Different stakeholders often have such different perspectives, it’s like they’re involved in different projects. Is that a problem for you as the project manager? A three-step approach can help you deal with this situation.
When a schedule starts to slip, the project manager should be ready to jump in and get things back on track. Here are some strategies the PM can use that do not involve forcing everyone to work 80-hour work weeks.
When faced with a burdensome change request, don’t just roll over or flat-out refuse. Instead, use a ‘conditional yes’ to buy time and develop a full picture of the impact. You may make the case to nix the change, but if you still end up implementing it, at least everyone will know what it takes and why it’s important.
It is a VUCA world—volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous—and project management is no exception. In such situations, the final project may hardly resemble the original or initial plan. Welcome to scope creep! How can critical thinking help?
How do we ensure that we aren’t running around reprimanding team members and shouting “No!” to everything that comes out of the customer’s mouth? Here are three steps to set scope management in motion and ensure that it’s a positive for the project.
We can’t just say, “We need to be more agile and less waterfall.” We’re making a recommendation before explaining a problem. Instead, we need to build a shared understanding based on detailed, specific data. Here are a couple examples of how to do it.
To find the heart of an effective product and service enterprise, one needs only to take a look at their service desk. And when examining the broad coverage of ITIL, service management stands strong.
A recent experience with a cellular service provider proved to be a less-than-ideal situation for a customer. What can we learn from this experience?
Technology and more knowledge of other cultures and languages are making communication easier in projects distributed across mutliple teams, companies and continents. But the real problem with communication in project management is not communication itself, but rather "understanding." Understanding, as defined for the purposes of this discussion, is a result of different motivations for the project (the "hidden agendas"-not the requirements but the "desirements").
According to recent PMI research, the trend is for project leaders to show technology prowess and customer knowledge. The information you need to build the necessary expertise is right in front of you. You just have to know how to access it on the job.
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"Nothing worth learning can be taught." - Oscar Wilde |
