Returning to the Blogosphere

Good day out there to everyone in the blogiverse. I've been away far too long but I've had some very hectic and busy months working with a few organizations to transform their project, program and portfolio management operations. I've been doing this for quite a few years now and first started while I was working for the IBM Corporation from 1991 to 1993, then again at IBM from 1998 to 2004. My recent engagements have focused on program management in the federal government and several large private sector companies. The parallels these days are amazing. Now I have enough free... Read More»

Five Fundamentals to Avoid Project Failure: Part 1 - Project Charter

In my last blog, I initiated a discussion about the fundamentals of project management that are most important for managing projects. To start off this week's discussion, here they are: 1) Project Charter 2) WBS 3) Critical Path 4) Control and Governance 5) Risk management It's important to also recognize and highlight that these are NOT the only fundamentals of project management. There are in fact numerous fundamentals. However, I want to look at some of the fundamentals in more detail, examine their importance in overall project management. In each of the following blogs, I will discuss one of these... Read More»

Failure to Follow Fundamentals Equals Failed Projects

Following the fundamentals of project management is as important as eating to feed the body. If you don't eat, chances are your body starts to fail. If you don't practice the fundamentals of project management, chances are good that the project will fail. It's the responsibility of project managers to apply project management fundamentals to their projects from start to finish. What I've found out in my almost 25 years of PM experience is that when projects fail it is because the fundamentals were not followed. I've also found that the fundamentals were not followed because either the project manager... Read More»

Troubled Projects Troubling You - Some White Papers to help you make it Right!

Standish reports continue to indicate that the number of troubled projects rises each year. On these troubled projects, private companies and government agencies lose millions. Over time, I've been called in to help fix some of these projects. I never like getting that phone call, hearing a worried voice on the other end of the line, knowing that they're in dire need of some help. What I can say is that I love to make it right - taking a troubled project and fixing it, getting that terrible creep away from the scope or ensuring that a project is back... Read More»

PMO Value and Victory - The Most Bang for Your Buck

Each industry has its own rules to live by, its own expectations, and its own operational nuances. Each company within our unique industries also has its own characteristics. Fortunately, the PMBOK® offers us a set of norms for our profession, a set of best practices we offer our companies. But even with the PMBOK® to guide us, we still each bring our own approach and ideas about how to run a project. This leads me to my question: how do we synthesize our skills and ideas with project management best practices with the unique needs and operating environment of the... Read More»

Competence and Complacency: A Project Manager’s Friend and Foe

In this week's blog, I'd like to deliver on a promise I made last week, to offer a breakthrough in thought leadership for project management. This is a piece of advice that is often overlooked and frequently endangers projects - do not get complacent. It sounds simple, but it isn't. What I share here is based on 40 years of PM experience. I've been lucky enough to serve as a project manager on great teams at places like IBM and with the consulting companies I've owned. I have reviewed hundreds of troubled projects. Some projects were huge, worth millions, and... Read More»

Lessons in Setting a Project Schedule

Deadlines! They can be like quicksand. The harder we fight to meet deadlines, the more of them we seem to miss. The anxiety practically whispers in your ear, "you're about to miss another deadline." If your current project life is an anxious one where you feel like you're trying to swim out of quicksand, I can relate. I remind myself of what that felt like often so I don't forget the importance of a project schedule. When I've found myself in project quicksand it's usually because I didn't create a detailed, well thought out, and accurate schedule or because my... Read More»

Seeing Clearly with Scope

Upon starting a recent project, my team and our clients gathered for discussion. We wanted to talk about this new project and collaborate about scope. For the clients, we were simply having our first project kickoff meeting. For me, this was the most valuable time of project initiation. As they expressed their wants and needs, their expectations for the project, I was able to gather facts and see the scope. Once my team and I returned from our meeting, we were able to discuss in depth the needs of the client and define our scope. It's a fact! Without defining... Read More»

Emerging FAC makes new Project Managers a Hot Acquisition

The market shifts from minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, and year to year. Changing markets supply new opportunity for project managers. During the recent blizzard that blanketed Washington, DC and surrounding areas, my friend Bill who runs a landscaping company retrofitted his company truck with a plow. In one day, Bill created an entirely new line of business for himself. I thought it was ingenious that he watched what was happening around him and made himself adaptable to the situation. I think of Bill as a leader and a project manager. Shifting markets beg us to... Read More»

Communicating for Project Success

I've been out for a while, had my knee replaced, been working on projects new and old, and I'm finally back on my feet. Thanks for stopping by for a read. In my morning status meeting today, I listened to a manager provide an update with five of my colleagues, while four phones vibrated around the conference table. My own two phones buzzed in my pocket. That's six phones channeling email, digital conversations with project information - the symphony of reminders of meetings to come. As the day proceeded, I had four meetings over 6 hours before settling down to... Read More»