Category: For the PMO

Ever had a project that just didn’t go well? Of course you have… you may not have realised how bad it was…you still may not realise it…but we’ve all had one or two. For me, it was one that spiralled down the drain due to error-prone deliverables going out to the customer, a staff that was … Continue reading "A Project Full of Regrets"

Project managers aren't perfect.  If we were, we would never experience project failures.  We all have areas where we could improve and they may help the project be more successful financially, or end on time, or bring the team closer together, or increase project customer satisfaction.  The project management areas we could focus on are … Continue reading "5 ways to improve your project management style today"

Newsflash...there are some things we are doing as project managers that are wrong. Just wrong. They seem logical. Everyone does these things, right? We are expected to do these things...accommodate everyone...play nice with management. Think again. Project success depends heavily on your customer's perception of the project and outcome. Always keep that in mind...and read … Continue reading "5 Things That You Need to Stop Doing as a Project Manager"

Statement of work.  Project budget.  Project resource plan.  Project charter.  Project communication plan.  Project schedule.  Project test plan.  Project implementation plan.  Technical project documents like the functional design document and technical design document.  All of these are put in place just to make the project manager’s life very complicated.  That isn’t true, of course, but … Continue reading "4 Secrets to the Best Project Plan Possible"

At every organisation in the civilised world right now there is someone there trying to figure out how best to present their case to their manager on why they should be allowed to work from a home office. This scenario won't work for everyone. There are positions that just plain won't work for the remote … Continue reading "5 Compelling Arguments for Managing Projects Remotely"

Trying to deliver a project without an engaged sponsor is like starting a voyage without a captain, crew, lifeboat or a route plan and that’s a situation many project managers find themselves in (present company included!) We all know that strong executive sponsorship can make or break any project but do we truly understand the … Continue reading "3 Signs that you’re Being a Bad Project Sponsor!"

When considering the mandate of traditional project management offices (PMOs), the territory of customer service and thus a great customer experience (CX) is usually left uncharted. The week leading up to the latest instalment of the PMO Forum (a special interest group for PMO Leaders and Executives, endorsed by Project Management South Africa and sponsored … Continue reading "3 Things Great Project Management Offices Do Differently For Awesome Customer Experiences"

Forget the usual list of project manager skills and what we're supposed to do on the projects we manage. Forget the list of items in the normal project manager job description. Let's consider what we really need to do on projects. What it takes to get to the end of the day, the end of … Continue reading "What Good Project Managers Bring to the Table"

Our company, Project Portfolio Office (PPO), develops and provides a software as a service (SaaS) project portfolio management (PPM) application to any organisation running and managing projects. In the last 18 months, we’ve moved from being a small organisation with highly skilled and versatile individuals (who did everything, and did it well from one office) … Continue reading "The things I’ve learnt on-boarding project managers for our PMO"