PMcrunch

There is always something going on that we can “take advantage of”. When we are in school, we can take advantage of the opportunity to learn new things in a free thinking environment. When we are on vacation, we can take advantage of the opportunity to sit back, relax and have a good time. When the weekend comes, we can take advantage of the opportunity to get some extra things done around the house, or to see to some friends. Now, we find ourselves in a recession. So, the natural question is, “What can we do to take advantage of the recession?”

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I just completed a great book that was so stimulating, thought-provoking, and inspiring that I had to write about it here.  By the way, it does apply totally to the project management field.  But it also applies to all of life, as it is a great story of life.  Greg Mortenson has taken on life [...]

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Using organizational charts in project-planning is very effective in a number of ways. One of the interesting things about organization charts is that they can benefit the project at various times in the lifecycle.

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Most of us as project and program managers are constantly looking to improve ourselves, our performance, our skills, and our influence on our respective organizations. There are some trends at work that I think we can tap into that can help us to do all of these things and more. They can help us to move our careers to the next level.

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Frequently, in our projects, especially those of technical nature, we are confronted with the opportunity to analyze various possible solutions. In this process, it is critically important to understand all aspects of cost related to each alternative. A potential trap is to simply compare price. Oftentimes, price is only one very small aspect of the cost of going with a particular product or service.

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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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Project management in one sense can be a pretty dry field. While it can be exciting professionally and emotionally, it also can be relatively mechanical in many ways and to many people. However, as I think about it, most things are actually that way. Most things can get to be ho-hum and humdrum. The difference I find is when we decide to do things with style. We add some class to our actions and become a different kind of project manager. Let me give you my thoughts.

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In these tough economic times, it will be quite a challenge for so many of us to make it through the year with a strong financial performance. I have been thinking about what some of the keys are to ensuring that 2009 is a solid year. The best conclusion I have is that the customer is king. Here are my thoughts.

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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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