Whether or not one agrees with the actions taken by the "Coalition Forces," one has to admire the efficiency with which the military carried out its project management objectives in transporting huge numbers of personnel, tanks, humvees, ammunition and on and on, right down to those critically important plastic water bottles, halfway across the world. On the other side of the coin, the lack of foresight and proper planning for the war's aftermath and the rebuilding of infrastructure is stark in contrast, as shown by the images from Iraq over the past week.

The theme of this issue delves into the challenge which military planners, and project managers in the GILT industry, face everyday in their work: always doing more with less, while meeting ROI objectives and maintaining one's focus on the "big picture." We are very fortunate to have three recognized experts in the fields of Project Management share their insights and advice to help our readers save time and money in this very important area. All three authors emphasize that success is only possible by linking with others, both inside and outside of one's own department/organization.

Doing More With Less

Cathyann Swindlehurst of Cygnet International provides very real and practical advice for Localization Project Managers (LPMs) in Project Management, ROI and Efficiency - Doing More With Less. She shows us how increased attention to project management is the best lever with which to affect project efficiency. She advises LPMs on how to guide their organizations in taking the necessary strategic decisions early in project lifecycles, a "pulling of levers" so to speak, to increase overall project efficiency to meet ROI goals. Thus, even with decreased staffing and no new investment in technology or better infrastructure, LPMs can deliver more - with less.

PM Best Practices

In this week's Premium Content article, The Life, or Lack Thereof, of a Localization Project Manager, Willem Stoeller of WeLocalize outlines five critical success factors for localization project management. He goes on to place these factors in context within the product lifecycle and demonstrates how formal project management training always benefits LPMs.

High-level Hygiene: Aligning Tactics With Strategy

John White of 1-for-Marketing encourages our readers to step back for a minute to look at the "big picture" in Seeing the International Forest for the Trees: Making A Global Effort That Fits the Organization. He provides some very creative and practical ways to ensure that upper management remains engaged in a middle manager's globalization efforts (my favorite are the 200 small bags of Gummi-Bären!). Tuning global efforts to the organization's broader strategic goals, and practicing a sort of high-level hygiene, enables one to choose one's battles more intelligently. As John points out, management that is not working against you, is working for you!

Global Product Certification: Get Involved!

One of the best ways to support LPMs and other middle managers in their quest for upper management buy-in is to provide them with a set of standards against which to compare their products/processes, i.e., a type of Global Product Certification.

Based on feedback from its members, LISA is issuing a call to action to form the Global Products SIG, its ultimate goal being to develop just such a certification process. You can read about the new SIG's proposed mission, goals and next steps in Get Involved! Join the Global Products SIG. If you, or someone in your organization, want to help build this certification process, please contact us immediately at lisa@lisa.org so that your voice is heard from the beginning.