Blog

The first Thursday of every November is IPM Day, this year (2019) it falls on November 7th and it is a great time to show the project managers in your team how much you appreciate them. Private or public sector, commercial or voluntary, no business or organisation ever initiates a project that doesn...

As an IT Project Manager, CIO or Business Analyst, do you have a personal professional brand? The answer is yes, by the way. It’s inevitable. Either by default or by design, you have a brand. ‘By design’ is the option you want, of course, and the key to designing and maintaining a successful persona...

At the time that I’m writing this, the news is full of talk of trade deals. In the UK we are a couple of weeks away from Brexit – but it’s OK this is not about Brexit – you can carry on reading! I’ve just watched a news article about the brokering of trade deals, what they are, why countries need th...

I met a friend recently for lunch and, quite frankly, he is looking amazing! He joined a gym about a year ago and you can tell! His face is slimmer, he seems to have more energy, looks about ten years younger and, he told me, he has had to buy some new trousers because his old ones were starting to ...

“It’s the most pointless meeting, nothing to do with my work but I have to attend. I just zone out for an hour”. A Project Management contractor friend of mine said this as he told me about a monthly meeting that had just appeared again in his diary with the subject “Team Meeting – All Staff To Atte...

Is your IT Project Delivery a challenge? Let me start by saying - it should be a challenge. Ground-breaking IT Projects that disrupt markets, drive innovation and create new revenues should push you to the outer edges of your limits and capabilities. Otherwise, what's the point? Challenges are like ...

During a recent conversation about IT Project Management and, specifically how to set and achieve goals, I was told that something I'd said was, and I quote, "amazing". I think "amazing" is the most over used word in the English language these days, usually with the middle 'a' elongated, "amaaaaaaaa...

What is it they say? The two most stressful things in life are moving house and commuting! People who live in mobile homes must be perpetually stressed! We just moved house and the process wasn't without its fair share of drama. You'll have been there yourself: the viewers who have just come for a n...

Brooks' law is an observation about IT project management which states "adding human resources to a late software project makes it later" It was written by Fred Brooks in 1975, in his book 'The Mythical Man-Month'. It is a 'law' that I've always believed to be fundamentally flawed and ripe for break...

In a recent flyover article about the various IT Project methodologies, we looked at the pros and cons of each and I promised that we’d go on to look at each methodology further, in order to gain more insight on the advantages and disadvantages each can offer.  In this piece, let’s focus on Six Sigm...

I was sat in the pub beer garden at the weekend when a customer was stung by a wasp. A passing waitress saw this and instantly she returned with ice, cotton wool, some apple cider vinegar and an EpiPen (just in case). Now, I've treated wasp stings with calamine lotion in the past, and I have applied...

In a recent introductory piece on IT Project methodologies, I promised to follow up on each individual methodology and investigative its advantages and disadvantages. Having looked at Waterfall and Agile, let’s now turn to Scrum. Scrum. What Is It, When Should You Use It? Normally, when you talk of ...

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...

"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...

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...