Project Management In The News

Updated Edition of Project Management Essentials

Authors: William P. Athayde, J.D., PMP; Ruth Elswick, PMP; and Paul Lombard, PMP, CQM
New project managers, unofficial project managers, or project team members can all learn something from Project Management Essentials, Third Edition. It is one of the quickest and easiest ways to learn how to manage projects successfully. This book contains easy to use techniques and the PM templates needed for project success. The book covers:
— The key skills and knowledge needed to effectively manage projects
— How to create an effective charter to start projects off right
— Guidelines for building a usable project plan
— Tips for breaking project work into manageable pieces
— Techniques for accurately estimating project cost and schedule
— Help in building a team and the different leadership styles that can be used to manage the team
— Strategies to deal with conflict, change, uncertainty, and risk
— How to report on the progress of the project and keep everyone concerned happy.
This updated edition complies with the latest project management standard, the PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition.

The three best lessons I learned from a failed project

An interesting post by Andrew Makar on TechRepublic about how the experience gained from failed projects will help make your next project a success. He also points out that many a “successful” project may, in fact, have originally been heading for failure until the scope was reduced or the budget increased or a strategic change to the objectives.
Amongst the lessons that can be learned from failed projects he cites a lack of understanding of the impact of changing one of the three classic elements of a project (scope, budget and time) on the other two elements and how some executives believe, for example, that the scope can be changed without impacting either the schedule or the budget.

Project management and the art of delegation

All project managers have numerous pressures on their time, and need to achieve a high rate of productivity. Many also feel they are too busy to waste time delegating properly and try to do everything themselves. One key to effective time management and getting a ‘life’ outside of the office (which actually makes you more efficient in the office) is effective delegation. Unfortunately the people who need to read this article are probably too busy being busy to have time.

Companies risk project over-runs as training budgets cut

A recent news item in Computer Weekly suggests that there is a serious risk to businesses of late, over-running IT projects, due to the reduction in investment in project management training during the present economic downturn. In the long-term cutting back on training will have a detrimental effect on the success rate of an organisation’s projects. The decline in training investment may not necessarily mean on-going training has halted  as it could have switched to being an internal function and certainly there is evidence to suggest that organisations are still keen to promote project management best practices across all departments.

The PMBOK v5 Refresh Is Right To Include Stakeholders

The fifth edition of the PMBOK® Guide has at last offered guidance in the area of stakeholder management and now includes the new Knowledge Area of Project Stakeholder Management. This new Knowledge Area deals with planning and managing stakeholder engagement through a number of tools, techniques and processes.
According to Jason Westland, CEO of ProjectManager.com, one of the fastest growing project management service providers on the net, the previous lack of formal guidance on the topic of stakeholder engagement was a real challenge for many project managers so he welcomes the latest edition of the PMBOK® Guide.