Project Management Works

Author: MS

  • What Value Does Project Management Add?

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    When asked how does professional project management add value to a business I always struggle to answer in meaningful terms – terms that equate to the bottom line of a business. It’s relatively easy to describe the benefits and advantages of managing projects properly but to actually quantify or measure those benefits is much harder.…

  • Can You Really Manage A Project Using Spreadsheets?

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    In small, relatively simple projects it is not uncommon to find the project manager using a set of spreadsheets to manage the project schedule, the budget and the scope of the project. If the project involves just one internal department and a small project team using spreadsheets often avoids the necessity for stakeholders to get…

  • Development Projects – A Confusion of Terminology

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    I was recently reading some project management articles for inspiration when I came across one about project management in a development environment. Naturally, having an IT and a project management background I just assumed the article would be about software development. After all what other type of development is there? Well it didn’t take me…

  • Questions, Questions and More Questions

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    I have previously written an article about the importance of a project manager asking in-depth questions at the outset of a project and how knowing which questions to ask and, more importantly, how to elicit clear, detailed answers is critical to the success of a project. The article lists 20 questions all project manager should…

  • The Awkward Client

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      I have recently been considering some of the traits and behaviours that successful project managers exhibit. For a project to be successful it obviously needs a project manager with the experience and skills to guide the project and the team from the initiation phase right through to a successful completion all within the time…

  • My Project is Agile

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      I recently came across a few of definitions of the Agile methodology which I thought worth sharing. Of course, many people would provide different definitions and the definitive description can be found in the Agile Manifesto but if you haven’t got time to read that right now here goes:   “An iterative and incremental…

  • Project Management Glossary

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      Accountability – The obligation to report on one’s actions. Activity – Any work performed on a project. May be synonymous with task but in some cases it may be a specific level in the WBS (e.g., a phase is broken down into a set of activities, activities into a set of tasks). An activity…

  • My Project is Alive

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      I’ve really been enjoying reading the 3-part article by Larry Peterson “Living Projects” – having earned my stripes as a software development project manager I am well aware of the conflict between the theory and practise of planning and scheduling a project from start to finish and the realities of software development.   The…

  • Dealing With Conflict in Projects

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      Dealing with conflict is one of the many tasks you will have to perform in your role as a project manager if you want your project to be a success. Never underestimate the importance of resolving conflicts (even if they might seem trivial) as projects can, and will, be derailed if personality clashes and…

  • Male vs. Female Project Managers

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      I have previously written two articles about what particularly masculine attributes make men successful project managers (“Do Men Make the Best Project Managers?”) and what particularly feminine attributes make women successful project managers (“Do Women Make the Best Project Managers?”). Many of the comments and tweets that these two articles generated suggested that masculine…