PMcrunch

What do Six Sigma, ITIL, and Project Management have in common?  These three disciplines all have associated business certifications, living largely in the ‘business’ versus technical realm, and all relate in some way to processes.  But how can these disciplines relate to one another in such a way that greater value is created for the individual as well as the organization?

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Often it is hard to decide to what to do first, or what to do next.  In fact, in my experience, it is often easier to make such decisions on large projects than smaller projects.  The Theory of Constraints is a neat concept that can help.

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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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"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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Managing becomes so much easier when you build a foundation for what you are managing.  In essence, this means getting intimate with the requirements, as well as the needs of the stakeholders.  Stakeholder management and familiarity with requirements rank about as high as it gets as determinants of project success.  The reason is simple:  they form the basis upon which everything else is built.  Building a strong foundation in these areas makes it easy to take any next steps toward managing the project.

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Earning your PMP certification can help you to better ‘lead the charge‘.  And, conversely, learning to ‘lead the charge’ will definitely help you to become a more effective project manager – whether you are a PMP, CAPM, or neither.  But what comes first, the chicken or the egg?

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I typically find change to be refreshing, but also find that it is not always possible.  I also find that I have great admiration for those who can maintain a fresh and consistent outlook all of the time.  They can be at the top of their games all of the time – and not necessarily incorporate that same type of change component that I do.

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In the hassle and buzzle of day to day work life, of course mixed with a busy personal life, we need to remember that our team members also have their own personal goals, aspirations and challenges. There are many things we can do related to this but the first step is always awareness. Here are a few ideas on how to deal with this:
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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 to execute on their responsibilities and deliverables. Even with this, you can sometimes miss the forest for the trees.
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If you are at all like me, achieving work/life balance is a challenge.  As I think about it, there are a few key things that present the greatest obstacles – and thus provide the starting point for managing the situation.

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