Your path to business agility
The state of Britain’s economy might seem to be going from strength to strength, with unemployment now at its lowest since the winter of 1974-1975. This headline record, however, masks other data which is showing that the boom might not be the magical panacea to all the fears many have about the fallout from Brexit....
No question about it—today’s work environment can be chaotic. Not only do projects tend to pile up, but most project managers struggle to keep track of everything their team has on its plate. This gets magnified when the team is geographically dispersed or when members consist of third party vendors (like agencies). How do you...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
