Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Unrealistic Detail Only Sets You Up for Failure
Categories:
Project Failure
Categories: Project Failure
| It's impossible to accurately predict the future. Yet, many project managers continue to try. They create schedules that implicitly state a task will be completed at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon, in four months. Or they predict that the total cost of their project will be precisely $10,986,547.55. Yet these pseudo-accurate estimates based on detailed calculations are no more accurate than estimates made in more general terms and covered with an appropriate range indicator. Achieving a detailed estimate for an $11 million-plus project to within -5 percent to +10 percent indicates a very careful estimating process in a stable, well-understood environment. Attaching a precise number calculated to the nearest cent only raises stakeholder expectations about the degree of accuracy possible. And that leads to perceived "failure" when the stakeholder's unrealistic expectations are not realized. Similar problems arise if a project is scheduled in hours, and the work extends for more than a few days. Planning a project over several months on an hourly basis produces a mass of inaccurate data once you get beyond the first few days. And again, when the project fails to achieve the degree of control over the future implied by the excessively detailed schedule, it will seem like it failed. Pragmatic estimating at an appropriate level of detail sets realistic expectations. But beware: Your stakeholders may already have unrealistic expectations of what is possible from previous projects that "failed." Dealing with this issue requires skills in managing upward -- a topic for a future post. |
I Wish I Had
Categories:
Career Development
Categories: Career Development
| It's embarrassing how easily we slip back into former (bad) habits and how quickly we lose sight of our firmest resolutions. Perhaps if I go public once again with my resolutions, I can shame myself into adhering to them a little more faithfully. Last March, I blogged about career success and mentioned some resolutions I had made after I had been laid off more than a year previously. I revealed having written a page of resolutions called, "I Wish I Had." Many people asked for a copy, so here it is, along with my renewed commitment to all it says. I Wish I Had I worked for my employer for exactly 24 years and 5 months when I was told that I was being laid off. My departure date was originally set for February 26. This was extended until June 30. On June 30, I left as planned, signing the papers at 5:30 pm. At 8:30 pm, a different division obtained the final approvals they needed to offer me a job. They made the offer the following morning. I accepted. From the time I was notified until the time when I actually departed, I had time to reflect. Often I thought, "I wish I had done some things differently." Well, now I have that opportunity. I've decided to put those things in writing and I have resolved to do them, now that I have been given another chance. Therefore, I resolve to (more or less in order of priority): 1. Schedule time for my wife and kids as a first priority, not something I do when I get a free moment. 2. Take better care of my health and fitness as a first priority. 3. Take greater advantage of employment benefits. 4. Create greater separation between work and personal life.
5. Go to my employer's local facility more regularly to keep up with colleagues here. 6. Back up my data frequently. 7. Be better prepared to leave if this ever happens again
8. Be more selective in what activities I agree to do outside of work. 9. Be more selective in what extracurricular assignments I take on at work. 10. Be more proactive in finding "my next job." 11. Have some real mentors who take a genuine interest in my career. 12. Have mentors outside of work. 13. Care a lot about work, but not too much. 14. Be very proactive in my employer's career development process. 15. Blog. |
A Project Manager's Call to Action
| Apart from the challenge of letting go of my 18-year-old "baby," I was thrilled and proud to bring my son to the Rochester Institute of Technology, a university in Rochester, New York, USA last week. At orientation for first year students, James Miller, PhD, senior vice president for career services, invited the 2,650 new students gathered there to create an education and a life that included three critical elements: balance, passion and making a difference. |
Kanban Creates Buzz Among Agile Crowd
Categories:
Agile
Categories: Agile
| Like its predecessors, the Agile 2010 conference will go down as a key event in agile project management. This year, I and 1,400 other attendees learned about everything from innovation to Kanban. The conference was held in Orlando, Florida, USA from 9-13 August. Several sessions were particularly notable. Kenny Rubin, Laurie Williams and Mike Cohn shared the Comparative Agility assessment. Using data from 1,600 teams, users can see how their team's agility compares with others. Ron Jeffries and Chet Hendrickson, famous as original extreme programmer proponents, made a case for a less dogmatic approach to methodologies and suggested using the hybrid best suited to your needs and circumstance. For me, the most striking part of the conference was the large interest in Kanban, a project management methodology from Japan that emphasizes cycle time instead of utilization of resources. There were seven presentations on it -- all standing room only and overflowing into the halls. In Kanban, work is purposefully limited so teams are forced to finish items to high quality before moving on. This can yield the same or more output, but reduces the risk that too many half-done items in progress won't get done. Work is tracked on a board with a few simple columns, such as waiting, working and testing done. Each item, or "ticket," is moved from column to column to reflect its state. Have you ever used Kanban methodology? |
Go In With a Game Plan
| You and your team must have a project objective in mind at all times. Everything should revolve around it: all the team's activities, status reports, meetings, impromptu discussions, research and engagements of other outside resources. Having a clear and focused game plan can help. It's not a forced management plan that dictates the rules, but an agreement between all the members on how the team will work together. The plan is like glue that keeps the team together, focused on the key objectives of the project and makes the environment workable and pleasant. The game plan is therefore an agreement between the team members on how they will maintain such alignment through: Communication: The team agrees on the basics: method, frequency, media and levels of urgency. How will they update one another with the latest status? What upcoming milestones, changes or issues may affect the progress of the project? Are there any interpersonal issues team members may encounter? Goal setting: The team defines the goals of the plan, whether it is being customer-centric or meeting deadlines. Having these goals at the forefront keeps the team focused throughout the project as a commitment to the team. The customer gets the added value due to the enhanced quality of the project delivery, and by extension, this leads to the overall success of the project completion. Team play: This is the actual method of alignment, making sure the team has agreed on the parameters of the game and understands how it will relate to their day-to-day activities. We're often put on a team based on our experience and technical expertise, rather than soft skills. We are simply expected to be professional and do what we can to work well together. Having a game plan is simply a tool for all team members to reach an agreement on overall goals, without making assumptions or trying to force an outcome. It adds the missing layer that strengthens the team and adds assurance of alignment among all the team members. When working in teams, what approach or method have you used as a contributing factor to reaching agreements and working well together? |