In August 1805, Emperor Napoleon fought what was arguably the most important battle of his military career. In a brilliant display of strategy, he devised a system of matching his strongest soldiers with the enemy's weakest, in a move that students in military colleges still study today as the Ulm Manoeuvre. What business lessons can you learn from one of the … [Read more...]
There are three project management organizations who define the profession of project management: Project Management Institute (PMI) International Project Management Association (IPMA) Axelos Project Management Institute Based in the United States, the Project Management Institute is seen by some as the main official source for project management standards, … [Read more...]
The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines project management as follows: The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. The profession of project management includes the application of many skills, which include: Dividing the project into tasks Creating schedules (deadlines) Estimating … [Read more...]
The project manager is the ultimate responsible authority for the successful completion of the project. They establish the critical success factors and take responsibility for achieving them. Usually the project manager inherits criteria that the project must work with, such as budget, stakeholder concerns, and so forth. These are codified within the project charter … [Read more...]
A mind map is a graphical and pictorial illustration of the interrelated ideas for a common goal or objective. It truly makes its mark for empowering imaginations to produce new themes of ideas. Mind mapping drives people, with a multi-dimensional approach, to generate a consolidated and concentric solution to the problem. Mind mapping is a great tool to plan, gather ideas … [Read more...]
Project Management is a field that spans all other fields. Although it is true that the project management field contains its own body of knowledge (technical subject matter), you cannot simply pluck a project manager from, say, a construction site, and drop them into a biotechnology research project and expect to receive the same results. Thus, there is an important … [Read more...]
The way project managers define success is not always the same as the way the project sponsor does. In fact, it is a surprisingly common scenario that project managers think the project is going great because the variables they are concerned with are on track while being oblivious to an unhappy project sponsor that is focusing on other variables. For the project … [Read more...]
Studies show that over 85% of projects have a value below $100,000. These are projects where the bulk of the work happens within only a few weeks to a month. Because of their short duration, these types of projects have their own unique set of circumstances that warrant a slight adaptation of project management methodologies. Googling project management search terms … [Read more...]
Like many things in life, project management is an art form as well as a science. But fortunately also like most things in life, a strong knowledge of the science helps you practice the art form with considerably more skill. Some people are naturally good at the art side of things, and if that's you then excellent. But even it's not I believe that most people can become … [Read more...]
Like termites that build their invisible kingdoms secretly and slowly, projects have a similar parasite that grows under the surface until it suddenly exposes itself with disastrous consequences. It's called scope creep, and it has eaten many projects alive. Scope creep is the unauthorized addition of tasks into a project. If the project manager is not on … [Read more...]
