Entries by Bonnie Biafore

What Do I Do When My Sponsor is Also My Customer?

August 18, 2020 in /by

An engaged sponsor who doubles as your primary customer has pros and cons. Here are a few tips for handling this situation: Prioritize the triple constraints. A combined sponsor/customer makes it easier to prioritize time, cost and scope. While you should strive to meet all three constraints, your job will be easier when you understand […]

Identifying the right people to provide requirements

August 11, 2020 in /by

Having the right resources to identify requirements gets your project off to a great start.  Here are 4 steps that can help: Identity the right stakeholder groups. Identify the various stakeholder groups that will be impacted by the new product or solution. Which ones are right? The ones that will be impacted by the new […]

Managing a project during a pandemic

August 7, 2020 in /by

Managing projects is rarely easy. Managing during a pandemic is another matter!  Here are four actions that can help: Soft skills first! It’s time to highlight your soft skills.  Touch base with each team member to determine their ability to perform.  Based on their circumstances, you may need to adjust their availability upward or downward […]

Picking the Right Tool for Effective Communication

July 24, 2020 in /by

Effective communication content is critical for project managers, but so is the tool you use to send your messages. Here are tool guidelines based on the intent of your communication: Email is appropriate for repeatable and expected messages such as status reporting or scheduling meetings. Because recipients can’t use factors like the voice inflection to […]

Manage Scope by Assessing Ownership

June 16, 2020 in /by

When project ideas flow freely, managing scope can challenging. One sure way to manage scope is to assess ownership. Unless the identified owner is appropriate, that element shouldn’t be part of your project. An owner is appropriate when: They can provide funding. An appropriate owner will fund the development of their scope item. In addition, […]

How a Project Manager Adjusts to Agile

June 9, 2020 in /by

Experienced project managers can manage agile projects — IF they make the necessary adaptations! Here’s how you need to adjust when managing agile projects: Ditch the Gantt Chart. Agile is a fluid production approach based on progressive learning and adapting to business priority changes. As a result, the pre-planned tasks in a Gantt chart aren’t […]