In earlier articles I have gone through the steps to define the project scope using a Scope Statement. The Project Scope Statement contains the definition of the scope in detail and for IT projects this is typically in the form of an Enterprise Design Document (EDD). So we have a detailed description of the scope [...]
First let me ask you to think about which is better: To meet your customers’ expectations or to exceed their expectations. If your answer is to exceed their expectations you really need to read on. I sometimes come across companies that proudly show me their corporate mission: “Our mission is to exceed our customer’s expectations”. [...]
Earned Value Management (EVM) is the cornerstone of cost and schedule management for a project. It is used to determine how much value has been put into a project. This helps the project manager to report the progress of the project related to cost and schedule, so that adjustments can be made as needed to keep [...]
Quality Management is an important knowledge area and is concerned with “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements”. What does this mean? It means that based on the specified requirements we need to determine how well the solution fulfills these requirements. When you are manufacturing widgets, it might be easy to [...]
… As a project manager the critical path is essential to determine potential issues in our project schedule. …
Many projects fail for several reasons. One of the major reasons is “The Scope Creep”. First let me define what the scope creep is and how it can sneak in on a project. When a project is first defined the scope is always a high-level scope as defined in the Project Charter and the Preliminary [...]
I wanted to let you know of a very useful tool when working with ERP systems or virtually any software programs. I often have a table or some text that I like to export to Excel and continue to work on like a worksheet. Sometimes the software I am using will allow me to do [...]
The cost of a project should be planned, quantified and measured. The job of the project manager is to tie the cost to activities and resources and build the estimates accordingly. Most projects start out with a high-level budget before we know the detailed costs. The project manager often gets a budget for the project [...]
This area deals with processes to handle procurement of goods and services that our organization can’t deliver. The overall philosophy of procurement management is that it’s formal. This means that we are not just dealing with handshakes and a few emails back and forth; we are dealing with formal and legal contracts with our subcontractors [...]
This knowledge area is primarily concerned with resources, activities and scheduling. As project managers we always want to be in control of the schedule and not the other way around. Using the scope baseline we build the schedule from the ground up. The key input to the knowledge area is the Work Breakdown Structure or [...]
