Improve Project Estimates and Escape Crisis Mode

The following content is based on the whitepaper, “Bigger Than a Breadbox: 10 Tips for Better Project Estimates, Part 1,” written by Jerry Manas. Accurate project estimates are a key success factor for individual projects. That’s a given. Yet, little is written on the trickle-down effects of poor estimates—surprising, as poor estimates are a leading...

How Creativity and Automation Can Work Together

Automation has been an ever-increasing presence in nearly all industries and, as such, project management has seen significant changes happen in recent times, with many more due to come about over the next few years. Apart from fears over job security, there is also the worry that creativity and automation don’t mix well together. The...

Bad Project Habits and How to Avoid Them

Just because work has always been done a certain way doesn’t necessarily make it the right way. In fact, bad habits in the workplace might be far more common than you think, and they could be costing your project time, productivity and even final success. If you think your project might be being held back...

5 Characteristics of A Successful PMO Leader

Your organization is transforming. Maybe you’re part of a newly-minted project management office (PMO). Or perhaps you’re a tenured PMO leader and looking to refine your skills. You’re valiant and ready to spearhead the challenges ahead for developing process and governance. But they have given you a butter knife for the proverbial “battle” to slay...

Project to Product: What Flows Through a Software Value Stream?

Throughout this Project to Product series I’ve explored how we need to bring the same rigor to architecting our software delivery value streams as what we’re witnessing in advanced manufacturing plants. Once we agree on what flows, we can analyze those flows to identify bottlenecks and opportunities to remove them. However, every time I’ve asked...

Seven Strategies for Improving The Performance of Your Team

How to improve work performance is understandably a prominent thought in every project manager’s mind on a nearly-constant basis. Work performance will ultimately determine if a project gets completed successfully, on time and within budget. Poor performance can happen for any one of a million reasons but getting great work performance from your team is...

5 Reasons to Start Kanban

Unless you’ve recently assumed the role of accidental project manager, you’ve probably heard about the Kanban method. Praised for being simple and easy to use, Kanban has helped countless organizations manage tasks and track project workflows. These days, Kanban has moved away from its simplistic index card design. Thanks to advancements in workplace technology, Kanban...

Reducing Cost and Complexity with Application Portfolio Management

In business, as in science, we are bound by basic principles that are immutable. Among them, there’s the notion that nothing is free. In physics it’s known as the law of conservation of energy; in business it’s known by the adage, time is money. Actively managing your application portfolio is a discipline vital to your...

Measuring your software delivery – Flow time vs. Lead time

Last month the entire Tasktop Customer Success team met in Las Vegas ahead of DevOps Enterprise Summit 2018 for our annual face-to-face. During the meeting I had the opportunity to present Tasktop’s own journey into Value Stream Management and the Flow Framework™. There were some great discussions around gathering data and measuring both flow time and lead...

Six Important Influencers in the World of Project Management

In today’s world of seemingly infinite information, discerning who to spend time listening to and who is a waste of time can be a lifelong process. There can often be just too many voices taking different views from a number of angles and, if looking for guidance in your field, like in project management, it...