So many of us have often heard that “a failure to plan is a plan to fail,” so we grow confident that successful planning leads to successful project completion. The old adage isn’t necessarily untrue. Having a plan is crucial. But research shows that the common approaches to project management fail to produce the outcomes that …
Top 4 Project Management Challenges & How to Solve Them Read More »
Basic Collaboration Case Study Video “What’s the status of the work? Are we moving forward? Are my team members working on right things?” “We’re DOOMED!” If you’re like most project managers, these questions are familiar. In fact, they probably sound like the questions going through your head every night when you’re trying to fall asleep; the …
Amplify Your Team’s Productivity with Visual Project Management Read More »
Last week, I shared an overview on the Improved Coordination level of the Viewpoint Project Execution Maturity model, which focuses on achieving reliable delivery and improving communication among remote teams. If you missed it, you can read that post here. If collaboration in one location seems challenging, then collaboration among far-flung teams in different offices—or different …
Why Do Projects Succeed or Fail? Remote Collaboration Read More »
In kindergarten, we learned some simple skills: how to work together, how to share, how to communicate with others, how to be kind and make friends. They were basic social skills that would help us in the long run to get what we want out of life and out of our work. As we grew older, …
Back to Basics: Building Blocks for Successful Project Delivery Read More »
Complex projects have complex problems. Problems so complex that to an insider, those closest to the project, they seem impossible to fix. Picture this: Your project has one goal: Build a mountain. Now, think of your project as two tectonic plates: one is called Planning, one is called Results. You are standing right in the middle, …
The Secret Weapon for Successful Project Delivery Read More »
If you’re a follower of my blog, you’ll know that I’ve written quite a bit on the topic of execution – that the lever for improving project performance is found in the execution phase and processes of the project. Actually, there are 12 levers to improve project performance, but they have to be pulled in order. …
The Project Execution Maturity Model Not More Planning, More Cooperation For too long, project managers have believed that the right planning leads to the right results. Yet time after time, independent research shows that the current approach to project management fails to produce the outcomes managers expect – and clients want. Researchers report: A staggering 39% …
Do you feel like you and your project team have a good grasp of what’s coming towards you? Or are you the beneficiary of “surprises” and last minute problems that put your project in peril? We find that the biggest problem that project teams face is that they are simply unable to clearly see where they …
Living in the Past: How to Drive Your Project Team Forward Read More »
What do managers do when their project teams are unsuccessful? You probably do what most managers do and send them for project management skills training. There is some evidence that shows more skills equates to better performance. But this relationship between training and project performance is really just a correlation. Yes, training equips your team with …
Is There a Standard to Project Execution? The Project Execution Maturity Model Read More »
There is constant tension among project team members when their individual or functional objectives are not in alignment with the project’s objectives (i.e., maximizing resource efficiency is not the same as increasing project velocity). Famed management guru Eli Goldratt once said, “Show me how you measure me, I’ll show how to behave.” His point: metrics shape …
Visualizing Projects: Measure the Right Things to Get the Right Behaviors Read More »
