This blog, while perhaps inspired by, is not about the Horizon scandal per se – but we can all learn from it. This post is more about the importance of accountability, taking ownership of those moments when something is not right and embracing a “for the greater good” culture.
It was Steven Covey who coined the phrase “begin with the end in mind” in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I’ve always loved that simple idea – have clarity about what the outcome must look like before beginning any endeavour.
In IT Project Management, as tech advances exponentially, it’s important that we take a leaf out of Covey’s book – and start every IT project with the END USER in mind.
Over the years, I have seen project teams asked to do it the other way around, to crowbar a new technology into their organisation’s operations, to be “of the moment”, ahead of the curve, cutting edge. It rarely ended well.
Your 2024 IT Project management mantra: start with the end user in mind Read More »
Is it “National Clear Your Desk Week” or something?
My social media timelines are full of IT project management friends and acquaintances announcing new positions.
On LinkedIn resumés are being refreshed and updated, meanwhile Instagram and Facebook are full of photos of leaving dos (I’m even in some of them) and leaving gifts and “Good Luck” cards! And cardboard box makers must be rubbing their hands together with the amount of pot plants and “You Don’t Have to Be Mad To Work Here, But It Helps” signs that are on the move!
TREND-SPOTTING
At Stoneseed, we provide IT Project resources via an on-demand model. Sometimes they’re long term and sometimes short, sometimes proactive (planned and booked way ahead) and other times reactive (it’s your PM that’s posting photos of flowers, balloons and Moonpig cards and you need a replacement now); sometimes it’s a full team and end to end PMO and other times just a single project manager or business analyst.
Top 3 ways to retain IT project talent and remain effective when you can’t Read More »
Sat on a train, I overheard a refreshing view on IT recruitment this week. I was trying not to listen to the conversation the chap opposite was having with his office, but you know how it is!? The man mentioned IT Project Management and was discussing a strategic hire that his firm had to make
Values create value: Hire culturally aligned IT talent Read More »
Out of all of the different skills required by project managers, there is no denying that being a leader is one of the most important. After all, your project team is going to be looking toward you for all of the answers and direction throughout the project. Therefore, you need to ensure that you can
Leadership Skills of Successful Project Managers Read More »
A project manager is someone who has plenty of relevant experience and has attained one or several of the relevant PM qualifications. However, when it comes to being a good project manager, those soft skills are critical as well, which is something we are going to focus on in this blog post. Below, we will
Soft Skills To Develop As a Project Manager Read More »
Picture a Project Manager, a full team and a Business Analyst … on every project. IT Project Nirvana. Budgets are tight so often it’s the latter that either gets sacrificed, usually merged into someone else’s role. Many Project Managers have in the past, had parts of their job description that look more ‘BA’ than ‘PM’,
Why IT Projects Shouldn’t Be Sheepish About BAaaS Read More »
I was inspired by a recent Facebook post by a friend who asked, in a status update, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Within minutes, dozens of replies appeared, all along the lines of “You OK hun?” or “How can I help?”. She’s fine by the way, just wondering why despite best efforts,
Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good Projects? Read More »
What can we learn from the top CIOs in the UK? Originally published in CIO.com CIO.co.uk recently published its Top 100 most transformative and disruptive CIOs in the UK. Each name on the list has given a neat interview that gives a unique insight into the thinking of this country’s leading CIOs. I wondered if common
Seven secrets of CIO success as taught by the CIO 100 Read More »
Originally published on CIO.com We record ‘lessons learnt’ as part of the project management process but do we actually learn from them? Recent experience and the number of projects that fail to deliver suggest we could probably all do better at learning from lessons learnt. It is worth considering this for a moment … Do
IT Projects. Do We Actually Ever Learn Lessons Learnt? Read More »
