When it comes to project initiation decisions, does your organization follow a rational, considered process? Most projects are beholden to politics, proceeding as the result of advocacy, persuasion and bargaining. And it is often the committed actions of an individual project “shaper” who wields the greatest influence on any given project’s approval.
Learning How to Learn: Getting Better About Getting Better
When it comes to our projects, we don’t try to get better. Even when we claim otherwise, the sad truth is that we keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Even when change is within our power to influence, we don’t make the modifications necessary to improve. And this writer can prove it…
Quality Isn’t Free. But It Just Might Be a Worthwhile Investment.
Quality takes time, effort and hard work to realize. So what does that mean for project managers? Does it mean we need to be investing even more in our project management processes? Do we need to be learning arcane techniques for statistical process control and total quality management? Do we really need that Sigma Six black belt after all? Not necessarily.
Making Programs Work: Straighten Up and Fly Right
There are some very real distinctions that are present between programs, projects and portfolios that are frequently misunderstood. Sometimes this misunderstanding is accidental, and occasionally it is by design. And some misconceptions have the unfortunate consequence of skewing the focus away from just what makes a program actually a program.
Does PM Have a Future? And What is It?
Project management practices themselves haven’t evolved much since the 1950s. In attempting to divine the future of project management, then, it’s helpful to assess a few of the fundamental underlying trends that have been observed in project management, and what they mean for how it may evolve in the future.
It’s Not the Data that’s Important, It’s the Story
We live in an increasingly quantified world. It would strongly appear that this won’t change much in the near future, but this creates a number of challenges–many of which aren’t necessarily obvious. A significant challenge is simply what we often do with the data that we have.