David Cotgreave
If you like David's blogs - he is now a published author - Straight Talk on Project Management (VOLUME III)- Free eBook. Why not download your copy today.
http://www.stoneseed.co.uk/ebook
David Cotgreave MBA, BSc (hons), PRINCE II, is Professional Services Director at Stoneseed, with over 20 years’ experience in IT Consulting. David has worked with organisations such as BT Engage IT and KPMG, before founding Stoneseed in 2009 and has gained considerable business experience whilst working with a wide range of organisations across the UK and Europe carrying out a range of strategy, review and implementation projects. David is currently responsible for leading the Programme and Project Management services offered by Stoneseed. Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) from Stoneseed offers clients access to Project Management staff, resources and tools at a flexible and predictable cost via a fully Structured Managed Service. www.stoneseed.co.uk
written articles
General
New Broom, Sweeps Lean! Four ROI, Efficiency and Productivity Hacks for The New IT Project Decision Maker
It IS tempting to make a grand, headline grabbing move to justify your organisation’s faith in you, investing in a new portfolio software application or churning your talent, for instance. When new to a role (in many business environments, not just IT Project Management), new managers tend to lean into making sweeping changes, it’s human nature. Often though, hindsight shows that making small tweaks could have been more productive.
Rather than shake things up, it can be quicker, and less stressful to shape things up! If you’re new to a role, instead of slashing or splashing budget and drastically altering project team structure, how about looking at the small step changes you can make that can quickly unlock ROI. Less broom, more polish!
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IT Project Management Capability Assessment and other project spring cleaning tips
I love this out of office reply from Collette, an IT Project leader who takes herself out of the project portfolio the first Friday and Monday of every March just to have a proper delve into how they do things, assess how aligned their resources and ambitions are, and imagine how they could operate better. A Spring Clean – what a great idea.
IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT
We measure how successful our projects are all year round, in terms of Return On Investment (ROI), budgets, delivery times met, etc but an IT Project Management Capability Assessment checks in on how effective the delivery frameworks and processes that underpin project success are.
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Unleashing success! What IT Project Management can learn from Crufts
If you’ve ever trained a puppy, you’ll know the value of a “treat” to reward good behaviour, like sitting or staying on command. I think most dogs know the word “biscuit” before they learn their own name, mind you, I know some PMs who are as partial to a bourbon or chocolate malted milk, she writes dunking a digestive! At Crufts I saw a lot of treats passed from owner to dog with a “good boy” or “good girl”. Rewards are vital to the process.
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From ‘a meh thing’ to amazing! How PMaaS can help build innovation into IT Projects
Experience and anecdotal evidence suggest that Bex isn’t alone in seeking a little bit more. In many organisations now, IT project teams feel that the necessary fixed scope, set budgets, tight deadlines, limited resources and defined roles and responsibilities, leave little or no room for experimentation and innovation.
The thing is, if you’re getting the results, do you need the added sizzle of innovating?
I think that you do.
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Every IT project needs a Dale!
This is one of the things I love about Stoneseed, our team, and the culture we have evolved. When we talk about someone behind their back, it’s always positive and hugely complimentary!
If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, Dale Beeton is Stoneseed’s Head of Client Engagement and, as our clients will attest, he is one of those “extra milers” that make a real difference – and not just from a business perspective.
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IT Project Management: Nailing know-how, but are we wondering why?
The trainer was explaining the team’s fairly unique binary approach to scrum sprints, which effectively boils down to them having two duration categories – A) one week long and B) three weeks long.
The new hire found this interesting and enquired about the reason behind this approach. In her last job, length and number of sprints would be decided at a goal setting meeting, a twelve-week scrum project could have 15–20 Scrum sprints, which could be as short as a handful of days and as long as a month.
So, “Why?” seemed a reasonable question but it was met with either blank expressions or an unsatisfactory explanation. The trainer did not know, nobody on the team could answer either.
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Total Enterprise Reinvention? Sweeping digital transformation will need new brooms!!!
The next couple of years will see extensive Digital Transformation and regeneration of many, if not most, businesses and organisations.
It’s not a bold or groundbreaking prediction, I mean, it’s happening already! Game changing technologies are revolutionising business operations and outcomes the so-called Industrial Revolution 4.0 is well underway, Accenture are even talking of an advanced group, The Reinventorsm who, they say are embracing “Total Enterprise Reinvention” – a “deliberate strategy centred on a strong digital core.”
Digital transformation, regeneration, reinvention – there’s quite the frisson of excitement where it’s happening … but I do foresee a problem that few are talking about …
… the digital elephant in the room is …
… where are all the IT Project Managers coming from to manage all these HUGE IT projects?
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It’s 2029 and IT project management is the planet’s most in-demand skill
In a recent blog, TOP 3 WAYS TO RETAIN IT PROJECT TALENT AND HOW TO REMAIN EFFECTIVE WHEN YOU CAN’T I shared a Director People’s story of how a candidate had flipped this perennial interview question and asked, “Where does the company see me?”
There must be something in the air! This week, another HR Director called to canvass my thoughts – An applicant had trumped this by asking … WHERE DO YOU SEE THE IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY IN FIVE YEARS?
Great question! BIG QUESTION!
Like us all, the candidate was mindful about the impact of AI, but there’s an exciting prediction from the “Future of Project Management” (a collaborative “living” thought leadership initiative) about where Project Management might fit within organisations by the end of the decade – read on to find out more!
News
How Knowing Your PM’s Favourite Rom-Com and BA’s Dog’s Name Could Help Optimise IT Project Success!
Isn’t it beautiful when an IT Project team execute and implement with total cohesion from top to bottom? When colleagues become team-mates, and when...
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IT Project decision making: How the best choice between two options can often be the third!
The “Crucible Moments” podcast is a fascinating listen, especially as Roelof Botha (whose thoughts are the inspiration for this blog) isn’t the main subject. He plays the role of presenter; the main guest is Jack Dorsey (former Twitter CEO who now runs the financial services company Block). The central narrative of the podcast is the evolution of Block from its origins as Square, and how they created Cash App, a ‘third’ option, which is now responsible for half of Block’s revenue. The strategy of expanding the number of options for consideration was instrumental in helping Block identify and eliminate what wasn’t working and focus on more profitable projects.
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