August, 2016

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10 Powerful Questions in a Checklist to Save Your Projects

Project Risk Coach

The CHAOS Reports have been published every year since 1994 and are a snapshot of the state of the software development industry. The Standish Group 2015 Chaos Report studied 50,000 projects around the world, ranging from small enhancements to massive systems implementations. It revealed that 29% of the projects were successful, 52% were challenged, and 19% failed.

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Understanding Agile

Rebel’s Guide to PM

This is a guest article by Isidora Roskic. Learning to successfully manage agile projects requires you to first familiarise yourself with the concept of Agile. What is the agile methodology? Where did it start? What does it truly encompass? If you know all of the answers then you’re off to a good start! If not then the following will help. Where It All Began.

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How to spot signs your project is about to fail

Moira Alexander

Project management has many facets and anyone of them could derail even the best-laid plans. Recognizing the signs of an impending disaster can give a project manager the "heads up" before it happens. To help you spot the telltale signs, here are some of the more common signs grouped into three key categories. 1. High-level objectives. Missing strategic tie-in: Difficulty easily and clearly tie the project purpose and goals back to company-wide objectives is one of the biggest signals that proje

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Mixing Agile with traditional business

Musings on Project Management

There comes a point where more planning can not remove the remaining uncertainty, instead execution must be used to provide data and remove uncertainty. This quote comes from a nicely argued case -- from the agile blog 'leading answers' -- for mixing agile methods in rather traditional businesses, like the oil and gas exploration/production business If ever there was a business that.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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The five failures of agile tools

Kiron Bondale

For organizations transforming their technology delivery from traditional to agile approaches, there’s a need to evolve team practices, tools, leadership behavior and stakeholder change appetites in parallel to avoid realizing the risks of being agile while standing in a waterfall. Owing to the popularity of the agile movement coupled with mainstream obsession with DevOps, legions of tool vendors stand ready to sell you snake oil solutions to satisfy all of your agile delivery needs.

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Match Game: Project Risk Management

Project Risk Coach

How’s your project risk management knowledge? Some of you are a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) or as a Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) so this test may be a good review for you. If you are preparing for the PMP or PMI-RMP exam, this exercise will certainly be helpful. For others, give it your best shot; see what you know and don’t know.

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The 5-Step Expert Guide To Choosing Collaboration Tools

Rebel’s Guide to PM

. Since my book Collaboration Tools for Project Managers came out, one of the things I’m asked frequently is ‘how do I choose the right collaboration tool for my team?’. I’m delighted to be partnering with Genius Project today to bring you The 5 Step Expert Guide To Choosing Collaboration Tools. It’s everything you ever wanted to know about how to pick a product for your team!

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The risky side of project management

Moira Alexander

Risks are dependant on a multitude of things and serve as triggers. These dependencies help to identify and measure the impact of the risks; here are just a few of these dependencies. Product and service offerings. Client, vendor, sponsor and project team expectations. Location. Industry norms. Buy-in levels. Cultural differences. Once the dependencies can be determined, it becomes much clearer which of the following risks are likely: Cost overruns.

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LiquidPlanner Vs. Task Management Software: An Evaluation Guide

LiquidPlanner

As a LiquidPlanner product expert, I talk to a lot of people considering a new, better Project Management (PM) tool. A question I often get asked is how LiquidPlanner compares to a task management tool—something like Trello or Asana. Are we the same, different, better? Let’s start by addressing how Project Management tools compare to Task Management tools.

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The 2nd Generation of Innovation Management: A Survival Guide

Speaker: Chris Townsend, VP of Product Marketing, Wellspring

Over the past decade, companies have embraced innovation with enthusiasm—Chief Innovation Officers have been hired, and in-house incubators, accelerators, and co-creation labs have been launched. CEOs have spoken with passion about “making everyone an innovator” and the need “to disrupt our own business.” But after years of experimentation, senior leaders are asking: Is this still just an experiment, or are we in it for the long haul?

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Focus on your soft skills when moving to agile!

Kiron Bondale

As companies begin the journey of transforming their delivery practices from traditional to agile approaches, role transitions can be challenging. Such transitions include shifts from functional specialization to “Jack of all Trades, Master of One” for delivery team members as well as the need for increased involvement of product owners and control/governance partners.

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Reacting to threat: Game theory for the PMO

Musings on Project Management

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. —Theodore Roosevelt Actually, that's Teddy's version of cousin FDR's famous "Try something!" But what if it's all about a threat -- something external -- for which you have no experience? Call in your PMO team and brainstorm?

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Get Ahead of Your Risks

Project Risk Coach

How to use key risk indicators Which would you prefer? To respond to risks after they occur or to see the risks early and take steps to prevent or reduce your risks? I’ll take the latter, thank you! Image courtesy of Adobe Stock. Project managers can get ahead of their risks by thinking differently. Rather than focusing on past performance only, consider how you can anticipate when future threats and opportunities may occur.

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Changing the Face of PM Training

Rebel’s Guide to PM

I took my APMP course recently and there were a bemusing amount of training providers to choose from. Go for something like PMP® or PRINCE2 and the choice is even greater. So how do you pick the right course for you? Craig Kilford has the answer. Craig has set up a review website for project management training and there’s a philanthropic initiative on the side as incentive to get people to write reviews.

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The Constructor's Digital Transformation Playbook: Reducing Risk With Technology

Speaker: Dylan Secrest

Construction projects are high-stakes operations where even minor inefficiencies can lead to costly delays, safety concerns, and budget overruns. Managing risk in construction has always been a challenge, but as projects grow in complexity, traditional methods no longer cut it. Enter Digital Transformation - a game changer approach that replaces inefficiency with AI-powered analytics, real-time monitoring, and automated workflows to proactively manage risk.

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Life or Laptop

The Lazy Project Manager

In my bestselling book ‘The Lazy Project Manager [1] ’ I have one chapter entitled ‘Breathe Normally’ where I describe the following situation: You are on yet another flight, either to or from your latest project engagement, somewhere in the world. Maybe you have been lucky, maybe the flight is on time and you know your luggage is safely stored in the overhead locker, you are not seated in the middle seat between two sumo wrestlers with body odour and this flight does offer complimentary in-flig

PMO 150
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How to Get Buy-In for a New Project Management Tool From Your Executive Team

LiquidPlanner

In business, change comes with a price. Even implementing a new tool or process that will benefit the bottom line comes with a price. That cost might be hard dollars and cents, or it might be the time needed to implement the change. But more likely, the cost of change is both money and time. And the broader the implementation is across the organization, the heftier those costs.

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Are you done?

Kiron Bondale

One of the challenges of traditional project delivery approaches is that team members often treat the completion of their own tasks as proof of project progress. This perception gets reinforced by project managers or their people managers who will give these team members a pat on the back for getting their assigned tasks completed on time. One of the original twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto is Working software is the primary measure of progress.

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Extreme risk management

Musings on Project Management

Extreme risks: ever been there; done that? Extreme risks are those for which the consequences are irreversible, and the impact is near-catastrophic. In most cases, the likelihood of the event is low. You're probably thinking: "Black Swan". But no, a black swan is unanticipated and not-thought of -- never happened before so, not on the radar. No, I'm thinking of the knowable, if not the.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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How to Improve Your Project Communication

Project Risk Coach

In my project management workshops, I ask this question, “What are the top causes of project failure?” Nine times out of ten, I hear an answer — among others — related to poor communication. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock (edited in Canva). There are many ways in which project managers communicate — coaching, summarizing action items, influencing a stakeholder, educating team members, listening, facilitating decisions, creating a contract with a third party, escalati

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Are You Ready For The Social Tech Revolution?

Rebel’s Guide to PM

One day your project management status updates might self-destruct. In this article, Jerry Giltenane explains why. Of the 7.3 billion people on the planet, 31% or 2.3 billion people actively use social media to communicate, to share and to build a sense of community. In a parallel universe, some of the key drivers of project management are to communicate, to inform and to develop high performing teams.

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Collective belief and its possible impact on projects.

Ron Rosenhead

The project is going well. The prototype has been approved and will be ready in 2 weeks. The budget looks a little strained, which will soon be sorted once approval for development is given and then the cash will start to flow. Or so they thought. But then the regulations changed. This meant that the prototype was not up to the standard required. It needed re-engineering and further testing.

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How Project Management Tackles Supply Chain Complexity

LiquidPlanner

Supply chains continue to increase in complexity. I’ve observed this firsthand from managing hundreds of projects in manufacturing organizations over the last 25 years, including navigating end-to-end supply chain. Being able to effectively manage this complexity is essential to achieve important business objectives–growth and profitability. For starters, you want to identify the factors that contribute to these complexities: the geographical spread of customers and suppliers; risk and sec

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Prepare Now: 2025s Must-Know Trends For Product And Data Leaders

Speaker: Jay Allardyce, Deepak Vittal, Terrence Sheflin, and Mahyar Ghasemali

As we look ahead to 2025, business intelligence and data analytics are set to play pivotal roles in shaping success. Organizations are already starting to face a host of transformative trends as the year comes to a close, including the integration of AI in data analytics, an increased emphasis on real-time data insights, and the growing importance of user experience in BI solutions.

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Run relevant retrospectives!

Kiron Bondale

I wrote a few weeks back that while retrospectives are commonly associated with agile projects they can also be equally useful on traditional ones. So what are some of the elements required to run a successful retrospective? Psychological safety. One of my key learnings from the Agile2016 conference was that psychological safety is the number one requirement for a high performance team and its criticality is evident in ceremonies like standups and retrospectives.

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The gig project

Musings on Project Management

Familiar with the "gig economy"? It's what some call the power of one. Take one of this and one of that and one person here and there, mix well, and you've got a team. or at least a group that might coalesce into a team, given some time and experience together. But, there can be problems. Heads up if you are managing a gig team: "Problem 1: The people on the projects were not.

Agile 150
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Manage Your Energy, Not Just Your Time

Project Risk Coach

For years, I’ve sought ways to get more done in my work day. You know the time management mantra: capture, prioritize, and schedule, right? What doesn’t get scheduled doesn’t get done. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock (edited in Canva). Need any apps? I’ve tried iPhone apps such as Fantastical, Pomodoro, and Evernote (which are all super). I’ve read every book and tried every tool known to man.

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Announcing Our Winner…

Rebel’s Guide to PM

Congratulations to Julian of Chicago, IL, USA! Julian won the latest giveaway, which was to win a copy of my new book, Collaboration Tools for Project Managers. There will be another giveaway along soon and I still have some fantastic books to get out of my office and shipped off to you guys, so watch out for that! You'll also like: Book Bundle Giveaway: Announcing The Winner Lori from in Texas is the lucky winner of a bundle of management books including Bridging the Business Project Divide, on

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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

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Five PM Slack hacks to make your job easier

The Digital Project Manager

Posted in General Tools. Working as a Project Manager at a full-service digital agency can lead to some serious FOMO. Every team has new technologies and tools coming out that can dramatically change up their everyday workflow. Whether it’s a new prototyping tool for the visual design team, or a new sketching tool for our UX designers, or something like React, or Elixir for the development teams, it always seems like there’s something new and exciting to experiment with.

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How to Lead Your Team Through a Transition

LiquidPlanner

If you’ve ever tried to be a change agent at work, you know the kind of resistance you’re up against. You could be recommending a new work process or project management tool that will greatly improve the business—and you’ll champion it—and people will suddenly get very busy. Asking a team to give up a work process they’re used to—even if it’s highly flawed—and learn something new can feel overwhelming for teams that already have a lot to do.

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True agility requires ruthless prioritization

Kiron Bondale

Primary roles on agile delivery teams are expected to be fully dedicated to the one project or product that they are supporting. Depending on the scope and context of a project, certain specialized roles such as database administrators might support delivery activities during specific iterations, the core analysts, developers, designers and testers need to focus on that one project or product to avoid incurring the velocity and quality-impacting fruits of multitasking.

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