Team execution is vital Whether you’re a small business with a small group of employees, or a manager in a large organization there are always a few initiatives that need a team to complete. How do you help the team be successful? Here are a few tips to improve team execution. Define the deliverable For many teams, the main barrier to execution is the lack […]
We all have trouble getting started on what we need to do. For some, social media is the excuse for procrastination. For others, it’s surfing the Internet and reading about people and places that won’t get you any nearer to your goals. Personally, I’m a news junkie. I can locate and read news from nearly any source and even read about the same incident several […]
If your organization keeps good project history archives, you have the inside track on how to plan a new project and what to avoid. But what about the “Lessons Learned?” How are they different from project history? Project history and archives If you’ve got project history and archives available, they should contain all the documentation that was created for the completed project. Those documents include the […]
Building teams is a critical skill for any project manager. Once the team is built, it’s important to keep the team’s productivity high. Here are several suggestions for helping to increase your team’s productivity and manage their workflow. Keep meetings to a minimum Meetings are necessary and universally hated. But just because no one admits they like meetings doesn’t mean they don’t have a purpose. Ask […]
It’s a new year and everyone seems to be getting back to work. New project assignments are going out, and it’s time to start building teams. How do you make sure the team you get is the team that can get the job done? Assess the team needs of the project Working with the sponsor, the project manager develops a charter – the description of […]
Here’s the next installment of my project manager profile series, “How did I get here?” I met Alex at the local Denver PMI meeting and he agreed to be the subject of this post. Thank you, Alex! When did you first decide to become a project manager? In 2013. What was your academic and/or corporate background before you became a project manager? I have a […]
Whenever I start a new project, my first question to the sponsor or client is “What does project success look like?” I can tell a great deal about how the project is going to go from the answer. Here are a few examples: “I’ll know it when I see it.” I’m immediately skeptical. If a sponsor or customer cannot articulate what exactly they want after […]
It’s snowing again here in the Rocky Mountain West and the holiday gift season is right around the corner. Folks are busy worrying about the conversions and implementations they’re going to do after the holiday and business slows down. Or they’re looking forward to a very quiet two weeks as their co-workers and clients go on vacation. In the spirit of the season, here are […]
Small businesses are often in a quandary. They’ve got lots of things to do, but often few resources. How to determine when it’s best to formally plan a project or just do it without a plan? For many small companies, much of this is determined by the owner or the manager. What is important to accomplish? Projects are developed because the deliverable is important to the […]
Here’s the next profile in my series “How Did I Get Here?” focusing on how and why someone became a project manager. McDowell Graham has 20 years’ project planning and business process engineering experience; 11 years’ experience with supporting Federal agencies; and 5 years in SharePoint site collection administration and content design/development/delivery. A Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Black Belt, and ISO […]
