PMcrunch

“Performance metrics” is an especially popular topic in management today. The idea is to try to measure everything by some sort of metric that gives a true picture of our degree of success or effectiveness. But like many management techniques, it is subject to misuse. Here are my suggestions for identifying relevant metrics and using them effectively.

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“Performance metrics” is an especially popular topic in management today. The idea is to try to measure everything by some sort of metric that gives a true picture of our degree of success or effectiveness. But like many management techniques, it is subject to misuse. Here are my suggestions for identifying relevant metrics and using them effectively.

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As project and program managers we need to make sure that our projects are moving forward. We need to make sure that we identify the obstacles that get in the way of progress and that we address and remove them. We need to make sure that the greater project team has the tools and resources [...]

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What do you do when hopelessness seems on the horizon? What do you do when it appears you have tried everything and nothing is working? What do you do when it appears that you are at the end of the road?

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[tag-tec]Task estimating[/tag-tec] is a critical skill for [tag-dir]project managers[/tag-dir] and [tag-dir]project teams[/tag-dir]. We cannot manage what we cannot estimate. However, realistically, it is very difficult to be able to estimate every possible task accurately.

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Often on our projects there is none a perfect match between the talents of our team and the challenges of the project. We do the best we can to match capabilities and prior experience to the needs of our current projects but as reality has it each project is unique. We try to “are the best athletes” but invariably there are going to be some gaps in the skills required. [tag-tec]“Just in time learning”[/tag-tec] can be the answer to these issues.

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Companies have been using team building days to rally their staff and help build better bonds and communication channels for a long time now.The idea for using team building days was initially used among the biggest and most diverse companies who had lots of people in lots of different places and who needed all of [...]

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When we set-up a project team for a new project or if we take over an existing project, we have an opportunity and a responsiblity to create new norms and a new atmosphere in which project team members can flourish.

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I love basketball and I enjoy each March here on the United States when March Madness and NCAA basketball tournament arrives. In watching the games this past weekend, I could not help but be amazed at the number of game changing plays made by the players. In many of the games, it was a matter of how many game changing plays each team made. And the one that made more won. But the fact of the matter is that, these teams are full of game changers and made every game changing play they could. What can we learn from this for project management?

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Human resources is an important function in all organizations and that includes the project organization. In these difficult economic times, the human resources’ function is being tested in organizations worldwide. How does that testing in this environment translate into the project team environment?

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