We have looked at the different approaches to goal setting – Tinkering, Overhauling – and the different approaches to managing change – Planning, Improvising. The Tinkering approach to change deals in incremental improvements, while the Overhauling approach to change deals with broader goals. The Planning approach supposes the future can be predicted and thus controlled, … Read more
Last time, we took a look at the kind of change our stakeholders may be most naturally comfortable with. We looked at Tinkerers and Overhaulers – Tinkerers generally believe we just need to tweak where we are, Overhaulers that we need to completely refresh everything. But that’s not the only dimension of how a person … Read more
Last time, we discussed how political competence is becoming an ever more important part of the project manager’s toolkit. All the signs are pointing to PMs being expected to deliver the outcomes of a project, not just the outputs – even if they weren’t even in the room when the outcomes were defined, and the … Read more
That’s the message that the changes to the PMP (the massive increase in the Business Environment domain) seem to be sending. You can deliver your project exactly how it was planned, on time, and on budget, but if the expected outcomes don’t occur from your delivered outputs – outcomes which traditionally you may have had … Read more
What’s a good predictor of a problem project? I’m sure we all have our own ‘sniff tests’ when it comes to projects, and identifying what is likely to cause problems. But we haven’t done as much research as Alexander Budzier from the Saïd Business School – he’s looked at 22,000 across every sector! It turns … Read more
How many of your projects would you count as successful? I don’t mean successful delivery, though that is important. Hitting budget, schedule, and benefits is vital, but is it enough? Traditionally, the iron triangle has been something project managers can, more or less, control. This is where we have focussed our efforts – we can … Read more
0.5% of projects deliver to budget, on time, and with the benefits they were supposed to. Not my statistic, but from Alexander Budzier of Oxford Saïd Business School. It came from a study of more than 22,000 projects across sectors, showing 50% deliver on budget, 8% on budget and on time, and that 0.5% hitting … Read more
I have been thinking some more about the changes to the PMP exam by PMI that I wrote about last week. I’m particularly interested in the dramatic increase in focus on the wider business environment when it comes to running projects. Every project manager will have been in the position where they realise that changes … Read more
UK Regional Mayors can now borrow much more money, and actually invest in the regions they serve. On Friday, it was announced that there would be a guaranteed transfer of a portion of centrally collected tax receipts, specifically income tax and business rates. I was part of regional devolution 25 years ago when I joined … Read more
I was interested to see the changes brought in with the new PMP Exam on 9th July. Now, I’m not a PMP person myself – the UK in general leans more towards PRINCE2 – but it is a global force, so changes there are likely to appear in most other places. The PMP has three … Read more
