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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We never really arrive at the end of the road in our quest to become leaders. We may achieve [tag-tec]leadership[/tag-tec] status in some way but it is always a moving target. Indeed, I believe it is our own movement on a continuous basis that can enable us to maintain ourselves as a leader. One way that we can do this is by continuously evaluating our own leadership capabilities.

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Oftentimes, as[tag-dir]project managers[/tag-dir] and leaders, we are called upon to compare a variety of potential solutions and to either recommend or choose the best one for our situation. There are a variety of ways to do this. It is important for us to recognize that the answer we come up with is very closely related to the questions we ask and how we do the comparison. Many times—perhaps even most of the time—we do this comparisons in a relatively informal way, putting together our own structure. In other cases however, there is a much formalized organizational structure with a formal name such as [/tag-tec]“analysis of alternatives”[tag-dir] that is performed.

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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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One of the most important things we can do to kick off a successful project is to clearly define the vision for the end state that will exist upon completion of the project. This end state is the vision for the way things are to be upon successful completion of the project. This [tag-tec]end vision[/tag-tec] should appeal to all aspects of the purpose for the project.

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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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Many people think that earning the PMP certification is enough to accelerate their career to new heights. Well, the PMP certification is certainly a challenging credential to earn, and it is widely sought after. But, is it enough to earn the PMP certification?

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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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Most of us like the idea of being socially responsible.  Most of us respect our neighbors.  Most of us care about the other guy.  The reality is that this is much easier to do in good times than it is in tough times.  How can those of us in project and program management be highly socially [...]

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Networking has always been an important activity for everyone – especially professionals on the move. The fact is, no matter where you want to go, you can probably get there faster, and more efficiently, if you have a good network. Networking can also be a great deal of fun.

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