Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

"How can I become a project manager in 2021?" is a question I frequently hear.  Being a project manager is still (and will always be) a rewarding career opportunity, even in post-pandemic life.  And while the events of the last two years may have shifted some of the demand, project managers and project management skills are still in high demand. 

The Project Management Institute...

Most project scheduling tools, such as MS Project, Primavera, and Project Libre, do not encourage essential project management best practices. Their outputs are also tricky to print and read, even with a large format printer, unless care is taken in formatting. As a result, you may find you have plans with unintended consequences.

While these products were not designed entirely by professional...

If you have started a business recently, operated one for some time, or run into some unexpected issues, you may be in debt. This is a somewhat normal part of having a business — there are good times, but you also have a fair share of difficulties. However, if your debt is starting to get out of control or it impacts your mental health and your business, this is where you need to make...

How are projects paid for? Generally by financing the project.  The funds that pay for the project may come from operations (for example, from revenues) or from capital expenditure.  Capital expenditures are typically made from the company treasury or reserves.  As a third method, the organization wanting to perform a project can borrow, and then repay, money.  There...

Risk management is the art and science we use to assess and respond to the risks which exist throughout the life of our projects.  In fact, risk exists in virtually any initiative - programs, portfolios, business, operations, manufacturing, and more.  We perform risk management so our initiatives are successfully managed within the triple constraints of cost, quality, and time, plus...

Good leadership does not come from a single skill, but rather a collection of skills such as team building, influence, patience,  empathy, and creativity. This article examines 5 leadership skills essential for risk and crisis management. 

Risk management and crisis management are closely related.  Good risk management may reduce or minimize crises, but it is inevitable that at...

Many introductory courses that include information about budgeting for project managers discuss the idea that a project budget may have to be time based.  That is, the expenditures are divided over weeks, months, or quarters to show how spending will occur over the course of the project.  But the project budgets in an organization only tell a part of the story.  Budgets are about...

[Note: Beginning with last week's article and continuing forward, in addition to tagging articles with knowledge areas, we will be adding new tags for business, people, and technical (including process). We will update past articles over time. This will align content with the new PMP® exam content areas, which in turn, align with the PMI talent triangle areas - Leadership, Technical Project...

Management skills are usually grouped into several categories, including interpersonal, technical, and conceptual. But time management skills go beyond attributes that simply make you an effective leader. Knowing how to manage your minutes is crucial to the success of your business and your personal life. Here are a few examples of skills to refine that will have a positive impact on your time...

Whether you have a predictive or agile project, you will always need to have the team on the same page and satisfy the client.  Today, we're going to look at the two best ways to get team and client buy in.  Involvement and clarity are two of the best ways to obtain buy-in.

Involvement: The #1 Tool for Buy-in

Let's suppose you developed a course.  If you were asked to approve the...