In project management, like most things in life, there is no free lunch. If you want to finish sooner, you will have to cut the project scope. If you want lower costs, you have to cut expenses. If you want higher quality, you have to pay more. This constant tug of war is called the Triple Constraint, also known as the Project Management Triangle, or the Iron … [Read more...]
How Olympic Athletes Use Project Management Principles
Recently, I was left in awe at how some of the world's best athletes dedicate years of their lives to honing their skills, sacrificing immense amounts of time that could be spent on other, potentially more enjoyable, things. It goes without saying, that an immense amount of meticulous planning and management goes into preparing for a chance to stand at the top of the … [Read more...]
The Complete Guide to Gantt Charts
A Gantt Chart is to a project manager like a hammer is to a carpenter. It is the project manager's most used tool. It is used to convey the most critical information. And it plays an outsized role in project success. Since a project is by definition temporary, the completion date is a critical item in virtually every project. The gantt chart is used during project … [Read more...]
Task Completion Criteria
It's a surprisingly common occurrence that a project manager specifies a task as complete only to see more time, materials, and expenses charged to it the next week. Naturally, this is a frustrating situation. Of course, we want the task to be complete and we thus are motivated to check it off a soon as possible. There are often administrative and closing tasks that … [Read more...]
How to Draw a PERT Chart
The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is an important step in project scheduling. A PERT chart is a tool used to plan the execution of tasks within a project. PERT charts are a central part of any project management course. They are quick to draw and intuitive to use. How to Draw a PERT Chart There are two rules: Tasks (activities) are represented … [Read more...]
A Project Health Check
When a patient is first wheeled into the emergency room, the first priority of any doctor is their vital signs, that is, pulse, breathing, body temperature, and blood pressure. Regardless of the injury, if the vital signs are not stable the patient is dying and all efforts must be directed toward stabilizing them prior to treating the original injury. Project management … [Read more...]
How to Perform a Critical Path Analysis
Critical path analysis is a method used in project management for optimizing the completion of project tasks. If you need to go to yoga class and buy groceries, but yoga class doesn't start for 2 hours, you should buy the groceries first. The critical path is defined as the list of tasks which determine the completion date of the project. If you need an extra day … [Read more...]
30 Example Project Resources
I once experienced a project horror story whereby a piece of equipment was snowed in at a previous project, delaying the project by several weeks until a transport vehicle could get to the stranded machine. Since there are relatively few of these around, the project either had to wait or additional costs had to be incurred to procure another one. Managing these types … [Read more...]
Steps in Project Scheduling
Project scheduling is to a project manager like landing an airplane is to a pilot. It is often the largest and most visible aspect of project management. In this article, I will develop a professional, resource levelled project schedule that provides tremendous confidence in the ability to meet the project deadline. First, let's deal with the theoretical foundation. … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Develop a Bulletproof Project Schedule
Project scheduling is the key to ensuring the original project plan and final project outcome are at least close enough to call the project a success. It's the map that guides the ship. Good project managers look at the schedule constantly, sometimes on a daily basis, and take the actions necessary to stay on track. Because the definition of a project requires it to … [Read more...]