Psoda blog

Even with the best of intentions and best efforts at planning, all of us face a time crunch at some point during the year. For most, the question isn’t if you will experience it, it’s how you will navigate the stress when those time constraints come calling. “It’s only when it comes to crunch time ... Blog

How many of you use kanban boards? They’re pretty awesome, aren’t they? I really like how they encourage communication. It’s easy to see where everything is in the workflow and you can quickly change things on the fly if you need to. It also gives you a great sense of satisfaction when you move the ... Blog

When I was at school (a long time ago, in a land far, far away) we were often given team projects to run over the term and ended up with a presentation of some sort. No-one gave us any instructions on how to set up these projects or what the best way was to run ... Blog

“Who needs requirements anyway?” This is a direct quote from a project stakeholder on a very large and expensive project I worked on. He said it at the end of a frustrating group session where we were trying to put together a reasonable list of project requirements. Unfortunately, this is a common sentiment. It can ... Blog

I made two interesting discoveries recently while working with the Project Management Institute of New Zealand in the run up to its annual conference in September. First, I was surprised to learn there are approximately 36,000 project managers in New Zealand! Second, and perhaps more surprising, only a fraction of this number are members of ... Blog

Have you ever been in a project meeting and started playing “meeting bingo”? Or have surreptitiously checked your phone? I’ll put my hand up and admit I’ve done both on more than one occasion. Why do people do that? Surely, you’re in a meeting because you either want to or have to be there? Looking ... Blog

Have you ever been involved in a project that grows and grows? It feels like every day something else is added to the to-do list. Welcome to scope creep, something most project managers dread. It can happen to almost any project and when it does, the impacts are far reaching. From budget blowouts, stakeholder frustration ... Blog

I don’t need to convince you that project scheduling is important. After all, if you’re involved in projects in any way shape or form you’re going to know that anyway. On saying that, do you know how many projects fail because of poor scheduling? No? The results might surprise you. 43% of projects failed due ... Blog

I’ve been involved in project management in one form or another for longer than I care to remember. Over the years, I’ve worked in a wide variety of different industries. Reflecting on these, I started to wonder what industries you don’t normally associate with project management. In the end, I came up with five industries ... Blog

When you think of programme management, do you automatically think of it being project management, only bigger? If you do, you’re not alone, but ultimately – like me: wrong! Managing a programme is very different to managing a project. The Project Management Institute has great definitions for both a programme and a project. It defines ... Blog

Strong crisis management skills are probably among the most under-valued traits a project manager can have. After all, aren’t project managers used to working well under pressure? Many years ago, I was involved in a project when a completely out-of-the-blue and cataclysmic event struck. It had a disastrous effect not only on the project, but ... Blog

Following on from part 2…. Congratulations you’ve passed Stage 1 and Stage 2 and have been cleared to move to Stage 3 – arguably the most difficult stage to date. Your steering committee consists of your obstetrician, midwife, phlebotomist, nurse and any other interested person who feels like sticking their nose in. An added bonus ... Blog