By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on January 19, 2012
Our topic today has nothing to do with an eccentric or detestable person, happily. Although some project managers may not agree, a more prevalent pest to be avoided in projects is “scope creep”: additional scope that creeps in, without anyone in the project team noticing. Before you know it, there is an expectation that the [...]
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By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on December 16, 2011
Here is a familiar scenario for some of us who perform projects for customers: a request for some work comes in. We have (or know where to get) the capability, the skills the personnel. Having performed similar work before, we even have references. The catch? Geography. Either the customer, or key performer(s), or the project [...]
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By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on November 21, 2011
There are certain skills which are incredibly useful for small businesses. If the business has someone on staff knowledgeable about ‘accounting’ for instance, or ‘taxation’, better decisions can be made consistently in those areas. For example, business equipment would be purchased knowing already in advance what kind of depreciation will leave the business in a [...]
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By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on October 15, 2011
Recently, an acquaintance who owns his own business installing industrial valves, remarked how difficult he thought the field of Project Management had become. “Why is there so much paper?” and “Why do the concepts have to be so hard?” (He does have a point, what with Earned Value Analysis…) He indicated that if it weren’t [...]
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By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on September 20, 2011
When I started my working life, at IBM, years went by before I had any sub-contractors as part of my project team. We could handle just about every request with in-house skills. Alas, almost 20 years later those days are gone, and the opposite has become the norm. It is nigh on impossible to deploy [...]
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By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on August 18, 2011
The following is a guest post by Susan Shearouse, author of Conflict 101. Early morning, the mists rising off the placid river, the crew racing in that long sleek boat, each team member pulling through the strokes in unison, the team leader sitting at the back calling commands. Ahhh, teamwork… What happens when the reality [...]
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By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on June 25, 2011
As a general rule, project teams will agree with the idea that Risk Analysis makes for a better project. It gives the team visibility of worrisome items, a forum to prioritize them, and some time to react before the risk materializes. So why don’t more project managers incorporate Risk Analysis regularly in their project’s governance? [...]
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By Patrick d'Astous on June 10, 2011
All organisations that have existed for at least some time will have developed a “culture”. In its most simplest, it is the values and habits that are promoted by the organisation is being important, or even crucial to the business. This could be and often is extended to the behaviours that individuals and even teams’ exhibit in discharging normal business – and this can and will include projects.
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By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on May 20, 2011
There will be milestones in our projects –or initiatives- that are important because they determine what the project team does next. Maybe it’s a ‘Scope Definition’; maybe it’s a ‘Design Review’. When these important decisions surface, sometimes project teams tend to swell – even though you, the Project Manager, have not asked for more resources. [...]
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Alicia is a freelance IT Project/Program Manager with 19 years of experience deploying international complex projects, 15 of which with IBM Global Services. She is certified in three major Project Management methodologies and author of the highly acclaimed "International Project Management" course
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