Project Management Essentials

MARCH 2, 2023

The Milestone-Kanban Schedule (MKS) is a hybrid project scheduling and management technique that combines traditional and agile best practices. The technique is well-suited for simple and complicated projects where the required deliverables are clear, but the time and effort needed to create them are not. It embraces iterative planning, uses milestones to establish a project roadmap.

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Project Management Essentials

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

The project management plan (Plan) is a powerful tool. It describes how the project will be executed. It should be tailored based on the project’s context and needs. A good Plan reduces the likelihood of misunderstanding, conflict, and disappointment. Unfortunately, in the rush to start a project, insufficient time is often devoted to creating the Plan.

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Project Management Essentials

JANUARY 3, 2023

Frederick Winslow Taylor shaped the field of management science. He believed systematic and scientific methods could be applied to managing operations and production. His work inspired the formation of the Harvard Business School and the modern assembly line. The Academy of Management named his Principles of Scientific Management as one of the 20th century’s most influential books.

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Project Management Essentials

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Disciplined Agile® (DA) and the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) are two popular, second-generation agile methodologies. They build on lean-agile thinking; and standard Scrum, Kanban, and DevOps practices. They offer practitioners tools to extend and mature their agility beyond the team to programs and the broader enterprise. They emerged about a decade after the Agile Manifesto.

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Project Management Essentials

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Servant leadership and self-organizing teams are foundational Agile characteristics. However, defining these principles is like explaining gravity to a child—clear, tangible descriptions are elusive. The image of an English butler still comes to mind when I hear “servant leader.” We can use simple rules to deconstruct, visualize, and describe these abstract concepts.

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Project Management Essentials

OCTOBER 3, 2022

To successfully transform our organizations and adopt new ways of working, we need to understand how we got here. The study of management is a social science. It influences our thoughts, management practices, and organizational behaviors. Social sciences provide valuable insights. But they are not always testable, timeless, or universally applicable.

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Project Management Essentials

AUGUST 31, 2022

Agile was initially conceived to deliver software projects more quickly. We have now learned to apply these principles and practices well beyond technology. Leading enterprises are now focusing on business agility—building the organizational capability to respond more quickly to the ever-changing competitive landscape. Seventeen technology thought-leaders from around the world gathered at the.

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Project Management Essentials

AUGUST 6, 2022

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.

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Project Management Essentials

JULY 3, 2022

Conflict exists. It is a natural part of being human. It occurs at home and at work. We disagree. We have different perspectives and opinions. We get upset by things that were said, or not said. These events arouse our emotions. We become angry or afraid. When there is conflict, we cannot control the other person’s behaviors. However, we own our response.

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Project Management Essentials

JUNE 4, 2022

The Gantt Chart is the most widely used project scheduling tool. It visually depicts the project’s activities, when they will occur, and their interdependencies. When used correctly, it is powerful. Unfortunately, most Gantts are poorly constructed, stripping them of their value. Henry Gantt developed the tool a century ago. The original Chart was simply a horizontal bar chart showing the timing.

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Project Management Essentials

APRIL 30, 2022

Agile teams are described as “self-organizing” or “self-managing.” But what does that really mean? The terms are frequently used but not widely understood. For teams to “be” Agile, they need to know how to act. Behaviors describe actions. They are observable and universally evident to all team members. To “be” Agile, teams should identify and clearly label the desired actions and interactions.

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Project Management Essentials

APRIL 1, 2022

Economics is the social science that studies making choices subject to constraints. Project, program, and portfolio managers make economic decisions daily. We try to maximize value delivery subject to the constraints of time, cost, quality, risk, and resource availability. Economics can help project managers make more informed decisions. It provides frameworks to evaluate different options and.

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Project Management Essentials

MARCH 1, 2022

Excellent “soft skills” differentiate the great project managers. Since 90% of a project manager’s time is spent with others, it is no surprise that communications and emotional intelligence are vital traits. They are situationally aware, assess context, and communicate more effectively with their teams, customers, and stakeholders.

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Project Management Essentials

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

Let’s be honest, most project schedules disappoint. They are unrealistic, complicated, and do not help guide execution. For decades, Gantt charts, network diagrams, and the critical path method have been the standard practices. Even with these powerful tools, only about half of all projects are completed on time, as reported in the PMI Pulse of the Profession.

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Project Management Essentials

JANUARY 2, 2022

Project managers rarely face ethical dilemmas. We generally do not make life-or-death decisions or need to choose between “right” and “wrong.” However, we need to be prepared and have a framework for confronting these circumstances when they arise. My career is probably more colorful than most: I managed the United States Treasury securities’ auctions when the fabled investment firm.

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Project Management Essentials

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

Assumptions and risks are embedded in our daily lives. We expect the day will unfold as planned, and risks will not materialize. Most of these assumptions are benign, like thinking the weather report will be accurate; or no major calamities will occur. Projects are built on assumptions. Without them, it would be impossible to proceed. But some may lead to unanticipated or even tragic consequences.

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Project Management Essentials

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Large enterprises struggle to manage their project portfolios effectively. They fall prey to the fallacy of optimizing resource allocation. Or simply stated, they focus on making sure everyone is busy rather than getting things done. Team members are allocated at least 100% to project work, if not more. As a result, people are working on multiple projects—more than they can realistically juggle.

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Project Management Essentials

OCTOBER 4, 2021

Selecting a project management approach and framework is complicated. Not that long ago, it was like buying a Model-T Ford; you could have any color you wanted, as long as it was black—our only option was Waterfall. Today Waterfall is still a choice. There are also multiple Agile frameworks, or you can mix-and-match and go Hybrid. So many choices.

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Project Management Essentials

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Project management theory established the Triple Constraint (aka, the Iron Triangle) as the key to project success. If the scope is known and fixed, then the schedule and cost must adjust to accommodate scope changes. The simplicity of this proposition is appealing. At the beginning of the project, all requirements are documented, the design is approved, and nothing should change.

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Project Management Essentials

AUGUST 2, 2021

Everyone tells me they are busy. They are on video or conference calls from morning until evening. On average, workers receive over 100 emails per day and send at least 40. A common complaint is, “I spend my entire day meeting and doing email; and have no time for my ‘real’ work.” After listening to a podcast on remote work, I reflected on my experience working with distributed teams in the 1990s.

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Project Management Essentials

JULY 1, 2021

Modern management theory is built on the premise of trust. If management creates a values-based culture, employees will make the “right” decisions. Douglas McGregor described Theory X (not trusting) and Y (trusting)managers. The 1950s were an inflection point where the nature of work and management practices began to shift. In the era of industrialization and mass production.

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Project Management Essentials

JUNE 3, 2021

The virtues of high-performing teams are well documented. They are 50% more productive. They are more creative, and members are 76% more likely to be engaged. Gallup studies of organizational performance find that companies with highly engaged employees are twice as likely to be successful. Specific performance metrics include: 17% increase in productivity, 10% increase in customer satisfaction.

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Project Management Essentials

MAY 2, 2021

The traditional definition of optics is the scientific study of sight or light. An alternative description relates to politics and refers to the perception of a situation. The political origin dates back to the Carter Administration when a Wall Street Journal editorial stated, “optics will not cure inflation.” Optics and the management of perceptions are not limited to politics.

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Project Management Essentials

APRIL 3, 2021

In one of my training classes, there is an exercise to conduct a daily stand-up meeting. The meeting should be no longer than 15-minutes and be well structured. In class, we challenge the leader with common distracting and unproductive behaviors. Watch the clip, the results are often hilarious. Disruptive and unproductive meetings are common and just do not happen in practice exercises.

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Project Management Essentials

MARCH 1, 2021

There are many tools to help project teams manage their work, collaborate, and track performance. The number of options is overwhelming— Capterra has published over 900-project management tool reviews. I teach project management classes and am often asked, “Which tool should we use?” My fundamental advice is to focus on your needs and select a tool that fits.

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Project Management Essentials

JANUARY 30, 2021

I called an old colleague just to say “hello” and see how he was doing. We have worked together at different companies over the past dozen years. He is an inspirational finance executive and counted on me to implement his vision. After salutations, he remarked, “You’re that guy! You are so good at keeping in touch.” I brushed off the compliment.

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Project Management Essentials

JANUARY 1, 2021

This year was like living through a 500-year storm. COVID has infected 1 in 20 Americans, and 1 in 1,000 have died of the disease. Nearly 15 million people are still out of work. Thirty-three million have been remote for 9-months and are not likely to return soon. Racial and social justice issues are at the forefront of the national conversation. It is a good time for us to reflect and refocus.

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Project Management Essentials

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Balancing our work and home lives is a challenge that nearly everyone faces. I was a single parent for many years and managed large teams and projects in Fortune 100 companies. It was not always easy. Recently, I was talking to an old friend and former colleague. When we worked together, she did not have children. She remarked at how easily I seemed to manage the competing demands of work and.

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Project Management Essentials

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Agile is now part of the general business lexicon. On the news, non-technology leaders keep mentioning the need to be “agile” or “pivot.” Even leaders of traditional industries, like football, use the terminology to describe their approach to their complex business problems. Agile is not magic, nor is it hard to learn. This article shares two foundational principles are empowering people and.

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Project Management Essentials

OCTOBER 3, 2020

You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief They may call you doctor, or they may call you chief But you have to serve somebody … Bob Dylan No matter your role, you are accountable to someone. As we ascend the organizational ladder, stakeholder management becomes an increasingly more critical skill. Stakeholder management is the ongoing process of identifying, evaluating.

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Project Management Essentials

AUGUST 31, 2020

We are living in interesting times. All countries are struggling to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Societies are challenging their histories of racial and social injustice. Fundamental beliefs are being scrutinized. Considering how we think and understanding our cognitive biases will be essential as we adjust to this “new normal.” What we consider to be “true” may need to be revalidated.

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Project Management Essentials

AUGUST 21, 2020

iFour Technolab, August 21, 2020. “One of the most effective ways to minimize productivity loss while working from home (or anywhere) is to stop trying to multi-task. The human brain does not multi-task. So while you are listening to a conference call, responding to an email, and participating in chat, you are not being effective. Do one thing at a time.

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Project Management Essentials

NOVEMBER 1, 2019

Stakeholder management is one of the most critical project management functions. Stakeholders are our customers, organizational leaders, members of our project teams, and people we may not even know. The project manager’s ability to effectively identify, understand, and engage stakeholders is a key determinant of success. According to the Project Management Institute’s (PMI), 2018 Pulse of the.

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Project Management Essentials

DECEMBER 2, 2019

Managers and project managers are often told that “engaging stakeholders” is critical to success. However, they rarely receive guidance on what it means or how to “engage stakeholders.” It is similar to when I started practicing yoga, the teacher told us to “release our sacrum.” I had no idea that I had a sacrum, let alone how to “release” it. In this article, I describe tangible practices for.

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Project Management Essentials

JANUARY 5, 2020

Agile teams using the Scrum framework commit to delivering value in each development sprint. Sprints are generally 2-weeks long, and the goal is to create working software that can be deployed into production. While commitment is one of Scrum’s core values, in reality, teams do not always complete the work. This is commonly known as a “failed sprint.

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Project Management Essentials

JANUARY 29, 2020

Disciplined Agile (DA) has the potential to become a leading agile framework because it creates harmony in this congested thought-space. DA recognizes practices from across the spectrum and offers a pragmatic and context-driven approach to agility. Currently, DA is not widely used. In the State of Agile Report, it does not make the list of top methodologies.

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Project Management Essentials

MARCH 2, 2020

Many organizations struggle with project governance, oversight, and control. The truth is that most projects are not successful. Over the past 25-years, only 30% of all projects are delivered on-time, on-budget, and with the desired scope. Traditional waterfall projects have phase gates that theoretically establish defined control and governance points.

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