The purpose of this article is to identify the types of tools a business analysis needs – based upon the functions that the business analyst does. It is not to do a comparison of tools, but rather to extract the universe of what is state-of-the-art – or best of breed – in the professional. The idea is to provide you with some …
There are multiple stakeholders within the organization of the products and processes of Business Analysts. The list includes Business Analysts themselves, plus the project management team, architects, designers, developers, quality assurance, and testers. This article explores the details needed and interests of each of the stakeholder groups. Let’s take a look at one strategy. Using the basic equation “Thing + Information + Sharing = New Value Proposition", …
Business Analysis: Stakeholders Within the Organization Read More »
A Business Analyst career offers a well-structured path. This includes two primary foundational certifications that can be earned on the way to establishing solid credentials. This article explores those two credentials, the advantages of earning certification, and offers ideas to help you as a Business Analyst to choose the right path for you. This is …
What does a Business Analyst do? Well, on a simplistic level, it’s pretty simple: Business Analysts gather requirements and organize them. But it does get more complicated than that. Who does Business Analysis, and is it in combination with other jobs? What are the left and right bounds of the Business Analysis function? What do Business Analysts …
Business Analysis: Eliciting and Managing Requirements Read More »
To take advantage of the opportunities that the Internet of Things (IoT) presents, you need to get organized for the journey. This will take aligning strategic and project management competencies for the challenges ahead. This article outlines five key things to think about and put into place to get you to your goals. The most important thing …
Let’s take a look at one strategy. Using the basic equation “Thing + Information + Sharing = New Value Proposition", you can identify some things that may change going forward. But how can you do that for an organization? How can an organization that is structured around physical products execute on this idea to seize on the …
A Compelling Strategy Driven By the Internet of Things (IoT) Read More »
The Internet of Things (IoT) is considered to be a “disruptive technology". This means that it disrupts the status quo in a competitive industry. Consider that the value proposition of the IoT is that if you add a valuable information component to a product, and enable it to be shared, you have created value. But it’s new value …
Where the Internet of Things (IoT) Is a Driver of Strategic Opportunity Read More »
The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) is pretty simple: take a “thing" (i.e. a physical product), add valuable information to it and share it…and you are creating value using the IoT. The concept is actually not new. Consider that personal computers first arrived in the early 1980’s, they were great personal productivity devices, especially for word processing and electronic spreadsheets. …
What Does Internet of Things (IoT) Disruption Mean for Project Management? Read More »
The waterfall and agile methodologies provide a plethora of tools and techniques that can be leveraged on projects. And no project is entirely waterfall or agile – but rather, most projects are a hybrid of the two. It is your job – and that of your team – to get your collective heads around lots …
Leverage Both Waterfall and Agile Techniques on Your Hybrid Project Read More »
As a project manager, you want to use of the most effective tools and techniques to bring project success. This article talks about five specific factors to consider to optimize your approach to managing the project. In the end, you can choose an ideal combination of waterfall and agile techniques to help you most effectively …
While waterfall and agile reside at opposite ends of the spectrum, each project is, in essence, a unique combination of the two. Thus, as ‘hybrid’ projects, the projects can be more effectively managed by leveraging tools and techniques from both waterfall and agile methodologies. This articles explores three very different types of projects, where they …
The Spectrum from Waterfall to Agile: Three Hybrid Projects Read More »
The hybrid approach to managing a project is not a strict methodology. It combines elements of the waterfall and agile methodologies in a unique way on each project, acknowledging that both have benefits. This article asserts this point by presenting a short review how these methodologies came to be. Even today, both approaches bring something …
Hybrid Project Management – How ‘Hybrid’ Came to Be Read More »
Peer to peer lending allows you to earn significantly more interest than alternative fixed income investments. As a project manager trying to increase return while at the same time manage your personal financial risk, consider P2P AFTER you have an emergency fund in place.
Real estate crowdfunding is an effective way for you, as a project manager, to consider generating an increasing amount of passive income to smooth your personal cash flow. In does come with risks…but there are ways to manage those, just as you do on projects, and the returns are quite attractive.
While CDs are not going to make you rich, you’ll see that they are a step in the right direction to enable a project manager to keep more of your hard-earned money and set some aside for a rainy day.
With constant changes in the project management marketplace and the basic nature of the work, it pays to find ways to generate an increasing amount of passive income. One straightforward way is with a “high yield account" which will earn returns much higher than checking or bank savings accounts.
Values must be something that will enable the organization to be successful, to those they serve, to those that work there, to those that own it and to the communities where it exists. In other words, it needs to seek out enduring values that will stand the test of time.
Many organizations build their cultures around the strength of certain functions within their organizations. These dominant drivers can often show up at the core of the organization’s culture. This article examines the influence of business function or organizational culture.
While it is important to have values at the core of an organization’s culture, they must truly speak to who the organization is and wants to be – now and into the future. This article examines the potential shortcomings of focusing on only the most popular values in the present.
Culture within an organization, like differences among people, is characterized in large part by personality. This article reviews several personality types, how they can characterize an organization’s culture and how personality fits among other factors influencing organization culture.
