ARTICLES, VIDEOS, COMPREHENSIVE HINTS & TIPS AND FREE TEMPLATES (no registration req’d):
The following articles provide practical help on various project management topics, where we share evidence of what works well in delivering projects and extracts of what is in our training. We write about the good, the bad and even sometimes the ugly in projects. We never shy away from challenging questions, always providing an open and honest view.
ARTICLE CATEGORIES: Click to jump to category
- OVERVIEW OF PM AND CURRENT BEST PRACTISES
- LESSONS LEARNED FROM HUNDREDS OF ORGANISATIONS
- HINTS AND TIPS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS
- BENEFITS REALISATION – A HUGELY VALUABLE PROCESS
- PROJECT ORGANISATION & PROJECT MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES
- AGILE – KEY LESSONS
- HOW TO PLAN PROJECTS – PRACTICAL TIPS AND GUIDANCE
- PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT – GUIDANCE AND EXAMPLES OF GOOD AND BAD PRACTICE
- EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT – SHARING REAL IMPLEMENTATION EXPERIENCE
- CHANGE AND PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT
Overview of Project Management:
- Origins of Project Management – extensive article on the origins, concepts, trends and best practices.
- Our Project Management Philosophy – the things we think are really important to improving project delivery.
- Project Based Management – article on the history and concepts of modern-day project management.
Lessons Learned: from hundreds of firms:
- What goes wrong on projects – most common issues and causes of project failures.
- The challenge of learning lessons in Corporations – the experience of one very large organisation.
- How to embed lessons learned – a blueprint for successfully learning lessons.
- The challenge of virtual teams – lessons learned from real examples.
Hints and Tips for PMs / How to Develop Great Project Managers:
- Tips for new and experienced Project Managers – key tips for new and not so new project managers.
- Responsibilities of Project Managers – Practical Lessons learned – real lessons learned.
- Becoming a Project Manager – including highly credible sources on employment prospects etc.
- Choosing the right people to be Project Managers – real experience of choosing the right people to be PMs.
- New Video – What Makes a Great Project Manager? – punchy video on what makes great PMs.
- How to develop great project managers – in any business.
Benefits Realisation: a hugely valuable process
- Benefits Realisation – an overview of Benefits Planning and Realisation.
- Why benefits realisation is not return on investment – how to avoid common mistakes with this subject.
- Context drives the terminology – another key discussion on this most useful of topics.
Organisation: is quite simply, the way we deliver projects:
- Project Organisation – an overview of the role of and importance Project Organisation.
- Key Responsibilities of Project Managers – key discussion in any business.
- Accountabilities of Project Managers – important evidence of lessons learned.
- Importance of Leadership & Team Working – people deliver projects, not processes.
Agile is not just Scrum – how to deliver the promise:
- An Overview of Agile Project Management – covering the most important aspects of Agile.
- Pros and cons of using Agile or Waterfall: the most important differences between the two.
- What types of projects can Agile be applied to? – clear examples of types of projects Agile is applicable to.
- When Agile can’t be used: real example to demonstrate when this is so.
- Comparing Agile to traditional: Slideshare Presentation – comparison to traditional PM methods.
- Is Agile good, bad or just a religion? – important discussion on why it sometimes doe not work.
- Can you combine Agile with Prince2 ®/ MSP? ® – or perhaps, why on earth would you want to?
- When Agile is not working, ask this – lessons learned when it is not working as hoped.
How to Plan Projects – using non-bureaucratic, simple effective ways:
- Hints and Tips on How to Plan Projects – covering some very different areas.
- Setting project objectives – using real examples, and the difference between goals and objectives.
- How to develop a really useful WBS – guidance on developing one of the most useful things projects can have.
Project Risk Management. The biggest single positive impact you can have on projects:
- Project Risk Management – an article aimed at improving this key task in commercial organisations.
- Project risks: good and bad examples – real examples based on significant evidence of real projects.
- Project Risk Assessment – worked example including useful hints and tips on assessing risks.
- Why opportunity in projects should never be called risk – why we (and PMI) disagree with this tactic.
Earned Value Management. Fundamental measures of delivery performance:
- Overview of Earned Value Management – comprehensive article on EVM and how to avoid common pitfalls.
- Earned Value Management Worked Example – a simple to understand overview of EVM.
- Earned-value-management and-objectivity – how to remove ‘human-nature’ from your EV results.
- When earned value is not earned value at all – common habits that destroy the validity of EV data.
Change management:
- Change Management – a key skill in business – what you would want to see in any change programme.
- Organisational Development – getting real results from investing in training programmes.
Related topics and P3:
- Delivering business strategy through Programme Management – the objectives and common challenges.
- Project Governance – overview of Governance of PM.
- 10 reasons why Prince2 is not even close to ‘best practice’ – evidence-based discussion.
- The role of Portfolio Management – article describing the role and value of Portfolio Management.
FREE TEMPLATES: NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED
The page below contains links and descriptions the following templates: business case; comprehensive excel based risk register; project delivery strategy document and others. You are free to download and use these for you own purposes.
What PM Methods do we use or promote?
PMIS operates in multiple industries and environments, where there are often differing needs relating to the practical side of PM. For this reason, we do not support one single PM method above all others; we do though, support certain approaches and methods far more than others, for example, Agile. Agile project management (is not actually a method), it is more about the environment within which projects happen. Agile promotes things such as: shortening lines and increasing frequency of communication; early involvement and participation of key stakeholders; slimming down project documentation to focus on fundamentals of a project; responding to and being able to accommodate change swiftly. These are all excellent practices that produce the most effective project environments, and PMIS has been promoting such things for many years, if not decades.
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