Too many cooks…

Unfortunately there are some projects you work on that end up having lots of stakeholders who all want a piece of the action.  While this is useful and you can delegate tasks and responsibilities to active team members who are keen to support, there are some times when you need to tighten the control of the tasks and project, and ensure that the communication remains strong and via the correct channels.

Read more

5 Tips To Win Over Negative Project Members

Working with a project team can sometimes be a struggle, especially if some team members are not on board with the overall project and goal.

It can be difficult to get them on-side and working as effectively as possible and this could be down to a number of reasons.

Here are my top 5 tips to ensure your project team is happy and full of beans!

Read more

PRINCE2 Gets An Update For 2009

The UK’s most widely used Project Management methodology and framework; PRINCE2, is getting an update for 2009.

The name will remain the same but there are some clear enhancements and changes to the method.

PRINCE2 has previously gone through two major changes – in 2002 and 2005.  The new changes are based around creating a simpler and clearer model that, evidence has shown, will contribute to the delivery of successful projects.

The crux of the new changes:

• 7 new basic principles which are universal and self-validating
• These principles are universal and can be applied in any scenario
• The 8 processes have been reduced to 7
• Sub-processes have been removed and replaced by activities
• These activities describe what needs to be done, when and by whom
• The confusing sub-process diagrams have been removed
• The 8 components have been replaced by 7 Key Themes
• These Key Themes are areas that continually need to be addressed: Business Case, Organisation, Plans, Risk, Progress, Quality, and Issues & Changes
• There will be 2 Core Texts to accompany the method
• The “PRINCE2 in Practice: Managing a Project” text will be the sole source of information for the PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner syllabuses
• The “PRINCE2 in Practice: Directing a Project” text is aimed at senior managers and project board members and will provide a role specific guidance on how to oversee projects being managed using PRINCE2
• The terminology has been updated to be aligned with other products

In Summary

The new 2009 PRINCE2 will provide a more streamlined, simpler and more customisable method to be applied to projects.  Clear clarification on roles and responsibilities is enforced and the language of the new methodology is easier to understand, ensuring project managers have a better set of tools with which to deliver projects on time, within budget and to the correct quality criteria.

5 Traits of Bad Project Managers

I’ve worked with a few in my time and I was pondering this the other day when a friend told me they didn’t rate someone as a good Project Manager.

I’m sure there are more than 5 traits but these are the main ones that hit me square in the face when I thought of the main traits of bad project managers.

Read more

The Difference Between Project & Program Management

It’s been 2 months since I started my new position of Program Manager, I love
every minute of working in this challenging environment, so I thought I would drop a quick note on what I thought the differences are between Project Management and Program Management.

Read more