Entries by Bonnie Biafore

Project Assumptions: Types and the Risks They Pose

Every assumption you make for a project introduces risk. By raising your awareness of types of assumptions and the risks they pose, you can make sure that you develop solid risk management plans for them. Initial assumptions are part of every project proposal. When project ideas surface, you must make assumptions to estimate project benefits. […]

Increasing Your Chances of Project Approval

Submitting a project for funding approval can be stressful. Will management give thumbs up or down? Doing your homework and providing critical information is the key to getting your projects approved. Here are the questions to answer to increase your chances of project approval. How will you meet financial targets? Many organizations have financial thresholds […]

Overlooked Cost of Project Change

Change happens! It’s not a bad thing if you control the cost. But some change cost often gets overlooked. Here are costs you should examine before approving a project change request. Cost of additional process decisions and handoffs. Changes might affect the business processes for using your solutions. If decision points are added to business […]

Is Your Sponsor Ready for Agile?

A critical factor for using agile methods successfully is the mindset of the sponsor. With the wrong attitude about how agile works, you might as well forget about using an agile approach. A sponsor who is ready for agile must: Support a “learning organization.”  Learning organizations spend some time on activities that don’t directly create […]

The Benefits of Keeping Project Scope Small

Project success is more likely when stakeholders hash out scope early in the project lifecycle. Here are the benefits of discussing (and debating) project scope to make it as small as possible: Focus on what is important. Stakeholder discussions about scope reveal which elements of scope are most important. That helps you prioritize scope, which […]

How to Be a Sponsor Whisperer

Ever notice that some project managers always seem to have sponsor support? Project managers who successfully manage sponsors use a handful of techniques. Here are the go-to tools for “executive whisperer” project managers. Get to the point in status reports. Status reports should be short and concise . Talk with your sponsor to understand their […]

The Business Case Lifecycle

The project lifecycle is well-known, but did you know there are other lifecycles within it? Well-managed projects include a business case, which has a lifecycle as well. Here are common stages in the lifecycle of a business case and the information they contain. Overview of the business case lifecycle The first draft of the business […]

Should You Create an Exception Plan for Your Project?

An Exception Plan is a pre-agreed fallback approach to implement if a project gets into trouble. It’s more than a mitigation plan to address a single risk. An exception plan supplies an alternative project plan to recover from unacceptable conditions, such as exceeding the accepted tolerances for schedule delays or budget overruns.  First, let’s look […]

How Agile Supports Change

Agile methodologies are designed to handle change easily, which is why they’re called -er- agile! Most aspects of agile work can change without causing problems. But a couple of things are best left alone. Here’s what you can and shouldn’t change when working in an agile environment:  Priority.  At the beginning of each sprint, the […]

When Business Value Doesn’t Meet Expectations

It might seem like a hopeless situation when business value doesn’t meet expectations. Here are a few things to look at for potential opportunities for improvement. Revisit your estimates. Compare the estimates used to justify the project to the business results. Opportunities may arise from this, including: Business activities included in project justification aren’t being […]