Archive for the ‘ Hot Topics ’ Category

What makes a PMO successful? (Part Two)

  Metrics What can you measure to demonstrate the value of the PMO to the organization? Don’t leave this for others to decide – take the lead and propose metrics that will allow you to show how the PMO is contributing to organizational success. For example: a reduced number of or less severe cost and schedule over-runs, higher

What makes a PMO successful? (Part One)

The following series is by friend and colleague, Tom Carter, PMP Frequently when meeting with organizations about starting or improving a Project Management Office (PMO) I am asked, “What makes a PMO successful?” While there are numerous contributors to success, there are three that I believe are essential: Alignment of management expectations

The PMO – What’s In It For You

I was recently asked to do a talk on the Project Management Office (PMO) and how it is “here to help you but not do your job.” As part of that, I spoke on the state of the PMO (based on studies) and where it is going in the future. Before we talk about who the “you” is here, let’s talk about some statistics. According to a study

Join my Introduction to Agile (Scrum) webinar

Join me on Thursday, 4/20 at 2pm EDT for an “Introduction to Agile (Scrum) webinar. This 45-minute presentation will serve as an introduction to Agile, specifically the Scrum variant. I will provide a quick overview of the other types and then delve more deeply into Scrum. We’ll look at the various roles involved, what a daily scrum

Announcing webinar – Lessons Learned in Establishing a PMO

I’ve given this webinar a number of times successfully to various groups including PMI chapters. These lessons came not only from a couple of Project Management Offices I established last year but also from many years of providing best practices to organizations. Join me on Monday, March 27th at 2pm EST (11 am PST) for an interesting presentation

Project Communications in a Multigenerational World

I’ve published an article in Project-management.com Please see my article Project Communications in a multgenerational world here.

How to Run a More Effective Project Meeting

I read an article a while back regarding the topic of meetings. According to a study, the typical American professional attends over 60 meetings per month, approximately 50% of meeting time is wasted and – my favorite – 39% of people doze off during the meeting! The reason I’m writing this article today is simple – yesterday,

A Few Thoughts on Establishing the Agile PMO

A while ago, I posted an article entitled Lessons Learned in Establishing a Project Management Office (PMO.) That article was largely freighted towards discussion of plan-driven projects, typically manifested by the waterfall methodology. I subsequently spoke on this topic at a Project Management Institute (PMI) chapter and was asked to incorporate

Lessons Learned In Establishing a Proect Management Office (PMO)

I recently did a consulting assignment wherein I helped a well-known insurance company create a Project Management Office (PMO). I will likely have some more thoughts/posts on this down the road but I thought I’d share some lessons learned while they were fresh in my mind: Make sure you have a sponsor – A senior executive in the organization

The Denver International Airport Story or Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About How Not To Run A Project (final)

Project Management Expertise As previously mentioned, the person in charge was in fact not a project manager at all but a Chief Engineer. Now, this is not to say that a technical person cannot manage a project. But I would argue that this is a classic case of the “accidental project manager,” or someone who is put into a PM position due to

Scope Creep or Death by a Thousand Cuts

Imagine this scenario: You and your significant other decide to build a house. Let’s say it’s a split-level with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a one-car garage, no frills. And so you hire an architect and she gets to work on a blueprint. And after she’s been building the house for a couple of months, you approach her and tell her you want