Recommended Reads

Take a look at some of the best business articles from the past few years.

Frequently Asked Questions About Project Management

10 project management questions from popular user site searches on the Project Smart website and feature highly in Google searches.

5 Tips for Success When Pitching Projects to International Companies

Pitching your project to potential customers inevitably comes with mixed feelings. Here are 5 tips for nailing pitches to international companies.

How Can Businesses Manage Finances Amid a Crisis?

Do you want to know more about how your business can manage finances amid hard times? Then read this article to figure out many possible solutions.

The 6 Project Management Trends You Need to Know

The important trends shaping the project management profession today that will continue shaping it well into the future.

The Best Tech Solutions for Better Project Management & Collaboration

Five of the best tech solution for managing projects effectively. Achieving productive cooperation amongst team members has never been easier.

The Most Common Sourcing RFP Mistakes

Here we look at common mistakes in internally developed RFPs and how companies can better manage these issues by improving their RFP processes.

Minimising Risk in Outsourced Projects

Outsourcing is the process of contracting a third party to do work on behalf of a client that has neither the skills nor resources to perform in-house.

7 Tips on How to be a Great Leader During a Crisis

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.

5 Lesser-known Hacks to Make Your Meetings More Productive

How do you keep people alert and contributing to your meetings? Try these five lesser-known hacks for making your next meeting more productive.

Starting Something New? 4 Tips to Starting Any Project with the Right Mindset

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.

Balancing Out the Fun Projects

Three techniques to liven projects up and help ensure that activities on your less exciting projects don't fall through the cracks.

Top Tips on How to Succeed in Human Resources

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.

Protecting Sensitive Project Information

Three key suggestions to make yourself and your project and personal information safer when working from public WiFi hotspots.

Moving From Project to Programme

How to move from project to programme when projects grow, and you need to combine several projects into an effective programme.

Soft Power for Success

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.

Looking Forward to Spring

Life on projects sometimes feels like winter. The never-ending meetings. The schedule overruns. The unexpected problems. But, spring is just around the corner.

Portland, Maine…I Don't Know Where That Is

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?

10 Qualities of Successful Business Partners

Business partnering is not about jumping when the business shouts but working collaboratively to achieve the best possible results.

Extreme Project Management

Three war room strategies to try when you need to bring life back to a dead project, or save an engagement that is on the brink of disaster.

Don't Blame the People, Blame the Process

Are business processes holding your business back, delaying projects and preventing you from reaching your goals? Take these steps to improve your processes.

Is Our Data Safe?

Following the annual Black Hat USA Conference in Las Vegas, Brad Egeland looks at the issue of data security and why we aren't paying enough attention to it.

From Outside the PM Lines - Why PM?

If you are not currently a project manager, but you think project management might be for you, here's six questions to help you make up your mind.

Give Your Project Client the Real Picture

Do you consider yourself to be a good reader of character? Are you good at reading situations and anticipating a likely outcome?

If You Had a Do-over What Would It Be?

If you could turn back time and do something different on one of your projects or handled a situation differently with a customer, what would it be?

Recognising Your Internal Expertise

Does your organisation know what it knows? When engaging consultants, don't neglect your experts' wealth of knowledge and ideas.

The Good Meeting Manager

You can't guarantee people will look forward to your meetings, so how can you ensure meetings are productive and keep everyone's interest and participation.

How to Audit Your Construction Site

Seven of the most important areas to consider when auditing your construction site to ensure the health and safety of your workers and the public.

Death by Interview

Managers are constantly searching for the secret to hiring the right employees. This article attempt to demystify the hiring process and provide tips on making a successful hire.

How to Manage Your Boss: Five Tips for 'Managing Up'

To succeed in business and project management, you need to manage your boss. Here are five highly useful tips for managing up.

Top 10 Considerations When Integrating Social Media in Project Management

Ten questions to ask to help you evaluate your project management organisation's alignment with social media tools.

Taking Advantage of the Economic Recovery With Project Management

A key factor for beating the recession is the intelligent execution of projects. Take the initiative and you may find yourself at the head of the pack.

Is Your Project Manager Colonising Your Mind?

The wise project manager is one who implants seeds of an idea in subordinates and instils within them confidence and freedom to develop that idea.

The Secret to Dealing With Difficult People: It's About You

Each of us has a default lens through which we see the world. We call it reality. We have the power to view the world through other lenses. Here is how.

Get Out There!

Work on growing your Network Quotient as avidly as you would work on expanding your investment portfolio, it is that important!

SWOT Analysis in Project Management

SWOT Analysis is one of a number of different techniques used by professional project managers to help with decision-making.

15 Causes of Project Failure

Even on simple, straightforward projects there are many areas that can cause failure. Here are 15 of the most common causes of project failure.

Time Boxing Strategies to Help You Get Things Done in Your Project

Time Boxing is setting aside a fixed time period to work on a particular task or group of tasks. Basically, instead of working on a task until it's done, you commit to work on it for a specific amount of time.

Can you Hear the Knock of Opportunity?

By quietly listening for the opportunities in your life, and learning to recognise them in all their forms, you can find plenty of avenues for self-improvement.

De-stress for Success

Much stress in life comes from not feeling in control and maintaining a state of reactivity to deal with problems. The good news is that there's another way.

Managing Projects on a Global Scale

What happens when team members speak different languages? We have instant communication, but this doesn't necessarily translate into instant comprehension.

Making That First Impression the Right Impression

Whether it's with a client or prospect, the pressure of delivering information in the right tone and style requires careful planning.

Project Management on the Move

Running a project remotely is about more than just a laptop and a decent Internet connection. Jamie Stewart, UK managing director of Exact, takes a look.

The Social Media Standard for Project Management

With the rise of social media in projects and organisations, there is a need for some kind of guidance. Here are 10 simple rules to guide the discussion.

Leading Meetings with Multicultural Audiences

Multicultural meetings are becoming more common. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when leading a session with a multicultural audience.

How Do You Project Confidence Leading Meetings When You're Really Not?

Often we're thrust into situations where we're expected to lead a meeting, and we may lack confidence. Don't fret; here are a few simple tips.

A Project Manager's Guide to Systems Thinking: Part II

If we want to solve a problem or influence outcomes, we need to understand why the system is behaving as it is. This article looks at the basic behaviours of systems.

A Project Manager's Guide to Systems Thinking: Part I

What's needed for complex problem-solving is a technique that looks holistically at the whole and this is what systems thinking can help us do.

Are You a Micro Project Manager?

The systems theory viewpoint. How system theory can help project managers be more effective in their job.

Root Cause Analysis

The Root Cause Analysis method, when used properly, gives the project manager the ability to diagnose a problem that negatively impacted the project and remove it when it is first noticed.

Are Your Project Managers Working too Hard to be Successful?

The latest Standish Group report shows more projects failing and fewer successful projects. So what is going wrong out there?

The Real Costs of Failed Projects

Ever since the CHAOS report of 1994, we have been hearing increasingly more alarming stories of failed projects and their costs to the world economy.

Are You Using Your Resources Ideally?

Everyone talks about the economic crisis as though it will pass if we take the proper financial medicine. But that is a naive assumption.

The New Face of Strategic Planning: Bridging it with Project Management is the Key to Success

With the economy in crisis, businesses are scrambling to stay afloat. Many are abandoning their strategic, long term objectives for quick fixes and short-sighted survival tactics.

Tips For Avoiding Project Failure

Studies have shown that many IT projects are considered failures. A recent study by KPMG found about half of the respondents reported at least one failed project in the past year.

The Needle in the Haystack: Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Tool

With a myriad of options to choose from, it's no wonder choosing a project management tool has become a daunting task. Learn how to find the right solution for your business here.

How to Do RACI Charting and Analysis: A Practical Guide

RACI is a useful analytical tool that can be used to examine many problems in an organisation around clarifying who is doing what.

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Motivating Your Outsourced Offshore Team

How do you sustain the interest of your new outsource team? Here are ways to keep the team passionate about providing you with top-quality service.

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Project Management Models, Certifications and the Pyramids

Project management is project management. Does it matter what approach you take to complete your projects, as long as you complete your projects.

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How Fit is Your Programme?

Across the UK there are hundreds of programmes being run, but how well are they being run and how does the sponsor know that his/her programme is in a healthy shape?

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The PM Paradox: Why Projects Fail Despite Best Practices and Skilled PMs

The practice of programme management worldwide has consistently resulted in highly successful programmes and results. Unfortunately, we are also aware of many failed programmes.

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How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimise Your Projects

What's the best way to allocate resources across projects? How can you ensure you stay on budget and meet established deadlines? Read up on the latest tools designed to make your job easier!

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dialogue

Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people have become classic pieces of leadership and management wisdom. The habits are applicable to having successful conflict conversations.

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Successful Innovation: How to Manage Product Misses to Maximise Hits

A world-class innovation process requires disciplined management by using the stage-gate process. Development projects are managed through a series of stages.

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Collective Intelligence Builds New Approach to Project Management

A new generation of Web-based tools is unleashing the power of collective intelligence and changing the pattern of project management. It allows associates to collaborate on project plans.

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The Project Management Problem

No two projects need the same amount of planning or detailing of steps to get them under control. It ranges from three bullet points on the back of an envelope to days of intensive planning.

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Are Project Management Practices Generic?

Are project management practices generic? A recent paper entitled Project Management Practice, Generic or Contextual: A Reality Check, addresses this question.

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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.

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Project Management: Why Projects Fail

Have you ever wondered why some projects go smoothly and others seem plagued with problems? Here are five reasons why projects fail.

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3 Decision-Making Techniques to Suit Any Purpose, Project, or Need

Is there a secret to making stellar decisions? This article explains three ways to get superior results from your decision-making processes.

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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!

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Managing Project Management

Everyone talks about project management but what is it? Isn't it really just a series of events to create some thing, by some point, way off in some hazy future?

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Three Big Benefits Of Construction Project Management Software

How can your company benefit from investing in construction project management software? We review the three main benefits.

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Cause and Effect Diagrams

Quality problems are typically not simple to solve. A cause-and-effect diagram will help you define and display the major causes, sub-causes and root causes.

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Project Management: The 3 Major Project Types

A discussion of the three main types of projects, their inherent difficulties and the best approach for tackling each type.

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Just for a Laugh: The Lighter Side of Project Management

Top 10 signs you're 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.

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Mind, Meditation and the Project Manager

There are many ways to reduce stress and a few minutes of meditation seems to be the most effective if practiced along with other stress management techniques.

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Managing Multiple Projects: Avoiding Project Overload

What is the maximum number of projects a project manager can run concurrently before they are overloaded?

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Successful Innovation Means Managing the Losers

The most successful innovators understand the importance of managing the process. These companies understand that the metrics must address the process.

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Where is Project Management Going?

This article considers where project management is going in the 21st century and what the role of the new project manager will be.

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A Million Wrong Answers

Success in project management is built on flexibility and pragmatism. Plans are invariably wrong, but proceeding with a less-optimal plan is a better approach than an exhaustive search for the right answer.

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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.

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Right-Brain Project Management

Many people are frustrated by the mismatch between project management theory and its application on real life projects. A stretch project is a project that causes traditional project management challenges.

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Project Management System Evaluation Checklist

Project management system evaluation checklist for evaluating a project management package it its pristine form.

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What is Benefits Realisation?

It is a central tenet of the Benefits Realisation Approach that benefits come only with change and, equally, change must be sustained by benefits.

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Reasons Why Projects Fail

There are many reasons why projects both simple and complex fail. This article highlights some of the most common reasons for failure.

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How to Succeed When Projects are Failing

There are common threads that run through failing projects, so how do you avoid taking on projects that are doomed to fail?

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Why Does Project Management Fail?

Project management is first and foremost a philosophy of management, not an elaborate set of tools and techniques.

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The Importance of Project Management

Project management as a management discipline underpins much economic activity. In industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, software and aerospace, projects drive business.

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Avoid Failed Projects

The biggest problems that projects face are inadequate definition, scope and planning. How many projects have you been involved in that ran perfectly?

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Don't Try This at Home: Seven Rules to Guarantee Project Failure

Looking for a new way to get really famous, or infamous, at the office? Try these seven money-back guaranteed ways to really mess up your next project.

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Eight Key Factors to Ensuring Project Success

By Duncan Haughey

The key to good project management is leadership and communication. Applying these eight simple techniques will help you avoid common problems that trip project managers up.

PDF | Size 266KB

One Hundred Rules for NASA Project Managers

By Jerry Madden & Rod Stewart

Lessons learned compiled by Jerry Madden, Associate Director of the Flight Projects Directorate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Jerry collected these gems of wisdom over a number of years from various sources.

PDF | Size 1.3MB

Supplier Selection Checklist

By Duncan Haughey

It is useful when selecting a supplier to have a checklist to evaluate the supplier's suitability. How much of the checklist you use and how thoroughly you use it will depend on your own needs.