Coordination and collaboration … metrics and methods … PMOs, standards and training … knowledge-sharing and decision-making.
Though programs and portfolios are too often used interchangeably, there are important distinctions that should determine how you organize and report on the projects within them. Here are seven questions that can help your organization better structure and align its project groups.
Today’s “do more with less” mandate makes the ability to optimize finite project resources more critical than ever. A recent benchmark study provides a blueprint for improving your organization’s resource management and capacity planning, starting with visibility.
It’s easy for an unfettered 20-something to embrace chaos, transience and everything else the “Generation Flux” mind-set implies. But what if you don’t love chaos? What if your team is made up of 40-somethings with mortgages? Here's a cheat sheet, based on three simple but powerful questions, to help you leverage uncertainty in your organization.
How can your team accurately predict and communicate meaningful delivery timelines when it is constantly fielding changes from the multiple business units it serves? Here is a detailed look at how one Scrum-centered team used a four-step approach to estimate timelines for work far into the future.
Agile consultant Devin Hedge observes a key difference between east and west coast Lean Startup communities ... says large enterprises must create work “bubbles” that foster the entrepreneurial freedom of “two guys in a garage” ... and introduces the coaching concept of “wetware craftsmanship.” [12:08]
An awful lot of business planning is out-dated by the time the actual work begins, says Agile consultant Devin Hedge. That’s why many organizations could benefit from incremental innovation, which Lean Startup supports. It’s about focusing more on values than processes, but it’s debatable if that new mindset also requires a new “language.” [17:20]
Agile consultant Devin Hedge says many companies aren’t keeping up with the rate of change in the marketplace. That’s where Lean Startup comes in. They need to rethink their business models and start developing catalysts who listen, inspire and unlock the potential of their teams. It’s a leadership skill that is sorely missing. [20:00]
Stephen Denning, author of “The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management” and thought leader on innovation and organizational storytelling, recently joined the Scrum Alliance board of directors. Here, he discusses what drew him to Agile thinking and his efforts to bring the spirit of Scrum to new environments and to make it more resilient, scalable and sustainable. [15:15]
Compliance and Help Desk PMOs both have frequent interaction with project managers, but the nature of that interaction is very different. What benefits do they offer, what are their drawbacks, and in what types of organizations are they best suited? Here’s a comparison of both models.
What are the key differences between compliance-based PMOs and their administrative counterparts? What are their advantages and downsides? Why do project managers tend to prefer one over the other? And what organizational factors should be considered when deciding to establish one PMO approach over the other? Here's a comparison of both models.
An administrative PMO doesn’t get heavily involved in day-to-day execution of the processes it develops, and works best with experienced project managers who prefer independence. A help-desk PMO offers the additional function of coach and mentor, and works better in a culture of open communication and continuous improvement. Here’s a comparison of both models.
Steering committees can reduce risk, facilitate faster decision making and keep the project manager more closely informed on the project’s position in the portfolio and in the organization as a whole. But there is overhead, and they can end up being just another level of bureaucracy in the project management hierarchy.
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Dave PriorAgile Consultant, BigVisible Solutions
Dave Prior, PMP, CST, MBA is an Agile Consultant for BigVisible where he…
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Vincent McGevnaPrincipal, Vincent McGevna Consulting
Sr. Project Management Consultant and e-Learning Developer.
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Wayne GrantScrum Master
I am a Scrum Master with a strong background in development and have a p…
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Will KellyFreelance Technology Writer, Will Kelly Writes
Will Kelly got his start working in the information technology industry …
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Janis RizzutoContributing Editor, ProjectsAtWork
Janis has been writing for ProjectsAtWork for more than a decade, starti…
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Aaron SmithEditorial Director, ProjectsAtWork.com
Aaron has been the editor of ProjectsAtWork since 2001, leading its evol…
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Sustainability in project management it is not about how to manage projects, but how to be. This has been and always will be our message. We never wanted to see a separate PMBOK&r...
Posted in: People, Planet, Profits & Projects
When my efforts to employ Personal Kanban reached a point where I felt I had gone as far as I could on my own, I decided it would be a good idea to find a coach who could hopefully help me see thin...
Posted in: The Reluctant Agilist
Since we started asserting that there is a vital, fundamental intersection between project management and sustaianability (since about 2009), we have seen three basic responses, which we summa...
Posted in: People, Planet, Profits & Projects
Personal Kanban Weeks 13-16:
Zen and the Art of Personal Kanban Maintenance
Phaedrus had Quality
I have Value
The more I examine my approach to getting work done, the...
Posted in: The Reluctant Agilist
Changepoint helps businesses gain competitive advantage and increase profitability through complete portfolio visibility, planning insight, process automation, and improved resource utilization throughout a customer’s lifecycle.
Project Insight, project and portfolio management software, is powerful for project managers, and easy for team members to learn and adopt.
AtTask: the only project and portfolio management software that meets the business intelligence needs of executives, the planning needs of managers, and the collaboration needs of project teams, helping organizations get jobs done on time, on budget.
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