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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 ...

"Well that's a bit random!" said a Project Manager I was sat with recently as his project threw up one of those curved balls that only seem to happen at 4.59pm on a Friday, just as you're about to clock off for the weekend. The project had cutting edge visibility so the "random" occurrence in questi...

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 ...

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan. An IT Project Manager I know, let's call him Richard, h...

Have you seen the TV show "The Roast Of …"? Basically, it's like 'This Is Your Life' (if you remember that back in the day) but instead of celebrities coming on and praising the subject of the show, they turn up and spill the beans on their bad habits and worst moments. The most recent one I saw fea...

A CIO sprang this on me this week. "David, what makes a great Project Manager?" It's one of those questions that you answer instinctively - great organiser, they deliver projects within deadline and budget, good communication skills, etc, etc. All true but I was a little disappointed by my instincti...

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 ...

A significant number of IT Project Manager friends have reported shorter times between going live with a project and that project running into trouble or starting to fail.  This means that they have to be on their mettle from the get-go and bring all their experience of rescuing a project in to play...

 “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often,” so said Winston Churchill. He clearly never had to manage an IT Project in an organisation resistant to change. I think we've all experienced some of our darkest hours doing this. I was chatting to a PM friend this week and he joked that ...

If you've ever had a sleepless night over an IT Project, you can take some solace from the fact that you are certainly not alone. In fact, if you haven't suffered any anxiety that has woken you in the middle of the night in a cold sweat you should think yourself really lucky. That or worry that you'...

Why do some projects stir a passion within you and others leave you less revved up? Could unlocking the secret lead to fewer IT Project failures? It's true, isn't it? The more passionate about a task you are, the more likely you are to succeed. Even doing the dishes can be a chore or a fun twenty mi...

I was in a famous cocktail bar on Saturday night having a pre-dinner drink and was watching the bartenders making cocktails.  I was intrigued to see that, although they had a menu of over fifty cocktails, all of the 'mixologists' were able to make each drink from memory and without measuring any of ...

Who is your IT Project's Leader? At this time of year are you really leading or is your company's calendar more in charge? I ask because, independently, three Project Managers have told me that they are pulling their hair out because of unanticipated roadblocks along their projects' critical paths. ...

Have you ever taken on an IT Project, only to find that a major challenge either wasn't mentioned in the handover from the departing Project Manager or, if it was, it was implicit - not explicit. It's like those horror movies where a family buys a house only to find out, after they move in, that it ...

"Be open to collaboration. Other people and other people’s ideas are often better than your own," so said comedian and actress Amy Poehler. She's right. I heard a great story this week that highlighted the value of collaboration. A radio station, I think in Australia (but don't quote me), was brains...