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»

Experience Matters

I recently attended a PMI event on the age old question of what makes a project more successful than another. The discussion started by stating the obvious need to focus on the 5 W's, but also the importance of 'how' things are done. The discussion was primarily philosophical, asking us to each think of the differentiators. There isn't a one size fits all approach to success, and while checklists and "best practices" are helpful, I believe it's the team's application and foresight that goes into the application of a tool or method that determines success. Sure, guidance from other sources... 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»

How Do You Determine Project Success?

Is fulfilling the triple constraints sufficient to determine if a project is successful? I asked this question of PM students in my online course about management and leadership in a project environment: “I worked a project that had rules in place by upper management when I arrived that said that if you used a tool to do your job, you were not invited to meetings and your input was not required. Basically you were a tool jockey and you had nothing to contribute. Management felt that if you weren’t at your desk running your tool, you weren’t producing. If you... 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»

Keeping Perspective: "Seems So Small"

With many thanks to Carrie Underwood for singing this beautiful song, it seems fitting during this holiday season to reflect upon the lyrics and apply them to our world of project management: What you got if you ain't got love the kind that you just want to give away It's okay to open up go ahead and let the light shine through I know it's hard on a rainy day you want to shut the world out and just be left alone But don't run out on your faith As project managers, many people look to us for inspiration and... 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»

Year-End Inventory

By Sinikka Waugh, Project Coach at Your Clear Next Step As the year draws to a close, and we begin to look ahead at all that next year will hold, I'd like to suggest a quick assessment of our inventory. Businesses everywhere close their doors for a couple of hours or days to take stock of what they have, before going in to the New Year. As project professionals, I propose we do the same, where we count some things that may be a little less tangible, but no less critical to our success. I've listed these in an order... Read More»

Do You Stand Out?

The latest national unemployment report shows a slight decline, suggesting we are on the road to recovery. I suspect it will be a long recovery, given the fact we are still hovering around 10% nationally. With high unemployment and a growing prevalence of project managers, how do you stand out among the crowd while seeking your next job opportunity? A first-rate project manager sounds like a fantastical being - Proficient at planning and problem-solving, adept at budgeting; an accomplished negotiator and master influencer who is able to lead, motivate and communicate. Oh, and who is also able to remain calm... Read More»

Eating Your Own Cooking

Some years back I did a Thanksgiving timeline in Microsoft Project for ProjectConnections.com. I had actually developed it for a complicated Thanksgiving one year in a manual form, so I could understand the interplay of resources (burners, oven shelves, outdoor grill, etc.) as well as the need for extensive preparation of the multiple dishes. In transferring it to Microsoft Project, I found that it seemed more complicated than the manual, color-coded timeline I had done by hand. It was more difficult to understand than the original. That task made me think about actually using the tools we use professionally in... Read More»