I was recently reading some project management articles for inspiration when I came across one about project management in a development environment. Naturally, having an IT and a project management background I just assumed the article would be about software development. After all what other type of development is there? Well it didn’t take me […]
Development Projects – A Confusion of Terminology Read More »
I have previously written an article about the importance of a project manager asking in-depth questions at the outset of a project and how knowing which questions to ask and, more importantly, how to elicit clear, detailed answers is critical to the success of a project. The article lists 20 questions all project manager should
Questions, Questions and More Questions Read More »
I have recently been considering some of the traits and behaviours that successful project managers exhibit. For a project to be successful it obviously needs a project manager with the experience and skills to guide the project and the team from the initiation phase right through to a successful completion all within the time
The Awkward Client Read More »
I recently came across a few of definitions of the Agile methodology which I thought worth sharing. Of course, many people would provide different definitions and the definitive description can be found in the Agile Manifesto but if you haven’t got time to read that right now here goes: “An iterative and incremental
My Project is Agile Read More »
Accountability – The obligation to report on one’s actions. Activity – Any work performed on a project. May be synonymous with task but in some cases it may be a specific level in the WBS (e.g., a phase is broken down into a set of activities, activities into a set of tasks). An activity
Project Management Glossary Read More »
I’ve really been enjoying reading the 3-part article by Larry Peterson “Living Projects” – having earned my stripes as a software development project manager I am well aware of the conflict between the theory and practise of planning and scheduling a project from start to finish and the realities of software development. The
My Project is Alive Read More »
Dealing with conflict is one of the many tasks you will have to perform in your role as a project manager if you want your project to be a success. Never underestimate the importance of resolving conflicts (even if they might seem trivial) as projects can, and will, be derailed if personality clashes and
Dealing With Conflict in Projects Read More »
I have previously written two articles about what particularly masculine attributes make men successful project managers (“Do Men Make the Best Project Managers?”) and what particularly feminine attributes make women successful project managers (“Do Women Make the Best Project Managers?”). Many of the comments and tweets that these two articles generated suggested that masculine
Male vs. Female Project Managers Read More »
Someone said to me recently that they always only use Gantt charts to manage projects. And certainly there are many projects for which a detailed Gantt chart would be sufficient – projects that are simple and straightforward, or similar to other projects previously completed successfully. But when the project is highly complex or involving
Knowing your PERT’s from your Gantt’s Read More »
Many project managers are under pressure to estimate projects accurately without being given the time to gather the information required for an accurate estimate. Conversely they are also expected to meet deadlines that were imposed by market forces, such as producing a new product before the competition, which bears no relevance to the amount of
The Basics of Project Management Read More »
