Trending Articles

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The Importance of Operational Project Management for Businesses

ProjectManager.com

Some projects are done internally within an organization. They don’t directly deliver new products or services to customers, but improve the way an organization does business and that impacts customers. This is called operational project management. To better understand operational project management requires defining what an operational project is, how it differs from strategic projects and what operational project management is.

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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.

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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?

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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Why Mixing Caution with Courage in Tech Pays Off Big Time

Productivity Land

In the tech industry you’ve got to know when to go all in with innovation and when to hold back due to risk. That’s where the genius of strategic alignment in technology portfolios comes into the picture. According to HBR, companies that say yes to this kind of strategic portfolio management saw a 35% boost in projects hitting their targets and business aims.

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Is Your Workflow Holding You Back?

Scrum.org

Reflecting upon my own experiences, the journey to refining our workflow has been both enlightening and challenging. In the realm of agile development, we often find ourselves caught in the rhythm of managing tasks and visualising our work without pausing to question the efficacy of the underlying system. It's a gradual realisation that despite our best efforts, inefficiencies and blockages within our processes can severely hamper our progress and the value we deliver.

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What’s the Difference: Risk Appetite – Risk Tolerance – Risk Capacity?

Online PM Courses

How much risk will your project take on? There are 3 similar measures. What's the difference: Risk Tolerance, Risk Appetite, & Risk Capacity? The post What’s the Difference: Risk Appetite – Risk Tolerance – Risk Capacity? appeared first on OnlinePMCourses.

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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.

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Grateful Leadership™, Increasing Organizational Effectiveness in an Evolving Globally Connected World

The IIL Blog

By Shana Serrano Introduction: In today’s dynamic and competitive business landscape, effective leadership stands as a cornerstone of organizational success. This executive article presents a high-level overview of the results gleaned from the doctoral research study that focused on the relationship between Grateful Leadership training and organizational effectiveness.

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What Is a Sales Order? (Example & Template Included)

ProjectManager.com

The transaction between buyer and seller is documented at every stage, and this paperwork serves a purpose. It protects both parties and legally binds them to follow the particulars that they’ve agreed upon. One of those business documents is a sales order. To better understand what a sales order is, we’ll define the term, list what should be included and outline the sales order process.

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Bridging the Gap in Sustainability Strategy and Project Delivery

Green Project Management

Our latest research “Insights into Sustainable Project Management” study (a free download) has unearthed a critical issue: a stark disconnect plagues many organizations, where lofty sustainability strategies fail to translate into tangible, effective project delivery. Let’s dive deeper into this conundrum, offering actionable insights and robust steps for organizations eager to sync their aspirations with […] The post Bridging the Gap in Sustainability Strategy and Proje

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Is Your Leadership Ready to Pivot from Intuition to Innovation?

Scrum.org

In the rapidly evolving business landscape, the shift from intuition-based decision-making to innovation-driven leadership is not just beneficial—it's essential. The framework of Evidence-Based Management (EBM) and the leadership style based on EBM stands at the forefront of this transformation, offering a clear pathway for leaders who wish to navigate the complexities of the modern world with precision and foresight.

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The Big Payoff of Application Analytics

Outdated or absent analytics won’t cut it in today’s data-driven applications – not for your end users, your development team, or your business. That’s what drove the five companies in this e-book to change their approach to analytics. Download this e-book to learn about the unique problems each company faced and how they achieved huge returns beyond expectation by embedding analytics into applications.

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3 Continuous Improvement Strategies to Boost Your Project Management Skills

Project Pulse Journal

By: Hajime Estanislao, PMP, CSM Are you overwhelmed by the rapid shifts in industry demands and the swift pace of technological progress? Today, continuously enhancing your project management skills is beneficial and expected. Continuous improvement, or Kaizen, has revolutionized business practices since its inception in post-war Japan. This method has driven companies to new heights of efficiency and innovation, enriching every facet of project execution - from planning to evaluation - and boos

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Business or Organisational Psychology for Project Managers

The IIL Blog

By Robert Annis As a business psychologist who started my career in project management on two continents, I find myself at the intersection of two seemingly disparate worlds. On one hand, there’s the structured and methodical realm of project management, where timelines, budgets, and deliverables reign supreme. On the other, there’s the intricate landscape of organisational psychology, delving into the complexities of human behaviour, motivation, and decision-making.

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6 Easy ways to Build a Culture of Collaboration at Work

NimbleWork

At work the other day, I had a problem. I chatted to a colleague about it and she suggested I talk to someone she knew who was working on a different project. I called them and (despite not knowing who I was or why I was ringing) they answered and spent 20 minutes sharing ideas with me. This exchange got my project unstuck and was all I needed to stay on track.

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How to Calculate Project ROI [Steps, Formula, Example]

Teamweek

Project managers often struggle to calculate project ROI and communicate a project’s financial value to stakeholders as they might not have the right tools or processes to do so. This guide has everything you need to start calculating the ROI of your projects, avoid scope creep, and improve project efficiency. You’ll learn proven steps, formulas, and examples to calculate and improve project ROI.

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Acclaim Projects Helps Deliver Innovation Projects on Time and on Budget

This large intercity transportation company for people and freight employs 100+ IT employees and contractors across North America and Europe and spends $10MM annually for approximately 50 inflight projects. The company needed the right financial tools to budget for innovation initiatives and real-time information on spending and forecasting. This transportation company turned to Acclaim Projects by Sopheon to help deliver projects on time and within budget.

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Warum solltest du Schulungen gemeinsam mit einem Ko-Trainer durchfĂĽhren? 2 Vorteile der Zusammenarbeit und wie du dich dadurch aktiv weiterentwickelst

Scrum.org

Wie kann ich mich als Trainer weiterentwickeln? Diese Frage stelle ich mir nicht nur selbst häufig, sondern höre sie auch regelmäßig von meinen Kursteilnehmern. Meine Antwort lautet: Führe deine Schulungen gemeinsam mit einem Ko-Trainer durch. Wenn du jetzt denkst, dass sich deine Arbeit dadurch finanziell nicht mehr so lohnt, mag diese Annahme kurzfristig zutreffen.

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Achieving Stakeholder Management Success with the Power-Interest Grid

Project Pulse Journal

By: Meredith G. Malinawan, PMP Do you need help managing a diverse array of stakeholders in your projects? Does balancing varying interests and powers within a project confuse you? A clear, actionable framework that simplifies stakeholder prioritization and analysis and enhances your ability to engage effectively with each stakeholder according to their influence and interest would help address this dilemma.

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How to Get Scope Right in the First Place

MPUG

Accurately defining the scope of a project and getting stakeholder signoff early on is one of the keys to project success. It is incumbent upon you to get your scope right during the definition stage. For a deeper dive into defining scope and getting stakeholders on-board, refer to the previous article – Scope Creep: How to Prevent a Major Source of Project Failure.

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11 Key Challenges in Adopting Project Portfolio Management

NimbleWork

In this article, we’ll talk about the problems with project portfolio management and the common challenges leaders face. The good news is that all the challenges can be overcome with some planning and a good software solution to underpin management of the portfolio. If you want to avoid the challenges of moving to a portfolio management approach without the headaches of a tricky adoption, you’re in the right place!

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From Concepts to Actionable Insights: Powering Digital Transformation Success

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

70% of most digital transformation projects fail. Learn how you can quickly improve that success rate. To be successful, digital transformation involves the strategic application of digitalization to improve a business’ entire system of production, procurement, sales, operations, human resources, and financial management. In short, to basically transform the way a company makes money and delivers value to customers.