PMcrunch

As Project Managers, it is our charge to maintain high ethical standards. Strong ethical standards are a key ingredient of great leadership. The responsibility of ethics leads me to think about 2 immediate dilemmas or challenges:

Do we ask ourselves whether or not we are doing the right thing?
Do our team members and stakeholders ask themselves that same eithical question?
These 2 questions cover the basics of ethics, but there is a broader organization challenge we must consider to ensure these ethical questions are being handled.

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Project Portfolio Management, like Investment Portfolio Management, is a balancing act that requires constant monitoring and adjustment over time. Whereas an individual may have the right balance of risk, return, income, growth and others represented in an investment portfolio, a project portfolio is similar in many ways. Risks, returns, resources required, and alignment with overall strategy are just a few of the factors that must be kept in balance over time.

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Talent management is a huge challenge for corporations and organizations of all types and sizes. I many cases, success at talent management within the organization can be the key differentiating factor between success and failure for the organization. Likewise, success at project management, program management, and portfolio management also largely hinges on strong talent management. Part of this challenge lies at the relationship between the organization’s talent management capabilities and those of the projects and programs.

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Professional Project Management is becoming more pervasive. Like “Electrification” occurred during the era of proliferation of electricity, “projectization” is occuring throughout the workforce and organizations. Most of the emphasis I have seen is on professional project management. However, most people will not be professional project managers, but rather will be team members, support personnel, subject matter experts, department managers, C-level executives, and the like. This post explores what is being said about this broader workforce in a projectized world.

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Time off is not just a luxury. It’s a responsibility of leadership for project managers and program managers. Especially in summer, where schedules tend to be a little lighter, it is easier to take some time off and connect with others who also are taking time off. Taking time off helps us personally, as well as our families and social relationships, but it is also a big gain for members of our project team, as everyone appreciates an organization that acknowledges and values time outside of work.

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The word ‘agile’ has become popular in software development and project management circles, as the agile method produces quality product speedily in a very flexible and organic way. Agility, however, describes much more than a method for software development and speaks right to the core of project team formation and development. The individuals, project team, and team building process itself all need to be agile in today’s demanding environment.

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Requirements are a great challenge in project management. Clarity as to requirements is absolutely necessary in order for a project to succeed. Most projects succeed or fail at the beginning of the project based upon the quality of the project requirements. One of the challenges for the Project Manager is to assess and understand the uniqueness of the requirements gathering process for his/her individual project, which includes both Requirements Definition and Requirements Management.

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A CEO said, “I’d hate to lose you—you’re one of the few people around here who actually cares.” While highly dedicated people can be rare. Deliberate effort to find and retain such people is a worthwhile performance enhancement initiative. Here are 5 key ideas to implement to have more project team members who care!

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You are new to a project. The project itself is new, or perhaps you have been handed an initial project. The project charter is a great place to start to get yourself oriented to where the project fits into the organization.

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Project Management involves a great deal of discipline in making sure that “all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed’. It clearly involves a great deal of attention to detail, and a high degree of thoroughness. So how do we balance that with a practical realism that allows us to prioritize and focus on the most important activities? The pareto principle can help.

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