IT application development projects can be challenging and stressful. The efforts of the successful team need to be recognized and celebrated. In this article, the author makes the case for greater celebration of application code and the coders who write it.
Similar to the technology frameworks behind the scenes of our everyday lives that improve our user interfaces, a client engagement framework can improve how organizations interface with clients, making the organization more effective and improving the quality and level of client satisfaction.
Bad baselines on IT government projects waste as much as $5.5 billion annually, according to a new study. But the problem is not exclusive to the public sector. Many organizations don’t have the training, tools or processes to develop and manage realistic baselines. A pioneer in the field of cost analysis shares his insights on the problem and offers recommendations for turning it around.
A veteran program manager shares his keys to success, including a detailed checklist that mirrors a typical day on the job, from managing email to holding team meetings to keeping stakeholders informed.
As this practitioner shares a hard lesson learned about stakeholder engagement, we discover why a project manager should spend more than 90% of his or her time on project communication.
Spiritual intelligence is considered by some as an essential component of both personal and professional development. This article discusses how project managers can tap into team members' spiritual intelligence to create close ties to the project and improve creativity, motivation and performance. It explains the concept of spiritual intelligence and details how it is related to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It shows how organizations that use bottom-of-the-pyramid motivational levers run the risk of inadvertently keeping their employees at the wrong end of the motivational spectrum. The article then explores how spiritually intelligent team members identify with and feel engaged by the broader mission of their organization. It overviews Danah Zohar's book SQ: Spiritual Intelligence, the Ultimate Intelligence and explains how negative drivers such as fear, greed, anger, etc., often lead to destructive behavior, while project managers who lead according to spiritual intelligence result in more positive behaviors. The article concludes by listing do's and don'ts when tapping into teams' collective spiritual intelligence. Accompanying the article is a sidebar listing the 12 indicators of spiritual development.
Executive sponsorship is a top driver of project success, but many organizations struggle with leveraging this much-needed resource. From cultural readiness to training and support, companies need a holistic approach to establishing and improving their executive sponsorship programs, according to a new book.
As organizations look to improve their performance, they often consider establishing a Project Management Office. The idea of creating a PMO is one thing; the actual implementation of it is entirely another. Taking a step-by-step approach and following some critical guidelines will help ensure your PMO’s chances for success.
When organizations base their decisions on desires instead of data, it usually backfires. Here are four important actions that executives, PMO directors and program leaders can take to improve the predictability and success rate of their software development and enhancement projects.
As project managers, so much of our job relies on personality. A recent event at a client made one PM realize how little some organizations think about the style and approach of a particular project manager. Here’s why it’s important.
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"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world." - Lucille Ball |
