OUR BLOG: HONEST VIEW OF THE GOOD, BAD & UGLY
IN THE WORLD OF DELIVERING PROJECTS

Why organisations need a Benefits Realisation Framework Every organisation engaged in business change projects/programmes should have a benefits realisation framework, to maximise the positive impact of change, and to avoid common pitfalls of change programmes (1). It should describe the long-term process of embedding and maximising potential benefits following change projects.  Benefits are rarely automatic. They often require behavioural and organisational change and don't always happen on their own. The topic goes well beyond project ...

Writing problem statements for Business Cases In this post we discuss: how to develop a clear problem statement; why we need one; common mistakes to avoid, and provide tips on how they can be improved. Why do we need one? When developing a business case, it is often hugely useful to include a clear problem statement or similar.  It should be the starting point for many business cases. Sadly, far too many business cases do ...

and how to make it much better: The purpose of this post is to describe the limitations of Scrum and why Scrum alone will often not work.  Later we describe what would work much better, while still using incremental product development. In particular, we focus on how to move beyond the mantra of delivering “value” to something much more specific, beneficial and measurable, collaboratively. Agile is a collection of values and principles relating to software development.  ...

This is not a Waterfall-versus-Agile discussion: This post is not about Waterfall-v-Agile.  It is much wider than that. In its pure sense, Waterfall is a very specific and rarely used software development life-cycle.  This post is about the realities of projects in business, regardless of how unpalatable those realities may be, and what the real world of projects is often about. At its most basic, a genuine project is a unique problem to be solved, ...

What makes a great Project Sponsor? Having an effective project sponsor can be a very key role in a successful project. However, just nominating someone, even the right person, does not always work out as we hope.  This post describes the attributes of successful project sponsors. So what is the role and responsibility of a Sponsor? In this context, the Sponsor is not just the client, or maybe not even the client.  The role is most ...

Being a Product Owner: the things that are rarely mentioned Having an effective Product Owner (PO) on software development projects is a hugely useful and important role, whether using Agile or other methods.  The way the PO is described, especially by many promoting some Agile methods, is at best ambitious.  In many circumstances, it may not even be close to possible. Pretending we have one when we don't (by the measures below) is going to be ...

Why it can be a costly mistake to assume anyone can manage a project: Most people don’t plan to go into project management.  They often find themselves in the role more by accident than design. It’s also common that when people first attempt the role, they have little if any preparation or real support, with something that can be very challenging. For well over a decade, we have asked precisely the following question to groups ...

The good things in Agile: Firstly let me say, I am a huge fan of the good that Agile can bring, through some of the practices that it encourages (e.g. collaboration, transparency etc). Like all "new" ideas though, there are some whose interpretation goes beyond the bounds of what is good.  There are also some very experienced people in the Agile world, who believe that Agile projects also need project management. This post is not about ...

Time for honesty I have been writing recently on the alarming trends around PM ‘methods’, including the latest edition of the Scrum Guide, which was updated in 2017. There are many people and groups developing and publishing methods, guides and standards etc. and we have to hope they are being written for the good of the world of delivering complex projects more successfully. This is a great ambition, but we need to be very honest ...

There are large numbers of online discussions and posts promoting one project management or product development “method” over another.  As a career-long project management practitioner who has seen everything from excellent practice to very poor attempts at managing projects, I feel this is very wrong, damaging and totally the wrong debate. Where does all this 'methodology' discussion come from? Firstly let’s deal honestly with why we have reached this point. It is largely down to ...

The huge issue with certification training: Is that it’s like mixing oil with water There has been an enormous growth in certification and related training courses (e.g. PMP) in recent years. Firstly, there is nothing inherently wrong with certification itself. However, there is a world of difference between certification 'training' and courses that teach real skills which deliver real improvements in personal and organsational competence.  They are not the same and pretending they are is at ...

Managing a major home improvement project - lessons learned from real projects Many of us get involved at least once in a major home improvement project.   Some turn out fine but sadly too many go very badly wrong, sometimes disastrously. The majority that go wrong do so for common reasons. If you follow all of the following you will minimise the chance of major issues on your project and ensure that any issues you have ...