Gina Abudi » Project Management

Socializing Your Project Initiatives

Gina — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:30:50 +0000

Too often project managers do not consider the importance of socializing their projects prior to actually beginning the work on the project. It may be because they haven’t thought of the benefits of doing so or because they feel the project is assigned and already decided upon, so why bother. However, the most effective [...]

Everyone Needs Project Management Skills

Gina — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:30:34 +0000

Are you helping your employees do a better job?

I have been working with an increasing number of organizations over the past year on how to help employees do a better job when they are trying to do more with less (that phase is not going away anytime soon!) – reduced budgets, cost cutting [...]

Are You Ready to Tackle the Next Big Project?

Gina — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:30:43 +0000

The world is changing every day. It’s getting more complex and more challenging. Even if you are not a project manager – you are managing projects every day. Some may be small projects; others may have a great impact on your business. And the successful conclusion of those projects helps the business to:

Increase [...]

Team Members are Unprepared for the Project Work

Gina — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:30:06 +0000

How can you get them “up to speed” quickly?

The problem

The project you have been assigned has a short deadline. Given a recent increase in customer complaints over one of the company’s software products, you have been asked to take on a project to correct the problem with the product and release an [...]

5 Ways to Engage the Project Sponsor

Gina — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:30:12 +0000

Just because someone sponsored the project, doesn’t mean they are engaged! You want to ensure that your sponsor is engaged in the project. As the project manager, it is your responsibility to engage your project sponsor. An engaged sponsor is supportive of the project throughout the organization and of the team’s efforts on the [...]

Plan for Success as a Project Manager

Gina — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:30:30 +0000

Starting up in a new company as a project manager? Just starting off as a project manager on your first large initiative? Taking over a failed project? You have some challenges ahead! Too often project managers new to the role, the project or the company forget to pause and consider what’s ahead and plan [...]

Better Management of IT Projects

Gina — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:30:20 +0000

Or, how to avoid being a statistic….

I read a recent Harvard Business Review “The Daily Stat,” that noted that a study by McKinsey & Company that was reported on in the September 2011 issues of Harvard Business Review noted that 15% of IT change projects are huge money sinks with cost overruns averaging [...]

Are Your Asking Your Team Members to Build the Project Schedule

Gina — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Or are you making decisions for them?

When I saw the Dilbert strip below I got quite the chuckle out of it and it brought back some (not so fond) memories of my early years in project management.

Early on in my career (many moons ago!) when I was first getting involved [...]

The Project Sponsor Just Doesn’t Care…

Gina — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:30:22 +0000

And the project is going nowhere! HELP!

Here’s a story to consider.

Sam has just been assigned a major project to install and implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system within his company. The company has 75 employees and has been in business a number of years. There are sales and marketing folks within [...]

Yet Another Project Team Meeting

Gina — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:30:24 +0000

Is anything going to get done!

A friend of mine is involved in a large project for her company. She called me the other night exasperated about a recent team meeting (“Yet another one!” she shouted). The project she was involved in was started three months ago. Since then she has been in meetings [...]

Project Managers – Are You Getting Involved in the Business of the Company?

Gina — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:30:03 +0000

Over the past few months, I’ve been working with a client on helping them to get their high potential employees on a path to leadership roles within the business. I noticed that their project managers were not on the “high potential list.” (Mind you I have come up against this situation before.) When I [...]

Project Management Haiku

David K — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:30:24 +0000

Sponsor gives the task With Impossible deadline Insanity rules

Create Gantts to show Path to achieving success Thanks, M.S. Project

Kick-off not so good Resources are all tied up Late the day we start

Panic already Project reviews are painful But no help in sight

Schedule slipping right Costs are increasing daily Metrics board [...]

Peer Reviews For Programmes and Projects

Paul — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:30:28 +0000

It doesn’t matter how dedicated your team of programme and project managers are every now and again they can benefit from a fresh set of eyes taking a look at what’s going on. A team that is ‘heads down’ in delivery mode can sometimes suffer from groupthink and perhaps become blinkered into thinking their [...]

The Next Frontier for Project Managers is NOT Project Management

Guest — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:30:43 +0000

Ronn Faigen is the General Manager for APMG-US, part of APMG International, a global accreditation and qualifications organization. In this capacity, Ronn is responsible for increasing the awareness and adoption of internationally recognized best practices, among them PRINCE2®, Managing Successful Programs (MSP™) Portfolio, Program and Project Offices (P3O®) and ITIL®. Prior to joining [...]

Who Benefits From Project Management Training

Gina — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:30:48 +0000

Everyone of course!

During a recent lunch meeting with a client, we discussed project management training. In particular, who in the organization would benefit from participating in a project management training program? The question came up because he felt that everyone could benefit from learning how to manage projects, but his boss – one [...]

5 Essential Skills Every Project Manager Must Have

Gina — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:30:34 +0000

Every project manager must have these five skills if (s)he is going to be successful in the project management role in today’s world.

Strong communication skills: The ability to communicate across the organization is a key skill. You’ll need to be able to effectively communicate – verbally and in written format – with every [...]

6 Easy Ways to Identify Project Risks

Gina — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:30:05 +0000

Identifying the risks associated with your project doesn’t have to be an onerous project. Likely, you are seeing similar risks from project to project – especially within the same organization.

Use these six easy ways to help identify risks associated with your project:

Gather together the stakeholders and other customers and team members and [...]

In this case, unplugged is a BAD thing

Rich — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:22 +0000

You’d think we would be in favor of unplugging. That is, saving energy, preventing waste…you know, being “green”.

And we are in favor of unplugging.

But there’s an exception - a big one.

That exception has to do with a huge source of power for Project Managers, a renewable source of endless project [...]

Simple Steps to Creating Your Project Plan

Gina — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:30:01 +0000

The project plan is developed in conjunction with the project team and delineates what is being produced by the project, the budget, timeline, and resources to be used to reach that deliverable. Without a project plan – it’s difficult to ensure the project is a success – you need a plan to follow! The [...]

Some Tips to Increase Your Value as a Project Manager

Gina — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:30:13 +0000

Start today in demonstrating the value you bring to the organization!

Too often I hear project managers complain they aren’t valued in their organization. In some cases, I can’t say they are wrong – we all know how some organizations can be! In such situations, sometimes it is just time to move on to [...]