On the Interpretation of Probabilities in Project Management By Kailash Awati Introduction Managers have to make decisions based on an imperfect and incomplete knowledge of future events. One approach to improving managerial decision-making is to quantify uncertainties using probability. But what does it mean to assign a numerical probability to an event? For example, what do we mean [...]

Proactively Address Unpredictability about Project Resource Availability By Kiron D. Bondale A systemic lack of predictability regarding resource availability threatens to trump unmanaged scope creep, technical complexity and organization change resistance as the primary source of project risks. Achieving an organization’s strategic objectives gets impacted as transformational projects require specialized skills that are in high demand and [...]

Project Management Checklists By Howard Vaughan Among all the tools at our disposal for managing projects, checklists are perhaps the simplest and most productive means of building consistency in work practices. Checklists are useful in almost every field of human endeavor, and in particular where repeatability and systematic action drive performance. Yet they are still much under-used [...]

Ambiguity Kills Projects By Howard Vaughan Ambiguity is the enemy of project success. Its one of the first things I instruct new project managers on. I call it the First Law in project management. Its not hard to find ambiguity in projects. Look closely at the objectives, the requirements, the scope definition and the schedule. Are they each [...]

For most of human history, skills have been passed from master to... Lynda Bourne, DPM, PMP

A Holistic Look at Program and Project Constraints By Gary Hamilton, Gareth Byatt, and Jeff Hodgkinson The Triple Constraint of managing the interaction of time, cost and scope is a familiar model to most Program and Project Managers. Delivering projects on time, within budget and per an agreed scope can be considered to be a “good result” by [...]

Take Control of Your Project With Phase One - Concept and Feasibility - Part 1 By Mark L. Reed We already discussed the difference between a “Business” Lifecycle and a “Project Management” lifecycle and working with the theory that every project is a project within another project; the only project we are responsible and accountable for is [...]

Project Rewards and Recognition - Fair or Adding Risks? By Gary Hamilton, Gareth Byatt, and Jeff Hodgkinson Reward and recognition for project resources who deliver successful projects is generally accepted as good practice in the workplace (indeed, rewarding staff for successful performance against agreed criteria is commonplace in today’s organizations). Regardless of an organization’s general structure (be [...]

How to Get a Project Team “Unstuck” By Pam Stanton Sometimes your project team gets stuck in the mud. It may be early in the project when you’re first trying to build a plan, or it might be later when choices must be made and a decision just circles the drain. There are so many variables and [...]

Dear Project Manager By Glen Gage If you are responsible for a project where the IT department has a significant role, or are thinking of starting one, then this article is for you. You are in for more than may have thought - IT projects are serious business and fraught with corporate politics. Below is a (slightly [...]

As circumstances change, career expectations change. In boom times, you think about... Jim De Piante

Toward a More Robust Agile By Donald Patti In a previous article, I put together a list of some of the weaknesses of the Agile software development methodology that I’ve learned from other software experts and on my own as a consultant serving the technology industry. As expected, some people were upset that I pointed out so [...]

Top 3 Axes of Project and Portfolio Management Value By Pradeep Bhanot Project Portfolio Management systems provide value to organizations in many ways. These include improved staff utilization, improved financial management and better demand management. But for me these are not the most compelling ones. The top three for me are: Greater visibility. Having a single system of record [...]

Basics Of Public Speaking or Presenting By Clare Munn I speak a lot and am always surprised when I hear the presentation was of interest. I know I am not afraid of public speaking, and I know I am passionate about subjects other people are curious about too. However, I never for one minute assume my presentations [...]

Certifications Don’t Make Project Managers By Richard Morreale The Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Association of Project Management Group (APMG) are two of the biggest reasons that projects fail. They have sold the myth to the corporate world and to their certification customers that successful completion of their certification tests and the addition of Project Management [...]

Got A Strategy? You Need Project Portfolio Management By Ben Snyder, CEO of Systemation Putting a strategy together is very rewarding. Whether it’s for your division, department, or small business, it gets you thinking about the future and all the possibilities. Hard work has brought your team to a point of consensuses; and, you now have a [...]

Project Management Training: The Big vs. the Small Answer By Chuck Tryon You’ve done your homework and you can’t believe the range of answers you are getting. It’s a simple question, really. You want to upgrade the Project Management skills for your people. When you ask for a training approach, some vendors suggest a program that can [...]

12 Tips for Effective Project Reviews By Bruno Collet Too often, project reviews are nothing more than empty conformance documents that take dust on a company server, when they are not skipped entirely. That’s a shame, because project reviews are one of the most powerful tools for improvement. The main reasons people neglect project reviews are that [...]

Early Engagement and Project Planning By Barney Austen Project managers often have contention with line management when it comes to the allocation of project team members. The skill of the project manager to overcome this contention will directly effect the overall success of the project planning process and indeed the project as a whole. If the project manager [...]

Why a talk on managing a development team at a Ruby conference? That would imply that managing a team of Ruby developers is different than managing other development teams. The key difference is managing Ruby developers is Ruby developers. Generalizing, Ruby developers are a self-selected group of independent thinkers. Developers who view their work as [...]