Process

By Ronald Brown • May 11th, 2012

Global commoditization and complexity make innovation an urgent priority for firms of all sizes. And to promote innovation in a meaningful way, individual development teams must be the focal point of your strategy. Culture and vision are extremely important components, and developing them properly takes time and effort, but innovation improvement is mainly an organic, [...]

What’s the definition of a healthy company? One of the most important metrics to consider is how much revenue is coming from new products. Category leaders often have significantly higher new product revenue compared to their less successful peers. New products are the lifeblood of healthy companies, and it follows then, that finding new customers [...]

A decision calendar? You’re already drowning in calendars, I know. You maintain your project milestones calendar, your team’s meeting calendar, product launch calendars, the meeting and milestones calendar for every project you support, your own Outlook or Gmail calendar, and that’s just for work. Yet, projects still feel chaotic, and you wonder whether your team [...]

Part III – Predictive Modelling for Collegiate Academic Excellence – An Ongoing Case Study! Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Co-Author and Project Lead Contributor, Ms. Reethika S. Iyer*   Background: In Parts I and II, we touched upon the value proposition in understanding the impact of high school on final examination performance.  We concluded with results [...]

Part II – Effect of High School on Final Board Examination –The Analytical Treatise Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Co-Author-Project Lead Contributor, Ms. Reethika S. Iyer*     Background: In Part I, we shared our experience on how parents make decisions to selecting high schools. Once the students graduate they are then again faced with the [...]

Part I – Impact of High School Choice on Student Final Year Performance Dr. Shree R. Nanguneri and Project Lead Contributor, Ms. Reethika S. Iyer* Background: In an earlier publication on this forum we focused our discussions on the relevance, meaning and value of LSS and PMP professionals in the industry. In Part I of [...]

Enhancing PMP with Business Process Excellence Part III (Final Part of Series) Viable Lean Six Sigma Solutions to Validate Project Timelines and Increase KPI Linkage for PMP leaders Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Gustav Toppenberg   Meandering in a World Swayed by Certification: In Part I, we addressed the vitality of the linkage of a [...]

Enhancing PMP with Business Process Excellence Part II (of an III Part Series) Validating Project Timelines against Expected Changes in Customer Requirements Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Gustav Toppenberg Background for “Changes in Customer Requirement:” In Part I we initiated discussions on how the KPI needs to link with the business goals and objectives.  In [...]

Linking PMP Leaders’ KPI with Customers’ Success Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Gustav Toppenberg click to hear music Brief Introduction of the current PMP and LSS status quo: Whether we refer the PMP or LSS leadership success there is a clear process that is transparent as shown below: With the PMP space we are looking [...]

On a closely related topic to my last post, I would like to relate a recent experience I had with a consumer product that illustrates one very important aspect of consumer products that is often not given enough importance in the product development priority list: User Interface Speed. We have been satisfied owners of a [...]

You have all heard the old saying, “Time is money”. Well, obviously, this one is very true. Especially in our modern, fast-paced world of rapid product development cycles and short time-to-market windows, every second lost in a product development cycle means lost customers, lost sales, or even business failure. So, what are you as a [...]

Wouldn’t it be nice to value our manual performance just as much as our computers’ operation? Below are some simple steps to keep our career running smoothly.

This series cover three methods of charting and logging your work product estimations:

Iterative charting to improve accuracy
Charting for effective communications
Charting for a streamlining process example

Time is just a form of measurement. It’s a tool for our convenience. One of the uses for “time” is to synchronize pieces of a project: to schedule the various work products and integrate into a quality product, service or event. Inaccurate estimating skills slow down the entire team and builds resentment in those required to pick-up the slack.

Time is just a form of measurement. It’s a tool for our convenience. One of the uses for “time” is to synchronize pieces of a project: to schedule the various work products and integrate into a quality product, service or event. Inaccurate estimating skills slow down the entire team and builds resentment in those required to pick-up the slack.

In the last 5 years or so, we have realized that comparing these two roles is like comparing Apples and Oranges. Not many companies now overlap these roles. These roles over the time have evolved from being janitors of products and projects to management of them. Product management has learned a lot from project management. Let us examine what project management can learn from product management?

As a Project Manager, it is going to be necessary to pave the way through obstacles that come up as the project progresses. Some say that this is the main responsibility of a Project Manager, and I tend to agree. It is up to the Project Manager to ensure that obstacles are dealt with and mitigated before they affect the project team and the project itself. Generally, there are three different kinds of obstacles that projects face: Technical, Political, and Emotional.

When things are not going our way, we need to stop and evaluate; because things are supposed to work smoothly together. So, when we find any type of resistance, chances are something isn’t matching. Either the rules or the people involved are not aligned. Once again – no one is doing anything wrong. It’s just not a perfect match, yet.

This is the second part of a three part article discussing “how does a project manager intelligently handle delays?”

Last article we focused on acknowledging the natural flow of a project which includes periodic speed bumps and roadblocks. In today’s article we’ll focus on using critical path analysis to assist with project management. Diagramming the critical paths of a project accomplishes several things:

Last week I was taping a series of lectures for the Sequel Server World Wide User Group (SSWUG.org), and I was asked “how does a project manager handle items that causes us to miss deadlines?”

This is an interesting question, because every project will have speed bumps. A good project manager expects speed-bumps and actually plans for the unexpected. So – how does one do this intelligently to synchronize with the final delivery dates?

This is the second part of a three part article discussing “how does a project manager intelligently handle delays in a project?”

Last article we focused on acknowledging the natual flow of a project which includes periodic speed bumps and roadblocks. In today’s article we’ll focus on using recovery protocol plans to assist with project management.