join our company to support our pursuit and eventual award of our first General Services Agreement (GSA) contract. For any of you that have this contract vehicle, you know the overwhelmingly extensive rigor that is required to submit such a bid. Harry worked diligently to complete our package and we thankfully, we were awarded this contract vehicle in our first submittal. Because of this, we were able to market this contract option to a variety of federal government clients and went on to secure our first of many GSA contracts with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Again, to both men, I say thank you. Although both roles were part time and 2^nd or 3^rd careers for these gentlemen, they trusted our vision, joined our small but mighty team and have had a lasting impact on the positive trajectory of our company.

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If ever there were an unforgettable flower, it’s the forget-me-not. Famous for their delicate blue flowers featuring yellow throats, they’re prolific bloomers that will flower throughout most of May through September. One type, Myosotis scorpiodes, is sometimes called “scorpion grass,” which seems like an unusual name for such a pretty little flower. The name comes from how the plant grows, with emerging clusters of flowers bent in the curl of a scorpion’s tail. Source: Almanac.com