PM ADVISORY:

The Project Management Skills of a Mouse!

By Laura B. Moore
AT&T, USA

Picture a place that has millions of people moving around it’s many areas every day; including making every guest feel like a prince or princess, food service, guest facilities, trash management and miscellaneous grounds keeping requirements, all done with seamless precision. If you haven’t guessed, I am talking about Disneyland in Southern California. My family went on our annual Disneyland trip in December, and I started noticing quite a few things that showcase some excellent project management skills.

DISCLAIMER: Although I’m quite the Disney fan, I am in NO way associated with Disney (though my house has enough princess stuff in it that I could easily stock my own Disney princess store!) and this is simply observations and in no way is meant to be an advertisement for Disney!!

I realized when I sat down to write this, that I could theoretically write a small book on how Disney utilizes project management skills. No matter where I went within the park, I saw examples that could be used to highlight the importance of several different project management areas. However, this is supposed to be an article, so I will keep it to a few key points I noticed within the Communications arena!

Some Background:

Walt Disney’s first theme park, Disneyland can be a wonderful example of making the impossible a reality. Disneyland was opened in 1955, despite trouble finding financers and a heat wave on opening day. What started as a nice family park has grown into an empire. And despite marketing, it is not an empire run by a mouse but rather by some of the most creative and socially tuned-in thinkers of our time…

To read entire paper (click here)

About the Author Laura Bollinger-Moore Author Laura Bollinger-Moore, PMP, M.A. Social Psychology, MOM, has an eclectic background that includes not only her work in the Telecom industry in such fields as Project Management, Regulatory, Human Resources, Customer Service and Operations, but also outside of Telecom as a Clinical Psychology Researcher and a Social Worker. Currently, Laura is an analyst in Consumer Competitive Intelligence at AT&T, managing multiple simultaneous research projects and providing foresight into, and analysis on, trends and fads, as well as cutting edge upcoming technology. Laura lives in California with her husband Lorin, and their two amazing daughters Lily Faye and Layla Blue. Laura can be contacted at Laura.b.moore@att.com