Project Management News
Types of Project Managers; Which one are you?
If you get in my way, I'll kill you! - ideal project manager If you get in my way, you'll kill me! - somewhat less than ideal project manager If I get in my way, I'll kill you! - somewhat misguided project manager If I get in your way, I'll kill you! - A tough...
7 Habits of Highly Funny Project Managers
Why are there people who are funnier than the rest of us? What makes them different? Oh sure, some people are just born funny. Some just have a natural way of saying things that’s funny. Some may look funny while others talk funny. After twenty plus years of...
75% of Cross-Functional Teams are Dysfunctional
When I was in the midst of researching what caused cross-functional teams to succeed — and finding that many of them failed — I discovered a deeply dysfunctional development project in a huge multinational IT company. The company had invested $100 million in the...
How to Keep Support for Your Project from Evaporating
Even years later, I still consider it my biggest professional failure: a company-wide employee training program that I’d developed and put through several rounds of vetting was shot down at the last minute. It was a painful surprise, and it changed the way I’ve sought...
Two Digital Myths That Trip Up The C-Suite
Most executives I talk to understand very well that digital technologies are permeating nearly every function of nearly every business. And yet many fall prey to two harmful myths. Myth #1: You will die without a digital strategy. This myth is generally accompanied by...
The Dirty Little Secret of Project Management
Why don’t more project managers sound an alarm when they’re going to blow past their deadlines? Because most of them have no earthly idea when they’ll finish the job. They don’t even think it’s possible to know. Too many variables. Too much that’s out of their...
Performing a Project Premortem
Projects fail at a spectacular rate. One reason is that too many people are reluctant to speak up about their reservations during the all-important planning phase. By making it safe for dissenters who are knowledgeable about the undertaking and worried about its...
Three Imperatives for Good Project Managers
We all have good ideas. The hard part is making them happen. HR departments love handing out worksheets on how to plan your time. Management gurus have written hundreds of pages of advice on how to better manage your week, your day, and your hour. But what happens...
6 big Project Management predictions for 2016…
It was predicted that the Agile methodology would grow in the IT field. In a VersionOne study published earlier this year, 2013-2014 saw an 84% jump in new Agile adopters. That number likely continued to grow (we’re going to have to wait for their newest study to...
Rules of Project Management
It takes one woman nine months to have a baby. It cannot be done in one month by nine women. Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn't have to do it. You can con a sucker into committing to an impossible deadline, but you cannot con him into meeting it. At the...
A Review of 3 Project Management Horror Stories & Lessons Learned
Success in project management requires a continuous stream of successfully managed projects. But even the best companies, with the most mature project management processes can stumble. So read the following horror stories and learn a few useful...
Cats in neck-ties: PMO Killers!
This is a discussion is about how the PMO is really just the custodian of a portfolio. The only reason a project portfolio exists is to deliver on business goals, and so the portfolio really belongs to "the business". But in most organizations there is little...