Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services.

• Vincenzo Corvello

  How do social networks change the work of Project Managers?

  Project Management requires collaboration, communication, relationships management, knowledge sharing and diffusion, team building. All features that social networks are able to support. But what isProject Management requires collaboration, communication, relationships management, knowledge sharing and diffusion, team building. All features that social networks are able to support. But what is the actual diffusion of social networks as a working tool? Do Project Managers use specialized social networks, professional social networks (i.e. linkedin) or just Facebook? And what features do they find more useful? Finally: could you suggest any relevant literature on the topic?

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    Philip Knagg replied

    There are some relevant - and interestimng presentation on ganttheads PMXPO 2012 site. Worth a visit,.

    5 days ago
• Anthony Yeong

  Project Manager's responsiblity for product's profitabilty?

  One of the project issues I have encountered quite often is that should project manager holds accountability and responsibility of the profitability of product/service delivered by the project? IfOne of the project issues I have encountered quite often is that should project manager holds accountability and responsibility of the profitability of product/service delivered by the project? If the product/service delivered on time, within budget, comply to scope and quality, it deems to be successful from project manager's perspective. However, during a post-project review, the management found out that the product/service delivered by the project do not delivered financial returns as it expected or it didn't generate sufficient profit margin, should the project manager be responsible? In some companies, people are not happy that the project managers "clean" their hands after the projects were completed. Should the project managers continue to montior the profitability of the products delivered by the projects? Welcome for comments.

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    Philip Knagg replied

    "to create a unique product service or result". Result implies soem kind of performance metric and service could imply a quality statement that equally could have a measure. Project charters are"to create a unique product service or result". Result implies soem kind of performance metric and service could imply a quality statement that equally could have a measure. Project charters are often business case based and so in my view the PM has to accept that the project outcomes must be measured against the metric defined up front. It is too easy for a PM to pass the buck to the technical/execution team after the product is delivered, but at the end of the day the PM needs to ensure that qualitty is measured throughout the project execution phase. And yes, project closeout should not be allowed to take place until the outcomes are measured against the expectation.

    11 days ago
• Collins Kowuor

  What are the main considerations when merging two companies?

  In this era, it may be more competitive when you merge at least two companies in the same industry , for instance , management of real estate. The merger process can be a project in itself

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    Ragu Bharadwaj replied

    Operations Strategy and Culture. Chrysler and Daimler could never merge because both companies had fundamentally different operations strategies. Daimler designed and built everything for perfectionOperations Strategy and Culture. Chrysler and Daimler could never merge because both companies had fundamentally different operations strategies. Daimler designed and built everything for perfection whereas Chrysler just bought everything and joined the parts. Similarly Zara and Macy's could never merge successfully. One has a cycle time of 2 weeks from design to store whereas the other has a cycle time of 6 months. Culture is self evident and I won't go into it here.

    11 days ago
• Anthony Yeong

  What is the current adoption rate of project portfolio management by most medium and large sized organizations?

  Project portfolio management has been around for quite a number of years. However, how many companies have adopted the project portfolio management process and tool? How many companies have recruitedProject portfolio management has been around for quite a number of years. However, how many companies have adopted the project portfolio management process and tool? How many companies have recruited Portfolio Managers to manage the portfolios of projects? Portfolio management is a good link between project management and strategies in the organization. However, the key executives don't seem to appreciate the values of portfolio management yet. Same applied to project practititioners as there is no certification on project portfolio management yet. (ie. certified project portfolio professional) What could be the key factors of slow adoption? Lastly, should project portfolio management be a project function or management/executive function in the organization?

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    Philip Knagg replied

    Roger - firstly I like to take a broader view than my bread and butter income. Secondly I have a keen professional interest in program management and business service management and in project officeRoger - firstly I like to take a broader view than my bread and butter income. Secondly I have a keen professional interest in program management and business service management and in project office (PMO) adoption and thirdly, of course I do a good job on the projects and programs I am responsible for. And in my spare time I fix cars :-) Anthony, we live in a fast changing economic and technical world. Long term projects can easily be overtaken by events or developments.Corporate take-overs mean shifts in prioirities and in toolsets, Government policies introduce new variables. technical developments change and enterprise's emphasis on in house development to, say on demand or cloud solutions. All these may negate a business case and lead to redeploymen of resouces. The alternative to carry on regardless sounds like a slapstick movie !

    12 days ago
• Pradnya Purandare

  Which project risk estimation techniques are important, and why?

  Several Project Risk Assessment and Estimation techniques like CPM, PERT, Monte Carlo Simulations, and ACO are used in research today. Which could be more helpful in their application to projectSeveral Project Risk Assessment and Estimation techniques like CPM, PERT, Monte Carlo Simulations, and ACO are used in research today. Which could be more helpful in their application to project risks? Which are better in their performance with respect to CPU time, memory usage etc.?

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    Oddmund Granli replied

    This is what I wrote in my previous note. The case is that conventional method of using PERT and Monte Carlo you only study the deterministic outcome on each activity. Uncertainty will reveal it’sThis is what I wrote in my previous note. The case is that conventional method of using PERT and Monte Carlo you only study the deterministic outcome on each activity. Uncertainty will reveal it’s self if you add the risk, threat and opportunity to each task, groups of task and to the project as a whole. So very basic, the risk or uncertainty assessment if completing the procedure as referred above will give the total uncertainty picture. Normally the second part is done in an abstraction of the project schedule, no more than 200 program activities. Dr Oddmund

    15 days ago
• Hector De Luna

  How can you organize a software development project on a cluster if you have several companies providing resources?

  Does anyone know of a working model?

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    Mathias Goldau replied

    In general this is a very hard task mainly depending on your project requirements. If you just want to share computational power and each company contributes computational power to the projectsIn general this is a very hard task mainly depending on your project requirements. If you just want to share computational power and each company contributes computational power to the projects cluster you might need a software which couples those resources into a so called Grid and manages jobs on it. A software which might go into that direction is called a grid engine such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_Grid_Engine. But this aspect (sharing computational resources) regards only a tiny field of organizing software projects! Another link into this special direction is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_toolkit. Please don't expect that such software will all solve your problems. Hope this helps, Mathias

    16 days ago
• Anthony Yeong

  Any good examples of Start-to-Finish dependency?

  Finish-to-Start relationship is straight forward as most of the tasks fall under this category. Start-to-Start and Finish-to-Finish tasks are also relatively common. However, Start-to-Finish task isFinish-to-Start relationship is straight forward as most of the tasks fall under this category. Start-to-Start and Finish-to-Finish tasks are also relatively common. However, Start-to-Finish task is not typical. Start of the predecessor triggers the finish of the successor which is rather tricky. One example I have encountered is the start of the new shift of the security guard signal the finish shift of the current security guard. ie. if the next shift security guard didn't turn up, the first shift security guard has to continue his duty. Any other good examples will be much appreciated.

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    Anthony Yeong replied

    Based on more theoretical definition, "Start-to-Finish" refers to the relationship between two activities that the completion of successor is dependent on the initiation of its predecessor. So, theBased on more theoretical definition, "Start-to-Finish" refers to the relationship between two activities that the completion of successor is dependent on the initiation of its predecessor. So, the successor cannot be finished until the start of the predecessor. This is something that puzzled me. In the application server example, the new version is the successor where the older version is the predecessor. Hence, the predecessor ended triggers the start of successor, logically it is more of a Finish-to-Start example. Thus, it can't really fulfil the Start-to-Finish definition. Thanks for the suggestion anyway. Please continue to help thinking. cheers.

    20 days ago
• Anthony Yeong

  What is the underlying theoretical foundation of project management?

  What is the underlying theoretical foundation of project management? Is it systems engineering? Operations management? Control systems? Should project management falls under the discipline ofWhat is the underlying theoretical foundation of project management? Is it systems engineering? Operations management? Control systems? Should project management falls under the discipline of Science, Art or Business? Is there a generally recognised Theory of Project Management by the practitioners and academics?

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    Richard Koehler replied

    What does this mean for the world of "professional PM certificates"? It seems confusing.

    Mar 8, 2012
• José Henrique Teixeira de Carvalho Sbrocco

  Can anyone recommend any material related to implementation of project offices at colleges?

  Hello, I am a teacher at a technical college, in Brazil. Besides teaching, I am responsible for managing and implementing a project office, with the aim of improving betters conditions of research inHello, I am a teacher at a technical college, in Brazil. Besides teaching, I am responsible for managing and implementing a project office, with the aim of improving betters conditions of research in college, increase synergy between university and companies, research funding agencies, and other activities. I have worked on developing a methodology for project management, considering agile paradigms, facing the academic community. If someone has some material on the use of models of office projects for colleges or want to share experiences in this area, we would appreciate the contact.

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    José Henrique Teixeira de Carvalho Sbrocco replied

    Hello José Jackson. Thank you for your interest. I am the CEO of an association of research, teaching and development, recently established in Brazil to promote partnerships between public andHello José Jackson. Thank you for your interest. I am the CEO of an association of research, teaching and development, recently established in Brazil to promote partnerships between public and private institutions involved in scientific research and also aimed to exchange studies in areas of mutual interest. We are interested in looking for an way in order we can work together. I tried to find your email to keep in touch you but I haven´t found. Please contact me using my personal email (sbrocco.henrique@gmail.com) for we start a conversation to find a good form of partnership. Best regards.

    Feb 23, 2012
• Anthony Yeong

  When is an endeavour not a project?

  Just came across a debate that everything can be a project. Is it an idea, initiative, business plan, change, program, problem or is it really a project? What's your thought?

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    Anthony Yeong replied

    Just to add few more words about Change Management. Perhaps we should differentiate Change Management in organization context and Change Management in Project context. Change Mangement inJust to add few more words about Change Management. Perhaps we should differentiate Change Management in organization context and Change Management in Project context. Change Mangement in Organization is about the processes, tools and techniques in managing the impacts to the people in the orgnization in adopting to the changes. It helps the people as well as the organization in transiting from current to future desired state. Whereas, Change Management in Project concerns about managing, monitoring and controlling the changes in project. For example, assessing, approving and executing the change request. Setting up the Change Control Board etc.

    Feb 14, 2012
• Anthony Yeong

  PRINCE2 & PMBOK: I have updated my article on PRINCE2 and PMBOK: http://www.anthonyyeong.com/The_Marriage_of_PRINCE2_and_PMBOK.pdf Welcome for more feedback and comment on comparison betweenPRINCE2 & PMBOK: I have updated my article on PRINCE2 and PMBOK: http://www.anthonyyeong.com/The_Marriage_of_PRINCE2_and_PMBOK.pdf Welcome for more feedback and comment on comparison between PRINCE2 and PMBOK.
• Prananda Navitas

  When compiling a Feasibility Study (FS) document, how much information should the document hold? Should it expose every bit of information found on the project location/environment, or can it hold aWhen compiling a Feasibility Study (FS) document, how much information should the document hold? Should it expose every bit of information found on the project location/environment, or can it hold a few information back? How do we determine the quality of an FS document?

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    J.R. Sloan replied

    Feasibility is in the eyes of the requestor, usually. So, design your FS by first assessing the needs of the target of the document (or funding request, which is usually what the FS precedes). [ IsFeasibility is in the eyes of the requestor, usually. So, design your FS by first assessing the needs of the target of the document (or funding request, which is usually what the FS precedes). [ Is the "market" a legislative body? Is it an executive office in a firm? Is it a nonprofit Board with limited resources?] Determine which level or which "audience" you're trying to reach. Try to find the spokesperson in the audience who can best articulate needs & discuss with them. Then, choose your points, conclusions, recommendations and your overall language to fit their needs. Not more than they need, just what their needs (as they see it) are. The trick in all this is, of course, getting agreement in advance what those needs are so you can target them.

    Jan 23, 2012
• Anthony Yeong

  Professional Certifications or Academic Degrees in PM

  There is an ongoing debate about the relevant and value of getting professional certifications in project management versus academic qualifications in project management. It should be depending onThere is an ongoing debate about the relevant and value of getting professional certifications in project management versus academic qualifications in project management. It should be depending on your career phase, interest and current project management knowledge and competencies. For a young graduate who is keen in project management, he or she could consider a Bachelor degree in PM or related degrees with PM focused. As for working professionals who like to shift to pm career, he or she might consider to pursue a Master degree or post-graduate diploma in PM. Try to gather as many pm experience as possible. Volunteer yourself to participate in projects. However, project managers who have sufficient years of experience, it is more worth considerating to get a professional certification like PMP or PRINCE2 Practitioner. Academic qualifications might not be so meaningful at this stage. Another possibility is to get a Doctorate degree in PM or a PhD if one is really very interested in conducting further research in PM and to contribute theoretical knowledge in PM. Lastly, it is depending whether the certifications or academic qualifications have any contributions to your career advancement and to the organizations you are working with. Personal interest is another key consideration. Welcome to share your thoughts.

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    titus ebenezer Kwofie replied

    essentially, support the argument for academic qualification of the domain area before professional certification. in my involvement of project, i am challenged to do further explanations toessentially, support the argument for academic qualification of the domain area before professional certification. in my involvement of project, i am challenged to do further explanations to participants who do not have technical competence in the subject are but are PMs.

    Jan 16, 2012
• Anthony Yeong

  An useful reference on the evolution of project management: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/evolution-of-project-management.html
• Naeem Shakoor

  Information flows

  How worthy is the definition of information flow paths among the members and how such paths could be deemed effective? How flexible and adaptive should be the information system?