pmStudent

Regular status meetings are boring: everyone goes around the table and rehashes what they did in the last week or month. No one really cares. If the project dates are slipping, the team wants the meeting to be over with so they can get back to doing something useful.

But status meetings can be fun! Read more »

There is often a misconception that managing an IT project is difficult. Avoiding the common pitfalls of IT project management is not rocket science, it is simply a case of taking some sensible measures. This article identifies 5 killer mistakes of project management and their solutions. Read more »

It delights me every time I discover a way that the world of knowledge available to human kind is applicable across disciplines. See how “Made to Stick” can apply to a specific activity you do all the time as a project manager. Read more »

John sighed. “Oh well, let’s just keep our noses to the grindstone and make sure our part is good. Even if the whole thing fails, at least they won’t be able to point the finger at us.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t let the director know about this? Maybe he’s oblivious to the whole thing going on over there.”

“Na, besides……” Read more »

This is my first video blog, it is a screen capture where I expand on a post I made earlier about using a monthly team barometer to gauge how things are going on your project, and get honest feedback. I show you exactly how to sign up for an account at polldaddy.com and I set up a sample post with 3 targeted questions for your project team. Let me know what you think about this format of post! Read more »

I had a stimulating discussion today with Travis, a friend and colleague about communication styles. It reminded me about the importance of catching people doing things right. Many managers and co-workers miss opportunities to congratulate or thank people who go above and beyond, but rarely miss an opportunity to criticize when mistakes are [...] Read more »

Today I was trying to think of ways to integrate some of the methods and benefits of Critical Chain project management into the traditional PM methodology most companies use. I wanted to pick out one element of CC that would potentially yield the most benefit without much, if any, additional overhead to the project [...] Read more »

I finally got a chance to read this month’s PM Network magazine. There is an article on keeping project team motivated that caught my attention starting on page 38, written by Simon Kent.
The article reminded me of a previous post I wrote back in February, 2007 titled Motivational Theory in Project Management where I [...] Read more »

In the July 2007 edition of PM Network magazine, the cover story is entitled “Small Projects, Big Results”. What a great edition of this magazine, especially the Point/Counter-Point Article featuring yours truly. Anyway, back to the small projects piece. It speaks to the importance of doing sufficient planning even on [...] Read more »

This point speaks to the need for
(1) commitment from top management and
(2) commitment from everyone else in the organization.
Quality is everyone’s job, and if any implementation is not total, it will not fulfill its full potential.
In project management, I see this point alluding to executive formation and support of a company-wide Project Management Office. That [...] Read more »

In order for continuous improvement to become organizational culture, it must also become a personal goal for every employee. Self-improvement should not be limited to immediate application, that would be an example of short-term thinking. Employees are the most important assets of an organization, and therefore require effort to retain and enhance them.
On project teams, [...] Read more »

Often, projects can become battlegrounds where the project manager and team are at odds with the sponsor and other stakeholders. These conflicts can arise when the project environment is not conducive to a win-win approach.
In project planning and initiation, clearly define the WIIFM (What’s in it for me) for everyone on the project. This [...] Read more »

In Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence, Evans and Lindsay point to 5 distinct perspectives when defining quality. They are transcendent, product-based, user-based, value-based, and manufacturing-based. The authors discuss the topic in terms of defining quality within organizations and products. I see parallels to defining quality when running projects.

Transcendent Quality
This perspective makes a judgment as [...] Read more »

Finding the right balance of documentation and methodology can be challenging on small projects. Here are some tips.
I have been managing small projects for some time now. Some of my project are really tiny, I’m talking about 8 hours of work max. Others can be 2 week or month-long projects. Some [...] Read more »

Have you ever let someone down even though you had tried your best and thought you were doing what they wanted? Few things are frustrating as putting forth tons of effort only to find out you were working on the wrong things.
Expectations are such an essential and common component of human relationships and communication [...] Read more »