As a project manager, you are probably in reasonably good touch with your customer’s business needs. The reality, though, is that some of these business needs will shift…and there are other needs you need to consider also. Customers are people too…and in fact are usually teams of people. Each person on the customer team has their own unique situation – personality, personal as well as business drivers, business relationships, and personal and professional challenges.

While the holidays are a time for giving – we usually express that spirit well with family, friends, and neighbors – we may often miss the opportunity to express that with a team member. As project managers, we so often move from team to team…and team members also move in and out of your team. While this is a great experience for all involved, sometimes we miss the opportunity to build more effective relationships, especially when there is a difficult situation.

It feels great when your presentation is beginning to come together and look…’presentable’. But it won’t be done until you have done some substantial rehearsal, going through all of the materials in order. You may find that certain parts don’t flow as well as you thought…and you need to make some changes. You may find that your explanations of the slides need to be honed a bit…to make them flow better to communicate the ideas and complement the visuals.

As the title of this article, and of the series, implies, this is a BIG presentation. It needs to cover a variety of related topics, often explaining difficult and complex topics in simple and clear language, aided by accompanying visuals that also add clarity. Beyond the individual slides, which need to be honed until they are impeccable, the relationships among the slides and topics need to be integrated into a clear and comprehensive whole.

There is no better way to ensure the success of your presentation than to involve all stakeholder groups as early as possible. The approach pays respect to the old adage of “no surprises” – as everyone will know what to expect. Ensure that everyone has some sense of ownership of the presentation – or at least those aspects that are most important to them. This article explores aspects of thinking of yourself as an ‘integrator’ of input and ideas from your various stakeholders.

Preparing for a big presentation on your project is a critical and often daunting task. Initially, you may ask yourself, “Where do I begin?” From my experience, the tried and true approach of building an outline really is helpful to kick off the process. However, the key to doing that right is to review that outline with your key stakeholders before you proceed further. It’s important to know that your upper management, your team, and your customer have vetted your outline of topics to be covered.

Having a Project Management Office (PMO) is not a solution; having an effective PMO is. Studies show that PMOs can be effective…but that an alarming number of PMOs are not effective and are failed efforts. In fact, some studies show that as many as 60% of PMOs fail, and often when they fail, they fail spectacularly. This article looks at the fundamental question that all PMOs need to ask continuously - and ensure that the answer is positive!

There are many project management software products, and many of them support the operations of project management offices (PMO) and the project portfolio management (PPM) function. Every organization is unique in terms of size, industry, complexity, culture, types of projects, and more. This article explores the aspects of project management that map to the software features that support them. The objective is to help organizations sort through the features and functions of PMO-supporting functions to determine which they do and do not need so that they can make informed decisions.

Project Management Offices (PMOs) partner, control, or serve the organization by providing structure in the form of project management methodologies. However, it gets more complicated when there are different project types – and different approaches to managing them. It is especially complicated when some approaches emphasize local, decentralized management – and need to support it from a PMO, which by nature is centralized. This article explores how PMOs can be supportive of various methodologies and help make localized efforts more effective.

There are many flavors of PMOs, according to many experts, but this article breaks it down to three main types. They involve emphasis on partnering, controlling, and serving within the community. Partnering means the PMO provides standards and educates and assists project managers to help elevate the practice of PM throughout the organization. Controlling sets and enforces standards across the organization and requires compliance. Serving involves providing the project managers as a resource on all projects throughout the organization.