Have you ever been on a project that missed all of its commitments for cost, schedule, and quality? Although it may seem counterintuitive, there are a number of projects that have major problems, even some that are cancelled, on which the team members all receive great reviews and the project manager is promoted. …
Individual Performance Should Be Linked to Project ResultsRead More »
In organizations where poor performers are (involuntarily) allowed to thrive, the levels of productivity and morale take deep plunges, and turnover increases. When organizations impose no checks on performance, top performers leave because they want to avoid associating with a management that tolerates mediocrity. With only mediocre employees staying on, the work culture evolves to accommodate mediocrity. This has a damaging, long-term effect on productivity and, even worse, the organization’s reputation. …
A Hewlett-Packard executive once noted, “If you catch a two cent resistor before you use it and throw it away, you lose two cents. If you don’t find it until it has been soldered into a computer component, it may cost $10 to repair the part. If you don’t catch the component until it is in the computer . . . the expense may exceed the manufacturing cost.” …
In a large project, there may be many people that have some role in the creation and approval of project deliverables. Sometimes this is pretty straightforward, such as one person writing a document and one person approving it. In other cases, there may be many people who have a hand in the creation and others that need to have varying levels of approval. …
Once the methodology has been selected, the PMO has to work to get the organization to adopt the common processes. Two of the primary ways this is done are through training and coaching services. …
Building Project Management Skills through Training and CoachingRead More »
Pareto analysis can be used when you encounter multiple related problems or a common problem with multiple causes. In this technique you are also able to collect metrics on how many times each problem or cause occurs. The purpose of Pareto Analysis is to observe the problems and determine their frequency of occurrence. This, in turn, gives you the information you need to prioritize your effort to ensure you are spending your time where it will have the most positive impact. …
You have heard the terms before, but do you really know the difference between quality control and quality assurance? …
When estimating effort hours, duration and cost, you must start off with an estimate of effort hours. Without an idea of the effort hours, you cannot accurately estimate duration or cost. …
Everyone can recognize and appreciate that a scope change request process must be invoked for large changes to the project. However, you may encounter resistance to formal scope change management for small requests. The client and other project team members may consider this to be unnecessary overhead for such small decisions. …
Proactively Manage Small Change Requests Using Alternative ProcessesRead More »
