Leadership

What’s the most common mistake that project managers make? The responses of 78 professionals who answered that question through my LinkedIn poll surprised me. I expected, maybe idealistically, that miscalculating project risks would top the list. However, after categorizing the responses according to the nine PMBOK knowledge areas (integration, scope, time, cost, risk, HR, quality, […]

Reporting and communicating are not the same! Sending out information has very little to do with effective communication. Unfortunately, many project communication plans are simply a schedule for the distribution of project reports, and whilst this is a potentially useful activity, it contributes very little to the overall success of the project. Communicating effectively with

The greatest challenge facing project management in the 21st Century is managing the shift from the ‘command and control’ paradigm based in the theories of ‘scientific management’ developed in the early 20th Century to a recognition of the inherent uncertainty and complexity involved in managing every project, and in particular, projects focused on the outputs

Given the final draft of ISO 21500, A Guide to Project Management will be voted on by the international community over the next couple of months, my question is does the emergence of an international standard, and the internationalisation of other standards including the dozen or more translations of the PMBOK® Guide mean project management

Project success is directly linked to a project manager’s ability to effectively identify and manage stakeholder’s expectations. It’s therefore helpful to understand what makes a stakeholder!   These days it seems as if everyone is talking about stakeholders, is a stakeholder, or needs to manage stakeholders. Surprisingly, this has not always been the case. The

My last couple of posts have identified a gap in the overall management of projects and programs that is present in most organisations. This ‘Zone’ covers a range of organisational capabilities from the innovation and assessment of ideas that may develop into projects through to achieving the value the project was created to enable; see:

I see too many organizations spending too much time in project planning. Actually, I take that back. They spend too much time thinking they are planning. If you want to be agile, you need to deliver software. Planning helps get you there but it can also get in the way if you over do it.