Entries by Bonnie Biafore

Personal PM: Managing a Job Search

A job search is a project, so what better way to make it a success than to use your project management skills on it? By approaching it this way, instead of passively waiting for opportunities, you’ll lead your own transition with intention. Anna Anderson and I explain how to apply your skills to your job search.

Balancing Technical and Business Requirements in Agile Projects

Technical and business priorities in an agile backlog require constant negotiation between delivering immediate value and maintaining long-term application stability. Stakeholders need to see and understand the trade-offs between the outcomes that they want and the work to maintain technical integrity. This Project Pointer describes approaches to achieve this balance.

Is Your Project Procurement Plan Over-cooked?

A procurement plan is one part of every project plan. However, these procurement plans are often beefier than they need to be, particularly when your organization has existing procurement processes and staff. Bob McGannon and I discuss what a project procurement plan truly needs to have in a lot of cases, as well as when you might need to add more detail to your plan.

Reining in the Destructive Habit of Padding Estimates

Padding estimates is a common occurrence because people like to give themselves wiggle room on their assignments. But padded estimates cause all sorts of issues for both the current and all future projects. And yet, this padding continues even though everyone knows that it’s happening. In this video, Bob McGannon and I talk about the damage padding does and how to prevent padding from happening.

Supporting the Sponsor Who Takes Risks

Part of a project manager’s job is to manage risk on behalf of the sponsor. It is NOT to stop the sponsor from taking risks, because risk is often necessary to move a business forward. This Project Pointer describes ways to support a sponsor when they decide to take risks.

Are My Deliverables Ready for Stakeholder Review?

Stakeholder reviews of deliverables can build buy-in, kick off organizational change practices, develop trust, save time, and generate excitement for project outcomes. Reviewing project deliverables too early can have the opposite effect: reducing confidence and generating anxiety about change. This project pointer explains how to ensure your project deliverables are ready for stakeholders’ scrutiny.

Why Tracking Internal Staffing Costs is Important

Organizations often treat internal staffing as “free,” thinking that existing salaries don’t affect the project’s bottom line. Not so! That approach distorts the view of project viability and staff capacity and undermines the accuracy of long-term planning. This Project Pointer describes several ways that tracking internal staff costs is beneficial.