Project management

What do you do when you have an important decision to make? Draw up a list of pros and cons? Flip a coin? Do you postpone hoping someone else will end up making the decision for you? CONTENT When should you use a decision matrix (and when not to)? What exactly is a decision matrix? … Continue reading "Decision matrix: how to make important decisions in a project"

Ethics for a project manager is a very modern topic and highly relevant to their career, although talking about ethics may seem to be something much more relevant to an ancient branch of philosophy. CONTENT What is ethics? What are the ethical dilemmas that a project manager faces? Why should a Project Manager act ethically? … Continue reading "Project manager’s code of ethics"

Project management metrics are fundamental to implementing sustainable project management practices and processes in any organization. The key is to keep them simple and relevant to the organization. Project management metrics are also central for improving the way projects are managed and delivered, as well as showing improvements over time in project management maturity. CONTENT … Continue reading "Project metrics"

Receiving feedback in an effective way as a project manager is as important as being able to give them. CONTENT The benefits of feedback What are the most important feedback in a project How does the feedback request process work? Feedback is a key part of any manager’s skills and contributes enormously to the success … Continue reading "The most important feedback in a project and how to receive them"

A reporting system is a key process in any organization and for every kind of project. The information is used to provide all interested parties with information about the status of the project and is of course also used to make decisions. CONTENT Types of reporting in project management Resource availability report Project status report … Continue reading "Reporting system in projects"

The traceability matrix, also called Requirements Traceability Matrix or RTM, provides documentation of the links between the proposed requirements, concerning the project output, and the test phase. Simply put, it is a document to map and track requirements and to ensure that an adequate level of testing is achieved for each of these requirements. CONTENT … Continue reading "The traceability matrix: what it is and what is it used for"

The capability of mitigating risks means they can be recognized proactively and addressed by implementing specific mitigation strategies. CONTENT Risk mitigation strategies: Expanding requirements Risk mitigation strategies: Have the right project team Risk mitigation strategies: Risk distribution and/or transfer Risk mitigation strategies: Communicate and listen Risk mitigation strategies: Assess project feasibility Risk mitigation strategies: Run … Continue reading "Risk mitigation strategies in project management"

Project criticalities aren’t really missing and managing them is what a Project Manager should be able to do in complete control. CONTENT Manage project criticalities: Break during project planning process Manage project criticalities: Scope Creep Manage project criticalities: Budget is exceeded Manage project criticalities: Missing or inefficient communication Manage project criticalities: Missing deadlines Manage project … Continue reading "Manage project criticalities"

Project management is a long-standing profession and in the past century it has become a real subject covered by many studies and research. CONTENT Project management transformation in the 21st century Project manager’s role According to classic project management, and too often used nowadays, the success of a project is measured in terms of time, … Continue reading "21st century project management and increased productivity"

A Statement of Work (aka S.O.W.), is one of the most important documents in project management as it outlines everything that must be part of a project. CONTENTS What is a Statement of Work? When is a SOW needed? When should the SOW be drafted? What is included in the Statement of Work? Project management … Continue reading "Statement of Work (S.O.W.): objectives and project work"

The success of a project is usually calculated with traditional evaluation parameters that only take into account the fact that the project has respected the budget and the programme. Quite often, however, this is not enough. Some organizations consider broader parameters than the traditional ones – cost, planning and operation – and determine the success … Continue reading "Successful projects: evaluation parameters"

Let’s go back to our discussion about the detection and management of project criticalities already started with the previous article. CONTENT Effective criticality management Ways to address criticalities After having addressed the criticality… Warning flags indicating that you’re drifting towards failure 1. There is no project risk 2. Some risks remain unidentified 3. Risk identification … Continue reading "Determine and manage project criticalities and risks (second part)"

The recognition and management of project risks and criticalities is one of the most crucial aspects for the success of a project; however, this issue is easily overlooked. Throughout the life cycle of any project, there will almost always be unforeseen problems, questions and concerns that occur. When these problems appear, the project manager and … Continue reading "Determine and manage project criticalities and risks (part one)"

The project responsibility matrix is a fundamental mainstay not only for the Project Manager but for the entire Project Team. Regardless of the size of the project, in order to prevent problems, task descriptions and role divisions need to be clearly set out. CONTENT What is a project responsibility matrix? Benefits of a project responsibility … Continue reading "Project responsibility matrix"

Measuring the progress of the project, or a simple task, is obviously critical, but why is it so important to use good software to achieve this? It probably happened more than once that the project manager was asked the question “So, are we done?” in relation to a project activity or the project itself. CONTENT … Continue reading "Measuring the state of progress: the importance of a software"