Best Practical Blog

One of a project manager’s biggest tasks is keeping a project on track in the face of constant requests for changes and additions. It is for this reason that managing the expectations of project stakeholders from the outset of the project and having a strategy in place to deal with scope creep are both crucially important.

More and more the project management community is becoming aware of the value of soft skills. A good project manager is not only experienced and skilled but also has the capabilities to manage the people on the project and bring their team together toward a common goal.

How we do Project management has changed a lot in the past decade with new technologies emerging all the time. These tools and technologies are designed to simplify things and make project management more efficient, but it can be difficult to know what to use.

There are many factors that influence the success of a project, among them the right combination of planning, monitoring and controlling. Getting the balance of the elements right to complete a project on time and within budget can be tricky, so we are looking at some best practice tips that will help you get there.

Projects sometimes run into problems. It is up to the project manager to identify where the issues are before it becomes a project in crisis, but often companies are turn to changing project tools and processes to failing projects without identifying that the problem is actually in poor communication.

There is often blurring of the lines between product management and project management. The responsibilities frequently overlap and in some cases the role actually falls to the same person. But what is the real difference between a project manager and a product manager?

An article by Richard Banfield on freshtilledsoil.com looks to clear up the confusion around the different roles.

Project managers are faced with a multitude of complications and challenges that come with each and every project. Failure to overcome these can easily set a project onto a downward path that ultimately leads to project failure, so identifying and tackling the issues is essential. No two projects are alike and roadblocks vary, but we have identified some common challenges and ideas on how to overcome them.

Poor team dynamics can be as detrimental to a project as poor management. Good team dynamics mean a productive successful team. You may think your team doesn’t need an intervention, but consistently working on team dynamics is important for any team to keep it running smoothly and effectively.

Here are some common signs that your team dynamics need to be reviewed:

Project management methodologies are an integral part of the project management process, but with so many to choose from, how do you know where to begin?

This article from Moira Alexander looks at some of the different methodologies, including Agile, Waterfall, Critical Path Method (CPM), Six Sigma and others, and how to determine which is best suited to your needs.

Technology has gone a long way to improving how we manage projects and simplifying communication in the project team. But with so many systems out there it’s hard to know which way to turn.

Project requirements form an integral part of every project, and yet a large number of project failures are attributed to poor requirement identification and management. As a project progresses, ‘scope creep’ occurs largely because requirements and change are not being managed. Scope creep cuts away at the project budget and can ultimately result in failure.

Is there any such thing as a project that is too complex? Projects definitely vary in complexity, and obviously a more difficult project environment will result in a more complex project. But when the project complexity is resulting from risks or issues within your project, it could be time to take a step back and try to simplify the project to get it back on track.

Return on investment (ROI) is difficult to measure when it comes to project value. Ultimately, ROI is the driving force behind any project, but how do you measure its actual monetary value?

“Depending on the industry, there are multiple interpretations of ROI. For the purposes of this article, ROI is an indicator used to measure the financial gain/loss (or “value”) of a project in relation to it’s cost. Typically, it is used in determining whether a project will yield a positive payback and have value for the business.”