We’ve all heard the expression that time is money, but is it true? I don’t think so. What does it truly mean? Does time equal money in my project? If I lose time, I waste money? or If I delay, I get the money later? If it’s the first definition, you are saying, money is like time. If …
Thousands of surveys around the world show that projects are rarely delivered on time, on budget and in scope. Here are the warning signs and what you can do to turn things around. You don’t see it coming until it’s too late. Everything was “green” until it wasn’t. All parts of the project were close to …
Project managers are never short of things to do, but the most successful – the ones that consistently bring in projects on time and on budget have mastered the art of executing by focusing on the few critical elements that make a difference. Here are five things to watch: 1. They Avoid Multi-tasking Even though many …
5 Surprising Habits of Successful Project Managers Read More »
To increase output, whether in a disaster or in everyday pressures, you must challenge your assumptions to find solutions. Usually, the solution is not obvious (otherwise, it would have been implemented, right?), so you have to dig deeper. Challenging assumptions helps us see where we can change the process. There is still more to get out …
The more contractors or departments involved in a project, the more chances for variation and, often, more confusion. There is always the opportunity for misalignment and miscommunication. The larger the organization, the more opportunity for missing cues on priorities and direction. For the process owner, the challenge is to align a team to drive progress towards …
Manage and Align Performance by Applying Uniform Standards Read More »
Managing any project team can be challenging. Managing a distributed team is a challenge cubed. In any project, coordinating the workflow among your resources is almost always difficult. When multiple teams are involved, that challenge is multiplied; if those teams are distributed across various campuses, countries or even continents, the effect on complexity is exponential, …
How to Get Productive Project Teamwork from Distributed Teams Read More »
Eli Goldratt wrote “Tell me how you measure me and I will tell you how I behave. If you measure me in an illogical way…do not complain about illogical behavior.” People will take actions based on how they believe they are being measured and managers get what they measure. I’ve written on the topic of measurements …
This week, I am starting new series of postings that showcase some of the most common blind spots to successful project execution. I call these the blind spots because most managers are not even aware that these menaces are the true problem. The symptoms are obvious, but the root problem is hidden. The first cause is …
I’m continuing my series on the Achieving Top Performance: 7 lessons learned in a Disaster, an elaboration on the work we did during the Gulf oil spill. This week covers the final lesson, communications. In my last blog post, I wrote a little about the performance standards. This post continues that discussion and I’ll get into …
