In 2020, the Project Management Institute (PMI) Pulse of the Profession reported that less than half (36%) of organisations achieved high alignment of projects with their organisational strategy. Projects that are not aligned to your business strategy are wasted investment. Reflect on that for a mom...

When considering outsourcing, how can you ensure you get the best deal and optimise your operations? Ask the following four simple questions of any IT/vendor/outsourcing relationship that you are about to enter into and you can assess how suited to your brief that action path is. 1 - Has the sharp s...

As I write this we have just entered the second quarter of 2017, Spring is looming, the daffodils are blooming and the year is zooming by. I don't know about you, but my thoughts have already started to turn to the summer and specifically the annual family holiday - our chance to relax, unwind and c...

"It's a poor workman who blames his tools." I heard this, for the first time in years, during the analysis of why an IT Project had failed to deliver. It got me thinking. Is it true? Is Project success more a product of the skills of a project team than the tools that they use? Or is it the case tha...

In recent weeks, I've observed that there seem to be three ways of communicating 'news' in IT Projects. i) To communicate the news, update or information half as big as it is in reality. ii) To communicate the news, update or information twice as big as it is in reality. iii) To communicate the news...

LinkedIn recently listed the Most Promising Jobs of 2017 and it turns out that the Project Manager's skill set is a perfect fit for many of the top ten roles. Technical Program Managers and Scrum Masters, for instance, both score high based on all the data sets crunched by LinkedIn. Given the PMI's ...

Project Management is the second most boring job in the world, according to a recent study. When you factor in that working in IT also makes the top ten you would be forgiven for imagining that all IT Project Managers must be constantly nodding off on the job. Who did they ask? It reminds me of a re...

IT Project prioritisation is crucial for your organisation. Selecting the wrong projects, which don't deliver strategic value or the required ROI can impact the bottom line and mean that your business reduces its chance of hitting targets and achieving goals. You should take a day or two (or longer ...

IR35 is going to shake up public sector IT buying, and so having a more intuitive, functional and relevant G-Cloud is a very positive step towards mitigating the potential pain Back in the day, in response to a much earlier incarnation of G-Cloud, I think 2 or 3, one public sector IT buyer friend of...

When the Government announced changes to IR35 and off-payroll working rules for public sector workers like IT contractors, a wave of confusion rippled through online forums used by contractors and hirers alike. There are some great online resources that explain the changes, not least the one publish...

Office politics! Working in IT Project Management, given the profession's prominent role in the facilitation of business strategy and driving business change, you'd think we'd be above it! Project managers and leaders are among the most intelligent individuals you could hope to work with and yet man...

Originally published on CIO.com  Do you spend all your time handling internal politics and conflict? Here’s how to avoid it. My friend Steven, an IT Project Manager with that all important sense of humour, told me this week that he was considering adding to the job description on his business card. ...

Reading The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) 2017 Pulse of the Profession report something jumped out and really grabbed my attention. It's something that should be celebrated. As a profession, the Project Management industry is less wasteful. Specifically, more projects are achieving original g...

As I write this, February 14th is approaching fast and the shops are full of roses, chocolates and teddy bears clutching hearts. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Don't tell Mrs C, but as I make my preparations to remind her why she's the luckiest woman in the world I'm also preparing to lavish attention on my ...

Most of my friends, colleagues and clients are forecasting that IT budgets will increase during 2017 but according to a recent survey, many CIOs say that managing and implementing those budgets is getting tougher. Which, I suppose, stands to reason. With greater budgets comes greater responsibility ...

OK, the Mr T reference may be wasted on anyone under 30 but in IT Project Management your 'B.A.' is as much a key part of the A-Team as B.A. Baracus ever was! Often, I've seen the holder of the role of Business Analyst be the positive difference between success and failure - so why don't BAs get the...

Originally published in CIO magazine. Have you made any New Year resolutions? Eat better? Exercise more? Spend less? Save more? What about work? Here are five Project Management resolutions that will help you get off to a successful start in 2017. 1 - Resolve to Be Even More Of An IT Project Managem...

Getting lulled into a false sense of SECURITY can be bad enough - in your personal life, in sport and, of course, especially in business. Last year my friend's company boasted about a new contract on social media before the client had signed on the dotted line only to have their bitterest rival swoo...

I hope that you returned to work after the Christmas break rested and recharged because I think that IT Project Management is in for a heck of ride over the next few years. Looking at the portfolios of clients and friends in the profession, 2017 to the end of the decade will be a period of complex I...

"Why CIOs and project managers need to better understand each other's turf" is an interesting article from Bill Siwicki, Managing Editor of Healthcare IT News that really got me thinking. The piece is naturally centred around healthcare IT but really highlights a growing concern across most sectors ...