You cannot plan projects perfectly; the plan will be out of date by the time the ink dries! At the same time, you would never think about moving ahead on a project without some planning. Add to this the reality that, in today’s economy, speed is the dominant winning factor. How much planning should we …
Organizational Agility: Balancing Planning and Adaptability Read More »
Adaptability is a very admirable quality – for both individuals and organizations. However, both individuals and organizations LOVE predictability. We tend not to like surprises! These two characteristics – adaptability and predictability – are opposites, both admirable and desirable, and yet there is certain friction between the two. How do we find a balance between …
Organizational Agility: Adaptability vs Predictability Read More »
Can you think of an athlete or performer who is extremely agile? It’s easy to think about an individual being agile. Now think about work teams – for example for a team of software developers – that function in an agile manner. How agile are the individuals on the team? What agile characteristics describe how …
Organizational Agility: Team vs Organization Perspective Read More »
Organizational agility is a hot topic and a hot approach today. However, in many ways, it is a matter of unlearning some past organizational habits and practices! Could it be that you and I were each created to be naturally agile, but we have merely been trained over time by organizations and society to be …
Organizational Agility: Agile Instincts and Mindset Read More »
Devising business strategies is complex – but much easier to do than implementing the strategy. Strategy implementation in businesses entails addressing broad cross-organization issues – like organizational framework, culture, communications flow, and lines of responsibility. This article explores a few of the key factors that can make or break the successful implementation of a business …
Projects necessarily implement strategy, even if only at the most tactical level. Thus it is important that the PM have an understanding of strategy in general – and of the organization’s strategy in particular, especially the aspects that are driving the project. Understanding the strategic drivers of the project shapes the timing, quality standards, and …
In my opinion, government organizations are among the most complex – because they are driven by very specific yet often open-ended missions…where success may not be easily measured, where efficiency is a secondary objective, and where matrix organizations result in lines of authority and accountability that may not be so clear and consistent. Responsible spending …
Programs provide a ‘first front line’ for implementation of strategic objectives, as programs are by nature strategically defined and implement a subset of the strategy. As such, programs can also provide a ‘laboratory’ for implementing strategic objectives – for getting strategy implementation right before implementing elsewhere. Programs also provide the bridge to strategy implementation on …
You know what you’re going to measure to determine quality…but you know that the product won’t be perfect the first time out. You’re going to need a way to execute the measurement process multiple times – or at least enough to achieve a level of confidence that you have achieved the required level of quality. The …
Quality Measurement on Your Project: Measuring Quality in Quantity Read More »
Let’s get practical here: you’re going to need to measure quality in order to achieve a desired level of quality. It’s the most basic management principle: you can’t manage what you can’t measure. So you need to find a way to measure the quality being produced on your project in a way that is reliable, …
You may have a concept for the product of your project, but you need to understand and articulate the level of quality required of that product to make the project a success. The trick is to find the intersection of a quality level that will be acceptable while delivering the project on time and within …
How to Determine the Required Quality on Your Project Read More »
When you begin to think about quality management on your project, the first thing that needs to be done is to define what quality means on the project. Quality is not an objective thing, but there is a commonality among things that represent quality and how to manage them. Defining quality in terms that are …
Quality Management Step 1: Defining Quality on Your Project Read More »
Ignoring the environment is perilous to the sustainment of any project or organization! You need to keep the effect on the environment front and center! Issues such as commuting, parking, building, noise, light, energy usage, and waste management all are part of the environment effects to be considered. If any one of these is not …
Include Environmental Sustainability in Your Project Risk Management Read More »
Sustainability of an organization increasingly is dependent on managing social risks – that is in managing the organization’s relationship with its immediate and extended community. Some factors to consider include attitude toward existing companies, employee relations, potential financial impact to the larger community, and possible supporting infrastructure required. It is important to recognize the external …
Consider Social Sustainability in Your Project Risk Management Read More »
Sustainability, which is more often associated with environmental or other larger societal concerns, is often not associated with financial considerations, which is a complete show-stopper risk. Public pressure tends to be in external-facing areas such as environmental, community planning, regional economic impact, and impact to local services. In fact, sometimes these considerations even come at …
Ensure Financial Sustainability As Part of Your Project Risk Management Read More »
Project risks can affect operational sustainability in a business, yet sometimes these risks are not managed appropriately, if at all. Identifying these operational sustainability risks can take some work, but it can be very worthwhile. Supplier disruption, relationship conflicts, operational strategy misalignment, and talent management miscues are just a few of the missteps that can …
Support Operational Sustainability in Your Project Risk Management? Read More »
The appetite for innovation is big. It provides a lot of benefits. Companies really want more of it. But how can they get it? How can they be more innovative? This article looks at how companies, large and small, can be intentional about innovation. This is the fourth part of a series of four articles …
There are preconditions to innovation success. And there are important implementation considerations – how things are done. The key is that the overall team works intentionally on innovating in the areas that are most important.This is the third part of a series of four articles on innovation. This article, Part 3 in the series, “Keys …
Many people think that innovation is related to technology. I would argue, however, that while technological inventions may be innovative, innovation can take place in the realm of the non-technical, also. Does that mean that people and organizations can innovate almost anywhere? This is the second part of a series of four articles on innovation. …
Innovation is less technology, and more about mission. People with a clear mission are free to innovate, because they know what to work on. This article sorts through a number of definitions and perspectives on innovation and tries to uncover what innovation really is. One thing that we conclude up front is that the definition …
