A team member leaving your project can be very disruptive. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce the impact of that person’s departure. Here are some tips for welcoming and integrating your new team member to make the transition flow smoothly. Include orientation time. Regardless of your team member’s abilities, allocate time for reviewing with the […]
The relationship between the sponsor and project manager is so critical that a change of sponsor is very disruptive. If you end up with a new sponsor, quickly establish rapport with them with the following steps. Confirm the sponsor’s knowledge of the project. Always have a one-page project summary ready and review it with your […]
The project kick-off meeting is a big milestone in the project lifecycle. When it’s complete, the team can dive into getting the project work done. Here’s some preparation for you to complete to make your kick-off meeting a success. Obtain agreement on the defined scope. Make sure stakeholders have a common understanding of the project […]
Key stakeholders sometimes apply significant pressure to achieve unrealistic project goals. Pushing back against these requests can rattle the nerves of even the most experienced project manager! And it can be difficult to convince stakeholders to change their objectives or perspectives. What do you do when you can’t change stakeholders’ minds? Adopt a process that […]
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK7) highlights the importance of preparing impacted stakeholders for new processes and tools introduced by projects, so they are not only adopted, but also become a permanent part of the landscape (or until things need to change again). Here are four ways to support the changes that projects bring […]
Not every project is suited to agile techniques. Sound criteria can help you identify whether your projects are good agile candidates. Here are questions you can use to develop your agile qualification criteria: Can you get the right staff? Appropriate technical and business team members must be dedicated to the project. That means that you […]
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK7) talks about navigating complexity to successfully complete the project lifecycle. Although complexity can surface anywhere, there are four main sources of complexity to manage. Here’s an overview of those sources and tips for reducing the impact of complexity on projects. Human behavior. The most significant project complexity comes […]
PMBoK7 places more emphasis on managing positive risks, called opportunities (situations that improve project outcomes.) In the past, this project approach was underutilized, because the tendency is to focus on negative risks (called threats.) Here are PMI’s five approaches to making the most of project opportunities. Exploit. To exploit opportunity, you can take definitive action […]
PMBoK7 talks about maintaining focus on deliverable quality and the processes used to create those deliverables. Here’s an overview of what the Project Management Institute (PMI) refers to as the “dimensions of quality” that PMs must manage. Performance/Conformity. The products we produce need to perform in a way that meets specifications. They also need to […]
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK7) talks about recognizing, evaluating, and responding to system interactions, which means project managers must engage in systems thinking to drive positive project performance. Adding to last week’s list, here are more ways that systems thinking can boost project performance. Turn up the empathy. The best project managers empathize […]
Below are some interesting links for you! Enjoy your stay...
O'Reilly 50% Ebook Deal of the Day
Microsoft Project blog
Scott Berkun's website
QuickBooks and Beyond
QuickBooks Online Blog
QuickBooks and Your Business