I love articles that begin with casual throwaway lines such as “controlling resources is pretty straightforward.” Either the author has never managed an IT project of any size, or I need to turn in my project management… Read More
The client stakeholder and I looked at each other, mouths open. We didn’t know if we should laugh or get angry. Did the IT provider’s team lead just throw his fellow lead under the bus?
One of the most successful projects that I worked on was one in which we as a management team decided to blur the lines between the Control Quality and Validate Scope activities.
Now don’t get… Read More
As Project Managers, we are conditioned to monitor and control the scope, schedule, and costs of our projects.
But what about quality?
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What do stacks of invoices, sandy beaches, and green eye shades have in common? Nothing. I lied about the green eye shades.
Although I probably didn’t have to lie about the green eye shades.
I was… Read More
Earlier in my career I remember reviewing a book on Earned Value Management and Analysis. It was well over 100 pages long. I thought to myself, “What have we done?”
Seriously. 100+ pages to describe a process to… Read More
My very first article in this 52-week series showed some startling statistics for our industry:
Our project was off the rails. It was partly our fault, partly the client’s.
These were the days when project management methodologies were still maturing. Our documentation of contributing factors was incomplete or non-existent. Clearly, there was scope creep that had not… Read More
I like the sound of “fast track.” “Crashing?” – not so much.
Just the term itself – “crashing the schedule” – sounds destructive rather than constructive.
Fast tracking and crashing are two techniques that Project… Read More
You’ve planned the work. Now it’s time to work the plan. Often this is easier said than done.
The Project Management Institute’s “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge” (PMBOK® Guide),… Read More