Trending Articles

article thumbnail

What Is Kanban? Meaning, Definitions & Best Practices

ProjectManager.com

Kanban is all the rage in project management. In fact, kanban has grown so much in popularity, there are now countless project management tools to help people plan and prioritize tasks on kanban boards, which are visual panels with virtual cards that can be moved around by the user to arrange orders of tasks or to-do items. If you’re not familiar with this methodology, there’s a high chance you’re asking yourself “what is kanban” or “what does kanban mean?

article thumbnail

How Do I Measure Success as a Scrum Master?

Scrum.org

In my experience, understanding how we measure success as a Scrum Master can be challenging. And of course, it’s something Scrum Masters have a strong desire to understand. This is also what the trends show us from the thousands of people in over 100 countries who are using the free Scrum Master Improvement Self-Assessment. We have a survey item that specifically speaks to this question: how do I measure success as a Scrum Master?

SCRUM 161
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

7 Steps To A Project Management Capability Assessment

Rebel’s Guide to PM

As a program manager, PMO or project team leader, you probably think about how to plan upcoming work. And that includes the requirements for developing the project management capability in the organisation to deliver the upcoming projects. It’s easy to think that certification is the answer to developing capability in your project managers, but it’s better to take a step back from that.

PMO 319
article thumbnail

“Cashing In” on Undone Work

Scrum.org

Velocity is a complementary practice many Scrum teams use to plan future work. Here’s how it works: A team selects a point system and decides that certain types of work are worth one point and other types of work may be worth different point values. Every Sprint, the team adds up points for each Product Backlog item (PBI) that meets the Definition of Done by the end of the Sprint.

2024 185
article thumbnail

Navigating the Future: Generative AI, Application Analytics, and Data

Generative AI is upending the way product developers & end-users alike are interacting with data. Despite the potential of AI, many are left with questions about the future of product development: How will AI impact my business and contribute to its success? What can product managers and developers expect in the future with the widespread adoption of AI?

article thumbnail

Agile Beyond IT: Lean Thinking

The IIL Blog

By Alan Zucker Agile is a mindset described by a set of values and principles. It traces its roots to Lean, which is also foundational to other modern management theories. Lean’s primary focus is delivering value quickly and eliminating waste. Toyota was a Lean pioneer. Out of necessity, it needed to be very efficient to compete. It dramatically decreased the cost of rework by building quality into every process step.

Lean 164

More Trending

article thumbnail

Kanban vs. Scrum: What’s the Difference?

ProjectManager.com

Kanban and scrum are agile project management methodologies that can be used for similar purposes, but each has its unique pros and cons. As a project manager, it’s important to understand the difference between kanban and scrum so you can determine the best approach for your team. So, which is the best project management method if we compare kanban vs. scrum?

SCRUM 412
article thumbnail

New training: Change Management Workshop

Rebel’s Guide to PM

As project managers, most of us know how important it is to make sure that what we deliver is actually useful and used by the people we deliver it for. That’s where change management comes in. Have you ever wished someone could give you the secret to dealing with resistance to change? Me too! I’m sorry to say there isn’t a secret exactly. It’s more a collection of best practices, real-world advice and tried-and-tested strategies for speedy and stress-free change management.

article thumbnail

Der unsichtbare Feind der Agilität: So deckst du ihn auf

Scrum.org

Kommen dir diese Situationen bekannt vor? Vor dem eigentlichen Sprint Planning im Team muss der Product Owner noch weitere Abstimmungsrunden mit anderen Teams drehen, damit die Arbeit für den Sprint geplant werden kann. Im Daily Scrum berichten die Entwickler, dass sie nicht weiterarbeiten können, da die Datenbankspezialistin nicht auf ihre Anfragen reagiert.

article thumbnail

Do Structured and Disciplined Agile Transformations Exist?

Leading Agile

Understanding where you are as an organization and where you want to go is essential to transformation. Understanding that creating the conditions for teams, backlogs, and working tested product to exist is the real work of the transformation is critical. The next most important aspect of transformation is being able to demonstrate progress through tangible metrics that will resonate with executives.

Agile 136
article thumbnail

Understand Digital Debt, Form a Team, Set Goals, and Plan Roadmap for Transformation

Understanding digital debt is crucial before digital transformation. Assemble a team to assess internal operations, market pressures, and digital debt's impact. Define future digital vision with measurable goals. Refine hypotheses and conduct market analysis. Develop a roadmap for transformation with defined projects, cost estimates, and governance.

article thumbnail

Wanted: AI Tokens

Musings on Project Management

12 trillionThe estimated number of tokens used to train OpenAI’s GPT-4, according to Pablo Villalobos, who studies AI for research institute Epoch. He thinks a newer model like GPT-5 would need up to 100 trillion tokens for training if researchers follow the current growth trajectory. OpenAI doesn’t disclose details of the training material for GPT-4.

Estimate 150
article thumbnail

How to Improve the Warehouse Operations of Your Organization

ProjectManager.com

The better a business’ warehouse operations, the more successful the business is. Warehouse management ensures that stock matches customer demand. Warehouse operations take into account the supply chain and work towards being cost-effective and efficient. To understand effective warehouse operations, you must first be clear on the warehouse operations process and how it plays into the larger warehouse operations management.

article thumbnail

10 common resource management problems and how to fix them

Rebel’s Guide to PM

I mentor project managers, and the types of problems that people come up with on calls are not technical issues for the most part. Mostly, people want to chat about other people. Or “resources” as we unkindly call people in project management. Stakeholders, project team members, the colleagues doing the actual work: these are all humans with their own To Do lists, objectives set by their managers and personal and professional goals.

article thumbnail

SWOT analysis in project management: definition, instruction & example

Inloox

Content What is a SWOT analysis? SWOT analysis in the project management context Why should I conduct a SWOT analysis? How to perform a SWOT analysis Once the SWOT analysis is completed: 5 key approaches for strategy development Concrete example: SWOT analysis in a software development project Conclusion 1. What is a SWOT analysis? The SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool and provides a framework for evaluating internal and external factors influencing the success of a company or project.

article thumbnail

Strategic Project Finance Essentials: A Project Manager’s Guide to Financial Metrics

Speaker: Ketan Jahagirdar - Sopheon’s Director of Product Management

Empower yourself as a project manager with insights that directly influence the financial landscape and strategic direction of your organization! Join us for a deep dive into the world of financial strategy, as we dissect key metrics that drive CFOs and business leaders’ investment decisions. This session will equip you with the necessary tools to craft compelling business cases as well as a comprehensive understanding of the crucial distinction between capital expenditure and operational expend

article thumbnail

Efficient product quality design

Musings on Project Management

I'm borrowing shamelessly from an essay by D. Miessler about efficiency in security design for user products by generalizing to the quality -- in the broadest sense -- of a product.

Closing 150
article thumbnail

How to Create a Timeline in Excel (Free Templates Included)

ProjectManager.com

Excel is a versatile spreadsheet tool that can create a variety of graphs, charts and forms, including timelines for projects. In this blog, we’ll go through each step needed to create a timeline in Excel and explain the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. Why Should You Create a Project Timeline in Excel? Learn how to create a timeline that can be used to visualize how tasks or projects will be executed over time, identify who will be responsible for completing them and identify milestone

article thumbnail

How to facilitate a project meeting

Rebel’s Guide to PM

Project managers need to be good at facilitation because we run a lot of meetings and take part in a lot of discussions. A lot of facilitation happens during project initiation. But you also want to be able to draw on your facilitation skills throughout the life of your project. I’ve run literally hundreds of project meetings during my career, probably thousands.

Logistics 318
article thumbnail

Navigating Resistance: The Agile Adoption Journey for Effective Leadership

Scrum.org

The path to success change is often strewn with obstacles, primarily due to resistance from within the organisation itself. Understanding these barriers is crucial for any VP of Delivery aiming to lead an agile transformation successfully. Let's explore the ten common sources of resistance and discuss the importance of addressing these challenges to ensure successful leadership and project implementation. 1.

article thumbnail

20 Common Mistakes Made by Inexperienced Project Managers

You’ve read the PMBOK® Guide several times, taken the certification exam for project managers, passed, and you are now a PMP®. So why do you keep making rookie mistakes? This whitepaper shows 20 of the most common mistakes that young or inexperienced project managers make, issues that can cost significant time and money. It's a good starting point for understanding how and why many PMs get themsleves into trouble, and provides guidance on the types of issues that PMs need to understand.

article thumbnail

My successful PfMP Journey: Set the goal and pursue it till the end!

The IIL Blog

By Jennifer Lapin My PfMP journey was not typical. I believe that all my effort and time invested alongside my unique journey of exam preparation were worthwhile and paid off in greater satisfaction and better result achieved at the end. People ask me if it is necessary to take a preparatory course. It is not strictly necessary but based on my experience I strongly recommend taking one to significantly increase your success chances.

article thumbnail

How to write an executive summary stakeholders will love

Planio

Project managers are born communicators. According to some estimates , PMs spend 90% of their time communicating with team members, sponsors, and stakeholders. An executive summary is your secret weapon when it comes to project communication. Whether it’s a business case, project plan, or market analysis, an executive summary is a great way to get the project’s most important information across quickly and clearly.

article thumbnail

Kanban History: Origin & Expansion Across Industries

ProjectManager.com

The history of kanban is less than 100 years old, but in that time, it has been highly influential. Kanban history has informed everything from manufacturing to software development. The kanban tool has become commonplace in project management and its uses continue to expand. For those unsure what kanban is, we’ll first explain the kanban system and then go into kanban history from its development to its uses in manufacturing, project management and software development.

article thumbnail

Project Management Apprenticeships: A UK Guide

Rebel’s Guide to PM

I have mentored project managers for years, and recently, more of my mentees have been going through project management apprenticeships. I really rate the training on offer and the support (although to be fair, the different awarding organizations who offer the training can vary widely in their support). Maybe an apprenticeship in project management would be the right career move for you?

article thumbnail

How to Stay Competitive in the Evolving State of Martech

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr

article thumbnail

Embracing Stakeholder Performance in Your Transition to a Scrum Master (From PM to PSM 15)

Scrum.org

Transitioning from a traditional project manager to a Scrum Master requires a shift in mindset, especially in how you engage with stakeholders. Stakeholder "Performance", while traditionally viewed through a project management lens, offers valuable insights for this journey. In Scrum, the focus shifts from managing stakeholders in a project to fostering collaboration and alignment in a product or initiative environment.

SCRUM 191
article thumbnail

Organising Around Value Stream Increases Business Agility

The IIL Blog

By Nagaraja Gundappa First things first – let’s define business agility: Business agility, alternatively called enterprise agility and organizational agility, is the ability of an organization to rapidly adapt to market and environmental changes in productive and cost-effective ways according to PMI’s Disciplined Agile. So, business agility is not just many projects across the business adopting agile software development.

Agile 78
article thumbnail

The Dangers of the Hero Management Style

Susanne Madsen

In this post I’ll talk about one of the most prevalent leadership styles I see in project management – the hero project manager. Why are we so drawn to this style of management? How can it be a trap that leads to poor performance and burnout? What would a more effective and empowering leadership style look like? Essentially, the hero project manager is someone who flies in and saves the day, moving the project forward based on their personal involvement and telling others what to do.

article thumbnail

Free Google Sheets Timeline Template: Create Plans Online

ProjectManager.com

When managing teams, it’s essential to create timelines to track their progress as they execute their tasks. Project management software is the most efficient way to create timelines to plan, assign and track their tasks. Other tools can be used to create timelines, though, such as Excel spreadsheets or Google Sheets. This Google Sheets timeline template can create a timeline in just four simple steps that won’t require any formulas or any advanced settings.

article thumbnail

How Embedded Analytics Gets You to Market Faster with a SAAS Offering

Start-ups & SMBs launching products quickly must bundle dashboards, reports, & self-service analytics into apps. Customers expect rapid value from your product (time-to-value), data security, and access to advanced capabilities. Traditional Business Intelligence (BI) tools can provide valuable data analysis capabilities, but they have a barrier to entry that can stop small and midsize businesses from capitalizing on them.