Project Management

When I was managing the Supply Chain Project team that consolidated the IT systems of 9 hospitals and 23,000 users, the first thing I asked for was to map out business processes.  This would provide all team members with an exact picture of business functionality and also make sure all the technical requirements were included as well. The main reason why IT projects fail are due to inadequate Business Process maps producing poor gap...

I learned about power and influence in the workplace years ago. I was a Senior Buyer at the time in a large Aerospace company, when all of a sudden I inherited a new boss (from the outside). He was about 8 years younger (around 28 years old) than I was.  The odd part was that my current boss was doing a great job, but he was basically forced out of his position (to make room for my new boss) and politely asked to take a leadership...

Managing a large scale IT Project or Program can be like being VP of Operations for a set time.  You are leading a team from various departments. You create project plans from Business cases to reach goals within a given budget and timeline. You are affecting multiple business Process, developing a comprehensive blueprint, testing solutions and finally implementing the solution in a Production Environment. In a nutshell, your...

PHASE – PRE- PROJECT PLANNING Pre-project Planning – Project charter creation. Included are Benefits, Scope, Methodology, Guidelines, high level plan, deliverables, milestones, team structure, RACI chart, Strategy and metrics for RICEFW documents and customization, conversion, testing, infrastructure, security, training change management, assumptions, constraints and conflicts. Project Governance defined – Types of meetings,...

                  Hey, it’s brutal out there. Work has become a 24/7 affair, emails are drowning us, restructuring with layoffs is common and companies are buying back their own stock instead of investing. Same thing goes for Projects. There are many factors why projects fail, here are a few fundamental reasons. The consulting firm sold the client an overly complex solution. Always best to...

Here I go again on my own Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known Like a drifter I was born to walk alone An’ I’ve made up my mind, I ain’t wasting no more time  – Whitesnake       I am a Project Manager. I am also a Project Manager ready for another contract! Know of one? I didn’t dream of becoming a Project Manager when I was in high school. Neither was I like Tiger Woods whose...