Your manager, Ellsworth, asks you, "But is it possible?" He wants you to tell him that it is possible for you to satisfy a project milestone despite the argument you presented him for the past five minutes that the milestone was unrealistic. You feel like you are on the witness stand. Jack McCoy, the character from the Law and Order television … [Read more...]
The Effective Project Manager
What do effective project managers realize? If a project fails, it's the PM's fault. If a project succeeds, the PM credits the team for the success. … [Read more...]
An Impact of Corporate Culture
Project Managers from ABC and XYZ, which are located on the opposite side of the same street, differ in how they report project status: The PMs from ABC are forthright with their sponsors, and the PMs from XYZ are evasive. Why do the PMs at ABC and XYZ have opposite approaches to reporting status? Their very survival depends on providing … [Read more...]
Be Up Front
You and Jeff are members of a project team. You've know Jeff for years. You like and respect him. He is new to the team. In what looks to you like an effort to prove his value to the other members of the team he has taken on too many tasks. He isn't completing his high-priority tasks on schedule. And he keeps taking on new tasks. What do you … [Read more...]
A Riddle about Projects
All of us have experience with projects. In my experience, complex project never work exactly as planned. What is the first thing about a project that must be adapted when things aren't working as planned? Answer, the story about the project. For instance, when a software project is about to miss a milestone, you may hear a story about testing … [Read more...]