Here’s an incredibly easy question that many people get wrong. Question: What is a project manager? Answer: Someone who manages a project. Many projects and many companies get this question wrong. They don’t understand the project manager role. They think that the project manager delivers the project. They think the project manager is a “doer” […]
Some project managers still like to use the old “rule of thumb” that a project shouldn’t last more than 9 months. This is project management folklore. If a project is longer than 9 months, says the old folklore, then it is likely to fail. So best split it into pieces. As with much folklore, this […]
In today’s fast moving world, most organisations have a large change agenda. Do you have more projects to run than people to run them? Are you forced to use inexperienced staff to run key projects? One response to this challenge is to look at best-practice frameworks like Prince2 for Project Management, or MSP for Programme […]
This is about understanding the past. It’s a case study, but it’s more than that. It’s about how we can better understand the past if we have a frame of reference. The case study explains how a large company improved its project & portfolio management. This multi-national organisation was structured as 7 business units. They […]
In the popular Science-Fiction film, “Back to the Future”, a mad scientist makes possible time travel. Marty, the film’s hero, can travel to the future. In real life, we can’t travel to the future, but we often need to imagine the future.The project manager (and programme or portfolio manager) is a change agent, who will […]
All around the world, the Prince2 project management framework is growing in popularity, but a new challenger, Agile, has appeared. So we are starting to hear a debate “Prince2 or Agile?”. That’s an interesting question, but often it’s the wrong question. If you are starting a home improvement project, you don’t ask “Hammer or Screwdriver?”– […]
There is a growing understanding that Programme management is vital for big organisations. Methods like MSP are increasingly used by big organisations for major transformational programmes like • company mergers • business reengineering (e.g. ERP or CRM rollout) • launch of new products, services or markets • public sector reorganisation • major sporting events which […]
Prince2 can save you time. Here’s 4 ways… there are many more! 1) Management by exception is a genuine time saver. It is essentially “hands-off” management – you establish the parameters for a block of work (a stage, a work package), and then delegate that work. It’s hands off, but it nevertheless provides management and […]
This is about understanding the past. It’s a case study, but it’s more than that. It’s about how we can better understand the past if we have a frame of reference. The case study explains how a large company improved its project & portfolio management. This multi-national organisation was structured as 7 business units. They […]
What is a ‘do-nothing vision’ in MSP? Managing Successful Programmes suggests that a programme team should elaborate a vision of the future. This is an agreed and communicated vision of the desired future. As a contrast to this desirable future vision, it can be useful to analyse the “do nothing” option. Your change programme may […]