The Alpha Project Manager Revisited
CIO.com published six attributes of successful project managers this morning by Meridith Levinson. These six points are focused on soft skills and seem to be right in my book. This reminds me of previous posts such as Traits of Alpha Project Managers or Master Plan. These are the six attributes with $.02 added. 1. Foresight…
The Accidental Project Manager
Josh Nankivel, who created the pmStudent community we now enjoy, was an accidental manager. Yes, me too! Maybe you will, too. It is not unusual for some of us to stumble upon project management. Last week, I was talking to a client about project management. He was interested in learning more about the process. “It…
8 Habits of Highly Effective Project Management
Are you a project manager who is successful? You too? It’s a passion of mine. As I work with my team, more and more ideas are coming out to improve our ability to deliver successful projects. I also research the best project managers in different industries. I read a lot, leave lots of comments, and…
The 8 Essential LEAN Techniques That You Must Know
Lean management is a powerful tool that reduces waste in any process. Lean techniques are most commonly used in a production environment. Most Lean training courses will cover how to apply Lean techniques in such environments. Lean techniques can be applied in any environment that uses process. Six Sigma Green Belt Certification trainings are available…
The Seven Roles and Responsibilities of Six Sigma Projects
Six Sigma projects are a great way to solve problems. There are clearly defined roles for each party. To learn more about Six Sigma, you can enroll in an online course or green belt in lean six-sigma. You will be able to see all the responsibilities and roles of Six Sigma. The Six Sigma Principles…
I called my friend this morning to ask for advice. He didn’t understand why he had sent an email to a person he met on Friday and it was returned. The person was fired without notice on Friday afternoon. Maybe she was a Bob (Bob Slydell or Bob Porter) at Office Space. We all have to say goodbye to work, no matter how sudden or long. These are some things to remember when you see your co-worker pack up. Don’t lie Some people are not pleasant to work with. If the person who is leaving is someone you don’t care about, the saying, “If you can’t think of anything kind to say, don’t say anything at all” is a good rule of thumb. Sometimes it’s easier to tell lies than truths. You don’t have to make up something if you have to say it. When asked to bless the Czar, the Rabbi replied in Fiddler on The Roof: “May God bless and keep him far from here!” It’s okay to be happy for someone who is leaving your life. Remember Successes This is an excellent opportunity to remember real project and task achievements that were made possible by the efforts of the person leaving. What are you most impressed by? What are you most impressed by? It’s a good idea to tell them in person and to give examples of what you’ve seen them do. It can be uncomfortable to say this out loud (guys, this is directed at you), but it’s much more effective to send a private email directly to the person. It is possible that such an email will be treasured for many years. People rarely give genuine and positive feedback out of the blue. Offer to be a Referee If you are able to give a glowing recommendation and you respect the person, why not? You can also send a paragraph to the person via email or on LinkedIn. If you feel like it, you can make a Clean Break. You don’t have to be in touch if you don’t intend on staying in touch. It’s a small world, but it’s also a very large one. If you don’t make an effort to see them again, they may never come back. Keep in Touch If you love the person and want them to stay in your life, make it a point to keep in touch.
Set a date for lunch two weeks in advance – and remember it. Add them to your twitter or IM accounts. Make them a regular contact. Invite them to dinner and drinks in the next month. It takes some effort to transition relationships from work into other areas of our lives. It won’t happen by…
Save Money on Project Management Books – Lachlan Hardy via Flickr Book Swapping, Discounted Buying, Used Sellers There are many ways to get great books for personal or class development without having to pay the full price. When I was completing my Project Management degree, I kept track of the savings I made over the price at the university bookstore. I saved 60% overall compared with what it would have cost me to buy my books at college. This saved me thousands over the years. Some of these I couldn’t find used because they were brand new. These were rare exceptions, however. Even if a book was out for a semester, I was able to usually find a good copy. These sites offer book swapping and used book listings. Here are four pieces of advice:
You can order books early – It can take up to 2 weeks to receive your book. You don’t want to be without your textbook the first day of class. It should be possible to order your textbook a month in advance. This is a hard lesson that I learned the hard way. I got…
Sonali Malu’s ruthless rules for productive meetings help us get the best out of our meetings. The emphasis is on the positive. Project managers are responsible for constant communication with their clients, peers, teams, stakeholders, and supporting departments. Project managers communicate with everyone. They give advice, provide directions, negotiate, promise deliverables, etc. Meetings are an essential part of any project manager’s communication plan. It would be easy to assume that everyone is proficient in facilitating and planning meetings. However, many of us have attended unsuccessful meetings. These are just a few examples of professional misbehaviors.
An important meeting is scheduled for a feature discussion and estimation. After the meeting, you are expected to submit an estimate for the feature to management. Two of your senior team members have been contacted by a technical architect to do some proposal work. These team members are not allowed to attend your meeting. *…
Run Away! (And Other Helpful Advice for a Career in Project Management.
I am passionate about project managing in general and helping people who are new to the field. Let’s be real. We’re all crazy. Not everyone should be a project manager It is possible to be gluttony for punishment, some call it a clinical condition. It is not a decision to take lightly the career path…
Rolling Wave Planning, Progressive Elaboration and Rolling Wave Planning Hi Josh, I am reviewing PM PrepCast again. I will be taking the exam soon. Right now, I am having trouble distinguishing between Progressive Elaboration and Rolling Wave Planning. This issue is not pass/fail, but it helps if you answer all the questions correctly. Could you please provide some definitions to help clarify this? The PMBOK guide definitions don’t help. An excellent question! Rolling Wave Planning Rolling Wave Planning is a type progressive elaboration. It would be great if you put it in a list along with other examples: Progressive elaboration (examples).
Rolling wave planning (usually used in a waterfall project setting) Sprint planning (Agile). Kanban task decomposition: Start with larger deliverables and feature sets, then break them down into smaller pieces as they leave the backlog. They will go into the active value stream. Prototyping Progressive Elaboration Progressive Elaboration simply means that you keep things at…