PMcrunch

I have found the practice of having an “ADMIN DAY” is a great valuable and necessary one. But what is “ADMIN DAY”? How does it work and how does it provide value?

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Project cutbacks are a common theme. In many cases, teams are simply reduced in size. In addition, project scopes are decreased while agile methods are a key way organizations develop software more efficiently. The term agility goes far beyond that.

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One of the greatest communication tools that a project manager can possess is strong briefing on the project. This can facilitate communications with all stakeholders for any project. It puts a good public relations phase on the project plan.

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In today’s economy, managers of all kinds are under pressure to right-size their businesses or business units. With the contraction of the economy, sales decreases trigger the need for rethinking, resizing, and reshaping throughout any organization. Projects and programs are no different. Let’s take a look.

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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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In managing a project or program, we start with an objective, work in the details, get buying, put together a schedule, and implement. Of course, that is a very simplified version of what happens in project and program management but…

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Much is written on earned value techniques, and I am not going to delve in depth into the techniques in this post. I am only going to emphasize that to whatever degree you practice earned value techniques, the most important thing is to be very detailed about work packages and costs. If nothing else, go about this with eyes wide open.Much is written on earned value techniques, and I am not going to delve in depth into the techniques in this post. I am only going to emphasize that to whatever degree you practice earned value techniques, the most important thing is to be very detailed about work packages and costs. If nothing else, go about this with eyes wide open.

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Basic project management teaches us that quality is defined by meeting requirements, but not exceeding them. If we deliver more than what the customer asked for, it is considered to be gold plating - a bad thing. The premise is that there is a balance as per the triple constraint among quality, cost and schedule, and that it is the job of the project manager to manage that balance. In these tough times, however, how can a project manager produce excellence and in essence exceed customer expectations without gold plating?

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On your project teams over time, there surely have been “pivotal performances”. Just like in a basketball game there was something that the winning team did throughout the game, that proved to be pivotal to the outcome of that game. There are things that each team member, and the team as a whole does throughout a project, that are pivotal to the projects success. The question is, how do you find those things, and how do you get your project team to turn in pivotal performances, routinely.

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Candidates for the PMP exam usually have some level of project management experience career; indeed, it is required in order to qualify to take the PMP exam. However there are many structures, terms and concepts that are part of the PMP exam that PMP candidates need to master. These are the things that you will learn and this is the growth you will experience that takes you beyond your project management experience base. Let’s take a look at some keys for a project plan to pass the PMP exam.

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