When your team handles projects on a routine basis, it’s tempting to just plug the information on the latest effort into your software, add in a bunch of time and budget estimates based on previous projects, and start working on the first set of tasks. Stop! This approach sets you up to repeat mistakes you’ve…
common project plan problems
Make Your Project Meetings More Powerful
February 25, 2019 by
Does it feel like your project meetings could be better? Maybe they used to be more productive and focused. The discussions might seem less dynamic now, or you’ve noticed that team members no longer leave meetings as engaged on the actions and issues that come out of those conversations. With everything going on, it’s possible…
7 Project Questions to Start the New Year
January 14, 2019 by
The prospect of a fresh, new year offers the perfect opportunity for PMs to take stock of the strengths and weaknesses within their teams. If you’re serious about driving tangible improvement in the months ahead, kick off the year by asking these key project management questions. 1 – Does our project team have the right…
4 Reasons Executives Hate Project Contingency Plans
December 10, 2018 by
If it seems like your organization’s leadership team is reluctant to approve your project’s contingency plans, you aren’t alone. Contingency planning can sometimes be a difficult concept for executives to embrace and the mere mention of contingent planning efforts has been known to derail meetings with C-suite stakeholders. Contingency plans are useful for addressing all…
Is Your Project Data Demotivating Your Team?
November 29, 2018 by
Projects revolve around their project data—information on task durations, workforce productivity, and details about expenditure levels, just to name a few. Once the effort is complete, additional metrics will be gathered and examined. This could include compiling data on the project’s actual impact on manufacturing yield, for example, and comparing it against the initial projections….
When Project Task Assignments Go Bad
November 26, 2018 by
Proper project task assignments serve an important function. By formally making an individual responsible for an activity, the team knows that someone with the necessary skills and expertise is carrying out the task. When assigning tasks, PMs can also monitor workloads so key activities aren’t delayed by other priorities. The entire process sounds straightforward enough,…
Gain Confidence with the Right Portfolio Management Methodology
August 24, 2018 by
The business world is fraught with uncertainty—about cash flows, tightening regulations, labor costs and availability, and fluctuating interest rates, not to mention market pressures as a result of constantly evolving competition. To remain successful in the face of so many unknowns, companies need to be sure they’re moving in the right direction and that their…
Defining Your To-Don’t Project List
June 5, 2018 by
Creating a project list for what your team is not going to work on can sometimes be more challenging than determining which projects they will tackle. Few organizations have enough resources to do everything in their project portfolio all at once, meaning PMs must evaluate what should be done now and what will need to…
Break Down Your Project Silos
April 17, 2018 by
The silo mentality can be a serious threat to a project. It closes team members off from each other and stifles the flow of information. The ability to make good business decisions, develop resolutions to problems, and even properly identify issues are all diminished if cooperation among cross-functional groups is hampered by organizational project silos….
5 Questions that Uncover Project Problems
February 21, 2018 by
Executives and other plan sponsors often have difficulty gauging how well a project is faring. From their somewhat removed vantage point, they likely don’t know if everything is on track at any given time. They don’t typically have detailed insight into how each of the critical paths is being managed from day to day, for…
