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
Information needs to flow freely in project management, whether that be to the project manager or from them. One flow of information must be from the project manager to the Executive, and other senior interested parties. These updates are highlight reports. A highlight report is exactly what it sounds like – a report that only … Read more
Tom Wujec talks about how we understand ideas. He discusses the different ways our brain interprets what we see around us, and how this builds up into a mental map of what is happening. This is a good video, but what I found particularly interesting was the look at how Autodesk work to create strategic … Read more
If you look at pretty much any contract job board online, you’ll see an awful lot of the project management roles call for someone with the ability to ‘handle senior stakeholders’. I think this is a pretty revealing request in a job advert. For a start, while I don’t deny this should be part of … Read more
Growing up, I was surrounded by my dad’s books of classic science fiction. He had always had a fascination and interest in science, and the ‘hard’ science fiction of the Golden Age naturally attracted him. The cheap paperbacks and, much rarer, the hardbacks of that time still occupied many bookshelves in our house by the … Read more
We all want to deliver successful projects. That’s why we became project managers, after all. But sometimes the right thing to do is to stop a project. When is this the right choice? 1. Too expensive Maybe the costs weren’t estimated correctly at the beginning. Maybe a supplier has hiked their prices dramatically. Maybe it … Read more
There are three broad types of project manager – the Courier, the Facilitator, and the Thinker. The Courier is, I am afraid, the worst type of manager. He doesn’t actually add value to his team, and in fact often gets in the way. But what does he do? Well, the Courier just acts as the … Read more
Quality is an odd thing. What we mean by it varies by situation, by product, by person. It can be very difficult to know what someone means by quality when they talk about it. For example, two people could ask for high quality clothes. For one person, this may mean durable work wear, strong enough … Read more
Project management isn’t just about project managers. We are just part of a team that works on the project. Our job is to help the rest of the team to be successful at their job. So what are some of the signs of a project team that successfully works together? I’ve come up with ten … Read more
