Tag Archives: conflict

Leading Cause of Project Failure: Unrealistic Timeframes

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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.

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Leading Cause of Project Failure: Insufficient Involvement

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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.

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Improving Your Ability to Deliver: Identify All Stakeholders

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In previous videos we’ve talked about the importance of managing stakeholder expectations. It’s critical.

The first key to managing stakeholder expectations is to identify who they are. Of course this seems obvious but the Project Management Institute does a great job of helping us get a better understanding of who are stakeholders are.

Hint: there are more than you think!

In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast helps you undertand who your stakeholders are and how to better manage them to help you successfully deliver your projects.

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Improving Your Ability to Deliver: The Delphi Technique

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Group-think. We’ve all experienced it. Maybe it’s when a problem is being talked about and you don’t feel comfortable bucking the discussion trend. Or maybe you have someone on your team who is very opinionated and overly dominates discussions.

A little known but powerful technique for soliciting input from a group of people during a project (or any other type of) meeting is The Delphi Technique.

In this video Andy Kaufman, PMP, host of the project management podcast entitled The People and Projects Podcast shares insights on what the Delphi technique is and how to use it.

By the way, you can find a demonstration of this technique in this video about Work Breakdown Structures.

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