In case you haven't heard the Ten Step website has some excellent free project management white papers and templates, and additionally they license (for a fee) a number of Project Management Methodologies (TenStep, PMOStep, SupportStep, etc). The prices are reasonable, and I personally have licenses for the TenStep and PMOStep methodologies and can highly recommend these for new or experienced project managers.
I have no affiliation with this site, but use the content and have found it to be an excellent source of project management information. If you visit the site let Tom Mochal (President of TenStep) know I sent you.
Tom has just recently written a book entitled Lessons in Project Management, and from what I understand it has received rave reviews. I will be purchasing a copy for myself within the next few weeks.
Until next time...
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Thursday, September 16, 2004
What Makes a Successful Project?
The four measurements that must always be used are:
1.) The customer is satisfied
2.) The project is delivered within or under budget
3.) The project is completed on time
4.) The project's requirements have been met
Keep in mind the most important measure of project success is Customer Satisfaction. If you deliver a project on-time, within budget and it meets all requirements yet the customer is not satisfied, the project is a FAILURE!
Keep your customers (stakeholders/sponsor) informed throughout the project. Communicate to your customers using face-to-face conversations (yes, good project managers actually do this), status reports, e-mail, status meetings, voice mail, formal documentation, even sky writing if you have to. Your customers must be kept informed and remain engaged throughout the project. If you aren't hearing from them during your project, you aren't communicating with them. We all know that effective communications are two-way. If members of your project team choose not to communicate with you during your project look to have them removed from the team immediately.
In closing, maintaining a dialogue with your customers throughout your project helps you to address concerns and issues quickly. Combining effective communications and management of the project's triple constraints (Time, Cost Quality/Requirements) will help to ensure that your customers are satisfied with the end result of the project.
1.) The customer is satisfied
2.) The project is delivered within or under budget
3.) The project is completed on time
4.) The project's requirements have been met
Keep in mind the most important measure of project success is Customer Satisfaction. If you deliver a project on-time, within budget and it meets all requirements yet the customer is not satisfied, the project is a FAILURE!
Keep your customers (stakeholders/sponsor) informed throughout the project. Communicate to your customers using face-to-face conversations (yes, good project managers actually do this), status reports, e-mail, status meetings, voice mail, formal documentation, even sky writing if you have to. Your customers must be kept informed and remain engaged throughout the project. If you aren't hearing from them during your project, you aren't communicating with them. We all know that effective communications are two-way. If members of your project team choose not to communicate with you during your project look to have them removed from the team immediately.
In closing, maintaining a dialogue with your customers throughout your project helps you to address concerns and issues quickly. Combining effective communications and management of the project's triple constraints (Time, Cost Quality/Requirements) will help to ensure that your customers are satisfied with the end result of the project.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
What is Not in Writing Has Not Been Said - Part II
A subject of one of my previous posts contained the quote "what is not in writing has not been said". While you may not want to make that statement to your boss when asked about your last conversation, there are many times when this statement is applicable during your project's lifecycle.
A project manager’s main function is to complete his or her project on time and on budget. This takes teamwork and a strong commitment by all team members. To be a successful project manager you must use written communications to ensure the team is kept informed.
Having said that, just because you go to the trouble to document your thoughts does not mean that your communications are clear. The receiver of your message will act on the message they think they received, which is then filtered by the receiver through their emotions and assumptions.
Don't be as concerned with what your words mean, but more with the effect they will have on the people that read them.
An important fact when writing, "Know Your Audience". If the tone of the message reflects the audience's needs you are more likely to grab the reader’s attention and keep it longer.
Most of your readers are overworked, underpaid, unappreciated, and tired of reading all the e-mails, memos, and office correspondence they receive. While this may see extreme, keep it in mind when writing your message and you will tend to keep your messages focused to the point and brief.
A project manager’s main function is to complete his or her project on time and on budget. This takes teamwork and a strong commitment by all team members. To be a successful project manager you must use written communications to ensure the team is kept informed.
Having said that, just because you go to the trouble to document your thoughts does not mean that your communications are clear. The receiver of your message will act on the message they think they received, which is then filtered by the receiver through their emotions and assumptions.
Don't be as concerned with what your words mean, but more with the effect they will have on the people that read them.
An important fact when writing, "Know Your Audience". If the tone of the message reflects the audience's needs you are more likely to grab the reader’s attention and keep it longer.
Most of your readers are overworked, underpaid, unappreciated, and tired of reading all the e-mails, memos, and office correspondence they receive. While this may see extreme, keep it in mind when writing your message and you will tend to keep your messages focused to the point and brief.