A huge amount has been written about the role of project managers in, uh, project management – makes sense, right? A lot less has been written about the vitally important role of the project sponsor. That’s a trifle odd, seeing as in theory they are the most important person in the project – they are … Read more
Ah, the Lessons Learned Register, that most noble of project management artefacts. It selflessly exists not to make your project better (though it may) but to help those who come after strengthen their projects, avoid the pitfalls you discovered the hard way, and keep your successors on the righteous path of clear scope, cost, quality, … Read more
Ask five people what digital sovereignty means and you’ll probably get seven different answers. The definitions vary by industry, by sector, by geography, and by if the person you ask is trying to sell you their own version of it. So here’s what I mean by it, and why I think this is a useful … Read more
Most projects don’t fail suddenly. They fail gradually, then all at once. By the time a project appears on the board’s risk register as Red, the conditions that made it Red have usually been present for months. The warning signs were there, visible to anyone who knew what to look for, often being quietly ignored … Read more
Last time, I wondered if the time of project managers has been and gone. You’ll be glad to know the short answer is ‘no’. The longer answer, though, is a bit more complicated… As George said in the comments to the last article, the truth is, and always has been, somewhat more nuanced than I … Read more
Working in IT project management, I’ve had a lot of experience in building interfaces as part of my projects. But the important ones are nothing to do with the technology. When you are working on an IT project, it can be too easy to get carried away with the technical possibilities. I have worked with … Read more
Elizabeth Harrin has an interesting post up at A Girl’s Guide to Project Management called Use your experts. Despite my general lack of understanding of the importance of a good haircut (as anyone who has seen me recently can confirm…) I was interested by the idea of a project manager as someone who knows the … Read more
I’ve been looking around at a lot of websites recently that yell about how hard project management is, how difficult it is to figure out. They talk about the complex processes, the confusing techniques, and the baffling methods. The truth is, though, that project management isn’t difficult. No, really, it isn’t. At the most basic … Read more
So, last Friday I asked “What’s the point of project managers?” Not surprisingly, as a project manager myself, I think project managers are very useful! But I wanted to throw it open to you guys, and see what reasons you have for the importance of project managers. And you didn’t let me down, especially on … Read more
Seriously, what’s the point? Note that I’m not asking what the point of project management is – any project needs project management of some sort. But what is the point of having a dedicated project manager? Think about it. What if you just gave, for example, your lead programmer enough time to do some project … Read more
