PMcrunch

Project and program management are all about change; so how can we leverage the vast amount of knowledge out there about change? One way to do this is to begin to think about change as a process and then seek to learn from there. It is our job as change agents to help people through the process of change. One way to do this is to understand the Virginia Satir Change Model (VSCM).

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It has been said many times by many people that the only constant in life is change. As project and program managers, we know that we must accept and recognize this fact in our day to day activities. Much has also been written about resistance to change. As we start this new year, it is a good idea to think for a bit about change and our approach to it.

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When preparing for any certification exam such as the PMP or CAPEM, we need to evaluated our readiness in taking the exam. There are many ways to do this but one is the application of a unique framework for evaluating our cognitive or level of mastery of the material. Let’s take a look.

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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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If you were like me, you have been on some projects over time where somehow it was not even apparent who the manager of the project was. Sometimes, there is no project manager. At other times, there is a technical lead. At other times, there is someone who calls themselves the project manager but they are not really a project manager at all. How can these situations be handled professionally?

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Whatever kind of project we are working on, there is a good chance that there is a “thought-leader” somewhere. There could be a thought-leader related to design, related to problem set, or related in some way to the opportunity that the project represents.

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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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In any organization of any size and in any industry, politics is a reality. The word politics is, I would say, very definitely perceived differently by different people. Some perceive it positively, and perhaps as a game; others perceive it negatively as something to be avoided. Let’s take a closer look at the reality of politics.

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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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