Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

Every manager eventually reaches the same conclusion: "We need another person." The workload is growing, deadlines are getting tighter, and everyone appears to be working as hard as they can. The obvious solution seems to be hiring another employee. More people should mean more work gets done.

Sometimes that's the right answer. However, after more than three decades of managing projects and leadi...

If you have spent any time in project management, you've probably heard these statistics. Depending on the study, a significant percentage of projects fail to meet their original objectives. They finish late and over budget or do not deliver on all expectations. The surprising part is that we've known why they fail for decades.

Research from industry organizations, academic institutions, and prof...

One question I am often asked is, "What is the time frame for total project completion?" Most people assume it is the date documented in the project charter or shown on the project schedule. The answer is more nuanced. Project completion involves more than reaching a calendar date. It means delivering a product, service, or result that satisfies the project's objectives, fulfills requirements, is ...

One of the most common questions I encounter is whether project management best practices designed for large projects apply to smaller initiatives. The question is understandable. When people think of project management, they picture bureaucratic processes and documentation. For a small project involving only a handful of people and a modest budget, that type of overhead is unnecessary.

As a resu...

Earning a PMP certification is a significant achievement. It demonstrates commitment to the profession and validates an understanding of project management principles, processes, and best practices. It is also one of the most respected credentials in the field and often serves as a gateway to new opportunities.

However, many project managers are surprised to find that, after passing the exam and ...

Project management is often associated with schedules, software tools, status reports, and methodologies. While those things certainly have value, they are rarely the primary reason projects succeed or fail. In practice, successful projects are driven by the project leader’s qualities, mindset, and leadership abilities- traits like decisiveness, empathy, and adaptability- that directly impact team...

One of the challenges of leadership is motivation. Managers and project leaders spend a great deal of time trying to understand why one employee embraces a difficult assignment while another avoids it. Understanding these differences helps leaders stay focused on effective strategies and maintain high team engagement. Why does one team enthusiastically adopt a new process while another resists it?...

Organizations often spend enormous amounts of time trying to recover troubled projects. Schedules slip, budgets expand, stakeholders become frustrated, and teams scramble to explain why expected results were never realized. These problems begin to form earlier in project initiation.

Too many projects are approved based on enthusiasm, urgency, or a narrow financial justification. A problem is iden...

Project management certifications are valuable. They demonstrate commitment to the profession, provide a common language, and expose practitioners to proven tools and techniques. Certifications such as the PMP® can also help project managers advance their careers and improve credibility with employers and clients. Recognizing this, many early-career professionals feel proud of their achievement, w...

Agile teams generate a large amount of information as they work. Recognizing both formal, such as sprint boards, backlog updates, and retrospectives, and informal data, including decisions made in conversations, can make team members feel appreciated for their diverse inputs. Over time, this creates a rich stream of data that can become a valuable asset when it is captured and used intentionally.