People, Projects, and Organizations
Four Functional Disciplines Needed on All Projects
All projects have a set of common characteristic by definition: they are temporary endeavors undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. Because of this, they also have some common activities that must be executed. Such things as: developing the project plan, schedule, and budget . . . executing, controlling, and pre-planning the project...
Too Many Projects on Your Plate?
It used to be that we would hear of people managing three or four projects at a time. Now we are hearing of people who are managing 10 to 15 at a time. Chances are, others might have even more. Sure it is a sign of the times; organizations having to do more with less....
Momentum – The X Factor in Project Success
In physics, momentum is a term used to describe a mass in motion. In competition it’s used to indicate which side has the current upper hand. It’s what aids a baseball team in winning the game by scoring five runs in the 9th inning with two outs. It gives the offense the edge in scoring...
Estimating: Why We’ll Never Get It Right
Estimating . . . predicting . . . forecasting, these are three different words with three things in common. They establish a position on the future with some margin of error. All of them are used for planning purposes and aim at helping companies prepare for the future. We all know their accuracy and successes...
The Purpose of v1.0 is to Make a Great v2.0
What drove us to become the consumers we are today? We want everything right now and just the way we like it. For the most part, these expectations are met: faster this, more options in that, and everything cheaper. Unfortunately, when we move into our work environment we also apply these same expectations to our...
You Can’t Manage a Project While Working in it
No person starts their professional career in the role of project manager. Project managers usually have spent years as a member of project teams, contributing directly to the end product. As they gained experience and mastered their skills in multiple areas, they one day got the chance to manage a project. If they didn’t crash...
Your Biggest Project Risk is Poor Project Management
One of Systemation’s most highly sought after single discipline classes within project management is risk management. Directors are hot on it; they feel their PM’s are weak in risk management because of a common pattern they witness. Projects are not being completed as expected and the main culprit it seems is unexpected events, unforeseen risks,...
Project Management ROI
All project managers see their job differently. Some are very lofty in describing their role; others seem lost still trying to discover it. There is talk of making customers happy, working with users, managing risk, and many other activities. But, if you ask a director of projects managers, “what is the role of a project...
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