Welcome to the first chapter of our new blog series: Project Schedule Quality 101 I’ve been thinking a lot about schedule quality lately as I’m integrating one heck of a project schedule that involves 5 different vendors, 3 project managers, and a lot of scope. I’ve received multiple vendor schedules...
During updates, a release plan template is a time-saving tool for the Product Owner (PO). It enables the product team to compile all features of a large project, facilitating the creation of a clear roadmap. This roadmap outlines the schedule for bug fixes and future feature enhancements, indicating when specific...
Risk Acceptance is a risk response strategy whereby we, as the project team, decide to acknowledge the risk and not take any action unless the risk occurs (PMBOK®, 6th edition, Glossary). All risks should be assessed equally and documented in the risk register. Accepting risks should be done with caution, and...
Project tracking vs. crashing is two project management schedule compression techniques to speed up a project. Fast-tracking is when tasks planned to happen in sequence now happen in parallel. Crashing involves adding more resources to the functions to complete the work quicker. While fast-tracking and crashing can be helpful techniques,...
Each project task requires a resource that can follow the project budget and schedule. As the project progresses, unexpected events and challenges may force you to reconsider your resource allocation. In this case, you must adapt to ensure that project deliverables are unaffected. This is where resource leveling comes into...
Agile collaboration games are designed to encourage engagement in group agile activities such as estimating sprint work. We use planning poker. Agile collaboration is about working in increments towards a shared goal. Agile collaboration games are about working together as a team, and facilitators use various games like the one below to...
The Tuckman Ladder Model is a popular framework for understanding team dynamics. The model describes teams’ four stages as they work together: forming, storming, norming, and performing. This makes a team development process very important in project management, as it empowers individuals and teams to work together to achieve a...
To understand the skills and tools in Agile Project Management software processes, you first need to learn about the basics. Agile project management is a type of project management that works in short iterations rather than creating one big plan in traditional project management. Because of these short cycles, there...
A risk category is a classification of risks based on the organization’s business activities. It gives a systematic overview of their underlying and possible risks and potential risk sources. Individual project risks can be grouped into risk categories for evaluating and responding to them. Risk can be defined as an...
Bottom-up estimating is an essential project management technique. It is used to estimate the project cost, duration, or resources. It starts by gathering the details at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure and estimating work for each work package. The estimate of the entire project is the sum...
Being a successful project manager requires the ability to wear many hats. From planning and budgeting to dealing with stakeholders and keeping the project on track, a lot goes into it. However, effective project planning is one of the most important aspects of a successful project manager. Planning a project can...
Working together towards a common goal is one of the critical factors in an organization’s success. To achieve that, having strong relationships between team members is crucial. Relationship building can help improve communication and understanding, making working together more productive and enjoyable. There are many ways to build relationships within...
Quantitative risk analysis (QRA) assists in identifying factors impacting individual projects or organizations by applying research methodologies to measure and project future conditions. This type of analysis takes the probability and impact of risks on a project or organization using numerical data, thus creating a quantitative risk assessment (QRA). In...
Capacity planning refers to the process of assessing your project’s prospective needs. The goal of planning for capacity is to guarantee that the right resources are there when needed. The word “resources” could mean people with the right skills, enough time, or money needed. As the name suggests, the process...
Virtual brainstorming is hard. It relies on people working together in sync. The team needs to be able to contribute and collaborate at the same time. The fishbone diagram is a cause-and-effect brainstorming method. It is also known as the Ishikawa diagram (named after its inventor, Japanese quality control expert...
A Stakeholder Engagement Plan enables communication with stakeholders to get support for your project. The plan outlines the location and form of communication, contact person, and communication frequency. Companies create the plan before the project starts and update it over time as stakeholders’ needs change. All projects have stakeholders, but their involvement...
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