Project reporting plays a key role in any winning project. Project Report Recipients Project reports summarize and communicate project progress and issues to the various stakeholders. Reporting the progress of your project accurately and regularly allows for better quality decision-making. All concerned will have up-to-date information on which to base their judgements and everyone will be working from the same page. Who are the people that will depend on project status reports? These can include: project sponsors steering committee members project team members projects office external project consultants and suppliers line managers end users employees affected public government bodies Your…Read More »

A list of definitions for the most common project management terms Project Management Terms and Definitions The world of project management can be bewildering to those new to the discipline. As with any specialist area, technical terms and jargon blossom in number over the years. Here is a list of the more common project management terms and their meanings. Term Description ADBTI Analyze, Design, Build, Test and Implement – a model used for the development of business solutions and software. ADDIE Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate – the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) model for creating training programs. Agenda Notice…

How can you guarantee that your project will meet project stakeholders’ quality standards? Setting Quality Standards The initiators and sponsors of a project usually have some idea of the quality they expect from the project outputs. Should the paint on the new model car last 10 years or 20 years? Are spelling errors in the new procedures allowable? To avoid disappointment, these quality requirements should be documented in the project Quality Management Plan and agreed at the outset by the project sponsor, client and Project Manager. Achieving the quality outcomes agreed then becomes the responsibility of the Project Manager. The…

Bringing projects in on time and within budget depends on the effective management of project resources. Managing Project Resources Effectively Managing project resources is a critical part of any project. If you run out of money, you will miss one of the most important success criteria for any project; being on budget. And blowing your budget will also most likely impact the other two success measures: being on time and on scope. Effective resource management begins early with reasonable estimates of the material, infrastructure and labor required to achieve the project outcomes. Gather as many experts as you can in…Read More »

The same reasons for the epidemic of project failures occur with alarming frequency. Common Causes of Failed Projects Only one out of three projects is completed successfully. Nearly half are either late, over budget or did not deliver on all of the key outputs. Almost one in four are either cancelled or left to gather dust after delivery.1 This dismal track record is only growing worse as budgets tighten and expectations rise. What can a manager do to beat the odds? The answer is to learn from the mistakes of the past. Though no two projects are alike, the reasons…Read More »