Lessons Learned

By asarkar • March 13th, 2010

This is the 3rd of the three articles that discuss about strategies for new project managers to function effectively. The three steps are; understanding top ten reasons of a project failure and how to proactively plan to avoid them, how to have a solid communication plan and how to manage changes. The 3rd article covers the importance of impact analysis and how to manage changes.

This is the 2nd of the three articles that discuss about strategies for new project managers to function effectively. The three steps are; understanding top ten reasons of a project failure and how to proactively plan to avoid them, how to have a solid communication plan and how to manage changes. The 2nd article covers the importance of communication and how to create project communicationmanagement plan.

Even if you believe that everything from dating to contact with God can be managed on the computer, that ain’t quite true. Despite the push for technology in every operation–and despite our first endorsement of (still-sequence) video-conferencing (VC) in a 1983 book, you will want or need to meet face-to-face at times. The message itself [...]

My esteemed colleague Natalie Udo’s post a few weeks ago, “What is a Project Manager?” started me thinking about what are the elements which make us successful in the business. And hopefully, I’m reinforcing Kimberly Wiefling’s recent posts on what are the keys to success as a project leader… and not being too redundant – Thanks, [...]

As I was wracking my brain trying to think of interesting topics to write about for this week’s blogs, it came to me, a subject which is a sore spot and a pet peeve of mine – the fact that people don’t say “thank you” very often on projects, or in everyday business situations much (except [...]

In my first post about Project Management and Knowledge Management I spoke about Collaboration, in this second post I will talk about after-action reviews.
After-action review also known as a project snap-shot, lessons learned, or any number of other names is an important Knowledge Management activity to complete at the end of a project. They don’t [...]

I’d like to start things off in this posting with a joke I heard on the US Television show, Two and a Half Men. Now keep in mind that the show is full of gratuitous innuendo and juvenile comedy, much of it not easily translatable in (nor suitable for) the context of project management.  In [...]

We’re asking that every 6 months (too long/too short?) that the students in the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s (SCVWD) Project and Program Management Certificate program do a short (half-page?) report on lessons learned to date. During that time most of them should have completed 1-3 classes (30-75 hours of training.)  Since the time taken [...]

The classes in the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s (SCVWD) program this year (it varies slightly from year to year) are Role of the Project Manager, Scheduling Optimization Techniques for Managers, Project Integration & Risk Management, Creating the Successful Project Team, Project Management Negotiation Principles & Techniques, Project Leadership & Communication, and the capstone course [...]

I’ve occasionally been involved with trying to collect ROI data for classes UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley has offered.   It’s challenging and unless a company is really prepared to spend some money and time on doing the collection and analysis (and involving HR and confidentiality when you start talking about rating people’s skills) ROI usually [...]

I just returned from hearing Carly Fiorini (former CEO of HP) speak at Celebrity Forum. She defined leaders as those who made change – who see an opportunity and seize the opportunity.
Leaders have the vision to make changes.  Managers deliver within a set of (I can’t think of her word but mine is – parameters.)  Leaders [...]

Think about Google and Net Apps.  Now think about the Ritz-Carlton Resort-Hotel Chain, Best Buy, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Wynn Hotels.  What do they all have in common?
It’s how they treat their people.

Technorati Tags: building_relationships, common-sense, everyone-wins, Interpersonal, Leaderhip, management-theory, Professional-Development, soft-skills, What-really-works

One of my CEOs recently mentioned that the recession is forcing him to rethink all aspects of his business, including how many employees it takes to do a job.  (Six people to change a light bulb?)
He remarked that he is in the business of clearing out the deadwood and is glad for the excuse to [...]

Hi, It’s my time to blog again – and this is my birthday week – so I am going to take advantage of it and have some fun.
Just to let you know:  I am currently teaching at Keller School of Management.  Teaching several MBA courses which include Leadership & Organizational Development, Business Planning, and International [...]

One critical choice project managers face is between control and results.  Managers say they want results but actions speak even louder to say they want control.  Do onerous controls inhibit achieving the very results they were intended to produce?  Is control an illusion?   Is it possible for managers to pursue both control and results: up [...]

Image by Łukasz Strachanowski via FlickrOur theme of this week was “living life smarter”. We started with defining SMART goals and reflecting on where we are now. Then we looked at setting priorities so we use our limited time and finances wisely. Focusing on the highest priority items that give us the most value for [...]

Image via Wikipedia
To take Wikipedia’s definition, a gap analysis is a business assessment tool enabling a company to compare its actual performance with its potential performance. At its core are two questions:

Where are we?

Where do we want to be?

As we know from our projects, the gap analysis process involves determining, documenting and approving the [...]

Image via WikipediaThere are only three days left in 2008. December is a month of looking back as well as forward. Though we are just moving from one month, December, to the next, January (as we do the whole year), it always seems a giant stride. In these tough economic times, it seems we cannot [...]

As you know, I recently spent time in Orlando, Florida hosting ProjectWorld’s 4th Annual PMO Workshop.  I love hosting this event, it places me in my sweet spot – mingling with PMO Believers.  I find myself completely energized when the workshop concludes; I have rejoiced with other project management evangelists for two days; we have drank from the [...]

Last month I once again had the pleasure of hosting the Annual PMO Workshop for ProjectWorld in Orlando, Florida.  The event, now in its 4th year, is designed to support PMO leaders through the exchange of best practices and expert advice.  Interestingly, the majority of attendees this year were quite novice – over 55% of workshop participants had [...]

Accidental Project Manager Series
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6
Part 5 of the Accidental Project Manger series talked about communication success by identifying what is important to your stakeholders. Knowing what is important to all types of stakeholders improves your ability to uniquely craft your [...]