Entries by Bonnie Biafore

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 […]

The Right Way to Fast-track or Crash Your Project

May 29, 2020 in /by

Fast-tracking means scheduling tasks in parallel when possible. Crashing is adding people or spending money to complete work earlier. Don’t be overly ambitious with these techniques. Here are some dos and don’ts for fast-tracking and crashing: Do look for opportunities to fast-track or crash. These strategies can shorten the schedule, but also add risk — […]

What you can and can’t change in Agile

May 22, 2020 in /by

Agile methodologies accommodate change easily, which is why they’re called -er- agile! However, some things don’t change. Here’s an overview of what you can and can’t change with agile: Priority.  Each sprint includes a review and re-prioritization of the functional backlog, so you can change priority before each sprint.  Prioritization of items commonly occurs as […]

The Benefits of Dedicated Resources

May 12, 2020 in /by

Dedicated project team members might appear expensive, but they provide significant benefits, which might reduce your project costs: Focused responsibilities. Dedicated people aren’t distracted by day-to-day operational issues. They can fully examine the project deliverables and understand how the project is proceeding so they can deliver what’s best for the project. You get better outcomes […]

A Project Manager’s Responsible Optimism

April 28, 2020 in /by

The pessimism of Eeyore, the gloomy donkey from Winnie-the-Pooh, would make him an uninspiring project manager. But unchecked optimism isn’t good either—you come off as unrealistic. Here are some tips for achieving the balance of constructive optimism: Complement optimism with risk management. Balance your optimism with constructive risk discussions. Openly surface issues and the response […]