Tag Archives: lessons learned
Webinar Recap: Lessons Learned in Project Management
Please find a transcription of the audio portion of Ed Killingsworth’s Lessons Learned in Project Management webinar being provided by MPUG for the convenience of our members. You may wish to use this transcript for the purposes of self-paced learning, searching for specific information, and/or performing a quick review of webinar content. There may be…
This Webinar Goes to 11: Lessons Learned in Project Management
Email Ed for a copy of his PowerPoint presentation with links to referenced materials. Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDUs in the Strategic category of the Talent Triangle. Event Description: In his twenty years working in project management, if there was a mistake to…
Mayday! Project Crash Investigation, Part 3: Moving from Project Failure to Future Success
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we covered why projects fail and how to investigate these catastrophes, all under the guise of being an air crash investigator. In this final installment of the series (inspired by my binge viewing of all 16 seasons of “Mayday: Air Crash Investigation“), we will look at ways…
The Executive Who Laid a Curse on His PMs
It was a dark and stormy night, and a lone executive who couldn’t sleep decided he wanted to spend some quality time reviewing the project schedules for a massive IT integration and implementation program. Normally, we get very excited about a senior manager who wants to spend time reviewing potential issues, risks and problems with…
The Trace Evidence that Sunk a PMO Director
I was working with a design firm that finally decided it was time to start a project management office to improve their processes and procedures. After a long search by the HR department, they finally found the person to head this new division. She had a lot of work experience across numerous industries, talked a lot…
Tales of Terror in Project Management, Volume 2
This year’s tales of terror plunge you into project management madness. You’ll visit a hiring manager’s dungeon of woe, spy on a company executive as he spins his web of wickedness, learn just how desperate a new PM can get to succeed and uncover the tiny detail that nailed the coffin in one PMO director’s…
The Curious Case of the Disappearing New Hires
A large company decided to reward project managers and team members based on performance. Sounds good, right? Tie people’s pay to the outcome of a program or project. Success leads to better pay and failure leads to pay reduction. Now everyone has skin in the game. Except that multi-year programs that naturally have personnel turnover…
Mayday! Project Crash Investigation, Part 2: What to Do When a Project Fails
In Part 1 of this series, I introduced the notion that project managers can learn a lot from airline industry professionals and their great safety systems and also apply those principles to projects in trouble or that have already crashed and burned. In this segment of “Mayday: Project Crash Investigation,” I continue with this airline…
A Project Engagement That Went Horribly Wrong
An organization had asked us to undertake a Project Server deployment initiative. The user base was gigantic. The deployment timeframe was tight, and on the agreed-upon budget we could just scrape by. The initial kick-off meeting took place in an eerie room where there was a creepy pale white elephant — existing data and its…
I Survived an Ax-wielding PMO Director
Many years ago in a long lost time there was a Fortune 500 company hiring project managers. The U.S. economy had tanked and not many companies were hiring at all, so it was exciting to get hired by anyone. I wasn’t a project manager but provided the technical support for Microsoft Project, Project Server…
