(Team)
(Strategic)
(Holistic)
Source: http://leadership.org.au
Posted in Project Management
Midler, Killen and Kock opine, “A recurrent theme … is the need to manage projects in the uncertain, dynamic, and complex environments that are typical for highly innovative projects. Such environments are often ill-suited for traditional “rational” project management approaches due to unclear goals, shifting milestones, and evolving and unfolding activities. Alternative perspectives and approaches… provide conceptual inputs, as well as evidence and in-depth empirical understanding of how and when project management structures can provide benefits in managing innovation” (2016). The authors argue there are four main theoretical (and distinct) approaches:
Additional papers and discussion can be found in the April/May 2016 Project Management Journal and was a worthwhile read especially when considering antithetical ontological and epistemological assumptions within the practice of project management today.
Posted in Project Management, Qualitative, Quantitative, Theory
Given the classical project management triple constraint construct of cost, scope and time (with quality often reflected in the center), where does this model fall within the scope of project innovation? In the article “About the Role of Narratives in Innovation Project Leadership,” Enninga and van der Lugt argue there are three additional factors to consider, namely, 1. Developing context, 2. Stimulating creativity and 3. Guiding group dynamics (2006). These “narratives” in addition to meeting project constraints provides a more holistic and inclusive view when considering innovation in the authors view.
Posted in Project Management, Theory
Shenhar and Dvir’s Diamond of Innovation (2007) which was referenced in a recent article within Project Management Journal (April/May 2016) can aptly be applied to projects of many sizes and types. The categorization includes 1. Novelty, 2. Technology, 3. Complexity and 4. Pace. Contrasting this model to the so-called triple constraint of cost, scope and time (with quality often reflected in the center) can we gain new perspective in applying the Diamond of Innovation? I would argue that this additional tool would no doubt augment a project SWAT analyst in particular when comparing internal vs. external threats to a project.
Posted in Project Management, Tech, Theory
Save your cartoon and you get a unique URL that you can bookmark and email.
via Source: Project Cartoon
Posted in Project Management
☀ | Green: All’s well…( at least for now, let’s update Facebook)
☀ | Blue: Oh! Oh ! Missed a deliverable, no big deal.
☀ | Grey: Missed five deliverables. We have enough time, no worries..
☀ | Yellow: Dong! We may be in trouble…( you are already in trouble)
☀ | Pink: Time to tell my manager…( let’s share the panic)
☀ | Orange: Everyone knows we are in trouble except our sponsor.
☀ | Red: Sponsor needs to know today morning!..( should’ve known when you were in Grey)
Source: 7 shades of project status | Future Of Project Management.
Posted in Project Management
PM resources with RSS feeds:
Posted in Project Management
Qualitative Risk Analysis and the Risk Rating Matrix
By Joseph Phillips
Once you’ve identified your risks, it’s time for qualitative risk analysis. Qualitative risk analysis qualifies the risks for in-depth analysis. Basically, you and the project team discuss the identified risks, the probabilities of those risks occurring, and their impact if the risks actually do occur.
The most common approach to this process is to create a risk rating matrix. Here’s a quick sample of a risk rating matrix using an ordinal scale:
Risk | Impact | Probability | Score |
Vendor | Very high | Medium | High |
Developer skills | High | Medium | High |
Firmware changes | Medium | Very low | Low |
Asteroid | High | Very low | Low |
Travel delays | Low | High | Medium |
Within your project, you have to determine which of these risks deserve additional analysis. Typically you’d say the risks with a medium score or higher should be taken seriously and are promoted to quantitative risk analysis.
Posted in Project Management
Source: http://www.gantthead.com/article.cfm?ID=246092&authenticated=1
Posted in Project Management
Tagged information, information overload, to much information
A successful meeting begins with understanding its anatomy and we begin by doing an overview of its major components:
Meeting notes should contain:
Send out Meeting Notes – Make sure to email the meeting notes to all of the original invited attendees directly afterward (same day is best) and ask people to read and send corrections as needed.
from: http://www.cprime.com/community/articles/effective_meetings.html
Posted in Project Management
Posted in Career, Project Management
Tagged interview questions, Project Management Interview Questions
Indeed.com has an RSS feed while Careerbuilder.com has an iPhone application. In general, but in your key words (like project manager, or PMP) and then zip.
Why not try them both?
Posted in Project Management
Tagged jobs, pmp, Project Management, project management job, resume
4 Steps to Prevent Project Failure
November 19, 2007
It’s a lament many CIOs hear all too often from business managers: “Why can’t you start on my project right now? Why do I have to wait?” With IT project backlogs at some organizations running six to 18 months-or even longer-there’s good reason.
“Businesses need a way to ensure it’s not the squeakiest wheel but the most strategic project that gets IT’s attention,” says Ian Finley, research director at Boston-based AMR Research. “At the same time, IT needs to work side by side with the business units to set and execute strategy.”
Savvy IT project management is the solution. In a report issued by AMR last week, “How Leading Companies Unite IT with the Business,” Finley and co-authors Bill Swanton and David Brown find that smart IT project management can go a long way toward ensuring the projects IT focuses on are the most strategic for the organization.
“In a study of IT management effectiveness, we identified a class of companies that set themselves apart with deft leadership and effective management of IT projects,” Finley says. “This discipline just started to get applied to IT projects in the last few years.”
What these most successful IT groups have in common is a set of four best practices for managing their IT projects. They are:
A Business-IT Governance Council. This group, usually made up of both business and IT leaders, makes decisions on the business case of future IT investment, reallocates resources as priorities change, and determines which IT investments should be ended.
“The majority of large companies we see have an IT steering committee with IT and businesspeople deciding what the organization’s priorities should be,” Finley explains. “For large organizations with centralized IT operations that have multiple divisions they have to serve, this group is essential for setting corporatewide priorities to balance the needs of all divisions.”
IT Portfolio Management. While IT project management ensures the organization is correctly implementing projects, IT portfolio management aims to ensure that IT does the right projects. First and foremost in the portfolio management process is the tenet that IT project investments are based on business decisions and not IT decisions.
“The portfolio is managed more like a set of stock investments,” Finley explains. For many organizations, this means striking a balance among investments that keep the business running, investments that enhance the business, and investments that are high-risk but hold the promise of transforming the company. “It’s an interesting shift from questioning whether a project has a return on investment or are we making the right steps as a company,” he says.
A Program Management Office. This is a middle-management group that handles the day-to-day IT resource tradeoffs while making exceptions as needed to meet strategic business goals. If the company needs a new warehouse management system for the holidays, for example, the PMO assigns the project priority status. The PMO also keeps a close eye on the impact of IT project interrelationships.
“If you have 15 interlinked projects that are part of a larger program and one is behind, you need to flag it and redeploy people and resources to get it done,” Finley says. The PMO also serves as a center of excellence for project management skills. “It acts as a learning and training organization to help standardize the way to do projects,” he adds.
IT Project and Portfolio Management Software. PPM systems automate the management of IT projects, giving business managers as well as IT managers a portfolio view. “In some companies that have tens or even hundreds of projects, it’s hard to control them all without having these systems in place,” Finley says. Numerous software companies, including ERP vendors SAP and Oracle, have project and portfolio management solutions. Other key PPM vendors include CA, with CA Clarity, and Hewlett Packard, with HP Portfolio Center, both of which have made acquisitions in this market. Among the pure PPM software companies are PowerSteering and Innotas, each of which offers its PPM software as a service, and Planview.
Bottom line, Finley concludes, “IT needs to work side by side as part of the business, both setting and executing strategy. If your company is going to be innovative, you’re going to have to involve IT.”
Posted in Project Management
Consider this:
References
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/10/29/011029opsurvival.html
http://www.it-cortex.com/Stat_Failure_Rate.htm
http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?s=stating%20the%20obvious