Project Portfolio Management

The PMO is under constant pressure. From maintaining standards for project management practices to planning and delivering projects – the PMO needs to be in constant sync with strategy and business outcomes. This PMO blog category provides numerous recommendations from experts to encourage top down and bottom up planning, improve processes, promote stakeholder satisfaction, and ultimately eliminate silos to advance the PMO function. Get expert advice on the pros and cons of adopting a continuous planning model. Experts will also share real-world advice on choosing your next Project Portfolio Management tool and how to #BeThatPMO your business needs.

Three Ways to Optimize for Employees with Different Work Styles

The organizer and the improviser. The risk-taker and the voice of caution. It takes all kinds to get the job done. But a range of personalities can also lead to clashes in the workplace. One study found that 40 percent of workers report difficulties with conflicting personalities. But this is no reason to start dividing...

What is the Kotter Change Model & How Can It Help?

In 1996, John Kotter, then a professor at Harvard Business School, published a book, Leading Change, which set out his seminal “Eight Step Change Model”. Despite being written nearly a quarter of a century ago, the Kotter Change Model is regarded as the leading methodology for implementing change management in a team or organization. Understanding...

Could Warren Buffet shoot threes? (part one)

In recent years, both basketball and executive teams have seen revolutionary changes compared to the days of Jack Welch and Michael Jordan in the 80s and 90s. The game, in both business and basketball, is much quicker, with more emphasis on teamwork, agility, and a dramatic redistribution of traditional roles and responsibilities. The digital revolution...

Shifting from Projects to a Product-Centric Approach

In my last blog, “Agile Transformation: The PMO’s New Paradigm” we covered the significance of embracing different types of work and the role that continuous planning plays in becoming an Agile PMO—but that’s only the beginning. In Part 4, we explore the trend of turning project-focused planning and delivery into a product-centric approach to enable...

The Minimalism Trend Needs to Go Below the Surface

Walk into the lobby of almost any technology company today and you’ll get the same feel. It can be in New York or Los Angeles or Hong Kong or Berlin. There’s a spareness. Clean lines.  A neutral color palette. Every object in sight serves a clear purpose. The streamlined look suggests order, inside and out....

How Executives Can Become More Effective Leaders by Leveraging Communication Psychology

“Effective communication, in turn, enables us to psychologically connect better with others, win people over, negotiate better and establish better alignment.” (Jan de Jonge, business psychologist) It is no secret that effective communication is a key leadership (and life) skill required for being able to better connect with people across the organization’s hierarchy, with customers,...

Effective Ways to Reduce the Stress Level of Your Team

Stress in the workplace has been a common theme for decades and technological advances have done little to alleviate it. It is estimated to cost American businesses up to $300 billion a year and with “always on” e-mail, it means that there can often be nowhere to hide, destress and recharge for under-pressure employees. For...

Who is a Project Sponsor?

A project sponsor is an important link between a project team and other stakeholders, including more senior executives. We have already addressed how to identify a project sponsor, so here we will focus on what their roles and responsibilities are. These can vary depending on the industry and type of project, but can generally be...

Putting Continuous Planning Types to Work

Welcome to the finale of our four-part series that reviews the types of planning organizations have at their fingertips to convert strategy into results. At the beginning of this series, we discussed the importance of developing plans that are dynamic and continuous in order to adapt to change. Now, we will summarize the different types...

Why Digital Transformation Doesn’t Start with Tech

Every business claims it’s acting aggressively to seize the potential of digital technology. But through a combination of overuse and inaction, “digital transformation” in the mouths of many has become an empty cliché. As we approach the cusp of the third decade of the 21st century, the digital age has reached maturity. It’s time to...