Risk. It can be a four-letter word in some organizations! Bring up a risk and you could be viewed as not being a team player or as being negative.
There’s a difference between being risk averse and denial of risk. In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast discusses how denial of risk can be deadly to projects.
Ever been given a timeframe that seems impossible to hit? If you’ve managed projects for any length of time, you know what I mean. Your boss or customer thinks it can be done in a certain timeframe and you think it’s going to take longer.
Rock. Hard place. And you seem to be stuck.
How you handle that situation can be the difference between delivering your project successfully or not. In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast shares insights to help you successfully respond when you’re given unrealistic timeframes.
Hey, I’m pretty good at the game “Flight Simulator” on the computer! Want to hop on a real flight with me at the stick?
I’m guessing not!
There’s a difference between knowledge and skills. And there’s a difference between someone being available to join your team and whether or not they’re a good fit for the role.
In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast discusses why projects fail when leaders or team members with inappropriate experience are involved with the project.
We can reasonably argue that continual change is not a problem with projects.
It is, of course, but it’s not worth complaining about because it’s just the nature of the game. The problem is how we respond to change. It’s not a matter of if change will happen on your project. It’s only a matter of when.
This is where project managers really earn their pay. In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast shares critical lessons about dealing with changes when delivering projects.
Think of the last project that you delivered…. How do you know whether or not it was considered to be a success?
I get to ask that question to people all over the world. More often than not, the responses people provide tend to be subjective. For example, “No one was yelling at me so it must have been good!”
It’s a question we need to ask up front, more often: “What does success look like?”
In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast explains why unclear objectives cause projects to struggle, and how to create objectives to help you deliver a project successfully.
How would you describe your project management culture? I have the privilege of intersecting with hundreds of organizations and many effectively describe their culture as “Ready, Fire, Aim!” There may be some plan, but when it comes to planning vs. action, action wins every time.
Successful project organizations invest in their project management competencies. We have workshops and coaching that can help you raise the bar of your team’s ability to deliver projects.
In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast discusses what project management actually is (and isn’t) and how you can raise the bar for you and your team.
From 30,000 feet, every project is pretty easy!
Same with projects. From a high-level it can be easy to think, “Hey, how tough can this be?”
But we need to get out of the clouds and get our arms around our projects as early as possible. In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast discusses ideas on how to avoid the trap of staying at a high-level for too long.
I’m amazed at what you can get away with if you manage expectations.
You can deliver late. You can over-spend. But only if you manage expectations along the way. Not manage those expectations and I’m equally amazed at how even one stakeholder can inflict serious pain on your project!
How do you manage expectations? Involvement. Stephen Covey has said, “No involvement, no commitment.” Wise words for project managers.
In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast explains why involvement of stakeholders is so critical, and some practical insights on how to do it.
Pop quiz for you and your team: How would you describe your project management methodology?
I’ve been to many organizations where, if the question was asked to five people, I could easily get 3-5 different answers.
The key is not to come up with the thickest methodology binder! In fact, over-encumbering your team with too much methodology is not what we’re talking about here.
But a well-thought out, consistently used methodology can help project teams deliver. In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast shares insights about how a common methodology can help project teams deliver.
One of the single most important indicators of whether you will deliver successfully or not comes down to the support you’re getting from your sponsor.
Having support doesn’t mean you get everything you ask for (including doubling your pay)! What does it mean? How do you get it?
In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast discusses why executive support is so important, and how to get it.
By the way, you may find this project management podcast interview with Alfonso Bucero helpful. We talk about his book Project Sponsorship.
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