From the monthly archives:

March 2011

Throw away your quality plans

March 30, 2011

None of my projects last year had quality plans. Shocked? The project teams delivered high quality results, on budget and mostly to the timescales agreed with the customers. But we didn’t do it with the help of quality plans. A quality plan is a document that sets out what ‘quality’ means to the project and [...]

Lessons learned: IET debate

March 28, 2011

The Institution of Engineering and Technology held a roundtable debate recently on using lessons learned in project management. I thought it worth sharing, so you can access the webcast of the discussion from the link below. Lessons Learned: One of the most powerful and effective project management and control tools. Alec Ray Broadcast on Friday [...]

Villanova Friday, Week 8: 3 Steps to Build Resiliency in Project Teams

March 25, 2011

This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series Villanova Friday

It’s the last week of the Maximising IT/IS Team Effectiveness course that I am taking with Villanova University. The focus this week has been on managing others and establishing an environment that moves others through change. One of the lectures was on creating resiliency in your project team. Why do we need resiliency? IT projects [...]

Project Management, Women, and India

March 23, 2011

This is a guest post by Soma Bhattacharya, the project manager behind Stepping into Project Management. I returned home to India to find it very different from what I had left behind 6 years ago. India is growing everyday and considered the hub of outsourcing for IT and other domains. I grew up in a [...]

Villanova Friday, Week 7: Damage Control

March 18, 2011

This entry is part 7 of 9 in the series Villanova Friday

This week on the Maximizing IT/IS Team Effectiveness course I am taking with Villanova University we looked at managing expectations. There was a whole lecture on damage control, which could have been subtitled When Project Managers Lie About Progress. I once worked with a contract project manager who routinely reported that all his tasks were [...]

Book Review: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

March 16, 2011

“Make your boss look good,” writes Guy Kawasaki, in his new book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions. “Sure, changing the world, delighting customers, and increasing shareholder value are all part of the big picture, but making your boss look good is your day-to-day job. You should do this within the boundaries [...]

Research shows female project managers earn less (but we might get more maternity pay)

March 14, 2011

The Arras People 2011 Benchmark Report is out – and this year the study shows some interesting facts about pay. Pay for female project professionals peaks at the £30k to £40k salary band. Salaries for women over £65k are rare, and only 15% of women earn over £50k. Male salaries plateau between £30k and £50k [...]

Villanova Friday, Week 6: Team Productivity

March 11, 2011

This entry is part 6 of 9 in the series Villanova Friday

This week I had two weeks of lectures to listen to on the Maximizing IS/IT Team Effectiveness course I am taking with Villanova University. Given a busy day job, this was a challenge. So much for my week off last week. This week it has been all about managing teams in the most effective way. [...]

Women manage the cheap, small projects: new research on International Women’s Day

March 8, 2011

2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Today, people all over the world are celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. And they are also eating pancakes, as this year IWD falls on the same day as Shrove Tuesday. Women have an important part to play in [...]

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