Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

It's always better to over-identify, rather than under-identify stakeholders.  Missed stakeholders, particularly those that are self-appointed, can hold your project back from achieving success.  Here are five easy ways and places to identify stakeholders:

1. Consult Project Charter: Project Sponsor, project manager, possibly project team members, and other stakeholders may be listed...

When selecting any resource of any type for a project, always keep in mind the automatic selection of the "cheapest" won't always be the least expensive option. This is why we have competitive bidding for major contracts -- we get a peek at the other dimensions. Does the resource meet our needs? Will our requirements be met? Will quality meet our standards?

Let's suppose we can choose between 3...

If your projects feel like "herding cats" or constant "fire-fighting", you are not doing something right. Check these five items first to avoid project chaos:

1. Define project success upfront with the project sponsor.
2. Do sufficient planning and get team and stakeholder buy-in.
3. Have a sound problem solving and decision-making process (and follow it).
4. Have a strong project management methodology...

A lot of folks in San Diego wonder how the construction of Petco Park, a managed project, could have possibly spent all the funding before it was half completed without anyone knowing. While I certainly don't have proof as to the actual cause, there is a very good way a project can get into this state -- they failed to look at all three key project success factors -- time, cost, and...

Good project managers, especially those working in an Agile environment that can be very internally focused on the client-team collaboration, need to continuously scan the environment for external changes that might impact their projects. Make this a part of your periodic risk assessment. These can include legal, compliance, regulatory, financial, economic, and cultural changes.

Examples:

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Getting the right requirements are important for project success. Whether you are in a dual role or collaborating with a business analyst, project managers should make sure all their projects include, at a minimum, these three basic types of requirements:

1. Business requirements usually represent the rationale - high-level goals and objectives - for undertaking a project. These should include...

Projects conducted with higher ethical standards have less risk and are usually more successful. Here are five tips to improve your ethics as a project manager:

1. Be a model of ethical behavior - lead by example: As others observe your actions, they will adopt more ethical practices.
2. Focus on issues, not people: Stress can cause unethical behaviors and a culture of blame causes stress.
3. Disclose...

Risks can have an adverse impact on the success of your project. Here are five tips to help you successfully navigate project risk management:

1. Identify risks early and often. Start when you are handed the project charter, continue during planning, and be sure to re-visit your risk log periodically. If there were notable issues during the project, be sure these become a part of the lessons...

According to PMI's 2017 Pulse of the Profession Report, only 28% of project managers always use risk management processes, with 14% rarely or never using them. Often this is because project sponsors and senior management don't see the value of the process. They feel it is a waste of time and encourage the project manager to skip best practices. Here are seven questions the project manager may...

Project managers are often most remembered for their ultimate delivery of the project, rather than any events or activities leading up to it. Here are five tips for outstanding delivery:

1. Start early - plan for all project turnover and termination activities in advance. Be sure they are included in the schedule so the client will receive a fully tested project.
2. Assure clients of a "white glove...