Knowledge
Meteorologists are better at predicting the weather than project managers are at delivering projects. About a third of projects are delivered on time, on budget, and with the desired scope. By contrast, a seven-day forecast is accurate about
2 Dec 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
Project managers ascend the career ladder based on accumulated experience-derived wisdom and managing progressively larger and more complicated efforts. A typical trajectory involves moving from managing projects to programs, portfolios, and project management organizations. Success at one level is
4 Nov 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
Stakeholder alignment—or lack thereof—can be the difference between project success and failure. In today’s dynamic business environment, projects face multiple stakeholders and constituencies. Often, these groups have competing or divergent interests.
6 Oct 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
Hybrid projects are not constrained by a single methodology or well-defined framework. By definition, they are a melding melding of practices. A huge responsibility accompanies this unbounded freedom of choice. Project managers must clearly describe how the project will be executed to be successful.
7 Sept 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
A project manager’s first major decision is selecting the approach and lifecycle. Historically, this was a non-issue. The default option was preordained based on the project type, organizational preferences, and inertia. Construction and engineering projects were always predictive. For software proj
3 Aug 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
I authored my first project management article 10 years ago. A mentor recommended I start writing to launch my transition from managing project organizations to teaching. Writing those early articles was challenging. Reducing complex ideas into writing is a skill requiring practice and discipline.
3 Jul 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
Hybrid project management just had its breakout moment! The Project Management Institute’s Pulse of the Profession® 2024 reported that hybrid (32%) is now the second most commonly used approach. Predictive (44%) still holds a commanding lead. And, agile (26%) use fell by 2 percentage points.
2 May 2024 · Alan Zucker · 6 min read
A picture is worth a thousand words. Projects can generate a lot of data. Large, mature organizations generally have the tools to capture, store, and analyze this information effectively. However, small and less mature organizations and those leading non-traditional efforts often lack the tools, pra
10 Apr 2024 · Alan Zucker · 6 min read
Making good decisions is a critical project management skill. The challenge is to create a fair, efficient, effective, and transparent process for our teams and stakeholders. In a McKinsey survey, only 20% of respondents stated their companies excelled in decision-making.
4 Mar 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
Shift-left is an Agile/DevOps call to action. It signaled the need to address quality sooner. As we adapt to the current dynamics, we should challenge standard paradigms and reevaluate when to execute project processes.
7 Feb 2024 · Alan Zucker · 5 min read
