PMcrunch

Many professionals are either “knowledge seeking” or “problem solving” – but, to their detriment, not both. You can create a one-two punch for professional effectiveness by combining “knowledge seeking” and “problem solving”. Let me show you what I mean by looking at some details of some popular bodies of knowledge today.

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Marketing projects are important to companies, simply because they provide the opportunity to increase the top line of the business. That is, they are initiatives focused on driving revenue, as opposed to controlling costs. I have been thinking about three keys for how to lay out the requirements for such such revenue-enhancing marketing projects.

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Most of the focus of individuals in the project management profession is on improving their own ability and that of others to execute well on projects. Typically, we are able to measure our progress in that regard by measuring performance and results on these projects. There is a process called “projectization” that refers to the general capability of people and organizations at large to manage projects effectively and predictably. Let’s take a look at how this is done at an organizational level.

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In these tight times, we are acutely aware of cutbacks, of scarcity, and of the need to streamline. However, really, these are indicative of management practices that should be occurring all the time. In portfolio management, especially, it is important to have a healthy balance between short term considerations and long term considerations. It is all a balancing act and the equation really only changes slightly during a downturn, such as we are currently experiencing.

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There is lots of good talk about project metrics. Much of it centers on project performance. But there is another side to it, organizational metrics, related to how the project is contributing to overall organizational goals. Thinking a little differently and exploring a different perspective can provide better focus and produce more positive impact.

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Innovation is one of those buzz words that evokes positive emotions. It is generally considered a “good” thing, and therefore is something that we want to do. However, there are other things to consider so, lets put innovation into perspective as a project management tool.

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I recently read a forum entry where someone was looking for advice on PM tools and PM software used across the globe for IT needs. The person mentioned that their company had some general tools like Critical Path, PERT etc., and various models for Estimation. The question was “What would be best software to support all these tools + models and standards like CMMI or ITIL, then support for SEI – indicator template for measurement analysis, Risk Management alerting + Alerting on Change management etc. Also requested were opinions on using lines of code as a metric.

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