Economics 101 for Project Managers
2 years 25 weeks agoEconomics is the social science that studies making choices subject to constraints. Project, program, and portfolio managers make economic decisions daily. We try to maximize value delivery subject to the constraints of time, cost, quality, risk, and resource availability.
Economics can help project managers make more informed decisions. It
Quick Tip: How to trace out of sequence activities in Primavera P6
2 years 31 weeks agoIf your Primavera P6 schedule is set to use the Retained Logic for out of sequence activities and you notice that despite all the predecessors of an activity being 100% complete, the activity’s Start Date is not on the Data Date as one would expect or the Finish Date is much later than the
Improve Your Project Schedule
2 years 33 weeks agoLet’s be honest, most project schedules disappoint. They are unrealistic, complicated, and do not help guide execution. For decades, Gantt charts, network diagrams, and the critical path method have been the standard practices. Even with these powerful tools, only about half of all projects are completed on time, as reported in the
Making Ethical Project Decisions
2 years 38 weeks agoProject managers rarely face ethical dilemmas. We generally do not make life-or-death decisions or need to choose between “right” and “wrong.” However, we need to be prepared and have a framework for confronting these circumstances when they arise.
My career is probably more colorful than most:
I managed the United States Treasury securities’ auctions when the
How to show Primavera P6 dates in month-year (mmm-yy) format
2 years 41 weeks agoThe date formats available in Primavera P6 are very limited and to best of my knowledge, you cannot get the mmm-yy (month-year) format straight out of the box. You might want to display dates in mmm-yy if you don't want to show exact dates in issued schedules.
This P6 video outlines a workaround using UDF that can be used to achieve mmm-yy date format.
Project Assumptions & Risks
2 years 43 weeks agoAssumptions and risks are embedded in our daily lives. We expect the day will unfold as planned, and risks will not materialize. Most of these assumptions are benign, like thinking the weather report will be accurate; or no major calamities will occur.
Projects are built on assumptions. Without them, it would be impossible to proceed.
Project Portfolio Management & The Theory of Constraints
2 years 47 weeks agoLarge enterprises struggle to manage their project portfolios effectively. They fall prey to the fallacy of optimizing resource allocation. Or simply stated, they focus on making sure everyone is busy rather than getting things done.
Team members are allocated at least 100% to project work, if not more. As a result, people are working on multiple projects—more than
Microsoft Project Quick Tip: Assign Actual Start & Finish Dates to Tasks
2 years 49 weeks agoWhile one can update Actual Start and/or Actual Finish dates in Microsoft Project by displaying these columns, my preferred method is using the Task Details Form which is very similar to the Activity Details Form in Primavera P6.
In this short video, I show how to enable and use the Task Details Form to update actual dates for project tasks.
Project Frameworks: Understand the Choices
2 years 51 weeks agoSelecting a project management approach and framework is complicated. Not that long ago, it was like buying a Model-T Ford; you could have any color you wanted, as long as it was black—our only option was Waterfall.
Today Waterfall is still a choice. There are also multiple Agile frameworks, or you can mix-and-match and go Hybrid. So many choices.
Flipping the Triple Constraint
3 years 3 weeks agoProject management theory established the Triple Constraint (aka, the Iron Triangle) as the key to project success. If the scope is known and fixed, then the schedule and cost must adjust to accommodate scope changes.
The simplicity of this proposition is appealing. At the beginning of the project, all requirements are documented, the design is approved, and
