Project management articles, updates and reviews from Elizabeth Harrin.
I was at the Best Practice Showcase last Tuesday and I actually had a really good time, which is strange given that it was mainly an event for project management training companies to sell at the punters. There are some people I only get to see at conferences and I met some new people too…
Gents, this is a post about earned value analysis*. My trusty handbag for work is coming to the end of its useful life. I bought it in Brussels, when I was visiting a friend. I got all excited that they still had C&A shops when the chain had been closed in the UK for years,…
I have a garden again. Last summer I was between homes. The summer before that I managed to get a few runner beans out of a pot in the courtyard of my Paris flat. But I’m pretty sure that the constant smoking from my neighbors stunted the plant’s growth. And maybe the fact that I…
This is part 2 of a 3-part series about managing cross-cultural and international teams. Missed part 1? Read it here. Project managers taking on international projects face a variety of practical challenges. For example, time zones are important. How will you conduct real-time team meetings? Who is going to be the person who gets up…
I thought I’d share with you the official write-up of the fab gala dinner at last week’s conference. They timed the speeches between the courses, so it meant people didn’t leave their dinners to get too cold while they went up to present or collect awards – only at a project management event are things…
Andrew Ball, head of IT Performance Audit at the Audit Commission, was one of the speakers at last week’s BPUG Congress. He spoke during a session in the strategic project and programme management strand about how to cope when projects go wrong. The main thrust of his argument was trying to avoid projects going wrong…
We are moving offices (it feels like only yesterday that I last did an office move – from beautiful Avenue Matignon to crummy La Défense), so I decided to clear out my desk drawers before the crates arrive. There is a whole lot of stuff in there that should be sent for archiving or just…
It’s the time of year to prepare for annual performance appraisals. I did some research for Projects@Work recently, and wrote an article for them about how project managers could best arm themselves for the dreaded one-to-one with their line manager. I ended up in contact with loads of experts, more than I could fit in…
Each week Computing and Computer Weekly rehash old material about how important it is to get more women working in IT and how terrible it is that there is unfair treatment in the workplace. I’m sure there is unfair treatment in many workplaces, although I’ve been fortunate enough never to experience any. And reading about…
Looking for a present for the PM in your life? She might appreciate some of these gifts: Vouchers for Starbucks or her local coffee shop — for keeping going when steering group reports are due A subscription to Shattered A retractable powder brush, so the inside of her handbag doesn’t get messy, and a fix-all-hide-all…
I listened to Rich Maltzman talking about his forthcoming book Fiddler on the Project (co-authored with Ranjit Biswas) on Controlling Chaos, way back in July. We’ve been corresponding since, trying to find time to talk about project management and authoring. I finally got round to asking him some questions last week, and from the sounds…
There were plenty of questions about project management at last week’s women in technology event on how to be a successful woman in IT. Mainly people were interested in how to break into project management. The panel, made up of technology, project and programme managers from JPMorgan, as well as the main speaker, Helen Duguid from…