The Scrum meeting is an essential part of every project’s management, especially one following Agile methodology. It’s considered a valuable source of getting real-time updates, information, and feedback from the development team. It also serves to help keep the field team aligned with the company’s goals and deadlines. To take full advantage of the benefits…

A person inexperienced in project management may think that resource leveling is a method of making use of resources having the same height. Most experienced project managers know that it is a resource optimization technique which tries to make the best use of available resources to create a workable project schedule. Resource leveling is often…

  Have you ever wondered about the history of project management, or how it evolved into its’ present day usage? This article will cover most of the major project management happenings throughout history. The stages of time will cover the BC time period, the 1900’s where the root of modern project management was driven by…

Wheels up! Even though I’ve logged many more hours in Microsoft’s flight simulator than on anything that flies, I have come to appreciate a pilot’s habits and routines in my own day-to-day project work. Flights in the air and projects on the ground both follow a similar regimen when examined side-by-side. From aviation protocols and…

My grandpa worked at the same company from the time he graduated high school to the time he retired. His loyalty was rewarded with promotions, raises, and respect from his colleagues and the higher-ups. His story isn’t really unique to his generation, but it’s unique to ours. Working a “nine to five” schedule for one…

As project managers, we depend on certain tools to help steer our teams and our projects. Last year, PCMag rolled out a survey to their readers on which of these management and collaboration tools were the best. The results are in and guess what? MS Project came in second as the best tool for keeping…

Introduction The core technique available to Project Managers for planning and controlling their projects is Network Analysis. This short guide will provide a basic understanding of networking principles before applying them. Network Analysis, Critical Path Analysis (CPA), or the American “Program, Evaluation, and Review Technique” (PERT) is one of the classic methods of planning and…

“A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.” – English proverb Missed deadlines. Project over budget. Irate, disappointed stakeholders. Team members home sick at “crunch time.” Sweating yet? If you’re a project manager, these issues are probably enough to strike fear in your heart. Murphy ’s Law suggests “what can go wrong, will go wrong,”…

Having been a project manager for all of my working life and now a teacher of project management skills for more than a decade, I always tell my students to follow sound project management principles and to manage risks proactively. Proactive project risk management is integral part of project management. In fact, I think good…

  The Day I Knew I Was One… Ironically, it was while managing a program to provide upgraded yurts to nomadic people in Southwest China. I realized that after almost 40 years of doing this type of work, I’d become as nomadic as those on the Tibetan plateau that I was trying to help—only perhaps…