In the world of project management methodologies, the two words you hear most often is Agile and Waterfall. Although some purists may question Agile as a methodology rather than more of a paradigm the reality is that these are two different ways of approaching project execution. Traditional (Waterfall) Methodology Projects that use the Waterfall, or…
Most of us at some point in our lives will say we need to diet or eat healthier or exercise more, and we will try to implement that change into our lives, but without support from others, a plan, and some resolve to make it thru the difficult stages, these changes usually fail, and the…
As a PMO leader, you likely always looking for opportunities to enable your program and project leaders to deliver more meaningful work for your organization. You might be asking yourself how your team can work with the business and IT to better to ensure projects are prioritized according to current organizational needs, sponsors have clear…
Many organizations like to say that they have made the transition from traditional project delivery to adopting an Agile framework. While an organization may have dropped the methods they previously used they are not necessarily being Agile. In my experience, there are 3 reasons why organizations tend to fail at being Agile. You misunderstood that…
Heaven is where: French are the lovers, Brits are the police, Italians are the cooks, and Germans organize everything. Hell is where: Germans are the lovers, French are the police Brits are the cooks, and Italians organize everything. As the European joke above highlights — organization is important, especially for those in the legal and…
As a consultant in Quality Assurance, when I arrive at a new client or start a new project at an existing client; one of the conditions of satisfaction expressed by my stakeholders is that they want a high-quality result delivered at the end of the project. That’s not an unreasonable ask if a company is…
Over 90% of a professional’s job is spent communicating. Communication occurs in group meetings, one on one conversations, sending emails, project management status reports, or simple hallway discussions. Most of us think of communication in a formal, traditional format such as: presentations, emails, group meetings or status reports. However, it is in the subtle ways…
In Part I, last week, I laid out a general overview on why projects fail and looked at reason #1 in more detail. In Part II, we will look at reasons 2-4 in greater detail. Is project success or failure solely the responsibility of the Project Manager? In my opinion, the answer is NO. This…
We all know that more projects fail than succeed. There are studies by educational institutions, research organizations, etc. that support this same reality. The dollar store mentality of cheap and fast is used too often. Executives that don’t hold people accountable for anything but customer satisfaction while ignoring schedule, budget, and quality often will fail…
“Stop being so immature!” “Would you just grow up?” “Come on, act your age.” Wow, that can be personally irritating to hear these phrases muttered, especially if you are like me and have more fun NOT acting your age. But how do you feel when these are directed towards your project managers or Project Management…