Becoming Lean-er in Lean Times

Don is an entrepreneur and business leader with over 15 years experience specializing in aligning management-driven technologies and initiatives together with business and project strategies resulting in thoroughly planned and comprehensive business solutions. His expertise as a project manager, developer, tester, analyst, trainer, consultant, and business owner has spanned across diverse industries such as finance, retail, health care and information technology

  Agile   Cost Management   Manufacturing  

This has been one of the most prolonged and deeply felt recessions the world has experienced since late 2008. For those in the United States, it has been one of the most grim recessions in U.S. history since the Great Depression of the 1930s. What this has entailed for those working as project management professionals across industries (both Fortune 500 as well as small- to mid-size companies) is increasing need to work more with less. For despite the recessionary effects felt across nations and working individuals, many companies have been able to increase profits and grow. Much of this has been achieved by cutting costs, outsourcing work to lower-cost countries and increasing productivity through technology and business process improvements.

Despite this global recession--which has held its stubborn momentum that does not seem likely to take a major turn for the better anytime soon--the competitive landscape keeps becoming more urgent and faster paced. As a project manager, you will be expected to keep managing new projects that will inevitably come down the pipeline to keep your organization competitive--but will do so with less (and exhausted) resources, tight budgets and more scrutiny for success since to fail can mean a major impact to the organization’s bottom line.

How does one meet such challenges and succeed? One of the agile practices tailor made for…

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