Author: David Cotgreave
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The 7 killer traits of a ROCKSTAR Project Manager – a CIO’s checklist
A CIO sprang this on me this week. “David, what makes a great Project Manager?” It’s one of those questions that you answer instinctively – great organiser, they deliver projects within deadline and budget, good communication skills, etc, etc. All true but I was a little disappointed by my instinctive, off the hip answer –…
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Fail fast, fail often, fail well: the key to IT Project success
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan. An IT Project Manager I know, let’s call…
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You have no new massages – A deep tissue lesson for IT Project Managers
My Project Manager friend, Colette came back from her lunchtime massage today, not as relaxed as she normally does. “Well that’s a good way to lose potential business!” she said. The story she then told me has lessons for project management teams and as it is also quite funny, I will share it with you.…
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IT Project Talent shortage. Is PMaaS plugging the gap?
A quarter of digital leaders (25%) believe that their business has an IT Project Management talent shortage. In many ways this is good news, I mean, this suggests that three quarters don’t have a shortage, right?! Actually, it’s even better news than that! The same report back in 2015 suggested 34% of CIOs had an…
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The Roast of a Project Manager
Have you seen the TV show “The Roast Of…”? Basically, it’s like ‘This is your life’ (if you remember that, back in the day) but instead of celebrities coming on and praising the subject of the show, they turn up and spill the beans on their bad habits and worst moments. The most recent one…
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Are you passionately curious? It’s IT Project Management’s success secret, and size matters
Why do some projects stir a passion within you and others leave you less revved up? Could unlocking the secret lead to fewer IT Project failures? It’s true, isn’t it? The more passionate about a task you are, the more likely you are to succeed. Even doing the dishes can be a chore or a…
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How to prevent holiday hold ups delaying your IT Project!
Who is your IT Project’s Leader? At this time of year, are you really leading or is your company’s calendar more in charge? I ask because, independently, three Project Managers have told me that they are pulling their hair out because of unanticipated roadblocks along their projects’ critical paths. In each case, the cause is…
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Happy tenth birthday to Stoneseed!
Ten years ago, a handful of firms had started to promote IT from business technology support to a strategic business partner but, for most, IT was still a back office function. That’s not to say that the projects weren’t complex and essential, they totally were. The thinking though, for many, was “this is what we…
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How introverts could be the silent solution to IT project management problems
Are the best IT project solutions hiding shyly in the shadows? The loudest voices in our teams don’t have exclusivity on the best ideas. Originally published on CIO.com I received a nice email this week from Sarah, a regular reader of my blogs. It was a line of thanks for a previous post that had…
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A change is as good as unrest. How to engage disengaged stakeholders
A change is as good as a rest, so the old saying goes. Recently, it has struck me, that change can actually be a precursor to unrest, at least with some IT Change Projects. While reviewing one customer’s challenges, I identified that it wasn’t scope creep that was impacting the project, nor was it any…