11/02/2017 by Mark Dembinsky Tags: building a plan, getting started, project manager
Congratulations! Your proposal won, and the boss made you the PM for that big project. Now it is time to start stamping metal and shipping boxes… or more likely, not. Jumping straight in, without a schedule or even a plan, is a false economy for fools that have yet to learn luck strikes both ways. Often that […]
10/25/2017 by Jackie Dembinsky Tags: employee retention, team building, workplace culture
Humans are social animals, yet in many office spaces, eating lunch at your desk alone is the norm. It is possible with some jobs, to go to the office, work all day and go home without having said a single word verbally to anyone there.
10/19/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: fix troubled project, weak link
In Part 1 of this two-part series on examining on a project that is going south on you, we looked at an out of control budget scenario and actions to take in response. Here, in Part 2, we’ll examine the ever growing issues list scenario and the problems of disengaged team resources or a disengaged […]
10/13/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: project success criteria, remediation, weak link
What Makes a Project Successful? This answer is subjective to each project manager, and generally, consists of: On-time delivery. On-budget delivery. Quality. My answer to this question does not contain “quality,” instead, I use “customer satisfaction” in my concept of three key project success determiners because the customer needs to be satisfied with the end […]
10/05/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: best practices for troubled projects, leadership, stable
Can good project management and best practices save a project? Yes. Good, focused project management can save a troubled project engagement – there’s little question about that. Best practices applied well by an experienced project manager and team, will nearly always have a favorable impact and more often than not, outcome. But can it save […]
09/21/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: Listen, project meetings, success, Technology, virtual project management
Are you struggling with managing your virtual project management team? It’s a given that project managers are spending most of their time managing tasks and resources on the project. In fact, they have a hand in ‘managing’ everything including issues, risks, conflicts, people, activities, communication, the customer, and vendors as well as all of the […]
09/13/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: brain vs heart, business processes, customer satisfaction, new technology, toys
New technology is very enticing and sometimes your customer really wants it … bad. Their desire can even push the entire project to center around it. And it’s hard to go a different route because it can draw you in too – new technology is exciting and fun to play with. Sometimes the customer even has the money to back up […]
09/05/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: Open-Source, risk management, Technology
An old issue of CIO magazine I was checking out recently contained some very concerning thoughts on the use of open-source software – things that should be carefully considered if you are using them in your organization and on your projects. Open-source sounds like a great option… free technology and all… but the potential consequences […]
09/01/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: project best practices, project control, project success
Project success is never a guarantee. We all know this is just plain fact. You can do your best, have everything go smoothly, and follow best practices – whatever those might be for you and your organization – and still come up short in the end. And if you’re looking for information and advice about […]
08/15/2017 by Brad Egeland Tags: Buy Smart, Defining Processes, Save Money, Solve the real problem
New technology – having the latest and greatest toy or gadget is the way to go, right? Well, not if it doesn’t solve your need or real desire. If it doesn’t solve something, then it will just collect dust over time and frustrate you that you wasted so much money on it just to hang […]