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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 9 while providing results-driven commu- nications and public relations services to small businesses and nonprofits in Maine and northern New England. Kittery Storage Solutions opened at 91 Route 236 in Kittery. Geiger makes another acquisition Geiger, a Lewiston-based distribu- tor of promotional products, acquired Freeport-based Winter People Image Marketing, the latest of several acqui- sitions in recent months. Winter People, which also has a Falmouth location, will operate as a division of Geiger. Clay Bouton, senior VP of sales, will remain as a key contact with the company. In January, Geiger said its United Kingdom-based dis- tributor, GeigerBTC, had acquired London-based firm EMC Advertising Gifts. Also in January, it acquired Bloomington, Ill.-based distributor CM Promotions to broaden its client base in the Midwest. In November, the company acquired Bank Express/ Promo Warehouse, a web-based dis- tributor with a national reach that is now operating as a division of Geiger. And in March 2018, Geiger bought BTC Group, a U.K.-based promo- tional products distributorship that was rebranded as Geiger BTC Group. With reported 2017 North American promotional products revenue of $185.5 million, Geiger ranked 10th on Counselor magazine's 2018 list of the Q: I hear a lot about project management, but I don't understand the value. It seems complicated and cumbersome, when people could just go ahead and do the job. What's the big deal? ACE advises: Most of what we do doesn't require project management, although some of the skills and practices can save time and improve everyday work. On the job we usually are repeating regular actions that produce something or provide services. While there may be slight differences each time, the general nature of the work can be learned and improved. As we become familiar with our job, we trim out variances, making it more efficient and productive. That is normal functional work. It rewards devotion to established processes and behavior, and any changes disrupt it. Then management changes things to meet new needs or update a process. If the change is significant, imple- menting it is a project. In fact, intro- ducing project management into a functional organization is itself a project. Projects are unfamiliar, often risky group actions that require the participants to learn or invent prac- tices that differ markedly from what they're used to. Managing such an effort calls for a different kind of thinking. The proj- ect manager must be alert to factors and events that demand fresh ideas, especially when they are deceptively similar to what the staff people are used to. We all tend to default to familiar ways of doing things — the famous comfort zone. That can seriously damage an effort at innovation. We may not even be aware we're doing so until it becomes obvious our new process is off the track. The tools and practices are designed to keep that from happening. A S K AC E A n s w e r e d b y J i m M i l l i k e n The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a non-profit association of independent consultants who value "Success through Collaboration." The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com. Jim Milliken, a consultant, can be reached at Jim@Millikenproject.com As we become familiar with our job, we trim out variances, making it more efficient and productive. C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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