Miscellaneous
NASA Project Management Challenge 2008
One of the first major uses of project management as we know it today was to manage the United States space programme. It started with the inauguration speech in 1961 of John F. Kennedy who said, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." In 1986 the Challenger space shuttle disaster focused attention on risk management, group dynamics and quality management. Today NASA continues to focus on project management best practice to deliver major aerospace projects costing many billions of dollars.
8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network
All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpful to solve problems that other colleagues have already encountered. So in this era of social networking, where can the best project management networks be found?
Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Manager
An excellent manager taps into talents and resources in order to support and bring out the best in others. An outstanding manager evokes possibility in others.
Why PMO's Fail?
There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office (PMO) charged with defining processes and best practices (the way of doing things). These organisations typically sell the processes to a CIO to get executive-level support and then use that support as their stick to make sure the processes are followed. These people are often referred to as the PMO Cops by project managers.
Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
To be a successful project manager you must be able to manage your time well. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are some tips that can help you manage your time more effectively.
What is the Secret to Project Management?
As the director of the project management discipline for a leading Interactive Agency, I interview quite a few people. A standard question I ask during a typical first interview is "What do you feel is the secret to project management, in other words, what separates good project managers from great project managers?" It is a pretty open-ended question and there is no right answer, but it is a great question to gain greater insight into the depth of the candidate. The most common answer I get is "communication, making sure everyone knows what is going on." While this is not incorrect, I think there is a much deeper and truth-seeking answer beyond this stock response.
Senior Managers Need to Play Their Project Role(s) More Effectively
Running training events is often a dumping ground for people's frustrations. I guess we have all done it thinking this guru will help us solve all our problems. However, some of our problems are deeply ingrained and take a lot of shifting. One such problem is the role that senior managers play or should play in projects. The terminology does get in the way however, we believe that all projects need a sponsor, someone who gives executive support to the project manager and project.
Successful Innovation: How to Manage Product Misses to Maximise Hits
Most companies in the innovation game can proudly point to their winners, those new products/services that launched successfully and exceeded expectations for revenue/profit/market share. However, those same companies often express frustration or dissatisfaction with their overall return on innovation investment.
Collective Intelligence Builds New Approach to Project Management
As we all know, the project manager in organisations traditionally has the burden of compiling plans and information for the team's work. The information is then kept in disconnected files, no matter if it is a Microsoft Word file or a Microsoft Project file. The manager is struggling to bring the project plan to life as all the information on the project is concentrated only around a single person - himself.
The Project Management Problem
A vast majority of professionals think they have a problem these days, project management. Problem is, that's not the problem. Well, it is, but not the way they usually think it is. Let me be a little more vague. I am often asked by line managers and training people if I have a good project management seminar for their people. My first response is, "What exactly do you mean by project management?"
Are Project Management Practices Generic?
Formalised project management frameworks such as those codified in PMBOK provide practitioners with a range of tools and techniques that can be applied in a variety of projects. However, such frameworks and methodologies typically do not offer advice on which tools and techniques are appropriate for particular situations or contexts. This begs the question: are project management practices generic?
Project Leader, Manager, or Monitor?
During years of software development projects it's striking how different project managers are. This article looks and the differences between project leaders, project managers and project monitors. Here's the question: What type of project manager do you need to have for the best outcome on a software development project?
Ten Sure Fire Ways to Fail as a Manager
In an effort to be less than constructive as a manager, here are ten sure fire ways to alienate and demotivate your team on your change journey. Hit-or-miss approaches don't go far enough; this is your chance to use the best methods of corporate torture and humiliation developed by dictators, steamrollers and other "tough guy" bosses.
Project Management: Why Projects Fail
As soloists, our work is often project-based. Have you ever wondered why some projects go smoothly and others seem plagued with problems? Here are five reasons why projects can fail and how with good project management these problems can be avoided.
3 Decision-Making Techniques to Suit Any Purpose, Project, or Need
Remember the old saying: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail?" The quality of the decisions people make in group settings determines the long-term benefits of those decisions. Unfortunately, potent tools and techniques for making complex decisions and solving tricky problems don't seem to be widely understood.
Managing An SEO Project
All projects start with one common theme: a vision of where the project will end. Whether you're building a skyscraper, designing a piece of software, or creating a new website you've got to identify the scope that the project will fulfill. The second thing that all projects have in common is their desire to accomplish one of two business fundamentals: increase revenue or reduce costs. Let's talk about increasing revenue through one of the most prevalent channels to your organisation: your website.
The Einstein Factor in Leading Science Based Projects
When asked if the people, practices and techniques required to lead science research projects are different from those in the general population, the answer is not just YES, but a resounding DUH! The differences are vast, in part because we believe there's an Einstein Factor at work. In other words, in science organisations, academic brilliance is astounding.
Most IT Projects Fail. Will Yours?
Studies on project failure are easy to find and make depressing reading. Gartner studies suggest that 75% of all US IT projects are considered to be failures by those responsible for initiating them. But what do they mean by failure?
Managing Project Management
Oooh - project management. Everyone talks about project management but what is it? Isn't project management just organising your little work to get the big work done? Isn't project management really just a series of events to create some thing, by some point, way off in some hazy future? Not really.
Three Big Benefits Of Construction Project Management Software
Although many construction companies are still using spreadsheets and shoeboxes to manage their projects and track the volumes of details that go into a single job, the use of industry-specific project management software is becoming more prevalent. One reason for this is that more construction software providers are developing integrated project management modules to compete with the leading stand-alone project management systems.
Cause and Effect Diagrams
It is difficult if not impossible to solve complicated problems without considering many factors and the cause-and-effect relationships between those factors. Defining and displaying those relationships helps. The first such cause-and-effect diagram was used by Kaoru Ishikawa in 1943 to explain to a group of engineers at the Kawasaki Steel Works how various work factors could be sorted and related. In recognition of this, these diagrams sometimes are called Ishikawa diagrams. They are also called fishbone diagrams, because they look something like fish skeletons.
Project Management: The 3 Major Project Types
Projects fall into one of three main types - industrial, manufacturing and management. This article discusses each type of project, their inherent difficulties and the best approach for tackling them.
Just for a Laugh: The Lighter Side of Project Management
On the lighter side, the top 10 signs you are a project manager; top 10 things a project manager should never say to a customer and top 10 things you'll never hear from a project manager.
Project Overspend? Don't Worry About It
Any project manager will tell you that the triple constraint is the most important part of managing any kind of project. Namely: scope, time and budget. This week, I have been mulling over the third constraint, budget. Why is it that so many large corporations, take their eye off the budget? For many large companies, over spending is not welcome but it is not a serious misdemeanour either, especially if the over-spend has occurred in-house.
Mind, Meditation and the Project Manager
Project manager and meditation seem to be two opposite sides of the world. The link between these two becomes quite noticeable when work stress breaks something; either a manager a project or sometimes both. This article first discusses areas of work stress, its affect, and finally, steps to prevent it. Though in the article a project manager is used as an example, work stress can affect any living individual because every person is prone to it without exception.
The Project Manager's New Year Wish List
With the New Year barely three weeks old, I thought it would be a good time to look at the top 5 items project managers should have on their wish list for 2008.
Managing Multiple Projects: Avoiding Project Overload
What is the maximum number of projects a project manager should run concurrently before he/she is overloaded? In a recent edition of PM Network magazine, project managers are bemoaning the number of projects they're being asked to manage, with the average number of concurrent projects at eight. This seems high by anybody's standards, especially as many are large and high profile initiatives.
Successful Innovation Means Managing the Losers
Most companies in the innovation game can proudly point to their winners, those new products/services that launched successfully and exceeded expectations for revenue/profit/market share. However, those same companies often express frustration/dissatisfaction with their overall return on innovation investment. Frank Lynn & Associates has worked with many companies that are considered innovators in their industries. This article shares some lessons learned from the firm's experience with those leaders.
Where is Project Management Going?
To find the answer, we also need to ask a different question, "Where is business going?" The environment in which businesses operate dictates the way in which projects are executed. As project managers, we need to focus on developing business practices that make a real and lasting difference in company performance. Understanding the issues that make up the social, cultural, and informational environment in which the company operates is essential to advancing project management practice.
A Million Wrong Answers
In project management, we strive to find the best approach, the right plan and the right budget. But we are not in a position to make a choice between the "right" way and the "wrong" way. There is an optimal approach, and a million alternatives that are less optimal. Being pessimistic, for each right answer there are a million wrong answers.
Growing your Small Business with Project Management
If you think project management is only for the big guys, think again. Project management is a powerful business tool for businesses of any size. And as any small business person will tell you, effectiveness and efficiency is never about size. It's about working smart.
The Waterfalls And Rapids Of IT Projects - Can Project Managers Survive Them?
There are a number of problems with both traditional and RAD methods of controlling custom and or complex IT projects. Many projects would be improved if expert help and more time were spent restructuring the project at the start to help the IT supplier clarify the design choices and the IT client clarify the business requirements. Whilst this does involve an explicit acceptance that money will be spent "investigating" and "researching;" this is actually nothing more than bringing present good practice out into the open.
Right-Brain Project Management
Many people are frustrated by the mismatch between project management theory and its application on real-life projects. This is due largely to trying to employ approaches designed for predictable projects on today's stretch projects and seeing them come up short.
A Word (Or Two) On Quality
In the world of interactive project management the promise of quality has become cliché. Quality is sometimes seen as an incidental to each client delivery, as opposed to an independent, critical phase of the delivery. Because quality control is commonly compressed at the tail end of a project, the overall commitment to the caliber of work produced is inherently compromised. There is, however, one person that can change this negative trend - the project manager.
Effective Management of E-Commerce Projects
Although you may be tempted to manage the e-commerce project yourself and to use the consulting firm's developers as extensions of your own staff, try to resist the urge. Your consultant's estimates and timelines are only valid if they are allowed to manage the Internet store project to your specifications. They should provide a project manager, who will likely be your main point of contact, to be responsible for managing resources and timelines on the project. Having someone on the consultant's team also may help to keep the scope of the project under control.
Project Management System Evaluation Checklist
Commercial project management (PM) systems have been available since the early 1970's. A multitude of PM products are now available on the market, some expensive and some very reasonably priced. However, to say all PM packages were created equally would be a gross exaggeration.
Avoiding the Duplicate Application Trap
Have you ever wondered how much time and money is being spent by businesses developing or purchasing duplicate software applications just because they do not know they already exist somewhere else in the organisation. Experience and research suggests that a large proportion of IT budgets (particularly in large decentralised organisations) is spent on unnecessary duplication. What if this money was put to better use elsewhere or used to improve the quality of what is being developed?
What is Benefits Realisation?
You've delivered the project on time, within budget, the customer has signed it off and you've completed your end project report. The end! The project is completed, time to move on, right? Wrong. You can't just expect the benefits to automatically drop out of your project with no effort.