The other day I was talking to a friend about the pandemic (some topics are evergreen), and we were marvelling how, up until then, so many organisations were adamant that … Continue reading Never say never
Category: Project management
“Timeboxes are great – now let’s think about features”
I was once speaking to a programme manager about a time he had just arrived at a company. The leadership team needed to start a big project which had only … Continue reading “Timeboxes are great – now let’s think about features”
Discovering governance
I discovered the importance of project and programme governance several years ago. I was working with an empowered and effective team delivering a project to a distinct budget and deadline. … Continue reading Discovering governance
Earn more by delivering earlier
Recently I’ve been thinking about choices in planning—what options do we have around how to structure the delivery of a piece of work, and which should we choose? Often when … Continue reading Earn more by delivering earlier
There’s value in a measure without measuring
I’m a big fan of having goals that are measurable. That’s usually in what I call a value statement, and it doesn’t just have to be done with numbers, either, … Continue reading There’s value in a measure without measuring
Stakeholder commitments on a sliding scale
One of the challenges with speaking to senior stakeholders—and really I mean the stakeholders who sign the cheque that pays for our work—is being able to promise them something that … Continue reading Stakeholder commitments on a sliding scale
Seemingly impossible goals can change reality
It’s a constant bugbear of software teams that deadlines are often just wishes. “You need to deliver it by this date” can be largely the same as a manager donning … Continue reading Seemingly impossible goals can change reality
Minimising “must have”s
I was speaking to friend the other day who had worked on a procurement project for a piece of machinery for his organisation. His role was to lead the requirements … Continue reading Minimising “must have”s
Moving from subjective to objective discussions
I often work with product teams who have conversations—sometimes very difficult ones with stakeholders—that are full of unstated assumptions, subjectivity, and a lot of unsubstantiated “I think…” comments. For a … Continue reading Moving from subjective to objective discussions
Granularity of project governance frameworks
I’ve worked with a few organisations that wanted to create a framework for reporting on and governing projects or programmes. The intention is generally good: we have lots of projects … Continue reading Granularity of project governance frameworks
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