Managing project issues is an example of proactive project management. Through solid planning, effective stakeholder management, and insightful risk management, you can reduce the number of issues your project will encounter, but you cannot eliminate them. The goal of project issue management is to detect issues as early as possible. The earlier an issue is… Continue reading The Goals, Objectives, and Principles of Project Issue Management
Month: June 2023
Introduction
Projects are dynamic; projects often deal with the new and the leading edge; and projects involve people. As a result, circumstances change, misunderstandings occur, assumptions don’t hold, political agendas collide, problems arise, and risk events happen. These situations are categorized as project issues, and they all have the potential to adversely affect the project’s capability to… Continue reading Introduction
Common Challenges and Pitfalls
We’ve addressed the challenges you will have on your project if you do not have a CM Plan, but even with a CM Plan, there are still some remaining pitfalls that you need to be on the lookout for: The Absolute Minimum At this point, you should have a solid understanding of the following: The… Continue reading Common Challenges and Pitfalls
Configuration Management Plan
The Configuration Management Plan (CM Plan) is first defined during the project planning process and is part of the overall project plan. Like all planning documents, the level of detail included in the CM Plan should be consistent with the risk levels, compliance requirements, and composition of the project team. As a guide, Table 12.2 lists the… Continue reading Configuration Management Plan
Identify, Protect, and Track: The Principles of Managing Work Products
Managing project work products is a strong example of the preventative aspects of project control. If you have a solid process in place, and you are using it, everything rolls along as expected. It’s only when you have a gap in this area that it attracts attention from stakeholders—generally unwanted attention. The principles of managing… Continue reading Identify, Protect, and Track: The Principles of Managing Work Products
“Why Do This? It’s Too Much Work!”
You might work in an environment where configuration management is an integral part of the project management approach, so this is not even an issue for you. For others, it is often tempting, as previously mentioned, to not give this area proper attention. So let’s answer the question, “Why should we do this?” Why should… Continue reading “Why Do This? It’s Too Much Work!”
“Managing Project Deliverables” Means What, Exactly?
By managing project deliverables, we mean the process by which the project work products are controlled. The work products can include anything resulting from project activities, including any deliverable, document, or project management item. And by control, we mean managing the changes to the actual work products themselves. The most common term for this process is configuration management.… Continue reading “Managing Project Deliverables” Means What, Exactly?
Introduction
An excellent indicator of the experience level, professionalism, and overall project management maturity of an individual is how much effort and thought this person gives to the management of the actual project work products (deliverables). Why do I say this? This area of project management is one of the most neglected, yet it is a… Continue reading Introduction
Common Budget Challenges
Let’s take a quick review of the common challenges that a project manager faces when figuring a project budget. By increasing awareness of these factors, you can work proactively to avoid them in your own situation. The Absolute Minimum At this point, you should have a solid understanding of the following: The map in Figure 9.3 summarizes… Continue reading Common Budget Challenges
Developing an Initial Budget
After you have your resource requirements and work duration estimates, you can start to develop the budget. Like the estimates for work, it is best to estimate your costs at the work-package level. By taking a bottom-up approach, you are in the best position to identify all your resource needs and develop a more realistic… Continue reading Developing an Initial Budget