When creating a project schedule, it’s important that you understand the different dependencies and relationships that exist between the project tasks and activities. One of these relationships is the start-to-finish relationship. While not as common as finish-to-start relationships, this relationship…
As a project manager or business leader, understanding the distinction between projects and operations is key to effective resource allocation as well as achieving organizational success. These two concepts can be quite confusing and it’s not uncommon for operations to…
As an Agile or Scaled Agile practitioner, you are probably familiar with the concept of the Program Increment (PI). If you are not, then know that implementing SAFe requires organizing work into Program Increments (PIs). In this article, we’ll explore…
Product scope and project scope are two concepts in project management that are often used interchangeably. Though they sound similar, they refer to very different aspects of a project and it’s crucial to understand the difference between them. In this…
When managing a project, you need effective ways to track its progress and spot potential issues. Two useful metrics for this are project analysis using Earned Value and Planned Value. Understanding the difference between Earned Value and Planned Value allows…
Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial for evaluating your project management office’s (PMO’s) effectiveness and alignment with strategic goals. Carefully monitoring metrics like project success rate, resource utilization, and return on investment enables data-driven decisions to optimize processes. In…
The release of the PMBOK Guide 7th edition introduces a new principle-driven approach to managing projects as opposed to the process-driven approach championed by PMBOK 6. As a project manager, you need to understand these fundamental principles that will guide…
When managing projects, using a standardized framework like PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide to guide your work can be invaluable. This guide provides a framework for project managers to leverage in project delivery. The recent release of…
Ever wonder if your organization’s project management office (PMO) is operating as efficiently as it could be? Evaluating your PMO’s maturity can be a game-changer. PMO maturity models provide a framework for assessing where your processes stand today and developing…
Risk management is a critical factor when managing projects to ensure project success. An important part of risk management is performing risk analysis to assess and prioritize various project risks. Two main techniques for analyzing risks are qualitative and quantitative…