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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...

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, ...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

"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...

"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...

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...

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...

Guest blog by Nicol Cutts – Stoneseed Head of Projects        May 2019 sees the fifth, annual 'Women in Tech Festival' in Silicon Valley. Aptly, my invitation to attend dropped into my inbox at the same time as a reply to a question that I'd asked a CIO friend whose organisation has consistently hig...

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...

At a wedding recently, the nephew of the bride was a bit of a comedian. He was about nine years old, with a cheeky smile and we genuinely laughed when he bounded up and delivered this joke! "Knock, knock!" "Who’s there?" we replied. "Hatch" "Hatch who?" "Bless you!" he said drily, handing us a handk...

I started to write this on the day that the world's media declared that the "internet turned 30". OK, without getting nerdy, although the terms are often used interchangeably, March 12, was actually the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web. But hey, semantics – right?! Whatever you want to call it...

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...