PMcrunch

Most good managers in project and program management know the importance of maintaining relationships with team members and stakeholders. Basic human relations can go a long way in improving overall program and project quality. However, I have learned that there is a community beyond our immediate team members and stakeholders that are worth considering in everything we do.

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As a program or project manager, one must keep an eye on both the near term and long term.  Today, under tough economic conditions, we typically turn to more near-term thinking because the focus needs to be first on survival before considering future plans.  We need to be careful however to not take this near-term thinking too [...]

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Most of us as project and program managers are constantly looking to improve ourselves, our performance, our skills, and our influence on our respective organizations. There are some trends at work that I think we can tap into that can help us to do all of these things and more. They can help us to move our careers to the next level.

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At the end of a year and at the beginnning of a new one, we all tend to take some time to look back at the last twelve months and to look forward to the next twelve. This is a good time for us to asses our own performance, strengths, weaknesses, interests, things that we would like more of and things that we would rather do without.

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When thinking about stakeholder analysis, I am reminded of the old carpenter’s motto which is to “measure twice and cut once”. The idea here in project management is to make sure you have clearly laid out what is to be done before beginning a project. Now this being said, there are many shades of grey.

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Two methods of capital budgeting often used on project and in project portfolio management are internal rate of return(IRR) and net present value(NPV). They are close cousins but take a little bit of a different look at the value of a project. They are both time based and bothrelayed to cash flows over time on a project.

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Sunk costs are exactly as the name implies: they are costs that are “sunk”. The money spent is irretrievable. It is gone, history, sunk. However, often there is either a misunderstanding or an emotional attachment to money that was spent. This is a difficulty that we, as forward looking project managers, need to remember.

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As project managers we… well, manage projects! Or, do we? Actually, as I have been thinking about my experience managing projects and my experience managing my own time, I really think all we do manage are tasks. It is actually the practice of project management that simply allows us to manage more complex collections of tasks. Likewise, managing programs enables us to manage all that much more complex tasks, managing a company goes even further, and so on and so forth. This is a revelation to me that I actually find refreshing and empowering.

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There is much discussion, and often confusion over the difference between Lean and Six Sigma. In general, here is the essence of the two approaches: Lean = Improved process flow and Six Sigma = Reduced process variation. This post provides discussion and links to various resources that take a look at this from different angles.

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Many people who consider getting into the project management profession are also considering other options, such as earning a degree perhaps in project management. There are also certificate programs where students earn a certificate in project management. The options for programs like this are many. Earning a certificate could include going to school full time, night school, or various online courses. Another option is simply to take some kind of training in the classroom, or online, or maybe in independent study groups, or some combination of those, and simply earn a certification like the PMP Certification.

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