Project Management

Technology Today #14: Andy Kaufman on The Dirty Little Secret in Business

Posted on 09. Feb, 2010
Categories: IT Projects, Project Management, Social Media, Technology Today

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Andy Kaufman shares “The Dirty Little Secret of Business.” You won’t learn this secret in school, yet it is critical to your success. The secret is simple—it’s all about relationships. Andy describes the key relationships you must develop to advance your projects and career.

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Extremes in Risk Tolerance

Posted on 28. Jan, 2010
Categories: Consulting, Culture, IT Project Failures, Project Management

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I have been giving quite a bit of thought lately to the topic of enterprise risk management. In large part, this stems from the fact that I recently completed a project in which my client’s risk tolerance was off the charts. I mean crazy. In this post, I discuss three types of organizations with respect to risk tolerance.

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Mark McGwire, Project Management, and Coming Clean

Posted on 13. Jan, 2010
Categories: Consulting, Culture, IT Projects, Project Management

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Why don’t people just fess up when caught? I like to think that we live in a forgiving society. While coming clean is laudable, it’s hard for me to get over apologies laden with disclaimers and excuses. I understand the need to save face, but providing excuses only rubs salt in the wound and minimizes any benefit of the doubt that others will grant you.

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Can Consultants Lead? Three Viewpoints

Posted on 04. Dec, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Culture, Project Management

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I’ve been thinking (perhaps struggling) quite a bit about leadership as I finish a, er, challenging project. Can consultants actually lead on IT projects or is this reserved for management?

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When Consultants Attack….Other Consultants

Posted on 27. Nov, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Project Management

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It’s unfortunate when consultants bicker. More important, nobody wins. Certain situations are untenable and it’s only a matter of time before someone is offended. Even consultants who routinely defer to others sometimes find themselves in very precarious situations on dice.

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In Defense of Consultants: A Punch-Out Based Rant

Posted on 16. Nov, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Project Management

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One of the first things that I learned as a newbie consultant in 2000 is that (insert name of problem) is always my fault. I can document my concerns, write status reports until my fingers bleed, and copy the world on an email. However, after I leave a client site, I won’t be there to defend myself against the invariable quips that “he never told us that.”

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The Chopping Block: Cutting Features from an IT Project

Posted on 13. Nov, 2009
Categories: IT Projects, Project Management

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Most people realize that IT projects are rarely perfect. If behind on a key project, don’t hold out for each and every bell and whistle promised from the beginning. Consider dropping non-essential features for the good of the project and the organization.