Thursday, April 18, 2024

The latest news from the world of project management

How to fail well...

Failure Is the new success. Here are five ways that you can embrace...

5 Skills Needed To...

Why do projects fail? It's a question that invites a lot of interest and...

Embrace the change: Getting...

New IT systems for a growing business can be an exciting prospect and...

Does a Project Manager...

What makes a successful project manager is a combination of their academic abilities,...

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

An interesting thought experiment: open-book IT Project Management

Empowerment, autonomy, ownership – these buzzwords have rattled around for a few years now in relation to IT Project talent. Most project managers, business analysts (etc) would agree that they have the power to schedule their own time, track their own progress and tasks and choose how they work, to some extent. It usually leads to improved performance – after all who knows how to do a job better than the person who does it day-in, day-out?! What if you could take this improved individual performance and amplify it across your whole project or portfolio?

Changing our minds – the evolution of IT project strategic thinking and decision making

Interesting perspective from a Chief Experience Officer, Sandy, on how her organisation is making decisions – “we’re like a car that’s forgotten it has a steering wheel and more than one gear”. I love this metaphor. I can see the car missing turn offs and short cuts and the noise and smoke from driving along in first gear! What she means is that when the project team faces a challenge, or has a strategic decision to make, instead of weighing up what the problem really is and what would be best, it is culturally beholden to the in-house resources it already has at its disposal. Sandy thinks it may be a hangover from the pandemic. I suppose we all managed with what resources we could lay our hands on, became insular in our thinking, even adopting a scarcity mindset as we adjusted to the changing reality.

How mergers and acquisitions can cement IT as a strategic business partner

Despite the slow economy and provisional estimates which suggested lower mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity at the start of 2023, there were 365 mergers and acquisitions involving UK Companies during Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2023 according to the Office of National Statistics. There were inward M&A (foreign companies acquiring UK companies) in Quarter 1 2023 was £12.7 billion; and the total value of outward M&A (UK companies acquiring foreign companies) in Quarter 1 2023 was £2.9 billion.

FREE IT Project Management eBook

David writes blogs based on his many years in Project Management and also on ideas from the team here at Stoneseed. Light-hearted, insightful and funny, David’s blog cover all things Project Management, Leadership, Best Practice, PMO, Business Analysis and of course Project Management as a Service.  

Onboarding your IT Project’s end-users – the often-overlooked human success factor

Most IT Project Management teams are masters of the technical aspects of the project – all the i’s are dotted, and the t’s are crossed, the business case is clear and delivered (on paper at least) but what about the people who you need to implement your project on a day-to-day basis?

Is Accountability Strangling IT Project Innovation?

Is Accountability Strangling IT Project Innovation? Why is it, with VERY public IT projects, that when they fail everyone seems to want to wash their...

How to fail well in IT Projects

Failure Is the new success. Here are five ways that you can embrace failure and enjoy its unexpected benefits. Knowing when to say enough is...

Kick Start Your Project Management Office (PMO) – Five Key Areas of Focus and Assessment

by David Cotreageve - Stoneseed Ltd In 2020, the Project Management Institute (PMI) Pulse of the Profession reported that less than half (36%) of...

Six lessons IT Project Management can learn from Spitting Image

Six Lessons IT Project Management Can Learn from Spitting Image

Business Analysis – Driving business agility through the Covid pandemic

With the UK economy stuttering, businesses are having to react and become more resilient, leaner and more efficient. We are seeing a growth in the number Business Change projects, stoking demand for Business Analysis skillset.

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