Tag Archives: Scope Creep

New Post at AITS: Practical Advice for Project Managers

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My latest article for AITS was published today: Practical Advice for Project Managers.

I’ve been managing projects for a lot of years, and along the way I’ve captured a lot of lessons learned, observations, and rules of thumb. I combed through my OneNote scrap vault looking for some short bits of advice that might be of value and came up with these four. If this little collection seems useful, let me know and I’ll go back and pick out some more.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my stuff.

New PM Articles for the Week of October 19 – 25

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Red Balloon OverheadNew project management articles published on the web during the week of October 19 – 25. We give you a high-level view so you can read what interests you. Recommended:

Must read!

  • Seth Godin uses the Boeing 747 as a metaphor for large projects and organizations: as scale increases, gravity takes more of a toll, and everything becomes harder.
  • Bertrand Duperrin notes that the connected economy, robots, and drones will push our collective acceptance of risk farther than ever.
  • David Needle summarizes data science iconoclast Nate Silver’s keynote address at the Rich Data Summit. “Big Data has peaked, and that’s a good thing.”

Established Methods

  • Kailash Awati tells a little story about a proof of concept, which proved only that … well, I’ll let him tell you.
  • Elizabeth Harrin reviews Cesar Abeid’s new book, “Project management For You.”
  • Henny Portman reviews “Transforming Business with Program Management,” by Satish Subramanian.
  • John Goodpasture recounts a story about the voice of the customer, where the speaker was a Marine Corps General.
  • Todd Williams makes a good case for the PMO as a temporary organization – a project, with a specific goal and a time box, rather than a bureaucracy.
  • Marian Haus argues that scope management is the primary enabler of project success.
  • Rich Maltzman extracts key understandings from the recent PMI “Pulse of the Profession” report, which reinforces the message in his latest book.
  • Pat Weaver gives us an overview and a link to the Guild of Project Controls Body of Knowledge.
  • Nick Pisano editorializes on the U.S. Defense Contract Management Agency.
  • Phillip Smith describes Kaizen, as applied to a project.
  • Kerry Wills notes a key similarity between middle school math and project execution.

Agile Methods

  • Joseph Czarnecki contrasts classical and jazz, traditional methods and waterfall, and gets us to consider a mindset.
  • Kelsey van Haaster gives us a tutorial on Blitz Planning, where the goal is to identify the earliest point at which business value can be delivered.
  • Glen Alleman puts “classic” risk management in perspective for Agile methods.
  • Mike Cohn explains why the UX designer is typically looking ahead, to the next sprint and beyond.

Applied Leadership

  • Harry Hall asks five fierce questions, “…to help you identify the deeper things that are limiting your effectiveness.”
  • Bruce Harpham examines three strategies for earning the right to influence others.
  • Art Petty coaches us on how to get past a career setback.
  • Penelope Trunk coaches us on how to answer the three interview questions. Yes, there are only three – they just get asked in different ways.
  • Elise Stevens interviews Cesar Abeid on his new book, “Project Management For You.” Just 16 minutes, safe for work.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of August 31 – September 6

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SightseersNew project management articles published on the web during the week of August 31 – September 6. We give you a high-level view so you can read what interests you. Recommended:

Must read!

  • Julie Bort summarizes the myths and science of lies, liars, and a few ways to identify when someone is hiding something.
  • Scott Adams lists some of the “tells,” or involuntary actions, for cognitive dissonance, the human reaction to facts that conflict with one’s beliefs. Be careful, because you won’t be able to un-read this.
  • Coert Visser describes a 2 by 2 matrix, modest /arrogant and ignorant / knowledgeable, and suggests some strategies for dealing with the arrogant-yet-ignorant state of mind.

Established Methods

  • Moira Alexander shares her strategic alignment checklist for project managers, because it’s not just about being on schedule, on budget, and on the quality target.
  • Gary Nelson uses a woodworking metaphor for getting a project completed without cutting corners (or sanding them off).
  • Phil Weinzimer reflects on his interviews of Proctor and Gamble’s CIO, Filippo Passerini, who was so impressive that he rates an entire chapter in Phil’s new book.
  • Glen Alleman makes the case for using source lines of code as a measure of system and project performance.
  • And in response, Nick Pisano argues the case against using SLOC as a measure of performance. I agree with Nick on this one.
  • Matthew Squair looks at technical debt through his safety engineering and risk management lens.
  • BrenDt imagines the perfect project management tool; it’s just not commercially available, yet.
  • Kathleen O’Connor interviews Brian Manning, co-founder of Centric Digital, on the balance between project management and creativity.
  • Parag Tipnis finds the intersection of scope management and stakeholder management, where diplomacy is required to keep perfection from preventing progress.
  • Neel Patel reports on what the AI and security communities say about the prospect of software beating hackers in the near term: not likely.

Agile Methods

  • Pawel Brodzinski explains the effect that the Zeigarnik Effect has on context switching – one more reason to limit work in progress.
  • John Goodpasture notes with approval the role of the enterprise architect in Disciplined Agile Delivery.
  • Mike Cohn makes the case for budgeting, as an alternative for teams that don’t feel capable of estimating well.
  • Neil Killick argues for product management, as a long-term replacement for project, program, and portfolio management. He didn’t convince me, but it’s worth a read.

Work Isn’t a Place You Go

  • Alia Crum and Thomas Crum describe a three-step process for leveraging stress.
  • Michael Lopp wakes up in a panic at 4:00 AM to review his deadlines, work in progress, and commitments. Time to delegate! Well, after everyone else is in the office…
  • Bruce Harpham interviews podcaster Jeff Sanders, who focuses on early mornings, productivity, healthy habits, and personal development.
  • Elizabeth Harrin reviews “Growing Software: Proven Strategies for Managing Software Engineers,” by Louis Testa.

Enjoy!