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Be an IT Project Marie Kondo - declutter your Portfolio

declutter-your-portfolio
When we're called in to rescue AWOL IT Projects we come across a lot of the usual suspects: scope creep; unrealistic budgets; overambitious timescales; etc. More recently though, we are seeing a new trend. Projects are failing just because they are heaving under unnecessary layers of CLUTTER! As IT ...
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Best Practice Project Management
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Cultural fit is not a PMaaS luxury. It's a pillar of your partnership

Cultural-fit-is-not-a-PMaaS-luxury
"As luck would have it, they fitted in perfectly!" This is one of my favourite bits of client feedback! It refers to a particularly successful deployment of Project Management as a Service resources. The email as a whole talks about the effectiveness of the talent, the extra experience and skills th...
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Best Practice Project Management
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When riding your IT project cycle - do you know how or when to get off? The value of closeout

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When discussing Stoneseed's Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) solutions with clients I am always intrigued by the way they manage IT projects. In almost every case, the client will walk us through some form of lifecycle, typically composing four stages that can be loosely labelled along the fo...
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Best Practice IT Service Delivery
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Which IT Project Methodology? Waterfall – why and why not?

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In a recent 'flyover' of IT Project Methodologies, I promised that I would return to each individually and assess their advantages and disadvantages. In this, the first in a series of posts, let's take a look at Waterfall.  Waterfall. What Is It, When Should You Use It? 1970 was quite a year for fir...
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Best Practice
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IT Project Portfolio Management. Less is more. Now isn't that ironic. Don't you think?

smof-ironic
My friend tells the story of a 4x4 SSV he used to own. Famous marque, I won't name them, but not a cheap car AT ALL! The vehicle developed a fault, the reverse light wasn't working and there was a considerable delay between changing gear and the dashboard display registering the gear you were in. He...
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Best Practice
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Five shortcuts to managing IT Project stakeholder expectation

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I've noticed a bit of a trend. Of the IT Projects that I've seen fall into ‘special measures’ of late, they've all had something in common - a gap between stakeholder expectation and reality. It's actually (paradoxically) both easy and hard to nail this. Some project teams struggle but, like with mo...
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Best Practice Developing the qualities of a great PM
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IT Project Leaders must be quick off the blocks, on your marks ...

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Oh my!! Have you seen the video of 7-year-old runner Rudolph 'Blaze' Ingram who sprinted 100 metres in just 13.48 seconds? It's fascinating to watch this young Florida athlete speed out of the blocks; and after clocking up thousands and thousands of Instagram views, as I write this, he has made the ...
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Leadership Best Practice
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Reframing dysfunctional beliefs could save your IT project

Reframing-Dysfunctional-Beliefs-Could-Save-Your-IT-Project
Working with IT project teams for many years now, I've noticed an easily fixed issue that crops up in struggling projects year after year. I'm sure that I've written about it before, probably more than once and as it just happened again, I thought it worth a fresh reminder. IT Projects are being cho...
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Best Practice Developing the qualities of a great PM
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IT Projects and business value – The importance of a Strategic PMO

The-Importance-of-a-Strategic-PMO
Business strategic alignment. This is a drum that I've been banging for a long time. If the outcomes of your IT projects do not translate into benefits for your business - what's the point? Sounds so obvious but time after time project management teams end up not working in cohesion with their paren...
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Best Practice PMO
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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions. What IT Project Management methodology is best?

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Decisions, decisions, decisions. Life is all about choices. Some are more important than others and choosing the right Project Management methodology, for instance, is crucial. I am often asked what methodology is best and my answer is always - it depends. Each project is different and therefore the...
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Best Practice
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Hybrid projects – name a project that isn’t?

HYBRID-PROJECTS--NAME-A-PROJECT-THAT-ISNT_
Guest blog by Andrew Gallagher, Principal Project Manager, Stoneseed Working on projects for a long time, longer than I care to remember, the same topic just keeps rearing its head. Be it in the public or private sector working on IT or Business Transformation the same question comes up time and tim...
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Best Practice
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Resolutions are so last year! How IT Project Leaders are pledging success in 2019

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Back to work, eh? So, how are your New Year’s Resolutions working out? Personal and professional? Probably, if you're like most people I talk with, you’re having a mixed bag of results. Now that's sort of OK with the personal stuff. If your resolution was to eat more healthily and hit the gym but yo...
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Best Practice Developing the qualities of a great PM
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How planning, proactivity and PMaaS prevent poor performance projects

3Ps
Over the course of this year, I have been asked to consult on many IT Projects. As always, I consider this a huge privilege, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than helping an organisation achieve successful project outcomes. The reasons that project teams ask for help are manyfold, sometimes the...
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Best Practice Developing the PM team Project Management
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The rise and rise of hybrid Project Management methodology

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One size hasn't fitted all in IT Project Management for many years. However, five years back a project team using Waterfall on a project that was more suited to Agile might have got away with it. I mean, perhaps they wouldn't have leveraged all the potential, they may, for example, have been slower ...
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Best Practice Project Management
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As IT Projects Evolve in Complexity, You Need Something More RADICAL Than A RAID Log.

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Think of the implementation phase of an IT Project. Exciting, right? All that pitching, planning and preparation has led to this point! You are ready and raring to go and as you line up the road ahead, your attention will have turned to how you document and communicate within your project. At this p...
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Best Practice PMO Project Management
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Could disruption be your greatest IT Project opportunity?

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I recently re-read the 2018 Project Management Institute (PMI) Pulse of the Profession report. I do this every year, reading and re-reading it, over and over, and each time it seems that I take something different away! One thing in particular, however, keeps jumping out and grabbing my attention fr...
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Best Practice Project Management
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You Have No New Massages - A Deep Tissue Lesson for IT Project Managers

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My Project Manager friend, Colette came back from her lunchtime massage today not as relaxed as she normally does. "Well that's a good way to lose potential business!" she said. The story she then told has lessons for project management teams and as it is also quite funny, I will share it with you. ...
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Best Practice Should you outsource?
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How to Marry Business Strategy With IT Project Management And Why You Must

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I've written about the need for business strategy and IT projects to be aligned before. I can summarise the thrust of all the articles that I've ever written on the subject with two words - it's critical. I mean, otherwise, what’s the point? Yet, many IT Projects get greenlighted without sufficient ...
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Best Practice
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PMaaS – The Golden Gate for IT Project Instant Gratification

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What is your reaction to reading these three words … slow internet connection? I know! Me too. Waiting just a few extra seconds for a page to load can feel like forever! Smartphone apps have eliminated the need to wait for anything, from a taxi, to a table at your favourite restaurant to a date. On ...
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Best Practice
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When An IT Project Isn't An IT Project, Engagement Soars

When-An-IT-Project-Isnt-An-IT-Project
Originally published on CIO.com Calling an IT Project 'an IT Project' may be doing your project a disservice. "This is NOT an IT Project ." This was the opening line of a pitch that I heard earlier this year ... it was a pitch for a green light for an IT Project! Brave start! It got me thinking. In ...
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Best Practice
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Latest Blog Posts

June 2019
IT Project Leadership #1: How to stop corridor conversations becoming business expectations
IT Project Leadership #1: How to stop corridor conversations becoming business expectations
IT Project Leadership has never been more challenging and complex.In this, the first of a short series, I'm going to look at some of the issues that you and I face a...
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