Leading the conversation on digital connected work
During a recent Field Services conference, I asked the audience to make the following calculations: Multiply the Average Billable Hourly Rate (or Cost) per person and the Average Number of Hours that person should be “off bench” per year. (When we looked at industry averages, we came up with $200/person X 2,175 and came up...
Productivity and the efficient use of resources is attained when the right resources are working on the right projects at the precisely the right time. No matter if you’re in IT, the PMO, marketing, or in a professional service organization, resources are specialized, shared, and matrixed – making effective resource management a complicated goal! You need...
What do analysts see when all the data points to a looming talent shortage for professional services? They research what best-in-class organizations are doing to combat the problem. In this particular instance, Service Performance Insight gleaned from their annual PS Maturity Benchmark study that organizations that had technology tools with three attributes fared considerably better...
I’m excited about returning to TechEd for the first time in 3 years. In 2011, I attended my first TechEd in Atlanta. It was an exciting time for Tasktop; we had just announced Visual Studio support for Tasktop Dev and were a couple months away from announcing Tasktop Sync, our flagship integration hub for the...
A few weeks ago Carrie Nauyalis posted an inspiring blog about the positive aspects of killing products early in the innovation process and how it can be similar to a Jazz funeral. The piece was so well received that she expanded the blog into a full article on Innovation Management.se. Here’s a short synopsis and...
5 Tips to get your Innovation Management Program on the Right Track In a recent article posted on Innovation Management.se, Steve Beaumont outlines 5 things organizations can do to bridge the perception gap between executive management and reality for innovation management maturity. Educate executives – use the Fourth Product Portfolio Management Benchmark Survey to provide evidence...
Is it bigger than a breadbox? This week Projects at Work published “10 Tips for Better Estimates” by best-selling business author Jerry Manas (and contributor on Portfolio Perspectives). This article extracts points from Jerry’s white paper titled, Bigger than a Breadbox: 10 Tips for Better Project Estimates. Here’s a short synopsis and a link to read...
Joining Tasktop as a business analyst in September 2013, I was tasked to learn about the intricacies of the software delivery process while doing my part to help the company work toward its goal of improving that very process. While at first this seemed like an overwhelming undertaking, it turns out that Tasktop has been...
Twenty years ago, businesses seeking to drive innovation initiatives had a limited number of touch points to consider, and few technology options. Back then, the majority of customer interactions involved one of three scenarios: face-to-face in a retail store or corporate office; over the telephone; or, in writing delivered via snail mail. Fast forward to...
It sounds counter-intuitive, but limiting your work in process (WIP) actually improves your flow — and your team’s productivity. In this three-part series, Stephen Franklin, CIO at Planview AgilePlace, draws from experience to explain the common obstacles you’ll face when setting WIP limits, and tips for overcoming them. In part one of this blog series, I discussed why...
