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Project Leaders Tailor Agile project integration management Mar 15, 2020

Agile is popular, but good project leaders know that there is not a “one size fits all” method.  If you are going to use Agile, consider how it may need tailoring to meet project goals better.

  • List the 12 Agile principles and consider how each might impact project objectives, positive or negative
  • Decide which principles to keep and which to reject
  • Analyze the results and see...
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5 Tips to Improve Your Agile Project Management project integration management Mar 08, 2020

As Agile and iterative methods grow in popularity, it is easy for those with a solid project management background to work in a new environment.  These 5 tips will help:

  1. Question traditional PM practices: everything you know still applies, but question how to tailor and improve past practices for the new environment.
  2. Use pictures over words: lighter Agile documentation benefits from...
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Leaders: 5 Times You Should Cancel a Project project integration management scope management Mar 01, 2020

For over 10 years, stakeholders tried to make the Denver International Airport Automated Baggage Handling project work before giving up. The cost of continuing was around $120M, on top of an already over-budget project that was too complex to fix. Project leaders should know when to give up and cancel a project. Here are 5 circumstances that signal the necessity of cancellation:

  1. Project...
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5 Tips for Leaders to Motivate their Teams resource management Feb 23, 2020

As a leader, you will need to manage by influence and motivate the team without full authority. Here are five tips to effectively motivate your teams:

  1. Be a good role model. Set the example you want the team to follow.
  2. Set smaller, shorter period goals. While having bigger goals is good, to drive day-to-day performance, set smaller, easier to reach goals over short periods such as days, weeks,...
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Project Leaders: Time to Ask Another "Why?" project integration management scope management Feb 16, 2020

Decades of Project Management research shows that lack of user involvement/ executive sponsorship and requirements management are consistently high on the top 10 causes of project failure list. Over time, there has been a modest uptick in project success rates, but still, large percentages of projects fail to meet their goals. Why? Here is a short candidate list to consider:

  • Not enough of the...
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5 Tips for Project Leaders to Effectively Handle Issues risk management Feb 09, 2020

Ever work on a project where it seemed like there were constant issues? Here are some tips to both avoid getting into this state and effectively handling the issues if you do.

  1. Have a robust risk management process. Issues are risks that "happened," so proactively identifying potential issues upfront will help you avoid or manage them.
  2. Have a robust risk response planning process. A robust...
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5-Step Roadmap to the PMPĀ® for Highly Experienced PMs project integration management Feb 02, 2020

You have accrued far more than the required three years of experience, have taken some classes in project management, and just learned about the PMP® certification. This is the same roadmap I followed in 2001 and passed on the first attempt. It's inexpensive and you can "opt-out" at any step to pursue more learning if necessary, before investing too much time.

  1. Check eligibility. Download...
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5-Step Roadmap to a Career as a Leader project integration management Jan 26, 2020

Seeking a leadership career? Embarking on a career in Project Management and earning a PMP® is a good path PMs typically earn more than "experts," and PMPs typically earn more than non-PMPs. The skills you learn will benefit any future management positions. You can wait to become an "accidental" PM or be proactive and follow this high-level roadmap:

  1. Gain minimal knowledge. Learn the...
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5 Leadership Competencies Needed for Times of Project Crisis communications management risk management Jan 19, 2020

When issues escalate into crises, these five leadership competencies are essential for project leaders to both weather the immediate storm and confidently move toward the future. It is difficult to recover when both being blamed for the crisis and taking the wrong management steps.

  1. Build an environment of trust. Given the importance of trust, this should already be in place and continued in a...
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6 Tips for Effortless Execution project integration management resource management scope management stakeholder management Jan 12, 2020

The execution phase of a project, while not immune to issues, can be as effortless as possible if you follow these principles:

  1. Do the right amount of planning: too little and things "fall through the cracks", too much planning risks "analysis paralysis".
  2. Get the right team: people that want to do the work, have the skills and have a supportive network.
  3. Exercise key soft skills: delegation,...
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