Ben Franklin was a an American founding father, inventor, diplomat, and philosopher. He also wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac which contained information for farmers and timeless adages. When it comes to project management, two quotes come to mind: “An ounce of prevention is work a pound of […]
Recently, my wife and I took a trip. We were at the airport. Our flight was delayed. She was sitting with her back to the window and checking the flight’s status on her iPhone. She said that we should start boarding in 5 minutes. I looked […]
Many organizations struggle with project portfolio management (PPM). On the face of it, portfolio management should be easy. We want to align our fi\unding decisions to the organization’s strategic objectives. Since budgets are limited, this becomes a constrained optimization problem, which most easily performed in […]
Years ago, I begrudgingly took my project management certification (PMP®) exam. I passed. Almost a decade later, I now teach PMP® preparation classes and see the value of the Project Management Book of Knowledge® Guide (PMBOK®) and the rigors of the PMP® certification. When I […]
Organizations starting their Agile journey are confronted with an array of choices. One early decision is, what methodology and process to follow? The authors of the Agile Manifesto represented many approaches, methodologies, and frameworks. The common theme was that they had uncovered better ways of […]
Project management has a consistent and unimpressive performance record. The Standish Group’s on-going survey of project performance finds the percentage of projects that were deemed “successful” has hovered in the 25% – 30% range since 1994. Successful projects are defined as those meeting expectations of […]
Adopting a product mindset is critical when transforming to an Agile development methodology, like Scrum. Shifting our thinking from project to product expands our view beyond the confines of the triple constraint—scope, cost, and time. The product mindset forces us to consider the larger, strategic […]
Agile software projects have significantly better outcomes than Waterfall methodologies. Statistics from the 2015 Standish Group’s Chaos Report show that, on average, Agile projects are three times more likely to be successful than Waterfall projects. This gap is even more pronounced for medium and large-sized […]
It is a common phenomenon. Something happens, usually something bad. Daily meetings are organized. Anyone connected with the event is there—from senior executives to junior staff. There is incredible focus. Then, the triggering issue is resolved. But the meetings continue. This has happened to all […]
There is a debate in the Agile community regarding the role of the project manager and the scrum master. These discussions remind me of a song from the musical, Oklahoma. Rather than drawing on the commonalities and shared mission of the roles, the focus seems […]