Part of the project manager’s (PM) role is to delegate tasks to resources to get the work done. Mostly these people report to functional managers, not the PM leading the project. So, what do you do when assigned tasks don’t get done because a resource’s first allegiance is not to the project, but to their… [Read more…]
January 27, 2011 by David Kohrell
In the sender / receiver model of communication it’s the responsibility of the sender to verify the message has been received by the receiver the way you intended. Here are three tips. Understand that some communication loss will occur – some studies indicate that over 90% of communication is through non-verbal cues (tone of voice,… [Read more…]
January 21, 2011 by David Kohrell
We have IQ, there’s Emotional Intelligence (EI) – I say we add EQ – environmental intelligence based on applying that Emotional Intelligence to what’s going on with stakeholders. A quick recap, a stakeholder is someone who has a professional interest in the outcome of a project. That interest may be acknowledged and formalized – corporate… [Read more…]
January 20, 2011 by David Kohrell
Step Two of Resolving Virtual Team Conflict is to treat it as a potential risk. The advantage of looking at team conflict as a risk is it’s an easier to say “hey let’s treat team conflict as a risk element, something that might happen” rather than “gee, we’re conflicted and at each others throat, upper… [Read more…]
January 1, 2011 by Adrian Reed (UKAdrianReed)
Asking the right questions and framing problems carefully is an important part of project definition and organizational change. Often organizations frame problems in a way which constricts or constrains potential solutions, and this can lead to a poor outcome or the wrong tactics being employed. Spending time consciously defining a problem can pay dividends in… [Read more…]
December 28, 2010 by David Kohrell
Synonymous term or a different term, that’s a common question we receive in our course delivery for secondary versus residual risks. Those two terms do sound quite a bit a like. Are they? They’re similar concepts but are different! Secondary risk occurs once a risk event triggers and the appropriate management response strategy deployed. The… [Read more…]
December 22, 2010 by David Kohrell
Don’t start from scratch. Reuse and recycle. Learn from others. Those three quick statements for learning apply to risk management. Identifying potential risks, good and bad, can be a cumbersome process. To hasten the process, discover what risk are common for your industry, whether that’s construction, information technology, product development or public power. Use those… [Read more…]
December 2, 2010 by David Kohrell
Weaving throughout the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), ISACA content & CobiT, Lean Six Sigma best practice and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) / PRINCE 2 is the concept of proactively managing risk. Risk is based on a probability of an event occuring (positive and negative) and the impact should that even… [Read more…]
September 30, 2010 by David Kohrell
Risk management weaves through multiple disciplines. Addressing potential future events, both good and bad, is the focus of risk management. There are two primary factors: 1) the probability of that event occurring and 2) the impact of that event occurring. Take those two together (multiply) and a Risk Priority Number can be calculated. For example… [Read more…]
September 14, 2010 by David Kohrell
Nexus – 1. a means of connection; tie; link. 2. a connected series or group. 3. the core or center, as of a matter or situation. In geek’dom – a moderately successful 1994 Star Trek movie that saw one 700 year old guy named Soran (wonder if they’d been reading Tolkien) not only take on… [Read more…]
August 8, 2010 by David Kohrell
In a Request For Proposal selection process or project a flexibility, well defined rubric is critical. That rubric is more commonly known as score sheets, scales and weights. The best practice is to define that rubric prior to issuing the RFP – the selection committee needs to know 1) what they are selected and 2)… [Read more…]
May 20, 2010 by tapuniversity
Barney always smelled bad, nobody could read his writing, and his team members found it creepy how he stared at their cell phones. Peter is the project manager whose team includes Barney and ten other people. Peter wants to get rid of Barney, but doesn’t want to fire him. Instead, Peter decides to enlist the… [Read more…]
May 17, 2010 by tapuniversity
The Project Management Institute has made available its PMI® Project Management Salary Survey – Sixth Edition. One may purchase the survey results at www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/Project-Management-Salary-Survey.aspx for $150 for non-members of PMI. PMI’s publication, PMI Today, provides an overview of the survey results. It includes the statement that “in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, France,… [Read more…]
May 14, 2010 by tapuniversity
The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) expands the concept that an organization’s success should be measured solely in terms of monetary profit. In addition to the bottom line of financial performance, two more bottom lines are added—that of social and environmental. The phrase originated from British environmentalist John Elkington, who is an active advocate of corporate… [Read more…]
May 12, 2010 by tapuniversity
Good news for project managers who have earned their PMP®! It’s also an incentive for project managers who are considering becoming certified. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article indicating that increasing value is being placed upon having earned a certification such as the PMP. The article quotes the Project Management Institute (PMI) as… [Read more…]
May 11, 2010 by tapuniversity
A product development term, Design to Cost (DTC) is an approach that places cost constraints on the product’s design in order to create a product that is affordable for consumers. Much of what the final product will cost is tied into the design at its inception. Although the concept is simple, there can be much… [Read more…]
May 10, 2010 by tapuniversity
One of the most common questions I receive from those studying for their PMP® Exam is how to distinguish between the different types of organizational structures. There are three main types of organizations—Functional, Matrix, and Projectized. An organization that has more than one of these types (perhaps across different departments, locations, or teams) is called… [Read more…]
May 7, 2010 by tapuniversity
There’s Project Managers and then there are Project Makers. These are people who do more than manage a project that has been assigned to them. A Project Maker has even more responsibility from beginning to end for the successful outcome of a project than does a Project Manager. Wideman’s Comparative Glossary states that a Project… [Read more…]
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January 27, 2011 by meryljourneybeyond
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