In Monday morning’s team meeting, project manager A is asking the team for status. The Quality Manager notes that they are 75% done with testing. PM A nods and makes a note. Perhaps she asks if testing will meet their dates. The Quality Manager says Yes. PM A moves on. But does she really know if testing will meet their dates? How many meetings like […]
Another phone call. Another change on your thorniest project. You roll your eyes, thinking, “How did I get stuck with this mess?” The never-ending project. The never-ending project sneaks up on you. Over time, you’ve made so many changes that it seems normal that in your team meeting, you’re changing direction yet again. The sponsor is excited to get their new vision created. You’re just […]
Cynthia Smith lives in the Denver area and enjoys running, hiking, and singing. She has worked in IT for 15+ years and most recently worked as a Senior Project Manager at Oildex, which provides cloud-based accounting software for the oil and gas industry. When did you first decide to become a project manager? I was working as a programmer and developer for quite a few […]
If you’re a project manager for a small company, you have a unique set of job-related issues. You’re probably the only person managing projects and may have responsibilities for several different types of projects – marketing, internal processes, or customer product development. Here are a few tips to make your job a bit easier. Get systems in place One of the biggest challenges small companies […]
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 […]
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 […]
