Entries by Bonnie Biafore

Use a Product Breakdown Structure for Complex Solutions

You probably use a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in your projects, but sometimes, it isn’t enough. A product breakdown structure is helpful when you need to deliver a complex solution. A Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) is like a WBS, except it shows product details and how its components fit together. Here are the benefits of […]

Bad Risk Response Habits to Avoid

Effective risk management is crucial to project success. Unfortunately, many project managers fall into traps when developing risk responses. Bob McGannon and Bonnie Biafore share some tips for avoiding common mistakes in risk response planning: *Do not* base your risk response on using standard project management tools. Saying that you will address a potential stakeholder […]

Have a big job? Use small projects!

In today’s complex world, projects can become quite large. The problem is large projects are often fraught with issues due to the amount of change they create and the complexity that comes with those changes. Here’s why a series of small projects usually outperform a single large initiative. They deliver value earlier. Small projects finish […]

Helping team members feel like they belong

Have you ever been invited to a meeting or office social event and feel like you don’t belong? What about when you finally feel like you’ve found your peeps, tribe, or whatever you call the group you’re comfortable with? A feeling of belonging helps in so many ways and yet it can be elusive. Read […]

Five Tips for Building an Effective Project Filing System

Want a project library that supports your project management practice and makes it easy to find information? An effective project filing system doesn’t have to be fancy and doesn’t require an expensive tool. Simply be purposeful about how you add project data to your system. Here are five tips for mindfully adding artifacts to your […]

Project Assumptions: Types and the Risks They Pose

Every assumption you make for a project introduces risk. By raising your awareness of types of assumptions and the risks they pose, you can make sure that you develop solid risk management plans for them. Initial assumptions are part of every project proposal. When project ideas surface, you must make assumptions to estimate project benefits. […]

Increasing Your Chances of Project Approval

Submitting a project for funding approval can be stressful. Will management give thumbs up or down? Doing your homework and providing critical information is the key to getting your projects approved. Here are the questions to answer to increase your chances of project approval. How will you meet financial targets? Many organizations have financial thresholds […]

Overlooked Cost of Project Change

Change happens! It’s not a bad thing if you control the cost. But some change cost often gets overlooked. Here are costs you should examine before approving a project change request. Cost of additional process decisions and handoffs. Changes might affect the business processes for using your solutions. If decision points are added to business […]

Is Your Sponsor Ready for Agile?

A critical factor for using agile methods successfully is the mindset of the sponsor. With the wrong attitude about how agile works, you might as well forget about using an agile approach. A sponsor who is ready for agile must: Support a “learning organization.”  Learning organizations spend some time on activities that don’t directly create […]

The Benefits of Keeping Project Scope Small

Project success is more likely when stakeholders hash out scope early in the project lifecycle. Here are the benefits of discussing (and debating) project scope to make it as small as possible: Focus on what is important. Stakeholder discussions about scope reveal which elements of scope are most important. That helps you prioritize scope, which […]