Making a transition from what you’re currently doing to an effective agile process is a project in itself--but it can easily be worth it. Let’s look at what we can gain by adjusting our approach--our concluding installment looks at interpreting requirements and tracking progress, and offers some further caution and advice.
Making a transition from what you’re currently doing to an effective agile process is a project in itself--but it can easily be worth it. There are no guarantees, but let’s look at what we can gain by adjusting our approach...
Governance happens in projects all the time, and a well thought-out governance process can be a powerful project tool. In this article, we will examine why governance is necessary, where governance is most effective and how we as project and program managers can use governance to powerful effect.
It was the best of times--your project seemed to be going along swimmingly. It was the worst of times--suddenly there was a surprise from a governance stakeholder. Will you avoid the guillotine?
Determining the nature and scope of a project is essential to refining how the resulting effort will accomplish business needs. A crucial component of this is having the knowledge of the business environment and the demands it must meet.
Mapping business processes is not just a method to grind out workflows. It should be the way IT works with the business to communicate how innovative technologies will transform activities.
All project failures are related to miscommunication of requirements. And it's the requirements that define the purpose, function and value--the business requirements--that are the biggest culprit as they are especially hard to define.
We all know that process improvement is important, but who should deliver it? Whoever owns a process should also be accountable for the improvement of it--and when we are talking about PM processes, that frequently means the PMO.
In an attempt to help those of you struggling with Business Process Improvement and Business Process Analysis, our expert presents these “anatomical components” in terms of a series of rules so that you can use them in your efforts.
You won’t get the right benefits unless you start with the right scope. As project managers are increasingly asked to become involved in the business side of project execution, many elements they previously didn't have to worry about are now becoming relevant.
The project plan can be a strange environment of murky waters, but the adventurous project manager can see clearly if they dive in and explore the depths.
Many IT project teams do a good job of identifying project risks and applying associated contingency reserve factors to the project plan. Unfortunately, project teams sometimes overlook the unique challenges that distinguish many applications and affect all projects undertaken in a specific application domain.
In software development, testing is one of the most important functions. But too often, there is a fundamental problem: We aren’t always testing the right things. Where’s the quality? Testing is a relative exercise, not an absolute one.
This sample of actual Premium and Corporate content is available for FREE download through April 17, 2009.
Every project has stakeholders. Your job is to get to know the ones who will be crucial to your project. This analysis worksheet will help you get a feel for what to expect from various key parties who have an interest in your project.
Start your requirements gathering with this all-inclusive document outlining the entire process from start to finish.
The System Requirements Specification (SRS) document describes all data, functional and behavioral requirements of the software under production or development.
Creating a work breakdown structure for the project and refining it until it can be used as the pattern for the project plan may seem like overkill for some projects, but the WBS can help create a schedule that fully supports the work of the project.
Large-scale change of enterprise-level architecture and infrastructure presents a challenge, especially in today's networked world. Enter agile project management. In our concluding installment, we look at successful architecture and design from history, explore the challenges that come with the principles of evolutionary architecture and design--and identify a short list of evolutionary design principles.
Large-scale change of enterprise-level architecture and infrastructure presents a challenge, especially in today's networked world. Enter agile project management and the ideas of refactoring and continuous improvement, which involve creating innovative new solutions for each problem encountered.
Can a low-budget cult film actor pose as a paragon of sound management practice? What, if anything, can we learn from Bruce Campbell to further our pursuit of management knowledge? Whether you are a manager of resources or a project manager with matrixed resources, put aside those business textbooks and tune in.
With the steady industry shift away from custom code applications to more commercial software packages and services, IT project management practices are necessarily changing to adapt to the new conditions. Is this a glimpse into what the future holds?
The Olympic rings are five intertwined circles that represent the elaborate and complex Games. Similarly, project managers can bring five rings of discipline together to manage very complex projects. Each of these rings builds upon the other--and they give the project manager a taxonomy by which to manage Olympian efforts
Being clear about what constitutes “done” ensures that the product or service developed at the end of an iteration is completed to the satisfaction of the customer, which is the whole purpose of doing agile in the first place. Got it? Just in case, read on...
Are your PM skills ready for the world’s spotlight? The athletes who are preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime experience in London are giving everything that they have to improve their performance, that tiny extra amount that will set them apart from their competition. Why shouldn’t we be doing the same in our project management activities? Here we take a lighthearted look at our time to shine.
"Big" is somewhat defined in the eyes of the beholder. Beyond sheer size and mass, what makes big projects so daunting? Certainly as a project grows in size and scope, a number of things increase along with it--each adding complexity and risk to the effort. While there is no foolproof way to eliminate the risks associated to big projects, there are some things you can do to reduce those risks.
Personal projects allow you to improve your skills in project management in a safer venue. These examples show how you can find meaningful practice even if the activities have nothing to do with information technology.
As project managers, we often reinforce the importance of proper PM in our professional projects. However, when it comes to our personal projects, do you apply the project management mindset and tools? One writer has found project management useful for a few significant personal projects.
If you’ve developed any training material for your projects, then you’ve familiar with process flow charts and supporting tasks. In IT projects, there is usually an operational process or workflow that the end users follows to put the IT solution into action. Even though workflow is associated with recurring operational tasks, they can be applied to professional and personal projects. Here, one writer looks at a free offering that might make your personal PM run a lot smoother.
|
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde |
|