By Kevin Lonergan on November 6, 2016
Right now there is no single more popular topic in (especially in software) projects than Agile. Before I describe what it is, here are the most common misinterpretation of what it is not: it is not a methodology – it is a set of values and principles; it is not a project management ‘method’ – […]
By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on March 2, 2015
A few weeks ago we held a course on Project Management Fundamentals. Every student introduced themselves; they were all seasoned professionals with 7 years of experience or more in their field. Justine worked for a manufacturing company. Kumar was a software developer. Ann deployed projects for a Cable TV provider. Carlos was a construction manager. […]
By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on December 1, 2014
The 21st century has brought a great increase in projects with companies in the growing economies of Brasil, Russia, India and China (for which Goldman Sachs coined the acronym of “BRIC” countries). There is no denying that, with the emphasis of multinationals in fulfilling the demands of those growing middle classes, many project managers can […]
By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on October 25, 2014
A few weeks ago I was assisting a project manager with a troubled project. We reviewed the documentation from the beginning, starting with the usual suspects: project charter, WBS, schedule. They all seemed fairly straightforward and understandable. Once we got to his status reporting though, confusion started. This project’s status reports were spreadsheets about 10 […]
By Simon Buehring on September 25, 2014
If you’re a North American reader of this blog them you’re probably familiar with the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and its professional qualifications: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) and Project Management Professional (PMP®). If you’re a European reader, then you are more likely to be familiar with PRINCE2® and its 2 qualifications: Foundation and […]
By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on August 19, 2014
A good friend who shall remain anonymous deploys projects for a large IT organization. Recently, as often happens, our conversation strayed into “work” topics. This time the subject became her Program Management Office, or PMO, with which she was greatly annoyed. “The volumes and volumes of reporting and paper my PMO demands have become completely […]
By Simon Buehring on May 23, 2014
One of the things which I have noticed since living in Japan over the last 3 months is how much plastic there is. Everything seems to come wrapped in the stuff, even if it already comes with a more than adequate natural packaging – bananas for example. At the supermarket, a piece of fish wrapped […]
By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on April 24, 2014
The past few weeks have been quite busy helping a client prepare for an arbitration between a project contractor and the management of a troubled project. An arbitration is less severe than a lawsuit, in that the parties in disagreement choose an ‘arbitrator’ who is well qualified in the industry, to decide who is right […]
By Simon Buehring on March 20, 2014
I’m a lucky guy. I’ve had the fortune to be able to move half way around the world, start up in a completely alien country, and manage to keep the stress levels under control – for much of the time anyway. I’m writing this post from Tokyo, a city I have visited many times previously […]
By Alicia Trelles-Duckett on January 7, 2014
As inevitably happens at the beginning of a new year, with all the thoughts about resolutions, a few colleagues and acquaintances have been examining their jobs and careers. Some are considering entirely new fields, like the lady who is considering leaving her IT job to open a hip Bakery because bread has always been her […]
