A project manager asked on LinkedIn:
We know that IT projects are almost always failures in the sense that we never hit our dates nor budget. Are there metrics that prove PMPs do a better job?
Here is my response to this question:
We need to be able to examine the underlying data and measurements methods used as [...]
It is extremely frustrating for us Project Managers when auditing and quality assurance folks forget that quality actually has a cost. And in projects, unlike in normal operations, this cost has to be accounted for in the project’s budget and schedule from the start of the project.
There is nothing worse than to be asked to [...]
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received about managing projects?
For me, the best advice is:
“There is no such thing as a dysfunctional organization, because every organization is perfectly aligned to achieve the results it gets”.
This quote is from the book “the Practice of Adaptive Leadership” by Ron Heifetz, which I highly [...]
Susan Scott, author of the acclaimed book Fierce Conversations, has these recommendations to help us connect through conversation:
Come into the conversation with empty hands. Bring nothing but yourself.
Set aside your own agenda and ask, “What is the most important thing we should be talking about today?”
When you ask, really ask. One of the greatest gifts [...]
In today’s limited resources and competing priorities, terminating a project which no longer advances the organization’s objectives, is a sound business decision. It takes courage and should be celebrated as success. The resources saved can be deployed where they will matter the most for the organization in the long term.
Unfortunately, terminating projects leaves behind what [...]
A project manager asked: What do you think are some key reasons why even good project managers sometimes miss getting great projects or even great career advancements?
Here is my response:
When it comes to reporting project status, project managers have to make tough decisions about what to report, when to report it, and how to report it. These decisions are more challenging during crisis situations, when careful crisis communication becomes a very sensitive component of any status reporting.
You feel the sensitive nature of crisis communication [...]
This short video shows Project Managers a simple setup of SharePoint to organize project documentation. I used this same configuration on a recent project and it worked really well. It is a very basic setup using SharePoint built-in document and list management features. Please leave a comment below and let me know how you are using SharePoint in your [...]
We spend so much of our time preparing for the success of our project but we hardly invest any time in preparing ourselves for coping with the aftermath of failure. Yet, it is inevitable that some of our projects will fail, no matter how much efforts we personally invest in them.
The reality is that every [...]
If there is one thing I learned from leading complex projects, over the last few years, it is that self confidence remains the foundation of successful project leadership.
Without self confidence, it does not matter how well we know our project management processes, as we may not have the courage to make the tough calls, discuss [...]
