Many business leaders are unacquainted with the wealth of knowledge about how software projects behave. No surprise, they are unable to explain why these projects fail repeatedly, much less do something about it. Here are five fundamental “laws” of software development that all executives (and teams) should understand and follow.
Rigidity, late-blooming requirements conflicts, triangular relationships and simple geography conspired to deliver half of what a major technology project promised. On this effort, it seemed, you could change everything but the way the team worked.
Olympic-sized projects mean more potential communication problems with stakeholders who control workers in your project. Adopting a combination of routine and targeted tactics can keep the project humming.
We need individuals to have their own mind so that the team has the advantage of diverse thought. It takes tremendous patience to give individuals the room and time to contribute in their way--and persistence to continuously bring the team back together for what matters.
Many project managers complain that they don’t have any real authority over their teams — and they don’t if authority is about command and control. But we can earn a different type of authority, one that is more effective in the world of projects anyway. It is based on postion and relationship power.
Establishing productive working relationships with your project team is as critical as building the plan, managing risk or reporting to stakeholders. It requires accessibility, adaptability and authenticity. Here are seven principles that can help you help your team members maximize their individual and collective value.
Organizational culture is made up of the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors of its employees and underlying assumptions. If an organization’s culture is not supportive of project management, project management tends to be viewed as an additional burden and interference to the daily work. If there is no effective project management office and no standard processes, procedures, measurement, and organization culture across projects, projects will operate differently from one project to the next as well as from one department to the next. Project culture within an organization can essentially can make or break the projects undertaken by that organization.
One of the first questions when starting a new project is: What resources do you need? Outlining these needs to executive management is paramount in securing project success, so keep these four tips in mind.
Matrix organizations have inherent weaknesses and pitfalls, but a project manager can transform those weaknesses for the benefit of the project. Here's some help.
Project management has evolved in the last few years, but not all elements have evolved at the same rate. The next generation of PMs will challenge that.
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"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." - Winston Churchill |
