Application Development > Modeling Concepts

When is "new" good, and when is it just a fad? Sometimes, new processes and approaches may seem appealing and effective simply because they’re new and optimistically presented--and we haven’t yet been faced with examples of where they’ve been perverted and compromised.

How can you adapt Scrum-like tools and techniques within a Waterfall project management environment? What can you do to reduce resistance and reap the benefits Scrum has to offer? In short, how can you get down and Scrummy within a Waterfall world? Here are some ideas you might find useful.

In his latest course, an experienced project management trainer makes the case for a durable but resilient schedule model that accounts for requirements, dependencies and uncertainties as fully as possible.

CMMI provides several models that organizations can use to identify best practices and organizational improvements. Studying the maturity models and researching earned value management readiness reveals a series of baby steps for organizations to adopt EVM.

Earned Value Management is recognized within the project management domain as an effective cost and risk management technique. The formulas are not difficult to understand. So if EV isn’t difficult to calculate, why isn’t it more prevalent?

We seem to be moving from the “every PMO is different” model to the “PMOs fit into one of several types” model. However, since the heady days of Y2K the world has changed a lot--and created a lot of opportunities for PMOs to reinvent themselves and create a new model. This writer may be a power-crazed egomaniac, but he thinks PMOs can run the organization (if not the world).

Project managers usually tend to focus on the methodology for executing the technical part of the project. However, a good understanding of a practical SOA landscape and its associated challenges can help a technical PM make the SOA adoption on technology projects run even smoother.

What sets PM Masters apart from the rest of us? Is it their learning, innate talents and aptitudes or is it more? In observing those who exhibit PM mastery this writer has found they share some common traits and capabilities that provide some interesting insights.

In spite of the different ways we can achieve a goal and manage a project, we are often asked to imitate, rather than innovate. Call it linear, competitive or hierarchical thinking, but by any name it’s probably not the best approach for managing projects — or living our lives. Collaborative or team thinking seeks to connect rather than separate the many working parts of a project.

Projects can be delivered without software tools, but it sure makes it easier if you have a few tools in your pocket to make project execution a little easier. Inside you'll find four key tools you can apply on everyday engagements.

The average project manager has a challenge, and a large one at that. Most of us don’t have a career development plan. In fact, most of us didn’t necessarily pick this as a career--it picked us. But now that we’re here, the challenge is to figure out exactly where we go with it. To understand how our careers progress, it helps to have a model with which we can associate. Find out what important trio awaits inside...

Based on extensive analysis of three competing earned value management methods, a new book summarizes the merits of each. Here, an EVM practitioner reviews “Measuring Time, Improving Project Performance Using Earned Value Management.”

Adult children. Jumbo shrimp. Seriously funny. I’m sure you recognize these expressions as oxymorons — self-contradictory phrases, often with an ironic meaning. Should we add “agile requirements” to the list? Does agile development fit in with traditional requirements practices? And if so, how?

We are all leaders of our teams, and that’s a responsibility that we shouldn’t take lightly. Your project team looks up to you--don’t let them down. Here's some advice on how to set the right example.

Many project managers are expanding the scope of their skills into program management, which offers career advancement and new opportunities in a competitive job market. Here, a certified PMP explains how he has benefited from a U.K.-based program management credential, and why he chose it instead of the PgMP certification offered by PMI.

Earned Value Management is not just fuzzy math, but you need to help people understand it. The problem is not in the math itself, but in the difficulty of explaining EVM to stakeholders who don’t understand the numbers and what they mean. How do you sell EVM to your stakeholders without focusing on the math? Here we look at EVM for the masses.

Which governance/compliance model is right for you? Like so many things in project management, there is no one-solution approach to governance. Here we discuss two models.

Agile practices are not intrinsically “value-adding” — they must be aligned to business needs and goals in order to provide true value. By measuring their agility based on compliance with a particular method, organizations may prevent their teams from adapting practices to suit projects with different characteristics and needs.

Does ALM change product project management? Perhaps the biggest challenge that ALM faces is simply that it is not yet well understood by all of the people that it is aimed to help. Until both business and IT groups understand what ALM offers and the tangible benefits that it can bring, then there is a danger that ALM will continue to generate either a blank look or images of expensive software suites. Perhaps it's time you you focus your ALM efforts on the business first and the software second.

We have seen a growth in the emphasis on acquiring, managing, sharing and exploiting information--and supporting individual and collective decision-making. In particular, more mature organizations have the ability to recognize situational change and to adopt the correct management approach required to meet that change: agility. Two standards provide ways of assessing and developing these capabilities--and both are explored here.

When teams lack trust, projects fail or encounter severe trouble. One of the most critical ways to promote success on an agile project is to foster an environment in which team members respect one another and demonstrate trust.

Based on current trends, project managers will see an increase in the need for them to have more experiential training in real-life situations in order to stay competitive. To maintain a professional edge, PMs will need to set goals to gain significant knowledge through work scenarios and industry learning.

Few know the evolution of Application Lifecycle Management and how the Structured Revolution of the 1970s and '80s was a major turning point in software development. This article presents a retrospective on ALM and Structured Development Life Cycles--those that shaped it, the influencing principles and the related methodologies and tools the movement spawned.

Change management requires us to think about the project and the results of the project from the standpoint of the unaware. This is often a challenge for us. How can we think about a known idea from the point of someone who doesn’t know about our project or the product we are producing?

As our history lesson continues, we see how the success of the GTO gave John DeLorean almost rock-star-like fame in the automotive world.

Ever stop to ponder all the different PM frameworks that have been developed over the years and which one you should be using in your organization? Is there really one best framework out there? The options are dizzying, so here we take a look at four of them in depth. What can they do for you? Remember, one size does not fit all...

As the year draws to an end, it’s a good time for self-examination, professional and personally. For project managers, it’s important to conduct an honest assessment of your leadership and communications performance this past year — and identify opportunities for improvement in the coming year.

The goal of this article is to encourage project managers to participate in an academic survey to help determine if an organization is ready to apply earned value management to its projects. If you are interested in learning more about EVM--and providing input into an assessment tool to help determine if an organization is ready to apply earned value--please read on!

Whether planning a one-hour presentation, a three-day workshop or a semester-long course, it is important that you match the learning objectives with the most effective approach. Through an understanding of basic instructional models and methods, you can vastly enhance the quality and effectiveness of your training courses, programs and curriculums.

When implementating a program or portfolio management solution, it is better to have 80 percent of the potential users of the system (adoption rate) using 20 percent of the system functionality, than to have 20 percent of the users exercising 80 percent of the system functionality.

Developing a phased approach that brings continuous and measurable improvements is key to implementing an effective SLM capability. SLM isn’t about service level agreements, layers of complex processes and such. SLM is about aligning the services and capabilities IT provides to the organization with its fundamental operational and competitive sustainability needs.

Organizations are expected to deliver more and more with less and less, and that has in part led to the growth of organizational project management. But in this writer's experience, organizations have not been able to define what a successful OPM model looks like. How do you maximize the return on Organizational PM?

With the recent economic challenges, project pressures have grown even more--there’s less money available, and that means fewer resources and a need to get money-making (and money-saving) work completed more swiftly than ever. Can project teams be the secret to better project management in the future?

Management consultants are being called on to help establish project management offices that are simply not equipped to succeed after they leave. Here are three things they’re doing wrong.

What will project management look like in the future? One writer summons his smarts as he comes up with some dramatic predictions about governance, PMOs and the accountable PM. Is he a genius or a goofball? You be the judge...

When it comes to standardizing project management practices, PMOs are essential. If your organization doesn’t have a PMO, here are some ways to approach the concept. (And even if you do have a PMO, they will serve as important reminders!)

Coupled with the heightened awareness of environmental issues of discarded electronics, material consumption and its association with material availability has also triggered concern. Before you take out the trash again, here's some spoiled food for thought.

Some organizations spend too much money on internal projects and fail to drive revenue; some play it safe with too many low-risk, low-reward projects; and others focus mainly on strategic projects, neglecting short-term tactical needs. The use of balance points can better optimize the portfolio.

A costly lesson in failing to gather proper requirements led to significant challenges of a large and ambitious wireless project. Take a lesson in proper planning from this misfire.

One approach to improve project management maturity is through a project management community of practice, an informal group of PM practitioners who share advice, tips, techniques, lessons learned and promote relevant topics in the project and program management domain.

Three-way partnership with American University, Management Concepts and MCR provides training program for federal agencies and government contractors.