Last week, I ran a little mini-series about the role of risk not only in projects, but in a business. This is just a quick round up post, making it easier to find the three parts of the series. In Part 1 we talked about how much I liked risk, and why you should too. … Read more
On Wednesday, I told you all how wonderful risk is. Yesterday, I talked about the two different types of risk a project can face, and why a business should be happy to embrace one of them. But should project managers be happy about this type of risk? Well… it depends. As I said yesterday, the … Read more
Yesterday, I told you all how wonderful risk is. But it is fair to say that most of us work very hard to get rid of risk from our projects. Why this difference? Well, I think it is because there are two broad types of risks in a project. The first type is one that … Read more
Risk is the absolute best thing you can have in your project. Yes, you read that right. I’m a project manager who craves risk, who wants risky projects. I feel like I should start a support group: “Hi, my name is Trevor. I am a project manager and I like risks”. But my group wouldn’t … Read more
I’ve been giving some thought recently as to what lies behind the work we do as project managers. Too often we get caught up in the tools and techniques, the how of what we do, without looking at the concepts and ideas behind it, the why of what we do. So far, I’ve suggested that: … Read more
Communication is vital in project management. In fact, I’d say good communication skills are one of the most important qualities a project manager can possess. But is a project manager getting involved in the internal communication of the project team actually providing value? As a quick thought experiment, let’s imagine a team of five members. … Read more
I’ve been giving some thought recently as to what lies behind the work we do as project managers. Too often we get caught up in the tools and techniques, the how of what we do, without looking at the concepts and ideas behind it, the why of what we do. So far, I’ve suggested that: … Read more
Well, we’re heading into a long weekend over here in the UK, where hopefully we’ll all get to have some down time, a chance to let our brains catch up with our bodies for a bit. All of us are guilty at one time or another of letting ourselves get distracted from the important parts … Read more
Some projects are done entirely in-house. The business has all the tools and people it needs to get the final result that they want. Often, though, a project will need to bring in outside help – such as buying in equipment. I’ve worked on some projects which have had major procurements as part of them. … Read more
We all know that the purpose of a project is to deliver some sort of benefit to the business. For many projects, the real benefit is that the end result is being sold. But what about projects that are purely internal? What about projects that are trying to change the business? I’ve run across a … Read more
