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- Development Path
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PMP Certification - An Important Career Move
Project management is experiencing unprecedented international growth and recognition as a profession and is at the forefront of any organisational growth agenda.
To be part of this exciting future it is essential that you gain formal recognition for your project management skills. Not only will it open doors for you it will also add to your body of knowledge as you learn from best practice and the experience of others.
PMPartners are now running the public PMP Training courses, as well as corporate.
Our PMP Preparation workshop provides the necessary exam and certification preparation required in order to obtain the globally recognised PMP® Certification from the PMI® (Project Management Institute). Our trainers explain the complex PMBoK concepts in an easy to understand manner using real project examples and cases.
The course can be run in both residential and non-residential formats. We select easily accessible locations to run the training.
Book your place at the next PMP Exam Prep workshop - and get a special discount!
Project Management Knowledge Just A Click Away
In the present economic environment it is sometimes hard to find a balance between a necessity to keeping edge of skills and finding enough time for training.
In such case our self-paced online learning program can help. E-Learning tools are designed to reinforce the fundamental principles of project management and help prepare you for the PMP examination
Project Management Development Path
Industry offers individuals and organisations a variety of trainings, certifications and qualifications in project management. A number of them are relatively easy to obtain—as evidenced by the many project pros who list qualification in their CVs. But that does not necessarily make one the professional Project Manager.
You pay your money and you take a multiple-choice test; if you pass, you’re in.
Based on 14 year experience in the Project Management industry our specialists suggested a variant of the Development Path for project / programme / portfolio people.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Agile Project ManagementAgile Through the Waterfall
Many organisations have adopted Agile practices into their development methodologies and they have proved to be successful for the organisation as a whole. There also are many organisations that have ...
Read full story
CMMI and Agile: Opposites Attract
The myths surrounding the compatibility of CMMI and Agile have recently been debunked by SEI. Learn how these seemingly opposing strategies can be paired to foster dramatic improvements in business pe...
Read full story
What Agile Methods Mean to Your Process, People and Products
Studies show that most successful projects were those that followed agile principles, proving that model-driven methods are not always the best when it came to managing changes, fast-paced project imp...
Read full story
Which Life Cycle Is Best for Your Project?
When choosing a development life cycle, don't just trust your feelings. Decide based on factors that really matter. Which life cycle will work best for your project? This is an important strategic que...
Read full story
Can We Combine Agile and Waterfall Development Strategies?
While there are likely as many unique Project Management approaches as there are Project Managers, there are two well-know production cycle methodologies that have been the topic of much discussion in...
Read full story
The Blending of Traditional and Agile Project Management
Traditional project management involves very disciplined and deliberate planning and control methods. With this approach, distinct project life cycle phases are easily recognisable. Tasks are complete...
Read full story
Best PracticeAvoiding Project Management Pitfalls
Even strong, organised and experienced planners have found themselves managing a project that ends up in chaos, and results in missed deadlines and budget overruns. This article includes common pitfal...
Read full story
Project Status Reports Everyone Can Understand
Letting people know how a project is coming along is obviously a key responsibility of any project manager. With so many methodologies to choose from these days, it becomes hard to determine which key...
Read full story
Ten Tips for Running Successful Projects
Why do so many projects fail? Researchers regularly conduct studies to find out the leading causes of project failure. Some of the studies are in the public domain. You can look up studies by such gro...
Read full story
Top Tips for Project Implementation
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." This quote from Henry Ford was used by a proud dad at a recent wedding I attended. It was a well chosen pie...
Read full story
Writing an Unbeatable Business Case
A project brief describes what needs to be done. The project plan explains how you are going to do it. The business case gives the reasons why. In PRINCE2 terminology, the business case is the "driver...
Read full story
Execute...Or Be Executed: Avoiding the Project Management Guillotine
Any project manager who has been around the block a few times has experienced a visit to the project management guillotine. Perhaps it was with a sponsor, management, or a customer. The project either...
Read full story
The 3 P's of PPProject Management
This is an article about Presentation, Planning and Processing; the three cornerstones of project management. Anyone who has ever tried to organise something important seems to either love it or loath...
Read full story
How to Report Status on a Project
Your boss has asked you to take the lead on a project in your company. Maybe you are a project manager, or maybe you are not. One thing is certain. Very few people know how to report status on a proje...
Read full story
How to Deliver Project Status
Status is project management communication, and any channel of communication available to you is a possible delivery method for status. There are two basic kinds of delivery method: presentation and v...
Read full story
21 Project Management Success Tips
Managing software projects is difficult under the best circumstances. The project manager must balance competing stakeholder interests against the constraints of limited resources and time, ever-chang...
Read full story
Case StudiesA Tale of Two Projects
A business tale of what it takes to turn around troubled projects. The year is 2005 and times are good. The business environment is vibrant and the economy is strong. Large businesses are committing l...
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How Gantt Charts Can Help Avoid Disaster
A short case study about the importance of using appropriate tools, such as Gantt charts, when managing time sensitive projects. Having run 15 months late on completion of a construction project, a bu...
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NASA Project Management Challenge 2008
One of the first major uses of project management as we know it today was to manage the United States space programme. It started with the inauguration speech in 1961 of John F. Kennedy who said, "I b...
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Change ManagementStrategies for Managing Change: The Project Manager
The title of project manager (PM) is used to mean different things in different companies. Fortunately there is a standards body called the Project Management Institute which provides excellent guidan...
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Understanding Change in a Quality Culture
In any improvement process, managing the influence of change and the anti-change culture that will continually try to raise its head will be one of the most ardent tasks. Learn to deal with this as ef...
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Communications ManagementThe Importance of Communication in Project Management
"Since I didn't hear otherwise, I ASSUMED all was going well." The Importance of Communication in Project Management. Second on Rick Klemm's list of things most commonly overheard on a failing softwar...
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Project Communications: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Informed
Good communication is vital to the success of your project. This article explores the methods used by successful project managers to tailor their communications to suit their audiences. It offers advi...
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Effective Project Communications
As a Project Manager, communication will occur in many forms, with many individuals, including project stakeholders, your internal team, management within your organisation, vendors, and more. Communi...
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Project Management of a Global Team
The world is getting smaller. Well, it isn't physically getting smaller but that is one way of saying that global communications have become so fast paced that the world is really one community in a l...
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Project Management Starts with a Capital "C"
Communication, Communication, Communication! In our world of project management today, it has become increasingly more important to turn our efforts toward more effective means of communication, espec...
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Cost Management5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for new projects, particularly during initial client meetings when it can be tempting to make promises that will be challenging to carry out? If s...
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Make or Break: Why Accurate Cost Estimation Is Key
The accuracy of your cost estimation process can make or break project success. Learn the strategies that will help you gain control of this key area and ensure future project profitability! One of th...
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3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining
When you have finished planning your project, and you have all the scheduled dates, hours, and costs (and charges if applicable) agreed, why is it a good idea to store those values? We explore the rea...
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Earned ValueThe Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
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IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
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Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
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Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
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Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
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Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
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Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
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The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
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PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
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9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
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The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
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Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
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Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
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Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
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The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
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Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
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Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
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Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
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The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
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How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
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How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
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8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
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Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
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OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
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CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
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Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
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Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
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PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
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PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
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Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
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Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
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Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
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In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
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PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
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PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
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PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
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PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
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Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
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Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
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Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
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The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
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The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
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Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
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Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
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Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
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Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
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Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
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Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
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The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
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Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
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Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
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Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
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Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
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Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
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Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
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10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
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Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
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The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
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10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
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Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
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The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
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Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
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Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
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The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
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SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
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Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
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Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
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Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
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Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
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SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
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SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
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Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
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Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
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Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
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10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
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Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
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Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
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Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
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Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
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Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
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Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
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Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Agile Through the Waterfall
Many organisations have adopted Agile practices into their development methodologies and they have proved to be successful for the organisation as a whole. There also are many organisations that have ...
Read full story
CMMI and Agile: Opposites Attract
The myths surrounding the compatibility of CMMI and Agile have recently been debunked by SEI. Learn how these seemingly opposing strategies can be paired to foster dramatic improvements in business pe...
Read full story
What Agile Methods Mean to Your Process, People and Products
Studies show that most successful projects were those that followed agile principles, proving that model-driven methods are not always the best when it came to managing changes, fast-paced project imp...
Read full story
Which Life Cycle Is Best for Your Project?
When choosing a development life cycle, don't just trust your feelings. Decide based on factors that really matter. Which life cycle will work best for your project? This is an important strategic que...
Read full story
Can We Combine Agile and Waterfall Development Strategies?
While there are likely as many unique Project Management approaches as there are Project Managers, there are two well-know production cycle methodologies that have been the topic of much discussion in...
Read full story
The Blending of Traditional and Agile Project Management
Traditional project management involves very disciplined and deliberate planning and control methods. With this approach, distinct project life cycle phases are easily recognisable. Tasks are complete...
Read full story
Best PracticeAvoiding Project Management Pitfalls
Even strong, organised and experienced planners have found themselves managing a project that ends up in chaos, and results in missed deadlines and budget overruns. This article includes common pitfal...
Read full story
Project Status Reports Everyone Can Understand
Letting people know how a project is coming along is obviously a key responsibility of any project manager. With so many methodologies to choose from these days, it becomes hard to determine which key...
Read full story
Ten Tips for Running Successful Projects
Why do so many projects fail? Researchers regularly conduct studies to find out the leading causes of project failure. Some of the studies are in the public domain. You can look up studies by such gro...
Read full story
Top Tips for Project Implementation
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." This quote from Henry Ford was used by a proud dad at a recent wedding I attended. It was a well chosen pie...
Read full story
Writing an Unbeatable Business Case
A project brief describes what needs to be done. The project plan explains how you are going to do it. The business case gives the reasons why. In PRINCE2 terminology, the business case is the "driver...
Read full story
Execute...Or Be Executed: Avoiding the Project Management Guillotine
Any project manager who has been around the block a few times has experienced a visit to the project management guillotine. Perhaps it was with a sponsor, management, or a customer. The project either...
Read full story
The 3 P's of PPProject Management
This is an article about Presentation, Planning and Processing; the three cornerstones of project management. Anyone who has ever tried to organise something important seems to either love it or loath...
Read full story
How to Report Status on a Project
Your boss has asked you to take the lead on a project in your company. Maybe you are a project manager, or maybe you are not. One thing is certain. Very few people know how to report status on a proje...
Read full story
How to Deliver Project Status
Status is project management communication, and any channel of communication available to you is a possible delivery method for status. There are two basic kinds of delivery method: presentation and v...
Read full story
21 Project Management Success Tips
Managing software projects is difficult under the best circumstances. The project manager must balance competing stakeholder interests against the constraints of limited resources and time, ever-chang...
Read full story
Case StudiesA Tale of Two Projects
A business tale of what it takes to turn around troubled projects. The year is 2005 and times are good. The business environment is vibrant and the economy is strong. Large businesses are committing l...
Read full story
How Gantt Charts Can Help Avoid Disaster
A short case study about the importance of using appropriate tools, such as Gantt charts, when managing time sensitive projects. Having run 15 months late on completion of a construction project, a bu...
Read full story
NASA Project Management Challenge 2008
One of the first major uses of project management as we know it today was to manage the United States space programme. It started with the inauguration speech in 1961 of John F. Kennedy who said, "I b...
Read full story
Change ManagementStrategies for Managing Change: The Project Manager
The title of project manager (PM) is used to mean different things in different companies. Fortunately there is a standards body called the Project Management Institute which provides excellent guidan...
Read full story
Understanding Change in a Quality Culture
In any improvement process, managing the influence of change and the anti-change culture that will continually try to raise its head will be one of the most ardent tasks. Learn to deal with this as ef...
Read full story
Communications ManagementThe Importance of Communication in Project Management
"Since I didn't hear otherwise, I ASSUMED all was going well." The Importance of Communication in Project Management. Second on Rick Klemm's list of things most commonly overheard on a failing softwar...
Read full story
Project Communications: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Informed
Good communication is vital to the success of your project. This article explores the methods used by successful project managers to tailor their communications to suit their audiences. It offers advi...
Read full story
Effective Project Communications
As a Project Manager, communication will occur in many forms, with many individuals, including project stakeholders, your internal team, management within your organisation, vendors, and more. Communi...
Read full story
Project Management of a Global Team
The world is getting smaller. Well, it isn't physically getting smaller but that is one way of saying that global communications have become so fast paced that the world is really one community in a l...
Read full story
Project Management Starts with a Capital "C"
Communication, Communication, Communication! In our world of project management today, it has become increasingly more important to turn our efforts toward more effective means of communication, espec...
Read full story
Cost Management5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for new projects, particularly during initial client meetings when it can be tempting to make promises that will be challenging to carry out? If s...
Read full story
Make or Break: Why Accurate Cost Estimation Is Key
The accuracy of your cost estimation process can make or break project success. Learn the strategies that will help you gain control of this key area and ensure future project profitability! One of th...
Read full story
3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining
When you have finished planning your project, and you have all the scheduled dates, hours, and costs (and charges if applicable) agreed, why is it a good idea to store those values? We explore the rea...
Read full story
Earned ValueThe Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
Read full story
IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
Read full story
Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
Read full story
Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
Read full story
Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
Read full story
Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
Read full story
Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
Read full story
The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
Read full story
PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
Read full story
9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
Read full story
The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
Read full story
Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
Read full story
Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
Read full story
Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
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Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
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Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
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The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
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How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
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How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
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8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
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Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
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OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
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CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
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Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
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Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
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PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
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PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
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Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
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Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
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Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
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In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
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PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
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PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
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PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
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PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
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Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
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Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
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Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
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The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
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The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
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Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
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Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
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Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
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Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
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Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
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Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
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The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
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Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
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Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
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Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
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Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
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Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
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Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
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10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
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Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
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The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
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10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
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Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
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The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
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Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
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Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
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The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
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SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
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Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
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Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
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Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
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Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
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SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
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SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
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Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
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Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
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Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
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10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
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Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
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Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
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Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
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Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
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Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
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Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
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Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
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Avoiding Project Management Pitfalls
Even strong, organised and experienced planners have found themselves managing a project that ends up in chaos, and results in missed deadlines and budget overruns. This article includes common pitfal...
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Project Status Reports Everyone Can Understand
Letting people know how a project is coming along is obviously a key responsibility of any project manager. With so many methodologies to choose from these days, it becomes hard to determine which key...
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Ten Tips for Running Successful Projects
Why do so many projects fail? Researchers regularly conduct studies to find out the leading causes of project failure. Some of the studies are in the public domain. You can look up studies by such gro...
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Top Tips for Project Implementation
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." This quote from Henry Ford was used by a proud dad at a recent wedding I attended. It was a well chosen pie...
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Writing an Unbeatable Business Case
A project brief describes what needs to be done. The project plan explains how you are going to do it. The business case gives the reasons why. In PRINCE2 terminology, the business case is the "driver...
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Execute...Or Be Executed: Avoiding the Project Management Guillotine
Any project manager who has been around the block a few times has experienced a visit to the project management guillotine. Perhaps it was with a sponsor, management, or a customer. The project either...
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The 3 P's of PPProject Management
This is an article about Presentation, Planning and Processing; the three cornerstones of project management. Anyone who has ever tried to organise something important seems to either love it or loath...
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How to Report Status on a Project
Your boss has asked you to take the lead on a project in your company. Maybe you are a project manager, or maybe you are not. One thing is certain. Very few people know how to report status on a proje...
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How to Deliver Project Status
Status is project management communication, and any channel of communication available to you is a possible delivery method for status. There are two basic kinds of delivery method: presentation and v...
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21 Project Management Success Tips
Managing software projects is difficult under the best circumstances. The project manager must balance competing stakeholder interests against the constraints of limited resources and time, ever-chang...
Read full story
Case StudiesA Tale of Two Projects
A business tale of what it takes to turn around troubled projects. The year is 2005 and times are good. The business environment is vibrant and the economy is strong. Large businesses are committing l...
Read full story
How Gantt Charts Can Help Avoid Disaster
A short case study about the importance of using appropriate tools, such as Gantt charts, when managing time sensitive projects. Having run 15 months late on completion of a construction project, a bu...
Read full story
NASA Project Management Challenge 2008
One of the first major uses of project management as we know it today was to manage the United States space programme. It started with the inauguration speech in 1961 of John F. Kennedy who said, "I b...
Read full story
Change ManagementStrategies for Managing Change: The Project Manager
The title of project manager (PM) is used to mean different things in different companies. Fortunately there is a standards body called the Project Management Institute which provides excellent guidan...
Read full story
Understanding Change in a Quality Culture
In any improvement process, managing the influence of change and the anti-change culture that will continually try to raise its head will be one of the most ardent tasks. Learn to deal with this as ef...
Read full story
Communications ManagementThe Importance of Communication in Project Management
"Since I didn't hear otherwise, I ASSUMED all was going well." The Importance of Communication in Project Management. Second on Rick Klemm's list of things most commonly overheard on a failing softwar...
Read full story
Project Communications: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Informed
Good communication is vital to the success of your project. This article explores the methods used by successful project managers to tailor their communications to suit their audiences. It offers advi...
Read full story
Effective Project Communications
As a Project Manager, communication will occur in many forms, with many individuals, including project stakeholders, your internal team, management within your organisation, vendors, and more. Communi...
Read full story
Project Management of a Global Team
The world is getting smaller. Well, it isn't physically getting smaller but that is one way of saying that global communications have become so fast paced that the world is really one community in a l...
Read full story
Project Management Starts with a Capital "C"
Communication, Communication, Communication! In our world of project management today, it has become increasingly more important to turn our efforts toward more effective means of communication, espec...
Read full story
Cost Management5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for new projects, particularly during initial client meetings when it can be tempting to make promises that will be challenging to carry out? If s...
Read full story
Make or Break: Why Accurate Cost Estimation Is Key
The accuracy of your cost estimation process can make or break project success. Learn the strategies that will help you gain control of this key area and ensure future project profitability! One of th...
Read full story
3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining
When you have finished planning your project, and you have all the scheduled dates, hours, and costs (and charges if applicable) agreed, why is it a good idea to store those values? We explore the rea...
Read full story
Earned ValueThe Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
Read full story
IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
Read full story
Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
Read full story
Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
Read full story
Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
Read full story
Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
Read full story
Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
Read full story
The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
Read full story
PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
Read full story
9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
Read full story
The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
Read full story
Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
Read full story
Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
Read full story
Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
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Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
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Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
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Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
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10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
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Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
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The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
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10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
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Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
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The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
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Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
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Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
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The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
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SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
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Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
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Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
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Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
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Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
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SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
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SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
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Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
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Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
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Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
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10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
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Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
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Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
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Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
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Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
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Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
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Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
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Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
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A Tale of Two Projects
A business tale of what it takes to turn around troubled projects. The year is 2005 and times are good. The business environment is vibrant and the economy is strong. Large businesses are committing l...
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How Gantt Charts Can Help Avoid Disaster
A short case study about the importance of using appropriate tools, such as Gantt charts, when managing time sensitive projects. Having run 15 months late on completion of a construction project, a bu...
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NASA Project Management Challenge 2008
One of the first major uses of project management as we know it today was to manage the United States space programme. It started with the inauguration speech in 1961 of John F. Kennedy who said, "I b...
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Change ManagementStrategies for Managing Change: The Project Manager
The title of project manager (PM) is used to mean different things in different companies. Fortunately there is a standards body called the Project Management Institute which provides excellent guidan...
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Understanding Change in a Quality Culture
In any improvement process, managing the influence of change and the anti-change culture that will continually try to raise its head will be one of the most ardent tasks. Learn to deal with this as ef...
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Communications ManagementThe Importance of Communication in Project Management
"Since I didn't hear otherwise, I ASSUMED all was going well." The Importance of Communication in Project Management. Second on Rick Klemm's list of things most commonly overheard on a failing softwar...
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Project Communications: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Informed
Good communication is vital to the success of your project. This article explores the methods used by successful project managers to tailor their communications to suit their audiences. It offers advi...
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Effective Project Communications
As a Project Manager, communication will occur in many forms, with many individuals, including project stakeholders, your internal team, management within your organisation, vendors, and more. Communi...
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Project Management of a Global Team
The world is getting smaller. Well, it isn't physically getting smaller but that is one way of saying that global communications have become so fast paced that the world is really one community in a l...
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Project Management Starts with a Capital "C"
Communication, Communication, Communication! In our world of project management today, it has become increasingly more important to turn our efforts toward more effective means of communication, espec...
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Cost Management5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for new projects, particularly during initial client meetings when it can be tempting to make promises that will be challenging to carry out? If s...
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Make or Break: Why Accurate Cost Estimation Is Key
The accuracy of your cost estimation process can make or break project success. Learn the strategies that will help you gain control of this key area and ensure future project profitability! One of th...
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3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining
When you have finished planning your project, and you have all the scheduled dates, hours, and costs (and charges if applicable) agreed, why is it a good idea to store those values? We explore the rea...
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Earned ValueThe Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
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IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
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Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
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Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
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Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
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Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
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Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
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The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
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PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
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9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
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The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
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Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
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Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
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Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Strategies for Managing Change: The Project Manager
The title of project manager (PM) is used to mean different things in different companies. Fortunately there is a standards body called the Project Management Institute which provides excellent guidan...
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Understanding Change in a Quality Culture
In any improvement process, managing the influence of change and the anti-change culture that will continually try to raise its head will be one of the most ardent tasks. Learn to deal with this as ef...
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Communications ManagementThe Importance of Communication in Project Management
"Since I didn't hear otherwise, I ASSUMED all was going well." The Importance of Communication in Project Management. Second on Rick Klemm's list of things most commonly overheard on a failing softwar...
Read full story
Project Communications: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Informed
Good communication is vital to the success of your project. This article explores the methods used by successful project managers to tailor their communications to suit their audiences. It offers advi...
Read full story
Effective Project Communications
As a Project Manager, communication will occur in many forms, with many individuals, including project stakeholders, your internal team, management within your organisation, vendors, and more. Communi...
Read full story
Project Management of a Global Team
The world is getting smaller. Well, it isn't physically getting smaller but that is one way of saying that global communications have become so fast paced that the world is really one community in a l...
Read full story
Project Management Starts with a Capital "C"
Communication, Communication, Communication! In our world of project management today, it has become increasingly more important to turn our efforts toward more effective means of communication, espec...
Read full story
Cost Management5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for new projects, particularly during initial client meetings when it can be tempting to make promises that will be challenging to carry out? If s...
Read full story
Make or Break: Why Accurate Cost Estimation Is Key
The accuracy of your cost estimation process can make or break project success. Learn the strategies that will help you gain control of this key area and ensure future project profitability! One of th...
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3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining
When you have finished planning your project, and you have all the scheduled dates, hours, and costs (and charges if applicable) agreed, why is it a good idea to store those values? We explore the rea...
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Earned ValueThe Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
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IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
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Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
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Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
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Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
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Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
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Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
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The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
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PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
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9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
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The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
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Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
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Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
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Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
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The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
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Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
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Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
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Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
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The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
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How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
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How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
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8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
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Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
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OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
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CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
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Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
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Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
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PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
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PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
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Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
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Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
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Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
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In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
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PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
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PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
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PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
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PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
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Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
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Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
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Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
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The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
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The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
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Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
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Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
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Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
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Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
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Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
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Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
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The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
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Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
The Importance of Communication in Project Management
"Since I didn't hear otherwise, I ASSUMED all was going well." The Importance of Communication in Project Management. Second on Rick Klemm's list of things most commonly overheard on a failing softwar...
Read full story
Project Communications: How to Keep Your Team Engaged and Informed
Good communication is vital to the success of your project. This article explores the methods used by successful project managers to tailor their communications to suit their audiences. It offers advi...
Read full story
Effective Project Communications
As a Project Manager, communication will occur in many forms, with many individuals, including project stakeholders, your internal team, management within your organisation, vendors, and more. Communi...
Read full story
Project Management of a Global Team
The world is getting smaller. Well, it isn't physically getting smaller but that is one way of saying that global communications have become so fast paced that the world is really one community in a l...
Read full story
Project Management Starts with a Capital "C"
Communication, Communication, Communication! In our world of project management today, it has become increasingly more important to turn our efforts toward more effective means of communication, espec...
Read full story
Cost Management5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for new projects, particularly during initial client meetings when it can be tempting to make promises that will be challenging to carry out? If s...
Read full story
Make or Break: Why Accurate Cost Estimation Is Key
The accuracy of your cost estimation process can make or break project success. Learn the strategies that will help you gain control of this key area and ensure future project profitability! One of th...
Read full story
3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining
When you have finished planning your project, and you have all the scheduled dates, hours, and costs (and charges if applicable) agreed, why is it a good idea to store those values? We explore the rea...
Read full story
Earned ValueThe Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
Read full story
IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
Read full story
Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
Read full story
Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
Read full story
Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
Read full story
Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
Read full story
Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
Read full story
The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
Read full story
PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
Read full story
9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
Read full story
The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
Read full story
Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
Read full story
Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
Read full story
Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
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The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
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Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
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Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
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Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
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10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
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Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
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So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
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Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
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Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
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The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
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SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
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Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
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Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
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Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
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Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
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SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
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SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
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Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
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10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
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Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
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Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
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Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
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Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
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Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
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Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
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Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
5 Ways to Finesse Budget Discussions for New Client Projects
Do you have difficulty engaging in budget discussions for new projects, particularly during initial client meetings when it can be tempting to make promises that will be challenging to carry out? If s...
Read full story
Make or Break: Why Accurate Cost Estimation Is Key
The accuracy of your cost estimation process can make or break project success. Learn the strategies that will help you gain control of this key area and ensure future project profitability! One of th...
Read full story
3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining
When you have finished planning your project, and you have all the scheduled dates, hours, and costs (and charges if applicable) agreed, why is it a good idea to store those values? We explore the rea...
Read full story
Earned ValueThe Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
Read full story
IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
Read full story
Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
Read full story
Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
Read full story
Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
Read full story
Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
Read full story
Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
Read full story
The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
Read full story
PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
Read full story
9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
Read full story
The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
Read full story
Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
Read full story
Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
Read full story
Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Myths of Earned Value Methods in Project Management
After decades of using and teaching Earned Value Management techniques, we have seen a lot of misinformation about Earned Value, and the advent of the Internet has only made the problem worse. The fac...
Read full story
IT Project Management5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
Read full story
Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
Read full story
Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
Read full story
Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
Read full story
Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
Read full story
Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
Read full story
The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
Read full story
PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
Read full story
9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
Read full story
The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
Read full story
Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
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Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
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Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
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The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
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Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
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Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
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Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
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The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
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How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
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How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
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8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
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Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
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OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
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CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
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Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
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Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
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PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
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PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
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Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
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Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
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Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
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In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
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PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
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PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
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PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
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PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
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Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
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Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
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Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
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The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
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The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
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Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
5 Reasons to Kill IT Projects
A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organisations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons th...
Read full story
Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology
Many project managers are extremely successful in their role by simply managing a project plan and checking off tasks as they become "100% complete." They're able to manage teams, create budgets, asse...
Read full story
Managers, Programmers, and Designers
Depending on the structure of your organisation, the project manager is most likely the person who interacts with the broadest range of stakeholders. Sure the managing director will intermingle with p...
Read full story
Considerations Before Soliciting Input for Your Content Management Project
When you manage a new project to streamline an organisation's website or to develop a new website, you must gather input from many people inside the organisation. In "Content Management Bible," Bob Bo...
Read full story
Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision
Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the ...
Read full story
Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects
Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after wei...
Read full story
The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure
How do you know when your part of the development race is over? Learn how to establish a clear finish line for your project. When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed cl...
Read full story
PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy
For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely bo...
Read full story
9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project
Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectati...
Read full story
The Problem with IT Project Management
One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the ent...
Read full story
Lessons LearnedTips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
Read full story
Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
Read full story
Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Tips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices
By incrementally capturing 20-20 hindsight (lessons learned) and turning that hindsight into 20-20 foresight (best practices), you will achieve far greater long-term success than if you simply ignore ...
Read full story
Lifecycle & MethodologyThe Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
Read full story
Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
The Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a s...
Read full story
Balancing Project Management Process With Project Delivery
Can you be a lazy and successful project manager? Ok, so I have been reviewing corporate and government processes for managing projects this week, and the first thing that came to my mind is "OH my! T...
Read full story
The Simplified Project Management Process
One of the challenges of explaining project management to people who are unfamiliar with the approach, is that descriptions are often either so high-level as to be meaningless, or so detailed that the...
Read full story
Microsoft ProjectGet in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Get in the Driver's Seat with Microsoft Project
Since its beginning in 1990, Microsoft Project represents a common and powerful project scheduling tool to control project schedules and finances, eliminating surprise when it's too late to make chang...
Read full story
Miscellaneous6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
6 Success Factors for Managing Project Quality
Commentators have differing views on what constitutes a quality project. The generally agreed parameters are that it delivers the desired outcomes on time and within budget. Through our long experienc...
Read full story
Project Management in these Economic Times
We're living in some of the worst economic times in 60-70 years. Businesses are closing. Analysts are estimating a possible 20% vacancy rate for businesses across the country by the end of 2009. Here ...
Read full story
The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool
With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become such a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here! As you well kno...
Read full story
How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide
A RACI chart is a matrix of all the activities or decision making authorities undertaken in an organisation set against all the people or roles. At each intersection of activity and role it is possibl...
Read full story
How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects
Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variab...
Read full story
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue
Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations, both at h...
Read full story
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpfu...
Read full story
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are ...
Read full story
OutsourcingMotivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Motivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team
The success of a business relationship between a company and an outsource vendor depends on how well the delivery team implements projects on-time and on-budget. But while these three items present on...
Read full story
CMMI: Does Your Supplier Make the Grade?
Outsourcing work to offshore organisations has become the latest arsenal in software development over the last seven to eight years. The strongest drivers to outsourcing focus on driving down costs, i...
Read full story
Is Offshore Outsourcing Working for You?
The advent of the Internet and the continuous innovations made in information and communication technology has brought about the steady rise of a recently established business practice, offshore busin...
Read full story
Why Outsourcing Fails, Even with Good Project Management
The programming press and IT journals are full of stories about the failure of software outsourcing. The statistics are sobering. Less than 50% of outsourcing meets financial objectives. The outsourci...
Read full story
PMBOK & PMPPMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - Chapter by Chapter
In my last article I provided an overview of the changes in the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. In this article I want to write about some of the specific changes in the chapters. As mentioned in the pr...
Read full story
PMBOK Guide: Fourth Edition Changes - An Overview
A lot of people are wondering what is going to change with the PMBOK® Guide: Fourth Edition. There is not that much that will change with regards to the content. There are a few additions and deletion...
Read full story
Break Your PMP Studies Into Small Pieces
Taking the PMP examination is one of the biggest steps you'll take in your career as a Project Manager and one of the most daunting. There seems to be an endless parade of information to stuff into yo...
Read full story
Making a Project Plan to Pass the PMP Exam
Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but hundreds of thousands of people have already done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and framewo...
Read full story
Project Management Training for the PMP: Satisfying the 35 Hours Requirement
Project Managers who aspire to take the PMP exam need to have 35 hours of documented training in the area of project management. However, there is some level of misunderstanding around just how they c...
Read full story
In Defence of the Project Management "Perfect World"
One of the most common challenge questions I get when teaching PMP Exam Preparation courses is "Why doesn't PMI make the test more real-world? Why do they insist on testing for a world that no-one rea...
Read full story
PMI's PDU Secrets
A project manager has to be many things. To name just a few, a PM has to be a great communicator, a leader, a visionary, and be able to both build and inspire the team. First and foremost, however, a ...
Read full story
PMBOK 4: This Time It's Iterative!
The current Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is labelled "Third Edition" and was published in 2004. Every 4 years the Project Management Institute (PMI) brings out a new version and ...
Read full story
PMBOK and PMPProject Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Project Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids
All projects are really about change. Let's take my favorite project of all time: the pyramids of Egypt. Imagine a sweltering desert with miles of sand, snakes, and other scenes from an Indiana Jones ...
Read full story
PRINCE2A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
A Procedural Worksheet on PRINCE2 Project Management
PRINCE2, the abbreviation for Projects In Controlled Environments, is a process based method, derived from the initial PRINCE project management methodology. It is a recognised international standard,...
Read full story
Programme ManagementHow Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
How Fit is Your Programme?
Across the UK at the moment there will be hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape? There are a numb...
Read full story
Why Businesses Should Use MSP Programme Management
MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) is a best-practice guide from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce, an independent Office of the Treasury). It has been developed using the collective expertise ...
Read full story
Project Management OfficeKey Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Key Steps to Implement a Project Management Office
Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (20...
Read full story
The Successful Project Management Office
The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless. I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I was already at, and consulted with smaller...
Read full story
The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation
If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO), there are a couple of important factors that yo...
Read full story
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and b...
Read full story
Project PlanningThe "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
The "Real" Project Plan
"I need a project plan by tomorrow morning." As project managers, that's what we hear. But we know that what the boss usually means is that s/he wants a project schedule. There is a problem though, ho...
Read full story
Project Plans: 10 Essential Elements
A project plan is more than just a Gantt chart, but do you know what you must have in your plan? This article takes you through the 10 essential elements your project plan has to have to help you achi...
Read full story
Project Portfolio ManagementA Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
A Corporate Project Selection Process
In my last article I mentioned that there are project management solutions to alleviate some of the pains that corporations can endure during a time of financial concerns. Strong project management le...
Read full story
Project Portfolio Management: Managing the Project Pipeline
For most service departments the demand for new projects will occasionally outweigh the department's capacity to do them. Whether it's due to financial constraints or skills being completely exhausted...
Read full story
Distinguishing Portfolio Management, Programme Management and Project Management
There is often a misunderstanding, and hence a mixed and overlapping use of terms, when it comes to programme management. Sometimes a programme is called a project. Sometimes a project is called a pro...
Read full story
The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs
I like to think of programme management as business lessons learned because it is the experiences and successful practices that help us understand how to manage effectively and efficiently. I also lik...
Read full story
Building the Project Firing Squad
Regardless of where your IT organisation has progressed in the evolution from a utility like service to a executor of business strategy, the bread and butter of most IT organisations is the successful...
Read full story
Requirements ManagementWhat is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
What is User Requirements Capture?
User Requirements Capture is a research exercise that is undertaken early in a project lifecycle to establish and qualify the scope of the project. The aim of the research is to understand the product...
Read full story
Reduce Project Risk in the Requirements Process
Gathering and managing requirements are important challenges in project management. Projects succeed or fail due to poor requirements at any time throughout the project lifecycle. The continuously evo...
Read full story
Rescue and RecoveryKeys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Keys to Rescuing Ailing Projects
When we examine what makes projects succeed or fail, we're actually looking at a variety of vital success measures that can keep our projects healthy, or offer a powerful remedy if they start to break...
Read full story
Risk ManagementIs Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Is Software Development Risk Costing You Money?
Poor software project management often means missed deadlines, cost overruns or even outright failure of the project. How can your company avoid this industry-wide problem? In our brief you'll learn b...
Read full story
Ranking Risks: Rare to Certain, Negligible to Catastrophic
Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event. In everyday usage, risk is often used s...
Read full story
10 Golden Rules of Project Risk Management
The benefits of risk management in projects are huge. You can gain a lot of money if you deal with uncertain project events in a proactive manner. The result will be that you minimise the impact of pr...
Read full story
Role of the Project ManagerThe Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
The Ideal Project Manager Specification
Successful project management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques comprising plannin...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager - Part 2: Getting the Skills You Need
In my last article we learned the 6 key skills required to be a successful project manager, and why those are more important than qualifications. In this article, I look at how you can acquire, learn ...
Read full story
So You Want to Be a Project Manager
You've worked on a project, and you think you'd like to have a try out at doing the project management role. It doesn't look too hard, or maybe it just looks exciting. So what does it take to become a...
Read full story
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. You either recognise these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that thes...
Read full story
10 Rules of Highly Successful Project Management
A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realise this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to m...
Read full story
Leadership for Programme and Project Managers
Effective management is not just about being able to apply budgetary constraints or running projects to time. In fact, 70% of businesses fail to achieve their desired goals and the causes for failure ...
Read full story
The Hardest Word in the Project Management Vocabulary
For project managers "no" is often the toughest word in the English language to deploy. We often prefer the classic PM strategy of "Yes, but..." as the softer, kinder, gentler alternative. "No" sounds...
Read full story
Successful Projects Are Led Not Managed
More and more in today's environment Project Managers are being judged on how well they operate within, and adhere, to standard practices and disciplines. This is all very well, but let us stand back ...
Read full story
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others....
Read full story
The Top Five Project Management Traits to Master "the How"
In project management, we tend to focus on the method. And there is no shortage of methods (Six Sigma, Scrum, Waterfall). The method is the what of project management and is often at the core of an ef...
Read full story
SchedulingUseful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Useful Techniques to Fine-Tune Your Project Schedule
One of the most common problems that project managers weep about is "unrealistic timelines," a common consequence of clients having set their expectations too high even before the project starts. Iron...
Read full story
Project Scheduling And Resource Levelling
We all know that in the real world we, as project managers, are given the finish date of the project before we even have a chance to plan for it. This is a good enough reason why we need to get better...
Read full story
Scope ManagementDealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Dealing with "Scope Creep" in Software Development Projects
Scope creep is a significant risk in software development projects. We discuss why this is so, and how to avoid or at least mitigate the risk. New software is usually developed as a result of a custom...
Read full story
Six SigmaFrequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Frequently Asked Questions on Lean Six Sigma
Despite Lean Six Sigma being around for over twenty years now, it is remarkable that a significant number of companies and individuals still don't really know what it is. Oh, they've heard of it, and ...
Read full story
Why and How to Add More Value to Six Sigma Project Charters
Six Sigma project charters are basically blueprints of the targeted Six Sigma quality improvement initiative. They are deemed important because it is only through them can the management hope to commu...
Read full story
SMART GoalsThe Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
The Top 7 Reasons Why Goals Are Not Achieved
It's that time of year again when we reflect on what we had hoped to accomplish in the past year and what we plan to accomplish in the next. Most times we look back and realise that we didn't quite me...
Read full story
SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organisations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people...
Read full story
Use SMART Objectives to Focus Goals, Plans and Performance
Objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound) are likely to be achieved. Learn how to develop SMART objectives with the power to focus goals, work plan...
Read full story
Stakeholder ManagementBuilding Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Building Relationships in Project Management
Building relationships is just as important within the project team as it is outside. Good relationships can be the difference between outstanding success and dismal failure because it's all about get...
Read full story
Team BuildingBuilding the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
Read full story
10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
Read full story
Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
Read full story
Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
Read full story
Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
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Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
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Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
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Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
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Building the High-Performance Global Workforce
Companies that can work cheaper, faster, and better are well-positioned to develop and market products and services that give higher value to their customers. But how do project managers and business ...
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10 Steps to Finding a Project Manager
Project managers, when you hire well, can become your most favourite person on the planet. Hiring a good project manager means you can sit back and relax knowing that the project tasks are being taken...
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Discovering Future Performers in Your Team
Browse up on your organisation's competency requirements and set more informed business directions concerning your people. Management needs a checkpoint to determine if performance meets organisationa...
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Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
While feedback is vital to the growth and sustained success of any business, regardless of industry, employees or customer base, it may often be met with some level of resistance or uncertainty. For s...
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Use Your Whole Brain: Leveraging Right-Brained Thinking in a Left-Brained World
For organisations, flexing the right side of the brain can dramatically improve decision making, team building and innovation, and ultimately drive greater organisational performance. In fact, whole b...
Read full story
Getting Work Done: The Human Side of Project Management
Project management is defined as the art and science of getting work done with the active co-operation of individuals and organisations who are directly or indirectly involved with the project. This i...
Read full story
Why Project Managers Should Coach
Coaching is a highly effective management tool and yet, I have met only a small number of project managers who adopt a coaching style when supporting their staff. The unfortunate truth is that many pr...
Read full story
Training12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
12 Competencies: Which Ones Should Your People Have?
The concept of competency as a factor in recruitment, selection, hiring and employee performance evaluation has become very popular not only among HR practitioners but to the management echelons as we...
Read full story
Work Breakdown StructureGantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
Gantt Charts, PERT Charts: What Use Are They?
Gantt charts and PERT charts are useful tools for visualising and communicating information about projects, but they have a number of limitations. In addition, the ease with which they can be created ...
Read full story
