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Showing posts from December, 2008

Tips for Success using Project Management Tools

Want to improve your project success? In this newsletter we’ll tell you how, by listing our Top 10 tips. So here they are... 10 Tips for Success using Project Management Tools 1.  Starting out : Make sure that when you start out your customer defines their requirements in depth. You need to know exactly what it is that must be delivered, to who and when. Make it specific, write it up formally and get them to sign it off. This document will become the basis upon which to measure your success. 2.  Customers : Involve your customers throughout the entire project life cycle. Get them involved in the analysis and planning, as well as execution. You don’t have to seek their approval, just keep them informed. The more you involve them, the greater their level of buy-in and the easier it is to manage their expectations. 3.  Timeframes : Keep your delivery timeframes short and realistic. Never agree to lengthy timeframes. Split the project into “mini-projects” if you need to. Keep each mini-pro

Project Management Case Studies for Teams and Managers

Many Project Managers try and start new projects afresh. But why start from scratch when you could read Project Management Case Studies to get a head start? The process is simple. Read each of the Project Management Case Studies included in this project methodology and use the learnings to deliver projects faster than before.  The learnings described in these Project Management Case Studies help you initial, plan, execute and close projects effectively. Each case study includes practical examples for how common daily life project problems were solved. They were written by real project managers for sample projects and they cover all industries.

Read a Project Management Case Study

When you are managing projects, you often get stuck. This is when it’s a great time to read a Project Management Case Study to see how other project managers have overcome the problem. The Project Management Case Study described in this project methodology will tell you what the problem was, what the alternative solutions were, the path that the project manager decided to go down and what the eventual outcome was. There are more than twenty detailed case studies are included. These documents form the greatest collection of comprehensive case studies on the internet. Every Project Management Case Study has been professionally written and it describes real life sample projects.

Outsourcing and a Statement of Work

If you outsource part of your projects to third parties, then you’ll need to keep a close eye on them to ensure their success. Here’s how... Managing Outsourced Projects - by creating a Statement of Work Take these 5 steps to ensure the success of your outsourced projects: State the Work Before you outsource, specify the Statement of Work . This is a document which is released to the third party, specifying exactly what you need them to deliver, when and how. It lists your requirements and it gives your supplier the opportunity to confirm that they can meet your expectations. Seal the Deal Every successful supplier relationship has a strong contract behind it. In your supplier contract make sure you clearly state the responsibilities of each party. Include delivery milestones which are points in time by which elements of the project must be delivered. And make it clear that you will only pay them when each delivery milestone is completed. Go one step further by including penalties for

Use Project Management Examples to Save Time

One of the hardest think about project management is the fact that very few projects are documented, to learn from. That’s where this project methodology and process stands out from the rest. It includes a set of Project Management Examples that provide practical, real-life case studies for sample projects. Would you be interested in how a Business Case was completed for a Telecommunications project, or a Feasibility Study for a financial project? Regardless of your industry or project type, this project methodology suite includes practical Project Management Examples that will help you. Download a free trial of the professional edition today. Only the Professional edition includes all of the project management case studies and

Project Methodology Process and Life Cycle

We are often asked, what is the difference between a project management methodology , project management process and project life cycle. The answer is that they are all very similar. While there is no industry standard definition of the differences between them each, it’s widely though that the life cycle describes a step by step process for projects, and the methodology includes the life cycle and the process. To make things a little more complicated, a life cycle can included processes, such as a risk process or a change process for projects.

Deliver Challenging Projects with Project Templates

Every project is a challenge, but if you have tight deadlines, limited funding and are short of resource—then you may have a tougher challenge than you think! To help you succeed, read these tips on... How to Deliver Challenging Projects There are 5 classic signs of a “challenging” project. We’ve described them below and offer you advice for managing them: Tight Deadlines If your project deadline is practically unachievable, then here’s what to do. First, try and get it delayed. If you can’t, then immediately replan your project so you know by how much you will be late. If it’s more than 10% then try and find more resource to help you deliver it more quickly. And if you can’t get the resource, then reduce your scope. Identify non-critical deliverables and get your sponsor to agree that you can complete those deliverables after the deadline has passed. Otherwise, you need to revisit the tasks in your plan to see if you can produce the same deliverables, with less tasks and effort than b

A Project Management Process that Spins Your Wheels

Do you want a Project Management Process that “spins your wheels”? MPMM includes an entire process for projects. In fact, all of the processes needed to deliver projects successfully are included in this one-stop-shop toolkit for projects. The Project Management Process toolkit includes a: Time Management Process Cost Management Process Quality Management Process Change Management Process Risk Management Process Issue Management Process Procurement Management Process Acceptance Management Process Communications Management Process Take a free trial of this Project Management Process tool kit for projects today.

Tracking Project with Project Templates

To succeed as a Project Manager, you need to “watch your projects like a hawk”. This means tracking every aspect of your project to ensure you deliver on time. To help you do this, read these 5 tips: How to Track Your Projects It’s a tough challenge; juggling people, equipment, time, money and materials to complete your project on time. To do it successfully, you need to keep an eye on 5 key areas of your project... 1. Time and Cost Put an hour aside every week to determine if you are likely to complete the project on time. To do this, identify any tasks that are running late and determine whether they are likely to delay the overall project. Then look for ways that you can save time by; finishing tasks earlier, delaying non-critical tasks to after the project has been completed, or gaining approval from your Sponsor to remove tasks altogether. You also need to review the total spend of the project to date against the original budget set. Identify ways to reduce costs by allocating che

Project Management Life Cycle Included

MPMM includes an entire Project Management Life Cycle for projects. The life cycle explains how to deliver projects from start to finish. Regardless of whether you’re about to build a project plan, hire people or set up a project office, then the Project Management Life Cycle included tells you how to do it. As the only downloadable Project Management Life Cycle on the web, MPMM allows you to complete every step of the life cycle quickly and easily. Every step in the life cycle is complimented by a template which provides all of the content you need to complete the step faster and more efficiently than before. And there is a practical example for each template, to show you how the step was undertaken for a sample project.

Innovative Project Management Tools

MPMM includes all of the Project Management Tools you need for projects. Every project management tool helps you deliver projects faster than before. The tools include a suite of project templates and examples which save you time on projects. And the project management methodology included in MPMM, tells you what has to be completed, how and by when. Every step in the project management life cycle is described in depth, to help you complete your projects on time and under budget. If you are a project manager, team leader or you just want to improve your project success, then the Professional edition of MPMM will help you do it. It is the only project management tool on the market that includes an entire methodology for projects.

How to Plan Projects with Project Planning

Every Project Manager needs a crystal-clear plan for their project. How should you create this plan? Should it be created in the same way every time? At what stage will dependencies, baselines and actuals be recorded? To find out the answers to these commonly asked questions, read on… How to Plan Your Projects - with smart Project Planning It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in or project you’re involved with, these 5 steps should be taken every time to properly plan your project: Step 1: Set the Direction Before you start out, set the direction for the project. Do this by clearly identifying the project vision, goals and deliverables. State the overall timeframes for delivery and clarify the amount of resource available. Determine what is “in scope” and “out of scope”. Identify the benefits and costs in delivering the project and any milestones and constraints. Only once this is agreed with your Project Sponsor will you know what it is that you have to achieve. Step 2: Task Select

Tools for Project Management Methodologies

There are a few tools available in the market to help you implement Project Management Methodologies for projects. Most project management methodologies are fixed, so you cannot customize them for your projects. This is where MPMM is different, as you can customize the content, templates and processes to help you create customized project management methodologies for your particular business. It does include a complete methodology already. However you can also upload your own project management methodologies for your projects if you wish. By implementing a suite of project management methodologies for projects, you can ensure that you always have the right methods available for the right projects, at the right time.