Always foster good relationships with the client and the team, and remember that the client has the final acceptance of deliverables. If you are practicing Agile, the client will also be a part of the team. Here are four ways you can use to demonstrate respect for your client.

1. Respect the...

I usually have to visit a copy shop at least 2-3 times a year to fulfill various needs for PMI meetings and events. This past weekend I had a critical business need to have a small number of copies made and spiral bound for a customer meeting. With FedEx Kinko's being the closest, I dashed off...

If we look at the five levels of effective quality management, it's easy to see that proactive (taking preventative measures) is the least expensive way to go.  If clients find problems, or we find the problems just before the project goes to the customer, there is a cost to repair issues,...

Problem-solving is a skill needed for all project phases and knowledge areas.  Here are seven steps to take to improve your problem solving:

1. Understand the problem. Remember, Einstein recommended 55 minutes to understand an hour-to-solve problem.
2. Identify 3-5 of the best alternatives. These...

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...

Back in the early 80s, when corporations like IBM and Univac were mainframe giants, it took the typical systems team 3-5 years to produce a new compiler. It was during that time I took on a project to finish where some R&D left off. The goal: produce a compiler, assembler, and linkage editor...