Project management

Work Life Balance has been a key concept in recent years, a goal for many. Many managers and entrepreneurs have taken the path described by this concept, attempting a real balance between work and private life. The intent was to try to distribute the time equally between work and personal activities. Currently, the concept of … Continue reading "The integration of Work Life Balance: Work Life Integration is born"

Before starting to talk about the Organizational Process Assets, we want to spend some words in order to “contextualize” the topic. As the 6th version of the Italian PMBOK highlights, the projects exist and operate in environments that may have influence on them. Such influences can have a favorable or unfavorable impact on the project and … Continue reading "Organizational process assets and the project environment"

Creating a work team is a delicate but strategic phase for any project manager. The outcome of the project will really depend on the choices made here. Stephen Covey, famous writer and author of the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” states: “Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success” … Continue reading "Create the project team: 7 tips for identifying, approving and supplying it at the best"

When the concept of Emotional Intelligence entered the mainstream for the first time, the skeptics labeled it as a temporary fashion that would soon be forgotten. However, since the publication in 1995 of Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence”, emotional intelligence has increased its credibility in the business world more and more, becoming an important skill … Continue reading "Emotional intelligence and project management"

The Scope Management of a project is the set of processes necessary to ensure that the scope of a project is precisely defined and mapped. Project scope management techniques enable project managers to assign the right amount of work required in order to successfully complete a project, particularly by controlling what is and what is … Continue reading "Scope Management: managing the project scope"

People often confuse projects with processes. Some might argue that this is only a question of semantics and that saying “project” rather than “process” does not change much. CONTENT INDEX Project vs. process: the definition Project vs. process: the common points Project vs. process: the differences Further differences between process and project Projects, projects and … Continue reading "Process or project? What differences? What goals?"

The Earned Schedule (ES) is a rather recent methodology. It was first introduced in 2003 and it is a method of analysis that extends and completes the benefits of the Earned Value Management. Currently, the Earned Schedule method is used globally in projects of any type and size. This method is taught in academics, is … Continue reading "Earned Schedule"

Much has been written and said about the motivation of people and the team in general. Certainly, in a project team, a project manager who personally cares about each individual, personal ideas and concerns can contribute enormously to the motivation of a team. And it is found that well-motivated teams achieve greater success than their … Continue reading "If the project manager motivates others … what motivates the project manager? (self-motivation ability)"

Delegating project activities is a delicate task, but most often necessary in the management of complex projects. By working alone you can only do a limited amount of work. Indeed, the hours in a day are limited. Often, however, especially in the case of the project manager, it will be required to do much more. … Continue reading "Delegating project activities effectively: (7) key suggestions"

Agile and Lean are two popular methods in the project management world that help teams deliver faster, more sustainable results. However, the differences and similarities between these two methodologies are often not clear. Even the terms themselves are often used in the wrong manner, as synonyms to describe a particular set of practices. For a … Continue reading "Lean and Agile: differences and similarities"

For sure, you are asking yourself: “Gaming and Project Management? Did I read well? “Yes, you read very well! “But how does it work?”. The idea is quite simple: use a game model to create rewards in terms of productivity and goals. It is simply applying the techniques used in games in non-gaming contexts, in … Continue reading "Project Management & Gamification: using games for project management"

What are the skills of the Project Manager today? That’s a good question! Project management is not an easy job. In reality, this is composed by a series of difficult tasks, including the start-up, planning, execution, control, closure of a project and, last but not least, the management of the team. And the project manager … Continue reading "Project manager skills: 9 (+1) key skills"

Visual Project Management is an interesting approach to project management. A project management strategy designed to increase success by visualizing project components like data and activities. It is a proven fact that people receive more than 80% of information through the sense of sight. From the most tender age, we write and draw in order … Continue reading "Visual project management"

Project requirements are a key aspect in order to complete the project on time and without exceeding budget limits. This is one of the essential skills of a project manager, often underestimated, which consists in the collection and analysis of these aspects of the plan. Understanding clearly the requirements of any project you are about … Continue reading "Project requirements: how to collect and analyze them"

Business coaching for a project manager is becoming a key aspect of the business. John Whitmore, recognized by everyone as the founding father of Coaching, defined it as the ability to “Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”   CONTENT INDEX Business … Continue reading "Business Coaching. How to prepare for the best by strengthening 4 key skills. (Article for Project Managers)."