Project Smart ~ Exploring trends and developments in project management today
Our library of articles provides valuable insights into the discipline of project management.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Are you embarking on your career or considering a career change? Plenty of people want to pursue a career in project management. Where should you start?
~ By Duncan Haughey
To be a successful project manager, you must be able to manage your time well. Here are some tips that can help you manage your time more efficiently.
~ By Duncan Haughey
As an offshore project team member, do you know what your project manager expects of you? If not, read on.
~ By Stacey Marone
The job of a project manager is no sinecure. Here are the five biggest mistakes new project managers make and what to do about them.
~ By Brad Egeland
Imagine yourself as a project manager with sixteen projects on your plate. You are experiencing high-stress levels. What can you do in this situation?
~ By Duncan Haughey
Experts are vital to your business, but you risk losing them if they become inundated with work. So how can you use their expertise without overloading them?
~ By Sebastian Bos
The ability to hold an effective project planning session is one of the most powerful weapons in a business' armoury. Without it, plans can be rushed or even forgotten.
~ By Eileen Burton
What do you do if you're going through the rough waters of a crisis and want to be a great leader? Implement these seven top tips from Eileen Burton.
~ By Kenneth Darter
As the team moves from requirements to executing tasks on the project, the scope and the requirements must be tracked using four crucial steps.
~ By Brad Egeland
How do you keep people alert and contributing to your meetings? Try these five lesser-known hacks for making your next meeting more productive.
~ By Kenneth Darter
It can be difficult to start something new, especially if it's a new project. So, when you do start something new, the right mindset is crucial.
~ By Kenneth Darter
The baseline of a schedule is an essential element of project execution, at least for any project you want to end well.
~ By Brad Egeland
Are you stuck in the fireman role as a PM on projects constantly fighting fires? Brad Egeland has some advice for you.
~ By Brad Egeland
Setting up a project management office isn't easy, it shouldn't be fast, and it can never be taken lightly. So, where do you start?
~ By Skornia Alison
You may be great at your profession. You may have a spectacular list of achievements. But if you lack a few essential soft skills, you won't get too far.
~ By Adam Alami
This case study was conducted to evaluate Agile adoption on a project that has to update an obsolete enterprise data warehouse. These are my findings.
~ By Duncan Haughey
A project starts with an idea, but how do we know whether it is possible or reasonable? Conducting a feasibility study will tell us whether the idea is viable.
~ By Kenneth Darter
How do you determine whether a project is feasible? As the project manager, you might carry out a feasibility assessment before the project starts.
~ By Adam Alami
Ten warning signs that say your project has underestimated what is needed for success-with consequences that damage the final outcome and benefits.
~ By Kenneth Darter
How to get your projects through phase gates and avoid doom using four proven steps to better-managed projects.
~ By Kenneth Darter
It is one thing to finish a project but quite another to finish strong. By employing these activities and strategies, you'll finish every project strong.
~ By Brad Egeland
There are hundreds of project management software tools available. Brad Egeland looks at how to determine what's best for your organisation's needs.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Even the most well-prepared project manager on the most well-planned project will end up dealing with risks. Dealing with any risk involves four key phases.
~ By Brad Egeland
ANYTHING can be hacked. In terms of project management, what's in store for 2016? Are our projects and data at greater risk than they were in 2015?
~ By Brad Egeland
A three step process to step through making the best possible decision on the spot with little to no help or extra information from any stakeholders.
~ By Brad Egeland
It's hard to throw in the towel. Leading something that means a lot to you is important. Quitting when you think you have more gas is like giving up, but is it really?
~ By Kenneth Darter
Projects have a lot of moving parts. When you throw multiple projects into the mix, as most organisations do, then knowing where projects stand is essential.
~ By Adam Alami
Agile recommends dealing with complexity by segmenting the requirements into manageable scope that can be achieved without triggering constraints.
~ By Kenneth Darter
A look at the groundwork and steps needed to effectively pitch your project and get it approved.
~ By Brad Egeland
Worthwhile meetings - meaningful, accurate, timely, efficient, productive - all the ingredients that go into what most of us would consider a good meeting.
~ By Brad Egeland
Are you periodically under delivering on your projects. Are you going through the motions at times. How do you combat this? Try one or more of these steps.
~ By Brad Egeland
Are you a collaborating project manager working alongside others to achieve shared goals. Almost certainly, yes. But what is collaborative project management?
~ By Kenneth Darter
The end's in sight. But before you put that bottle of champagne on ice, make sure you're entering the final phase with the right mindset and approach.
~ By Adam Alami
Significant growth is taking place in the global IT offshoring market. The aim of this research is to give insight into challenges that IT offshoring projects face.
~ By Brad Egeland
What ingredients should go into a newly created project management office? Brad Egeland discusses a handful of key concepts and actions that go into the best PMOs.
~ By Brad Egeland
It's no fun when we fail. But we can learn from it. Find out the top three signs that your project likely cannot be saved.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Tell or sell, two different approaches—both get work done, but some team management methods are more effective than others.
~ By Swadhin Mishra & Preeti Jain
This article focusses on sharing some insights on what to expect in these large and complex projects, how to handle them and what makes or breaks the programme.
~ By Brad Egeland
Are you looking to hire a new project manager? Brad Egeland has five tips for hiring the best Project Managers for your organisation.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Whether you're playing a game involving luck or you're managing a project with unknown variables, always look ahead and plan for random elements.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Depending on the project, you can sometimes recycle, but sometimes need to create new deliverables. Getting it right affects the quality of project outputs.
~ By Brad Egeland
Three techniques to liven projects up and help ensure that activities on your less exciting projects don't fall through the cracks.
~ By Kenneth Darter
The hardest part of a project is often just getting started. Next time you're struggling to get the ball rolling, try one of these ideas.
~ By Helen Sabell
To be among those who evolve and create a successful career in Human Resources is simple—assuming you do the right things, of course. Here's how.
~ By Sebastian Bos
Stressed? It's time to consider doing things a bit differently. See how setting your alarm just 20 minutes earlier could transform your day.
~ By Brad Egeland
Three key suggestions to make yourself and your project and personal information safer when working from public WiFi hotspots.
~ By Brad Egeland
Running a project from beginning to end uninterrupted is awesome, but what steps should you take when you're forced to hand it off part way through.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Do you recognise any of these traits in yourself or your colleagues? I have met people who do exactly as I describe and, in the process, have damaged their teams and themselves.
~ By Duncan Haughey
What makes a winning project team? Why do some teams achieve greatness while others struggle? Let's look at the factors present on winning project teams.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Teamwork isn't something that just happens. The project leader needs to put in the time and effort to build the team and help everyone get along. Here's how.
~ By Brad Egeland
Just when we think everyone is on the same page, they may not be. How do we ensure that this doesn't cause our project to go off the rails at a critical point?
~ By Kenneth Darter
How to move from project to programme when projects grow, and you need to combine several projects into an effective programme.
~ By Mike Griffin
Soft power is the ability to get people to work with you by attracting them to be part of what you stand for; rather than to coerce, force or pay them.
~ By Brad Egeland
When you have a new project, what should you do to make sure you start with both feet firmly on the ground?
~ By Kenneth Darter
There will always be problems with any project you work on. Looking for blue skies is learning to see the silver lining on the clouds that darken your day.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Life on projects sometimes feels like winter. The never-ending meetings. The schedule overruns. The unexpected problems. But, spring is just around the corner.
~ By Brad Egeland
Estimating project work is fraught with opportunities for things to go badly. Read Brad's five common issues and solutions for better estimates.
~ By Brad Egeland
How do you deliver bad news on a project? Let's consider what we can do to best prepare for, and then effectively deliver, the bad news.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Everybody gets in over their head at some point in their project management career. The question is, what can you do about it other than fake a panic attack?
~ By Brad Egeland
Superman. OK, he has his Kryptonite weakness, but that's it. Let's get one thing straight - as a group, project managers are not comparable to Superman.
~ By Kenneth Darter
It is never fun to make changes, especially amidst a big project, but at times change is necessary. These tips will help ensure all bases are covered.
~ By Duncan Haughey
In this history of project management, I chart all the major developments and events in the discipline as far back as there are records.
~ By Duncan Haughey
As we close the door on another year, I thought it would be a good time to look at five items project managers should have on their wish list for 2015.
~ By Brad Egeland
What's on your wish list for project management in 2015? As you read, please consider the changes, additions or deletions you'd like to see happen.
~ By Duncan Haughey
In this history of SMART goals, I look at where the acronym came from, who developed it, what the critics say and why it has become popular.
~ By Kenneth Darter
The baseline is the project's measurement stick. It helps you meet the objectives of the customer. In short, the baseline helps you get the project completed.
~ By Brad Egeland
You know those times when a project customer wants something on a project that no one on your team has ever heard of? What do you do?
~ By Kenneth Darter
If a project is in trouble, the project manager needs to work to recover it and get back on track. Four steps will help the PM facilitate the recovery.
~ By Duncan Haughey
A back-to-basics look at why so many organisations run projects poorly, with twelve common mistakes in project management and how you can avoid them.
~ By Brad Egeland
There are likely almost as many best practices as there are project managers in the world. These are a few of the 'core' project management practices.
~ By Brad Egeland
There are nearly limitless reasons project deadlines are missed. It's how we handle these bumps that define us as good leaders and successful project managers.
~ By Brad Egeland
Four scenarios that often cause missed project deadlines and possible ways to work around those issues and keep or get the project back on track.
~ By Brad Egeland
If team participation is so effective, why don't more people do it? Learn two factors that breed commitment and contribute to project success.
~ By Brad Egeland
Team members who understand the project are more committed to making the project successful. To understand is to make sense of what is required of you.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Problems come in all shapes and sizes on projects. So, what as a project manager must you do to deal with problems on your projects? Let's discuss.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Six important trends shaping the project management profession today and likely to continue shaping it in the foreseeable future.
~ By Brad Egeland
Projects fail for many reasons, but I believe that the hardest one to handle and to dig out from is the one that is heading for financial ruin.
~ By Brad Egeland
Six actions you can take to gain control over a project budget that isn't too far gone or to make strides on gaining some degree of control.
~ By Brad Egeland
Mentoring new project managers as they learn is rewarding. No amount of classroom training can take the place of working alongside an experienced project manager.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Why the cookie cutter approach doesn't work as a guarantee of project management success and how you can avoid becoming a slave to a methodology.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Project managers cannot create policies and procedures for every eventuality that might occur during a project, but they can prepare for unexpected problems.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Don't become the casualty of a failed project. Always put measures in place that address these five common problem areas to help secure your project success.
~ By Brad Egeland
Brad Egeland continues his look at being all we can be as project managers to help ensure customer satisfaction and enhance our career prospects.
~ By Brad Egeland
Customer satisfaction is critical. It is the basis of your livelihood. It is the difference between a referenceable customer and a dissatisfied customer.
~ By Brad Egeland
Are you just going through the motions on your projects? To keep your customers coming back for more, you will need to be creative and dedicated.
~ By Brad Egeland
This article considers a few best practice litmus tests to perform (if only in your head) to make sure you are delivering well on every project.
~ By Brad Egeland
It is impossible to make everyone happy all the time, but you can certainly do everything within your power to give customers your best performance.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Business partnering is not about jumping when the business shouts, but working together collaboratively to achieve the best possible results.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Lessons learned can make all the difference on future projects and help them to succeed, but first, they must be documented correctly.
~ By Brad Egeland
This article is about the paralysis one feels when trying to get the project schedule in order and everything properly in place to get started.
~ By Brad Egeland
What should your status report contain, and how long should it be, to avoid overloading everyone with information and doing more harm than good.
~ By Brad Egeland
If your company does not need a project status report from you, it might be wise to suggest such a policy and produce one anyway.
~ By Duncan Haughey
The ability to create an accurate budget is an essential skill for a project manager. Here's what you need to create an accurate budget for your next project.
~ By Brad Egeland
What do you find to be your key project issues or common problems that can get in the way of overall success? Check these 10 project issues to avoid.
~ By Brad Egeland
Avoiding the icebergs of project management is not easy, but avoid them we must, before they sink our projects. Keep these areas in mind during your next project.
~ By Brad Egeland
No matter how well prepared we are, there are icebergs out there waiting to sink our projects. Review these 10 recognisable issues and be ready to manage them.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Deadlines are ever present in project management, which does not mean that the team working on the project can deal with those deadlines very easily.
~ By Brad Egeland
Outside factors may introduce risk to our project engagements. How we handle those factors could be the key to the success or failure of our projects.
~ By Brad Egeland
No project in the history of projects has entered into existence without the presence of a few risks. Here's how to manage risks and protect your project.
~ By Duncan Haughey
How to improve your coaching skills using the GROW model, including 40 example questions for aspiring coaches.
~ By Brad Egeland
In Part 2 of this series, Brad Egeland looks at three more ways that project leadership is set apart from normal project management participation.
~ By Brad Egeland
What does it mean to lead? If you've led a large project, you know that project leaders do a lot more than plan, organise, control, coordinate and budget.
~ By Kenneth Darter
If you want to have a successful summit meeting, then it is time to practise your people skills and learn to play well with others.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Where should we focus our effort to improve the performance of IT projects? The Standish Group has identified ten areas in their Chaos Manifesto 2013.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Can you be a good project manager without being a coach? How to unlock your team's potential and maximise their performance with coaching.
~ By Brad Egeland
As project managers, we can add considerable value to any project engagement, but what do you do if your customer is not project manager friendly?
~ By Brad Egeland
Brad Egeland's final four key concepts for highly productive project meetings. How we manage our meetings says a lot about us professionally.
~ By Brad Egeland
Seven rules for planning and conducting meaningful project meetings, the ones that will help you manage your projects and provide attendees with value.
~ By Brad Egeland
We all need more praise than correction. A happy, positive team with a basic plan will outperform a miserable team with a brilliant plan every time.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Every project has a finish date. This article looks at how the finish date for a project is derived and how a project team comes to terms with that date.
~ By Nader Khorrami Rad
What's the difference between the PMP and PRINCE2 certifications? Which one should I choose? Which one's better for my career?
~ By Brad Egeland
For projects lasting six months or more, it's a good idea to pause at least twice as a team to discuss the project's health from the team's perspective.
~ By Brad Egeland
It's critical to stop periodically and take the pulse of your project. If you neglect your customer, you may find yourself out of a job or without a project.
~ By Brad Egeland
How do you stop your projects from getting mundane? This article considers how we can change things around and add some excitement to our projects.
~ By Kenneth Darter
When it comes to approaching stakeholders, there are many different paths you can take to get your message to the right person. Here are some ideas on formulating your path.
~ By Duncan Haughey
Work Breakdown Structure is a tool project managers use to break projects down into manageable pieces. Here's why you need one and how to create your own.
~ By Brad Egeland
Change orders are hard to bring before a customer. Here's how to leave no question in your customer's mind that you and your team know what you're doing.
~ By Brad Egeland
Brad's final two steps in his personal four-step process of preparing for and delivering bad news to a project client.
~ By Brad Egeland
Have you ever had to deliver tough news to a customer on a project? Here's four steps to help you prepare and deliver the bad news.
~ By Kenneth Darter
Risk management is a vital part of project management. Learn four key steps to help you evaluate and mitigate any risks on your project.
~ By Brad Egeland
How to remain in control of projects, rather than always being in reactive mode to the issues that arise and threaten to knock us off course.
~ By Kenneth Darter
To get stakeholders or management to approve your project, you will need to build a solid business case. Here are the basic steps for creating a business case.
~ By Brad Egeland
You can't guarantee accountability from everyone on your projects, but the key to keeping them involved is to let them know exactly what is expected of them.
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