In my last post, I reviewed Project Pre-Check, a practice that PMs have used to become a project sponsor’s best friend, and a great PM in the process. You don’t need to use Project Pre-Check. You can use or build your own practice, just as long as you address the three core building blocks; the stakeholders, the process they’ll use to guide a project through to a successful completion and the decision framework, a collection of best practices (I call them Decision Areas) that the stakeholders need to consider and agree on over the course of a change.
Project Management Blogs
The Power of Effective Communication
There is a strong likelihood that if you have taken a project management training course within the last decade you have heard some variant on the saying that “90% of a project manager's time is spent communicating.” As with everything else, too much of a good thing can cause problems.
Rushing the Project to Disaster – Greed and Fear
With the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a case in point we have another example of the interplay between greed and fear, and how they drive projects to disaster.
A former contractor on the BP Atlantis platform reported that many engineer-approved documents that were needed to assure safe operations were missing. How often, albeit in far less critical projects, do we find documentation and due diligence go out the window in the face of pressures from the sponsor and client to get the product operational.
Is There Any Value to PM Certification?
I have been asked to participate in a panel discussion at a conference on certification. The session is called “There is NO Value in Certification!” At first, I thought this statement was ridiculous, and couldn’t imagine too many people wanting to support this premise; however, as I have talked to people, I realize that this position is not too uncommon.
A Hidden Key to Project Success
In my experience in working with multiple companies across multiple industries and globally, I’ve seen many projects succeed while others fail. Although there are countless types of projects, ranging from a new product launch project to a system implementation project, there doesn’t seem to be a pattern of success among the same type of project. Instead, I’ve discovered that one of the hidden keys to success is vision.
A Heavyweight Fight; Scrum vs. Waterfall
I think people like a good fight. Certainly the media seems to, as is evident in the world of politics, sports, and entertainment to name a few. In the world of business analysis the current fight seems to pit Agile methods against the Waterfall approach. For the next several blogs we’ll have a Scrum vs. Waterfall match. In corner #1, representing the Agile methods, we have the Scrum framework. In corner #2, representing Waterfall, we have the “traditionalists.”
More Articles...
- What is a major change?
- From the Sponsor’s Desk; A Great Project Manager – the Sponsor’s Best Friend
- Quantifying Contingency; a Bonus Outcome of Risk Management
- The Challenge of PM in Engagement Management
- Top Three Causes of Project Failure
- The Change Control Myth
- The Tale of the Bow; Learning from Gabriel
- Who Should Define the Business Need?
- The ‘Essence’ of Agile Metrics. Part 2.
- Post-project Resource Evaluation – a Forgotten Contributor to Project Success
- Risk and Uncertainty – Managing Expectations
- Project Managers Can Shine in Today’s Tough Economy
- Project Risk – Should You Care?
- Velocity. Part 1- Introduction
- Is There a Personality Profile for the Project Manager and Business Analyst?
- The ‘Essence’ of Agile Metrics. Part 1.
- Lessons Learned or Forgotten
- Mindfully Managing Expectations
- Striking an Agile Balance when Evaluating Project Requests
- Why Project Planning is Critical to Attaining Strategy Goals
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