Not all troubled projects are doomed to failure. At the same time not all troubled projects can be successfully rescued. However, you need to try. Here are some activities to see where you stand.

1. Confirm the project

2. Review and assess 

3. Create a plan of attack 

4. Deliver some quick wins 

5. Rally the team 

6. Set clear milestones

7. Meet the revised expectations
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Do you need help optimizing your project management processes? Contact us today to discuss implementing solid project management practices in your organization. 

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Use the best project management process in the world.

No one is perfect. A project manager typically does the best job he can given the information that is available at the time. However, there are times when issues arise because of a mistake that the project manager makes. This could be a mistake in communication, a mistake in estimation, a mistake in understanding the project deliverables, etc. 

Issues management is normally a cold and logical process involving problem identification and resolution techniques. However, these specific types of issues can be especially difficult to resolve since the project manager may feel some defensiveness (and perhaps embarrassment) for having caused the problem to begin with. Sometimes that fact that the problem was caused by the project manager makes it difficult to address the problem openly and in a timely manner. If this happens to you, use the following steps to deal with it effectively.

1. Own the problem.
2. Communicate openly. .
3. Resolve the problem coolly and calmly.
4. Learn from the mistake.

Project management can be a complex discipline. There are many aspects of project management that need to be managed - time, cost, scope, risk, quality and more. Here are five areas that must be watched if your project is to be successful.

Tip 1: Watch how you spend your time.

Tip 2: Watch the work completed and the work remaining.

Tip 3: Watch your spending versus your budget:

Tip 4: Watch team morale and team dynamics.

Tip 5: Watch for project changes

Even if you do a great job estimating and planning, projects tend to change over time. These are not just scope change requests, but also changes to staff, customers, vendors, objectives, priorities and more. When changes hit your project, analyze them quickly to understand the impact, decide how you need to respond and communicate the impact to the appropriate stakeholders.

There are lots of things to watch on a project. The tips above cover five of the most important areas.

Use the best project management process in the world

Whenever a project manager has team members on the project, he needs to recognize the needs of managing human resources. The specific techniques you use will sometimes vary depending on whether you are managing employees or contractors. In many cases, the processes for managing contractors come from the procurement area rather than the Human Resources (HR) area.

Small Projects  .

Medium and Large Projects

• Develop Staffing Plan.  
• Acquire Project Team. .
• Develop Project Team. . 
• Manage Project Team.

Managing staff can be tricky. Some project managers do very poorly dealing with the people on the team. Others consider this a strength. If you only manage smaller projects you can get by without being a great people manager. But as projects get bigger and have more staff, it is an area you need to master to be successful

You can have great project management processes on your project, but how are your people management skills? Getting buy-in from your team and keeping everyone on the same page is not easy. But if you can do these five things really well, your team can thrive.

1. Over-communicate

2. Listen
3. Stay grounded

4. Adapt

5. Empower
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That's all there is. If you listen to your team, over-communicate, create and stick to clear ground rules, adapt your management style as the team evolves, and empower them to get things done you will find that your project team can't wait to work with you on the next project you manage.

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Do you need help optimizing your project management processes? Contact us today to discuss implementing solid project management practices in your organization. 

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Product quality does not need to be held to chance. There are ways to ensure that your projects deliver high-quality products on a consistent basis. Here are three things to keep in mind.

Stress That Quality is Everyone's Responsibility

Make Sure Quality is a Mindset, Not an Event

Use quality control to validate the level of quality

Everyone on the team needs a quality mindset. The team needs good quality processes. The team also needs to validate that the products do meet quality expectations. This will result in high quality work on a consistent basis.

I don't know of anyone that wants to deliver projects slower. So, speed things up using these ideas.

Tip 1: Find shortcuts in your schedule

Tip 2: Automate manual task

Tips 3: Manage execution carefully

Tip 4: Double up on resources on the critical path

Tips 5: Get the complex activities done first (when possible).
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Do you need help optimizing your project management processes? Contact us today to discuss implementing solid project management practices in your organization. 

After you've started up and planned your projects, you'll move into the Execution (or "delivery") phase in the project life cycle. This is the longest phase in the project, since it is in this phase that the deliverables are built for the customer. As a project manager you need to manage the work and monitor the progress of the project. In this newsletter, we will describe the first five.

Critical Process #1: Time (Schedule) Management  

Critical Process #2: Cost Management

Critical Process #3: Quality Management

Critical Process #4: Scope Change Management  

Critical Process #5: Risk Management

Critical Process #6: Issues Management  

Critical Process #7: Procurement Management

Critical Process #8: Communications Management

Critical Process #9: Stakeholder Management

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Scope change is not inherently bad or good. However, the team can react to changes in positive and negative ways, depending on the state of the project. A typical reaction from most project teams is to just go ahead and make the approved changes. However, there is another reaction that can be more problematic - the team may not want to make any more changes. This is the scenario for this column. This situation could occur for a variety of reasons.

Frankly, it’s a tough sell. The team is usually tired and they are not motivated. In fact, morale may be poor. However, this is the time for the project manager to show leadership. Since the cause of the team problems is probably complex, the solution should be multi-faceted as well. Here are some things for the project manager to consider.

1. Explain the facts first. .
2. Acknowledge the pain.
3. Be motivational.
4. Talk to everyone one-on-one.
5. Get management and the sponsor involved.
6. Look for perks. .
7. Communicate proactively.
8. Celebrate successes.

One of the frustrating parts of being a project manager is that it can be difficult to manage the project when you have no formal management authority over the members of your team. From an organizational perspective, if the people do not report to you as a functional manager, then you are probably operating in some type of matrix structure. The matrix makes the most efficient use of people resources, but it can also be very challenging on the part of project managers.

How do you hold team members accountable for their deadlines without this authority?

If team members are missing their deadlines you must first try to determine the cause. For example, if it is due to a lack of skills, this should be addressed through training or replacement resources. If it is because they do not fully understand the expectations you have, then you may have some changes to make as well.

Project Manager Powers 

Project Management Processes