Projects sometimes feel like the movie “Ground Hog Day”—endlessly revisiting the same decision hoping to get them right. This cycle is frustrating, time consuming and unproductive. Instituting structured decision-making processes improves the project flow and the team’s morale. Here are six easy steps to make […]
Leadership is the holy grail of project management. According to CEB Global, project managers that possess entrepreneurial (leadership) skills are 40% more likely to deliver project outcomes, but only 30% of project managers have these skills. A recent article in the Project Management Journal, “What […]
Projects are about people! People, process, and technology are the essential components of any organizational analysis. When it comes to software development, people are more important than either process or technology. According to Frederick Brooks, author of The “Mythical Man Month”, “the quality of the […]
About a year ago, I started the Agile journey. At the same time, I decided to reread Peter Drucker, the father of modern management. As I read The Essential Drucker, I realized that the principles embodied in the Agile Manifesto sounded like Drucker. I wondered, […]
A fundamental project management function is effectively communicating status. When conveying status, the project manager should be crisp and concise, and calibrate the message to the recipient. Effective status communications should encompass the 5-point status framework. Here’s how. There are five questions that most stakeholders […]
Recently, I decided to reread Peter Drucker, the father of modern management. I first read Drucker many years ago and expected to find ideas that were woefully out of date. Instead, Drucker offered timeless wisdom about the role of the organization within society and the […]
When a project goes bad, it’s like getting sick. At first, you think it’s just allergies or you are a little under the weather. The symptoms mount and finally you accept the fact that you are really sick. The longer you wait, the sicker you […]
Lifeguards are taught to only go into the water as a last resort. Going into the water puts both the lifeguard and the victim at risk. The phrase, “reach, throw, row, and go” is drilled into trainees to break the natural impulse to immediately jump […]
At the weekly executive operational review meeting, the atmosphere was tense. We were having issues with the order processing systems and the sales reps were unable to install and fulfill the orders for the new product line. A raspy voice from the row of people […]
Say you are assigned to a new project. What process do you follow to determine your approach to engaging the team? Do you analyze the project’s organizational structure? How do you decide which role and power type to use? The project’s organizational structure influences the […]