PMcrunch

Project Management, Six Sigma, Business Analysis, and ITIL all provide domain frameworks, all have associated business certifications, all live largely in the ‘business’ versus technical realm, and all have a strong process orientation. But what does that mean to business professionals and organizations? Here are some thoughts on implications based upon the ITIL framework.

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When we first build our [tag-tec]project plan[/tag-tec], we need to make many [tag-dir]assumptions. As part of our project plan, we need to document what these assumptions are. We also need to acknowledge the reality that many of those assumptions may not prove out as the project unfolds.

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I recently read a foreign post where somebody asked if project management was good preparation for the job of CEO. There were a variety of comments most of which I find somewhat discouraging saying that, [tag-tec]project management[/tag-tec] was inadequate preparation for a CEO position and that CEO positions involve a lot of different skills. While arguably these things are true, I think that we can take a positive take on that question and ask “What would differentiate a project manager who might on the CEO track from one who is not?”

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We all want to learn more and indeed [tag-tec]“speed learning”[/tag-tec] is a requirement in today’s fast paced world. I recently heard an interesting quote from an entrepreneur who said that he looks it what he has learned as an entrepreneur and he realized that he already been taught that in business school but he wasn’t paying attention.

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Taxonomy refers to the categorization or breakdown to more clearly defined entities that can make an overall grouping of knowledge more understandable while there are many precise definitions for taxonomy, this should suffice for this particular discussion. The question is what taxonomy means to the project manager.

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On our projects, and in our programs and project portfolios, we often struggle with how to make changes.  From my own personal experience, the most challenging part of change management has always been the area of making incremental changes versus making wholesale major changes.  Let’s take a look. 

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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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We need to consider how clear the objective of the project scope is when we build our project teams.  For an extremely well defined project of relatively short duration, and well-defined deliverables, this could be fairly easy.  However, for a project that is less defined, which may involve some significant shifts of some sort over the [...]

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Both technology and the environment have always fascinated me.  Together they make quite an interesting combination.  Add financial viability to this cocktail and you have a real winner!  That is what clean technology is all about!

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Looking at lessons learned from the current economic crisis, one that stands out pertains to how people are incentivized in business. Banks with risky loan portfolios somewhere along the line had incentivized their people to fill their portofolios with these loans. Somewhere along the line, the incentives did not incorporate some of the risks involved. How does this play out in project and program management?

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