Your IT project is almost ready: Development is done; testing is going well; just a few defects remain. The customer is satisfied with the look and feel of the product, you both have a shared vision about the business change it will bring .... but ... they want to ... delay ‘go live’ ... just a litt...
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"A Dog Is for Life, Not Just for Christmas" has become a somewhat iconic message but as I write this on a blisteringly hot summer day there is no similar advice. Is now then a good time to buy a puppy on a whim? Of course, it's not, the message behind the slogan is valid all year round. It's just, y...
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Welcome to the latest in an occasional series on the different IT Project Management methodologies, last time we looked at Waterfall, now let's focus on Agile. Agile. What Is It, When Should You Use It? The story goes that seventeen software thought leaders, programmers and developers met at The Lod...
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This weekend I watched some remarkable displays of sporting endurance where the winners, in both cases, just seemed to have a little something extra left in their locker to power them onto victory after long, hard matches. IT Project Management can be a long, hard slog too and, with the rate of fail...
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I’ve been thinking about IT Projects that we've helped steer out of troubled waters lately and in, probably, eight out of ten cases the issue was with the people working on the project. This isn't a criticism of that talent, far from it, I'd happily be a referee for most of them. The issue isn't qua...
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I am writing this with cake and champagne on my desk, instead of the usual Monday coffee and rich tea biscuit. The reason for such opulence at the start of the week is that, at Stoneseed, we are celebrating our tenth anniversary. The tech world was a very different place 10 years ago! A decade ago, ...
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In a blaze of glory, the fantastic piece of software you've been working hard on is introduced to your client organisation. The system goes live without a hitch - you are an IT delivery expert, after all. Each and every requirement is delivered, the project is on-time and within budget. Customer tra...
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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 and share some solutions. If nothing, else let's acknowledge that the challenges are universal and take solace from the fact that it's ...
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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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This month, we are happy to announce the launch of another volume of our eBook! The previous two volumes we published of Straight Talk on Project Management by David Cotgreave, have proved so successful that we decided to do VOLUME III. Since the last volume, David has continued to enlighten us wit...
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It's great when an IT Project progresses from implementation to delivery without a hitch, an event free ride from start to finish with no bumps in the road. Or is it? How does the word “Conflict” make YOU feel? I asked a few colleagues and their responses ranged from anxiety to aggression, from some...
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"What can we do better?" "What's going wrong?" Both these questions were asked by different Project Managers leading IT Projects that were failing this year. Both had identified issues, both were keen to sort those issues out, both held almost identical team meetings to address the challenges. One w...
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"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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Guest blog by Nicol Cutts – Stoneseed Head of Projects I reviewed an initial project scope document for a Project Manager last week. In the four pages of text, there were 37 ‘&’s. So what? '&' or the ampersand is often misused and misunderstood. Largely thanks to social media communicat...
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The Private Sector IR35 countdown clock is ticking louder and louder. Before you can say "non-compliant off-payroll Project Manager", it will be time for private firms to follow the Public Sector pioneers into this new world. It's come around quick, hasn't it? One of my accountant friends drily comm...
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What could be easier than delivering an IT Project? You know what needs doing, you plan a budget, you set a deadline, you gather together a team and away you go - success is in the bag. One of my Project Manager friends has a poster of a beautiful ocean liner, under a cloudless blue sky, on a calm t...
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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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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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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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As I write this, we are now well into the final quarter of 2018. October will soon become a distant memory, November will fly by in a blaze of bright lights as calendars are punctuated with celebrations for Bonfire Night, Diwali and Thanksgiving and then we will be on the inevitable treadmill to Chr...
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