Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
2. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
3. Project Management Warning Flag 1 – Unfunded Activities
4. Project Management Warning Flag 2 – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds
5. Project Management Best Practice 7 – Use of Administrative Support

These goals are generic to all industries and all types of projects. Regardless of your level of experience in project management, set these 5 goals for every project you manage.

The Project Management Life Cycle: A Complete Step-By-Step Methodology for Initiating, Planning, Executing & Closing a Project Successfully by Jason Westland   The Project Management Life Cycle is the first book of its kind to provide a complete methodology for managing projects. Jason Westland introduces us to a Method123 Project Management Methodology (MPMMTM), which defines the best practice phases, activities and tasks required to complete a project on time and within budget. Containing hundreds of practical examples, checklists, forms, and diagrams to enhance your understanding of project management, the book skillfully guides you through the four critical phases of the project life cycle: initiation, planning, execution and closure. Written in a clear, professional and straightforward manner, it is relevant to the management of all types of projects, including IT, construction, engineering, telecommunications and government, as well as many others. Whether you are a project manager, senior manager, team member, consultant, trainer or student, you will be able to use this book to improve the way in which you manage projects.

Goal 1: To finish on time

This is the oldest but trickiest goal in the book. It’s the most difficult because the requirements often change during the project and the schedule was probably optimistic in the first place.

To succeed, you need to manage your scope very carefully. Implement a change control process so that any changes to the scope are properly managed.

Always keep your plan up to date, recording actual vs. planned progress. Identify any deviations from plan and fix them quickly.

Goal 2: To finish under budget

To make sure that your project costs don’t spiral, you need to set a project budget at the start to compare against. Include in this budget, all of the types of project costs that will accrue, whether they are to do with people, equipment, suppliers or materials. Then work out how much each task in your plan is going to cost to complete and track any deviations from this plan.

Make sure that if you over-spend on some tasks, that you under-spend on others. In this way, you can control your spend and deliver under budget.

Goal 3: To meet the requirements

The goal here is to meet the requirements that were set for the project at the start. Whether the requirements were to install a new IT system, build a bridge or implement new processes, your project needs to produce solutions which meet these requirements 100%.

The trick here is to make sure that you have a detailed enough set of requirements at the beginning. If they are ambiguous in any way, then what was initially seen as a small piece of work could become huge, taking up valuable time and resources to complete.

Goal 4: To keep customers happy

You could finish your project on time, under budget and have met 100% of the requirements – but still have unhappy customers. This is usually because their expectations have changed since the project started and have not been properly managed.

To ensure that your project sponsor, customer and other stakeholders are happy at the end of your project, you need to manage their expectations carefully. Make sure you always keep them properly informed of progress. “Keep it real” by giving them a crystal clear view of progress to date. Let them voice their concerns or ideas regularly. Tell them upfront when you can’t deliver on time, or when a change needs to be made. Openness and honesty are always the best tools for setting customer expectations.

Goal 5: To ensure a happy team

If you can do all of this with a happy team, then you’ll be more than willing to do it all again for the next project. And that’s how your staff will feel also. Staff satisfaction is critical to your project’s success.

So keep your team happy by rewarding and recognizing them for their successes. Assign them work that complements their strengths and conduct team building exercises to boost morale. With a happy motivated team, you can achieve anything!

And there you have it. The 5 goals you need to set yourself for every project.

Of course, you should always work smart to achieve these goals more easily.

Jason Westland has been in the project management industry for the past 16 years, he has managed many large projects including one which amounted to 2 billion dollars. Recently Jason has been an author for Computer World as well as publishing his first book titled The Project Management Life Cycle. Jason has recently launched a new project management planning Software called Project Plan to go along with the very popular project management software he released in 2008.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 5 – Define Success First
2. Project Management Warning Flag 2 – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds
3. Adaptive Project Framework is not your Father’s Project Management
4. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
5. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership

Key Characteristics of a Roles and Responsibilities Matrix

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 7 – Use of Administrative Support
2. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
3. Portfolio Management Best Practice 2 – The Project Registry
4. Project Management Best Practice 4 – Team Calendar
5. Project Management Best Practice 6 – A+ Players

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
2. Project Management Best Practice 5 – Define Success First
3. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
4. Portfolio Management Best Practice 2 – The Project Registry
5. Project Management Best Practice 4 – Team Calendar

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
2. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
3. Portfolio Management Best Practice 2 – The Project Registry
4. Project Management Best Practice 2 – Define What is Not In Scope
5. Project Management Warning Flag 2 – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds

But can a project’s scope, time, and cost elements be both in balance – the project management triangle’s integrity established and maintained – and be out of balance at the same time? Absolutely!

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Warning Flag 3 – Frequent Re-baselining
2. Project Management Warning Flag 1 – Unfunded Activities
3. Project Management Warning Flag 2 – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds
4. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
5. Resource Management Warning Flag 2 – Parkinson’s Law

Special Edition 36 – An Interview with Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework explores how to deal with the often monumental uncertainty associated with project scope, resources, and time; increasing the organization’s rate of project success and improving its bottom line returns. During our discussion, Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework: Managing Complexity in the Face of Uncertainty and President of Enterprise Information Insights, shares with us his insights and illustrative examples regarding:

• the differences and benefits of using the Adaptive Project Framework to deal with project uncertainty
• core values of the Adaptive Project Framework
• types of projects for which the Adaptive Project Framework is ideally suited
• how the Adaptive Project Framework is executed through its five phases
• how the Adaptive Project Framework helps leaders evaluate the ongoing viability of an initiative and terminate it, if necessary, while still receiving value for the time and resources expended

Additional Information

In addition to the invaluable insights Robert shares in Adaptive Project Framework and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from his website, www.EIICorp.com.   Robert’s book, Adaptive Project Framework, can be purchased by clicking here.

Final Request…

The strength of our community grows with the additional insights brought by our expanding member base. Please consider voting for us on Podcast Alley by clicking here. Casting your vote for the StrategyDriven Podcast improves our ranking and helps us attract new listeners which, in turn, helps us grow our community. Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast!

Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework, is President of Enterprise Information Insights, a consulting and training practice that specializes in helping large organizations run projects more effectively. For more than forty years, Robert has served as a project management consultant, information systems manager, and training developer and provider. His clients range from AT&T and Aetna to the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Wal-Mart, and Wells Fargo. Robert has written sixteen books on project and IT management including the Project Management Institute-recommended book, Effective Project Management. To read Robert’s complete biography, click here.

FREE StrategyDriven Trial Membership Start your FREE trial membership* and receive: FULL ACCESS to StrategyDriven’s premium content for 14 days FREE COPY of a StrategyDriven Expert Contributor book† EVALUATE how StrategyDriven gives you a competitive advantage

* Free 14 day trial included with a monthly membership registration. A monthly recurring subscription of $9.95 will begin after the initial 14 day trial period. Memberships can be cancelled at any time. Premium Member access will continue until the free/paid subscription expires.

† Available only to those living within the United States after the first monthly membership payment is received. Name and address information required. Books typically valued from $14.95 – $29.95 USD. Book value is not guaranteed.

Relate Articles:

1. Adaptive Project Framework is not your Father’s Project Management
2. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 1 – An Interview with Robert Thompson, author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable
3. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 35 – An Interview with Robert Kolb, co-author of Corporate Boards
4. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 22 – An Interview with Michael Bender, author of A Manager’s Guide to Project Management
5. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 3 – An Interview with Forrest Breyfogle, author of Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I – The Basics

Project baselining provides project managers and sponsors a frame of reference against which project progress can be measured. Created at the beginning of a project, the baseline helps leaders establish how different their initial estimates were to the actual results achieved; forming the foundation for further assessment of the project’s scoping, planning, and execution quality. When significant scope change occurs, project manager may re-baseline their project because the updated initiative is so graphically different from the original as to make it newly unique. Project managers may also re-baseline a project if their team falls significantly behind schedule. (They could re-baseline when significantly ahead of schedule but this author has never observed that practice.) Regardless of the reason, frequent re-baselining obscures the project manager’s ability to assess project performance over time against a singular, consistent reference point which in turn diminishes individual accountability and the identification of lessons learned to improve future project performance.

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Warning Flag 2 – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds
2. Project Management Warning Flag 1 – Unfunded Activities
3. Resource Management Warning Flag 1 – Frequent, Inaccurate Resource Needs Estimation
4. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
5. Project Management Best Practice 5 – Define Success First

Adaptive Project Framework: Managing Complexity in the Face of Uncertainty by Robert K. Wysocki, Ph.D.   For an increasing number of critical projects, traditional project management models simply are not appropriate. In many cases, complete requirements and objectives cannot be specified up front, and significant changes cannot be avoided. What’s needed is an entirely new framework for project management: one that combines agile methods with the profession’s most enduring best practices. In this book, Robert K. Wysocki provides that framework – the Adaptive Project Framework (APF) – and shows how to apply it in any domain. Robert, one of the world’s leading project management consultants, has spent decades helping large organization succeed with complex projects. Drawing on everything he’s learned, he explains why a fundamentally new framework is needed and introduces all five phases of that framework. He covers artifacts, processes, and deliverables, and shows how to utilize each phase most effectively in your environment. Through four detailed case studies, you’ll discover how APF can help you adapt to unexpected events, encouraging creative responses based on open partnerships between clients and project teams. Coverage Includes Bringing greater flexiblity and speed to any project, regardless of its goals or context Moving forward successfully with projects that have vague requirements Discovering what clients really want, not just what they say they want Managing ongoing scope changes throughout a project Customizing APF to your won environment Integrating APF with existing agile software development methods Using APF to overcome the obstacles to success Preparing for the future of project management This book is written for every project participant – project and program managers, software and product developers, process designers, and business analysts – who needs to deliver results in a world that won’t stand still.

The world doesn’t stand still just because you are managing a project. That is one reason why requirements cannot possibly be completely documented at the initiation phase of a project. Whatever management approach you choose to use for your project must be adaptable to changing conditions. Traditional project management models are poorly equipped to accommodate change.

Adaptive Project Framework (APF) is an agile approach to any complex and uncertain project whose solution is not known at the beginning of the project but can only be discovered as part of doing the project. APF is built on a set of six core values:

• Client-focused – Decisions are made based on what delivers maximum business value to the client at that point in time.
• Client-driven – The client makes decisions on how to proceed based on feasible alternatives presented by the project manager.
• Incremental results early and often – Each completed iteration delivers a better solution than all previous iterations.
• Continuous questioning and introspection – An open and honest collaboration assures success and vested ownership by the client and the project team.
• Change is progress to a better solution – Change is essential in order to converge on a solution that delivers expected business value.
• Don’t speculate on the future – When in doubt – leave it out. If it’s important, it will be discovered during a later iteration.

In closing, APF has been particularly effective for project managers who take the position that their approach to managing a project will be proactive, not reactive, and they are willing to stand by their management decisions. If you are this type of project mgr, APF may be exactly what you are looking for.

This article is abstracted from the book: Adaptive Project Framework: Managing Complexity in the Face of Uncertainty by Robert K. Wysocki, Ph.D. (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2010, ISBN 978-0-321-52561-1, Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.).

Robert K. Wysocki, Ph.D., has more than forty years of experience as a project management consultant and trainer, information systems manager, systems and management consutant, author, and training developer and provider. His sixteen books on project and IT management include the PMI-recommended Effective Project Management, Fifth Edition (Wiley, 2009). In 1990, Robert founded Enterprise Information Insights, Inc. (EII), a consulting and training practice that specializes in helping large organizations run projects more effectively. His clients range from AT&T and Aetna to the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Wal-Mart, and Wells Fargo.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 5 – Define Success First
2. Project Management Warning Flag 2 – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds
3. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
4. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
5. Project Management – Introduction

One such circumvention method is to break-up a large project into several smaller, less resource-intensive initiatives. These less expensive projects can then be authorized by lower level managers, thus avoiding the time consuming ‘sales pitch’ needed for larger projects.

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Warning Flag 1 – Unfunded Activities
2. Project Management Best Practice 5 – Define Success First
3. Management and Leadership Warning Flag 1 – Working Managers
4. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
5. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum

Project Governance and Management – Too Much, Too Little, or Just Right…

A project’s size often dictates the necessary level of governance and management applied to the initiative. This governance and management typically includes items such as:

• required authorizations
• level of planning detail
• frequency and breadth of communications

Subsequently, accurate estimation of a project’s size during project initiation is essential. But what characteristics should be considered in the project’s size determination and how should the project size criteria for each of these characteristics be identified?

The StrategyDriven Project Size Determination whitepaper provides business leaders with a five step process for establishing project size determination criteria used to establish the amount of project governance and management to apply; ensuring initiatives are well, not over or under managed. These steps are detailed with supporting principles and philosophies; helping users understand the reasoning behind each action.

StrategyDriven Premium Members can access Project Size Determination whitepaper by clicking here.

Not a StrategyDriven Premium Member? Click here to sign-up for your Premium Membership and receive instant access to this and all other StrategyDriven whitepapers and models.

Want just the Project Size Determination whitepaper? Click here to purchase it from the StrategyDriven store, hosted by Lulu.com.

Relate Articles:

1. New Whitepaper Release – 80 Percent Efficiency Estimate
2. New Whitepaper Release – Evaluating Decision Options
3. Project Management Best Practice 5 – Define Success First
4. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
5. Project Management – Introduction

If typically unfunded activities are critical to a project’s success, why then do they go unaccounted for?

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
2. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
3. Resource Management Warning Flag 1 – Frequent, Inaccurate Resource Needs Estimation
4. Management and Leadership Warning Flag 1 – Working Managers
5. Project Management – Introduction

Special Edition 22 – An Interview with Michael Bender, author of A Manager’s Guide to Project Management explores how executives should approach project management in order to enhance alignment and accountability to their organization’s vision, mission, goals, and values. During our discussion, Michael Bender, Founder and CEO of Ally Business Developers and author of A Manager’s Guide to Project Management: Learn How to Apply Best Practices shares his insights regarding:

• a process for aligning projects with the organization’s vission, mission, goals, and values
• frequency for rebalancing the corporate project portfolio
• criteria and method for evaluating whether or not to discontinue a project
• importance of accounting for unbudgeted activities when evaulating a project’s cost

Additional Information

In addition to the invaluable insights Mike shares in A Manager’s Guide to Project Management and this special edition podcast are the additional resources accessible from his Ally Business Developers website (www.AllyBusiness.com). Mike’s book, A Manager’s Guide to Project Management, published by FT Press can be purchased by clicking here.

Final Request…

The strength of our community grows with the additional insights brought by our expanding member base. Please consider voting for us on Podcast Alley by clicking here. Casting your vote for the StrategyDriven Podcast improves our ranking and helps us attract new listeners which, in turn, helps us grow our community.

Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast!

Michael Bender, author of A Manager’s Guide to Project Management, is Founder and CEO of Ally Business Developers, a consortium of world-class business, organizational, and professional development experts. Michael’s leadership and project and program management experience contributed to projects including the Hubble Space Telescope, NEXRAD – the Next Generation Weather Radar, and air traffic control systems for the United States, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. He is an American Management Association speaker and guest speaker at DePaul University and the Project Management Institute. To read Mike’s full biography, click here.

FREE StrategyDriven Trial Membership Start your FREE trial membership* and receive: FULL ACCESS to StrategyDriven’s premium content for 14 days FREE COPY of a StrategyDriven Expert Contributor book† EVALUATE how StrategyDriven gives you a competitive advantage

* Free 14 day trial included with a monthly membership registration. A monthly recurring subscription of $9.95 will begin after the initial 14 day trial period. Memberships can be cancelled at any time. Premium Member access will continue until the free/paid subscription expires.

† Available only to those living within the United States after the first monthly membership payment is received. Name and address information required. Books typically valued from $14.95 – $29.95 USD. Book value is not guaranteed.

Relate Articles:

1. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 5 – An Interview with Michael Gurian, author of Leadership and the Sexes
2. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 13 – An Interview with Michael Dunn, author of The Marketing Accountability Imperative
3. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 9 – An Interview with Steve Kerr, author of Reward Systems
4. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
5. StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 3 – An Interview with Forrest Breyfogle, author of Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume I – The Basics

[private]‘Bring Me a Rock’ Projects

Shouldn’t a project’s specific goals and objects be defined within its scope document?

They should be. They frequently aren’t.

All too often a project’s scope document provides only general ‘pie-in-the-sky’ guidelines or targets for the project manager to meet. These vague project goals can be so non-specific that they could apply to almost any project; leaving so much up to individual presumption and judgment that decisions become difficult to evaluate and challenge. Under these circumstances, project managers tend to fall back on project performance measures, typically project cost and schedule adherence, to determine overall project success rather than the project’s resulting organizational impact.

Final Thought…

As amazing as this might sound, vague project goals have been applied to projects ranging from the thousands of dollars to the hundreds of millions of dollars to the billions of dollars. The lack of specific, time-bound project outcomes plagues project managers and their organizations not because a project is too small or too large for properly defined goals but because of insufficient planning discipline applied during the initiative’s formative stages. Thus, defining success first is a management best practice, not an administrative one. By exercising good management during the project scope definition process, the organization can avoid creating and discarding several undesirable rocks.[/private]

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 2 – Define What is Not In Scope
2. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
3. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
4. Project Management Best Practice 4 – Team Calendar
5. Project Management – Introduction

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
2. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
3. Project Management Best Practice 2 – Define What is Not In Scope
4. Project Management – Introduction
5. Management and Leadership – Managing Your Virtual Team

The main problem with online collaboration is that your staff, by definition, must have a reliable access to the Internet. Aka “The Infinite Distraction Engine.” Administering employees online can be like herding cats, except the cats are all in different countries, and invisible. The cats also have access to YouTube. How can you remotely manage them?

1. Set a strict schedule – for yourself

Task management is tricky, but you can’t let your workers know. The very first time you write “Did you get that, um, thing?” (a week after it was needed) is the time they decide that responding to you is optional. As a virtual project manager you can’t afford that, and neither can your company.

Get some proper task management software and upload everything into it – digging through your inbox’s search filter every time you need information is a great way to get distracted. Set a schedule for contacting, reviewing, compiling updates and administering problems each day, and stick to it outside of the direst emergency. Dropping everything because of one problem is a great way to create twenty more.

2. Use the right contact method for the right job

Web based task management is all about the results, not the hours. If you’re sending 8am emails just to check if people are at their desks, congratulations – you’re not a manager, you’re a first grade teacher! If you’re ever looking at the “time sent” instead of the email content, you’re literally missing the point.

The key to communication in project management is using the right tool for the right job. It’s tempting to play with the whole range of communications strategies – e-mail, AIM, Skype , phone, even a project-based Twitter – but that’s exactly what it is: play. If you’re going to work, you need to use each option right.

E-mail: This should be your regular communications system. For setting schedules and assigning tasks, because you can attach all the relevant information and make sure everyone involved gets the same package. Your first inquiry after any non-urgent work should also be by email. Better yet, use a web based project management system that keeps all conversations relevant to the project in one place.

Phone/Skype: This should be your problem resolution option (set up Skype if you can, it’s an entirely sensible cost-cutter with no downside). It might seem “cyber” to talk by messenger, but hashing out problems works better with voice in many cases. You can exchange information faster, you can pick up on mood and tone, and information won’t be throttled by whoever has the slowest typing speed.

Messenger/AIM/Skype: You can use this instead of phone if you’re swapping a lot of files back and forth (just make sure you’ve got a service and clients which can carry those). As online project manager, you MUST resist the temptation to drop in a “Hi how’re things going!” every time you see an employee online. It breaks their concentration, it’s the slowest and least precise of the virtual management options, and if you don’t have a definite reason for talking you’re telling your workers “Hey, just break off and talk to whoever you want, whenever you want! I do!”

3. Keep track of it all

Get ready to have your mind blown: as a virtual project manager, you have to manage the virtual project. Astonishing stuff, we know, but there’s more to it than you might think: you have to keep track of your own online contacts as well as the project progress.

What’s the status of the online interface? When was the last time you talked to the graphic design team? Whose tasks are due now, and who’s already updated you with reasons for delays? It’s flattering to think you can hold all that in your head, but that head evolved to avoid tigers and find mates – don’t kid yourself. Two pounds of grey sludge is not a filing system.

Proper online management tools are keys to success, or even to competence. Yellow stickies are useful for EXACTLY ten seconds after the call – either enter the data you scribbled with the phone on your shoulder somewhere more permanent, or get ready for that awful cold feeling when a task is two weeks behind because you simply never told them to start. Those yellow notes have their uses, but permanent recording isn’t one of them.

Real team software can record your contacts as well as your updates, so you don’t phone the same guy one day later demanding his next weekly update. The instant they think you aren’t on top of things is the instant you aren’t.

Check your team management software before every call – as task manager you have to be the central front, the master computron brain that’s on top of it all. Even if it’s really your desktop who knows what’s what, you’re the one who’ll get paid for it.

Relate Articles:

1. Management and Leadership Best Practice 1 – Open, Honest, Timely Communications during Times of Uncertainty
2. Recommended Resource – Managing the Nonprofit Organization
3. Management and Leadership – Coaching for Exceptional Performance
4. Recommended Resource – The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
5. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
2. Project Management Best Practice 2 – Define What is Not In Scope
3. Project Management – Introduction
4. Portfolio Management Best Practice 1 – Indentify Interrelationships
5. Management and Leadership Best Practice 1 – Open, Honest, Timely Communications during Times of Uncertainty

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
2. Project Management – Introduction
3. Portfolio Management Best Practice 1 – Indentify Interrelationships
4. Organizational Accountability Best Practice 1 – Fact-Based Management
5. Resource Management Best Practice 1 – Attract the Best with Accountability

Become a StrategyDriven Premium Member
for only $9.95 / month or $94.95 / year !

Want to learn more? Click here to learn about the benefits of a StrategyDriven Premium Membership.

Relate Articles:

1. Project Management – Introduction
2. Portfolio Management Best Practice 1 – Indentify Interrelationships
3. Organizational Accountability Best Practice 1 – Fact-Based Management
4. Resource Management Best Practice 1 – Attract the Best with Accountability
5. Resource Management Best Practice 3 – Establishing the Foundation for Personnel Resource Sharing

Project Management Body of Knowledge
Third Edition
Project Management Institute

To many, project management represents their worst nightmare. The mere mention of the term conjures images of bloated bureaucracies, large consultant-laden teams, and endless meetings where decisions are seldom made and status is often reported as being behind. Executed properly, project management can be an effective tool for aligning the organization to the successful implementation of simple and complex initiatives.

An art and a science, project management is most effective when implemented with a rigor correlated to the scope and complexity of the work to be performed. Regardless of intensity, the management of projects consists of five phases:

• Initiate – initial, high-level project definition and authorization
• Plan – project scope refinement and approval; task identification and sequencing; resource to task allocation; schedule development; project cost estimation and budget development; project plan creation and baselining
• Execute – project plan execution
• Evaluate and Control – project plan execution performance monitoring and reporting; project scope and plan change control; project risk management
• Close – final project activity documentation; financial closeout; overall project performance assessment and lessons learned development; product evaluation; project administrative closure

Focus of the Project Management Topic

Articles in this topic area are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies effectively managing projects for the efficient achievement of mission goals. Additionally, all project management information presented will be aligned with, compliment, and expound on the project management processes described by the Project Management Institute’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. The following articles, podcasts, documents, and resources cover those topics critical to the effective management of consequential projects.

Articles

Best Practices

• Best Practice – The Project Management Intensity Continuum    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Best Practice – Define What is Not In Scope    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Best Practice – Line Management Project Ownership    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Best Practice – Team Calendar    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Best Practice – Define Success First    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Best Practice – A+ Players    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Best Practice – Use of Administrative Support    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Best Practice – Roles and Responsibilities Matrix    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]

Warning Flags

• Warning Flag – Unfunded Activities    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Warning Flag – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Warning Flag – Frequent Re-baselining    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]
• Warning Flag – Too Much Time, Too Few People    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor Articles

• Adaptive Project Framework is not Your Father’s Project Management by Robert Wysocki
• Managing Your Virtual Team by Elmer Thomas

StrategyDriven Podcasts

StrategyDriven Podcast – Special Edition

• An Interview with Michael Bender, author of A Manager’s Guide to Project Management
• An Interview with Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework

Documents

Whitepapers

• Project Size Determination    [StrategyDriven Premium Content]

Resources

Books

To supplement the project management information found on the StrategyDriven website, our contributors recommend the Project Management Institute’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition (PMBOK Guides). This book is a complete process reference covering all aspects of project management including:

• Project Integration Management
• Project Scope Management
• Project Time Management
• Project Cost Management
• Project Quality Management
• Project Human Resource Management
• Project Communications Management
• Project Risk Management
• Project Procurement management

FREE StrategyDriven Trial Membership Start your FREE trial membership* and receive: FULL ACCESS to StrategyDriven’s premium content for 14 days FREE COPY of a StrategyDriven Expert Contributor book† EVALUATE how StrategyDriven gives you a competitive advantage

* Free 14 day trial included with a monthly membership registration. A monthly recurring subscription of $9.95 will begin after the initial 14 day trial period. Memberships can be cancelled at any time. Premium Member access will continue until the free/paid subscription expires.

† Available only to those living within the United States after the first monthly membership payment is received. Name and address information required. Books typically valued from $14.95 – $29.95 USD. Book value is not guaranteed.

Relate Articles:

1. Portfolio Management – Introduction
2. Strategic Planning – Introduction
3. Resource Management – Introduction
4. Management – Introduction
5. Tactical Execution – Introduction