CoLAB has put together an easy-to-understand, visual guide to the 6 basic stages of project management. Know a beginner project manager or someone who would like to know more about the project management process? Feel free to share it.
“To what degree does the mindset of a project manager affect the achievement of project value? Some project managers question the constraints of a project and, despite these constraints, achieve extraordinary results because they implement projects with a different mindset.”
Jennifer Bridges, Director of ProjectManager.com, has a series of interesting videos for beginner project managers in which she explains some core project management principles.
In Project Risk, Explained looks at defining project risk more clearly, differentiating it from an issue, as well as some examples of the effects of project risk and how to identify risks in a project.
We usually like to do our own reviews of project management books, but sometimes we find a good review from someone else that is worth sharing.
Project-management.com has a list of their top 10 best project management books, which gives a number of different options to the project manager depending on their style and preference.
Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling is a project management bible written by Dr. Harold Kerzner, one of the most respected experts on Project Management. Now in its 10th edition (2015) it offers an extremely comprehensive knowledge of project management.
There have been many mixed reviews and opinions about this book. Some people have felt it is too long, too intimidating and does not contain enough case studies. At a whopping 1200 pages, it is indeed long, but its length ensures that is offers an exhaustive, encyclopaedic type of coverage.
Amye Scavarda wrote a quick, tongue-in-cheek rundown about her experience of the hard parts of project management on www.phase2technology.com. It’s an interesting perspective for new or aspiring project managers.
“When I look at what the real truth is to a talk about project management mistakes, I go to the source.
John was frustrated. This was the third time he had been called into a meeting by a client and told that he was not doing a good job. He knew that he was a good employee and could not understand what the problem was.
The problem was actually one of his own making: he did not understand the culture of the organisation.
A great article about how to build a successful, LASTING team from Glenn Llopis on Forbes.
“All great leaders know exactly what buttons to push and when to push them. They are experts at activating the talent that surrounds them. They are equally as effective at matching unique areas of subject matter expertise and / or competencies to solve problems and seek new solutions.
Business are constantly changing, evolving and growing. However, too often we focus on the details of our processes, trying to change individual aspects to improve efficiency. Each aspect of operations is looked at close-up, and we forget that the change needs to be broader than the activity: efficient management should focus on the sum of all of these activities and how they come together into complete business processes.
Business process management (BPM) takes a systematic approach to these changes, optimising an organisation’s workflow and flexibility.
ESI International, one of the world leaders in project management training, offered its thoughts on the top 10 trends in project management for 2015.
“The 2015 trends reveal that project managers (PMs) will be impacted by many changes this year including more hybrid environments, an increasing demand for talent management, and a growing need to more closely align project outcomes with organisational strategy.”
Both context and scope form an intergral part of a project’s success, working together to form a complete, well-formed project. While most projects seem to have a clearly defined scope, you also need to understand the context in which that project will operate in order to properly define the scope. Failure to understand the context could result in serious consequences for the project.
20 great tips for project management success from Businessknowhow.com covers a good list of ideas and things to remember during the project management lifecycle. The list is an excerpt from Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to Project Management: Get It Done Right! by Sid Kemp.
“What will it take to make your project successful? Get the top 20 steps to success and learn the 5 things to avoid…”
Businesses need to constantly adapt to find new ways to add value. As the key change agents in a business, Project Management Offices are vital to companies achieving their business objectives. In my experience as PMO manager, I have realised how critical it is for PMOs to utilise a Project Management Framework in order to ensure that the change is strategic rather than chaotic and effectively serve the needs of the business.
“Productive laziness is all about success, but success with far less effort.”
There are many fantastic books on project management available for all aspects and angles of project management. The Lazy Project Manager – How to be twice as productive and still leave the office early by Peter Taylor recently came across our desk.
The book looks at taking a more focused approach to project management, exercising practices that really matter rather than expending energy on non-critical activities. It focuses on the old adage “work smarter, not harder” – or “productive laziness”.
Many organisations, when they green-light a project, have an idea of how the project will affect the business, but few fully consider the changes that might occur within a business as a result of the project. Operational readiness provides a structured approach to the transition from project to operations, ensuring that the transition is managed in a structured, orderly fashion so that the asset can provide maximum value for the investment.
One of the top three time wasters in the business world is meetings. As a project manager, you know you need them. You need to communicate with your team, stakeholders, clients, management and other stakeholders around all aspects of your project. So here are 4 steps to help you make your project meetings more effective.
A plea for a sustainable approach
Barend Cronje, chief executive officer of CoLAB Project Implementation, likens the current state of project offices within organisations to the deforestation of the earth’s rainforests.
“In the modern environment of project delivery, much has been researched and written about the case for project offices which, for ease of reference, includes terms such as project management offices, project support offices and project delivery capabilities,” he explains.
According to PMI PMBOK 4th edition, a project is “a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result”. Essentially, says Barend Cronje, CEO of CoLAB, this means that a project refers to the introduction of a new or changed capability into a working environment for improved benefit. “This means that project management has to introduce change effectively in order to realise the value intended with the successful delivery of projects.”
by Guy Jelley
As the management framework within which project decisions are made, project governance differs vastly from corporate governance, and unlike the King III legislation that presides over South African businesses, it needs to be fit for purpose per project and organisation.
It is widely accepted that project governance is fundamental to ensuring project success and control. Nevertheless, there is a delicate boundary between too much and too little governance. Too many processes being inflicted on a project team can be just as harmful to project delivery as putting too few processes in place.
How many times have you said, “I wish I knew then what I know now”? Many a project manager has had the same thought. We asked the managers behind big ventures, including the development of the battery for General Motors’ Chevy Volt, Facebook’s home page redesigns, and Method’s growing line of green cleaning products, for the most important lesson they’ve learned for launching projects with maximum success.
