As project managers, our job is to deliver a defined set of deliverables. Those deliverables may be as small as relocating a team to another floor, or as large as a satellite that hovers over the earth. No matter what the deliverables, the members of the team are crucial to the success of the project. Team development In many companies, team development for projects […]
You’ve been in the organization for a year or two. Learning the business, trying to soak it all in, and noticing there is a definite lack of organization around projects and servicing your customers. This is not a secret from management, but they are not sure what to do about it. Finally, they see you trying to wrangle the alligators, and they decide to assign […]
“The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”—Alan Watts The one item that you will certainly have on any project is change. It always seems that as soon as the project is agreed upon, there is someone who has a better idea and wants a change. As project managers, managing change is the […]
Project management is a very popular topic today. Many individuals are considering it a career while others have the career and don’t realize it. Some just want to use the principles and aren’t very concerned with the title. For most of us becoming a project manager is a journey, not the destination. No matter how many projects you’ve done, the next project is always a […]
You’ve been working this project for months. Your team is stellar – work is progressing and you’re on track to make your budget, your timeline, and your quality marks. So why isn’t anyone else excited about the project? No one knows to be excited because you haven’t told them to be excited. The art of project management People get into project management for many different reasons. Most […]
Scheduling is an important part of every project manager’s job. I’ve developed a lot of schedules over the years, and each one was very dynamic – they changed a lot from their first iteration to final close-out. Here are a few tips to developing a better schedule. Tips for a better schedule The six hour day Here in the U.S. most company’s use a standard eight hour day. For […]
Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning. —Winston Churchill As project managers, one of our most important functions is developing a plan. If you missed Project planning – problems, scope, and deliverables, feel free to read that now. Create a work breakdown structure Never fear! I’m not going to do a PMBOK interpretive dance here. There are lots of text books where you can […]
Plans are nothing; planning is everything. — Dwight D. Eisenhower If you missed Project Initiation: Let’s get this party started! go ahead and check it out now. For some companies, project planning is a nuisance. As project managers, we often must balance the urgency of senior management to see results and the importance of ensuring the team knows exactly what they are trying to accomplish. We know […]
