Project management articles, practical advise on how to apply the best practices with videos of PMs doing it the right way. See techniques based on our best practices from our Achievement-driven Project Methodology (AdPM) http://www.4pm.com project management The Hampton Group, Inc. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-us Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:42:55 -0700 dick.billows@4pm.com Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:37:51 -0700 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.9) http://www.feedforall.com http://www.4pm.com/images/4pmrss.gif http://www.4pm.com Project Management Training & Certification 105 77 A few minutes of risk management on even the smallest project gets a good return for the effort. We just need to scale risk management so the payback is proportional to the cost. Here's our 3-tiered approach for projects of different scales and significance. http://www.4pm.com/articles/risk.pdf 4766A2DB-2A44-4C4B-B2ED-C9EE7A7A460B Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:37:51 -0700 We can gather requirements like one of Santa’s elves finding out what everyone wants. That encourages scope creep and late finishes. Listen as Dick Billows, PMP explains a better way that leads to project success. http://4pm.com/classes/videoplayerHCP-requirements.htm business 6C873541-DA85-4251-8D80-F00BEBB6E2F1 Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:33:00 -0700 Watch as a project manager with a “Crisis Project” battles to keep the executive team from descending into conflict. Then hear an expert’s advice on what they should have done. http://www.4pm.com/classes/videoplayerBlunders-Turf.htm business 56154618-1067-4ED2-B106-7E6D54E3CDC9 Tue, 2 Mar 2010 11:53:57 -0700 There are lots of ways to work with vendors on your projects and several contract types to choose from. But the best of all is a performance & achievement "triangle" that ties contractors to the project with the right incentives and penalties. http://www.4pm.com/articles/contractor.pdf 454F792F-1ED3-4176-8AD7-7B69BB92085C Tue, 2 Mar 2010 11:27:40 -0700 During a project a PM faces three moments of truth with their team and how those MOTs are handled determines the fate of the project. Read about the wrong way to handle them and then the correct techniques to use. http://www.4pm.com/articles/TeamMOT.pdf Project management 5F09A644-C49C-4C17-ADF8-E8EC808A8409 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:56:01 -0700 We'll look at a project planning session and the typical mistakes project managers make by getting carried away with the technical details and falling into the activity trap. Then we'll look at the “best practices” way of conducting project planning and the kind of big picture thinking that's required for success. http://www.4pm.com/articles/project_planning.pdf Project Management 5465C831-03FF-472B-83CB-EC14E51D2E63 Tue, 9 Feb 2010 11:20:58 -0700 Watch three executives ask nasty questions of a project manager. Then an expert explains how to handle each situation and steer the executive down the path to project success. http://www.4pm.com/articles/Best_Project_Practices/slideshow3.htm project management ED9F9DA2-F9C5-4C8B-887F-5F366A54515D Tue, 2 Feb 2010 11:15:10 -0700 Project managers need soft skills and effective techniques to secure approval and gain support from stakeholders and commitment from their team. The foundation is an understanding of what business benefits the executives value. http://www.4pm.com/articles/Selling_projects.pdf Project Management BBAC5C67-624A-453A-A445-797E97B79731 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:30:50 -0700 No one likes to report variances on their project assignment. Both team members and PMs can suffer from too much optimism and hoping Tinkerbelle will save them at the last moment. We need solid methods and effective interpersonal techniques to gather realistic status data so we can solve problems before it’s too late. http://www.4pm.com/articles/Project_status_toothfairy.pdf Project management 604FE2F1-61CE-4CAD-BFC5-84487DCC20FF Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:01:16 -0700 Video Lecture: The work breakdown structure is the key to good assignments and accurate tracking. Dick Billows, PMP, discusses the common mistakes and the best practices for the WBS. Join Dick as he hikes the critical path http://4pm.com/articles/Best_Project_Practices/slideshow2.htm project management F91249F2-4BE0-4059-A113-AEF946D1D889 Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:46:21 -0700