242 posts from: Anticlue
Delivering Solutions by managing Speed, Quality, and Expense
(Indexed 2010-09-06):
There is a line in the sand when it comes to technology adoptions. Lately the school of thought has been regarding separating IT and the business, and just implementing the system. However it is time to rethink that perspective. In...
Searching for Healthcare IT Leadership - Uncovering Your IT Practices
(Indexed 2010-08-16):
Simply put, it is time for Healthcare to catch up with technology. Healthcare IT has been the Cinderella in waiting way too long, and folks we have a mess on our hands. Poor Leadership and Heroic Getter Done Right Now...
ICD10 Program Implementation - Partnering the Change Leader and Program Manager
(Indexed 2010-06-22):
Hope springs eternal within Information Technology. There are urban legends of sorts of business leaders who step forward and drive the change to ICD10. Unfortunately, these legends are at just a couple of health systems. For the rest of us,...
IT Program Management: Consolidate Projects into Programs to Achieve Outcomes
(Indexed 2010-06-21):
Projects are no longer managed in a vacuum. Within Information Technology, we often have dependencies to other projects. The time has come to take a program approach to managing multiple inter-related dependent projects. Focusing upon the infrastructure side of the...
Embracing Project Management to Cross Functional Boundaries
(Indexed 2010-06-04):
Planning, launching and executing projects is how business problems are resolve and new opportunities are seized. Managing Projects fails outside of the operational work keeping the lights running of the business. Perhaps your project work is centralizing registration, reducing ER...
How to Avoid Project Failure
(Indexed 2010-06-01):
We have all heard the war stories of failed projects - Scope Changes running out of control, Budget Overuns, Lack of System Adoption, Automation Failures, and Live Events with fundamental system errors. But how is project failure determined? When is...
IT Management Review - Sixth Edition
(Indexed 2010-06-01):
Welcome to the May 31, 2010 edition of IT Management Review. As you know, IT Management Review is a monthly digest covering the best of IT Management blog posts published within the last month. Application Management, ITSM, infrastructure management, governance,...
Qualities of a Project Sponsor
(Indexed 2010-05-27):
Most projects are about implementing some type of change. This change will need to be adopted by the organization in order to be a success. Changes are often lead by Change Leaders and the skill set to make a change...
How to Illustrate Business Case Benefits
(Indexed 2010-05-24):
It is just about that time of year again, when we will go about creating business cases. These are our proposals for investments the business can make to improve operations, achieve growth in an existing market or grow in another...
How to Establish Project Decision Protocols
(Indexed 2010-05-23):
On projects decisions matter, timely decisions are crucial to project results and team performance. Wise project managers are skilled in the art of facilitating decisions. Often we find ourselves in situations where a decision Is needed to evaluate a change,...
IT Management Review - Fifth Edition
(Indexed 2010-05-02):
Glad you could stop by for the fifth edition of the IT Management Review. As you know, IT Management Review is a monthly digest covering the best of IT Management blog posts published within the last month. Application Management, ITSM,...
The Judgment Call and Standardized Templates
(Indexed 2010-04-30):
Commonly new project manager completes the templates from the PMO standards and become a bit overwhelmed. A Tip of the Trade is not to lose your common sense and make judgment calls on which component to use and which to...
Discovering your Application Integration Points
(Indexed 2010-04-22):
As a new pm or an old one, a key component of any upgrade or replacement project is to discover your integration touch points for the old system. For most application integration is becoming more prevalent with automation and saving...
Fundamentals of a Process
(Indexed 2010-04-14):
One of the fundamental building blocks of project management is the concept of a process. A process is a series of action to achieve an outcome. In order to have a process, there must be inputs, a transformation, and then...
The Top 10 Reasons for Project Failure
(Indexed 2010-04-09):
Let's be frank, we, project managers, are fascinated by project failure. Mostly, due to the fact that we do not want our projects to fail, so how to avoid project failure will be forthcoming In my experience, I have comprised...
IT Management Review - Fourth Edition
(Indexed 2010-03-29):
Welcome to the fourth edition of IT Management Review. As you know, IT Management Review is a monthly digest covering the best of IT Management blog posts published within the last month. Application Management, ITSM, infrastructure management, governance, performance...
Teamwork Drives Project Success
(Indexed 2010-03-27):
By myself, I can envision a future, with a team we can make the vision occur and greater than one imagined. In today's world, projects are completed by interdependent empowered specialists. Business objectives are achieved by the collaborative efforts of...
Why choose to be a Technology-Focused PM or a Business-Focused PM?
(Indexed 2010-03-22):
Lately there has been a bit of discussion about the technology expertise a project manager needs to have. After the events of this past week, I even found myself considering the need to read up on storage area network, telecommunications...
The Importance of Documentation is Facilitating Conversation
(Indexed 2010-03-21):
PM Documentation which is filed away in the laptop isn't worth the effort to type. I am often surprised how those new to the project management field create documentation in silos alone at their desk just to achieve a requirement....
Avoiding the Downward Spiral of Poor Project Estimates
(Indexed 2010-03-13):
Bad estimates lead to bad cost projections which ultimately equate to poor delivery. The problem being when estimates are needed for efforts to be completed to project costs. Often a project is estimated for resource effort before it is budgeted....
From HIMSS 2/28/2010
(Indexed 2010-03-02):
Once again, blogs from the HIMSS session, let's review of the Sunday Symposium Day. I've heard the trips were very worthwhile for the CIO Forum, Project Management Symposium, and Informatics Symposiums. It also looked like there was great attendance at...
A Parable about Progressive Elaboration and the Marathon Runner
(Indexed 2010-02-24):
Often the concept of progressive elaboration is misunderstood. A couple of years ago, we were going over our enhancement request log. One had one lady, who wanted the customer to exactly layout definitively what was desired at the time of...
IT Management Review - Third Edition
(Indexed 2010-02-23):
Welcome to the third edition of IT Management Review. The vision of IT Management Review is to become the premier blog carnival on IT management posts. This month we are pleased to highlight topics ranging from tips on giving presentations...
Balancing the Constraints
(Indexed 2010-02-16):
As project managers, we drive projects towards the realization their benefits and value, while being inhibited by the project constraints. Project managers must control and balance the dependent constraints of scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources and risk. The relationship between...
Understanding the Art of Project Management
(Indexed 2010-02-14):
The affects of poor project management is depicted within many organization's stuggle to implement EHRs. As the constant compliants are heralded about healthcare technology being trapped in the 1990s. The ability for organizations to adopt the system and efficiently transform...
The 411 on What a Project Is?
(Indexed 2010-02-13):
Often people struggle with this concept of what is a project and what is not a project. We are going to make it easy and drill on to the key points you need to remember for the PMP Exam. Here...
Remove the Rose-Colored Glasses and Evaluate Your PM MO
(Indexed 2010-02-11):
Self inspection is a good thing for a project manager and healthcare it gurus alike. I would highly recommend taking the month of February and consider your habits, strengths and weakness. A little self inspection can help you develop personally...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Using Project Audits Effectively
(Indexed 2010-02-07):
Audits can be misconstrued as a nasty word. Before an audit there is a sense of dread for not meeting a benchmark. After an audit there are activities are focused on to obtain the mediocre benchmark, not focusing on the...
Last Chance to Join Us for the Accidental PM
(Indexed 2010-02-03):
We will be offering the The Accidental Project Manager Web Education program on 3-Feb-2010 2:00 PM EST - 3:15 PM EST. There are still a few spaces available, so we would like to offer you the opportunity to reserve your...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Have a variance reporting process
(Indexed 2010-01-30):
Once you have gotten the project status reports into the organizational culture, it is time to move onto the variance reports. Variance reports portray the differences between what was planned and what happened at a particular time-box. Typically variance reports...
IT Management Review - Second Issue
(Indexed 2010-01-27):
Welcome to the second edition of IT Management Review. As you know the IT management review is a fledgling blog carnival just getting its footing. This month we are please to provide you several post from new and old bloggers...
Calling All Those Wanting to Share IT Management Wisdom
(Indexed 2010-01-21):
Our next issue of the IT management review is just around the corner. The next review issue will be psoted on Monday next week. I'll be taking submissions until Sunday morning. We are looking forward to highlighting the best IT...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Stop Quitting Projects, Start Closing
(Indexed 2010-01-17):
As we were going through a pm brown bag, one of my colleagues was explaining her frustrations, "We just quit project here, and then leave it up to others to support it." After a little investigation, I found that this...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Seismic Change and the Cowboy
(Indexed 2010-01-06):
We all have known a cowboy or two in our times. Cowboys are all about innovative ways to get the job done. They are focused upon resolving the current challenge, satisfying the customer as quickly as possible, and moving onto...
Establishing Team Rules of Engagement at Project Launch
(Indexed 2009-12-30):
Let's say you are in a new role and a new organization, isn't it nice to have an onboarding process? This gives you the lay of the land, what you need to use, how information is disseminated, what your...
IT Management Review - First Issue
(Indexed 2009-12-29):
We are starting a new tradition here at Anticlue, the IT Management review. We will highlight the best articles on IT management from about the blogosphere. Bob Lieberman presents The Wisdom Of Fallow posted at Cultivating Creativity - Developing Leaders...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Dealing with Changing Priorities
(Indexed 2009-12-23):
Remember Gym Sprints? Running at full speed in one direction, suddenly changing and running back in the other direction, again a change and another direction to run full speed. It reminds me of changing priorities and organizational sprints. Prioritization is...
6 Effective Status Reporting Practices
(Indexed 2009-12-22):
As you are laying bricks to build the foundation of a good project management process, a low hanging fruit is the status reporting process. It is often the first practice rolled out, but simply having a template available is not...
How to use a WBS
(Indexed 2009-12-09):
Often the WBS is a foregone item in projects. This is a mistake. I have often found that good WBS structures lead to well planned and implemented projects. While most projects without one, don't have the same outcome. A WBS...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Establish a Resource Management Process
(Indexed 2009-12-08):
In Chaotic Environments it is clear to see that the talented committed resources are overwhelmed. Resources are just pulled to work on the priority of the hour, never mind the day. Projects are completed by individuals placing in beyond the...
How to know if you need a permanent or a temporary Program Office?
(Indexed 2009-12-03):
In Healthcare IT the department structure at most organizations is constant, there are the clinical, financial, and technology departments with a little variation here and there. As we look to large upcoming efforts, perhaps it would be best to consider...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Develop a project classification scheme
(Indexed 2009-12-02):
As one begins to rollout the practice of project management, it is wise to develop a project classification scheme. To be frank, your non-supporters will look at the level of communication through formal documentation and explain to the hillside that...
5 Considerations for Timing Transparency
(Indexed 2009-11-28):
At what point is it good practice to be transparent? At what point does too much transparency look like a lack of control? A part of managing a project is to disseminate information by being the spokesperson for the project,...
Getting Ready for Meaningful Use - Access your Governance Practices
(Indexed 2009-11-26):
Let's talk about an absolute project schedule and execution killer in an EHR implementation, the lack of good governance. In my experience if you don't get the governance structure of an EHR Implementation right, the first time. You will...
Understanding the balance between Systems Delivery and Technical Debt
(Indexed 2009-11-18):
Technical Debt is a new metaphor courtesy of Ward Cunningham, which has arisen the past year. Technical Debt refers to the repayment of time when taking the fast and easy way for implementation. Technical Debt originally started out as an...
The IT component of opening a new hospital
(Indexed 2009-11-16):
Elizabeth Harrin has a wonderful post on the complexity in mega it projects. The article relays the project management approaches for opening a new 7-star hospital in dubai covering many aspects from managing the complex interdependencies, maintaining the cutting edge...
Computer Weekly Blog Recommendations
(Indexed 2009-11-16):
I'd like to thank all of you who have shown your support and recommended Anticlue for the Computer Weekly Project Management Blog. We have some good news to share as Anticlue has been shortlisted in the project management category for...
Become Committed to the Triad - Technical Excellence, Service Excellence and Excellence in Care
(Indexed 2009-11-11):
Careers change over time. 10 years ago I was a programmer. I was committed to learning the latest technology and how to apply it. I was fascinated with windows and visual basic 6.0. I also got introduced to project management...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Stop doing projects that have no benefit
(Indexed 2009-11-10):
If you are the project manager of a project which has absolutely no benefit, it is time to jump from the train before train wreak. Seriously, let's look at this scenario: The new department head wanted a new system, because...
Use the methodology which makes sense - Traditional Project Management vs Agile Project Management
(Indexed 2009-11-09):
Seems like these days there is a lot of dialogue of being all one way or all another way, I for one understand the need to standardize and minimize variation. However, there still remains the problem, if you only know...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - growing up from a Functional to a Matrix Model
(Indexed 2009-11-04):
As you continue to sweep the firing flames of chaotic project management, one of the items leadership needs to consider if it is time grow up from a Functional organizational model to a strong matrix organizational model. Now this does...
How to Manage Whining with no Problem Solving
(Indexed 2009-11-01):
A well performing team can accomplish great things. Teams are comprised of individuals who at times are tired, scared, stressed, and driven. As a leader, I spent a decent amount of time nurturing and developing my team. Every moment is...
How much time should I spend managing this project?
(Indexed 2009-11-01):
I was lucky enough to get several good questions on the art of accidental project management over in Newport, RI this week. The first of which is above. How much time should I anticipate to spend managing this project? In...
ARQ - How much time should I spend managing this project?
(Indexed 2009-10-31):
I was lucky enough to get several good questions on the art of accidental project management over in Newport, RI this week. The first of which is above. How much time should I anticipate to spend managing this project? In...
Tip of the Trade - Clarify roles and responsibilities
(Indexed 2009-10-30):
A clear role of management should be to clarify which roles are accountable for what actions. I'm talking a little broader here. There is this infamous saga of the confused team. Four colleagues named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody worked...
Tips of the trade - Actively Manage Assumptions
(Indexed 2009-10-26):
While planning a project, there are decisions which are based upon presumed truths. These presumed truths need to be in place for the project to be successful. As a project manager is it your responsibility to manage the assumptions within...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Top 5 Benefits to a Project Dashboard
(Indexed 2009-10-23):
One of the quick wins for taming chaotic project management is to have a project dashboard. The project dashboard should be a comprehensive listing of all active project status reports within your department. The dashboard should be easily viewable and...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Introduce a Benefits Management Process
(Indexed 2009-10-18):
IT Value is what IT is all about now adays. Organizations do not buy systems, just to have the accomplishment of implementing a new system on its yearly report. System solutions are purchased for one of two reasons - either...
Nine Principles of Agile Project Management
(Indexed 2009-10-17):
Principles set the stage for how something is to be used. We have guiding principles of IT to help organizations understand how to utilize and get value from IT. Along a similar scale, Agile project management has principals to guide...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Uncover your current state resource allocation
(Indexed 2009-10-15):
Once I was sitting in a meeting with a soon to be appointed director, we were discussing resource needs for a new implementation and the risk we had as all 5 critical projects needed the same single resource at the...
Tips of the Trade - Knowing when to use Agile Project Management
(Indexed 2009-10-14):
The motion computing C5 tablet with gorilla screens are a great concept. The project is one in healthcare which was developed progressively by exploring and adapting the product in a clinical environment. This is one of those times when it...
Engaging Stakeholders in defining the problem
(Indexed 2009-10-13):
Project Managers are problem solvers. Good Project Managers fix the problem permanently, it should never see the light of day again. However, what is critical is discovering the "right problem." When ascertaining the "right problem", it is key to bring...
Tips of the Trade - Develop 3 or 4 real life scenarios for the vendor to demo
(Indexed 2009-10-12):
A sad statement on our bleeding edge and niche vendors in healthcare it, is that I can count 1 - 2 vendor demonstrations for which the product only works through powerpoint on a overhead projector. We have commonly begun to...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Introduce a Scope Change Management Process
(Indexed 2009-10-10):
Have you every had a director of IT say on the night before the live of a new system, we are also going to bring up this module in its vanilla form to see how it works out. Oh the...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - 8 Training Tips for how to develop project schedules
(Indexed 2009-10-03):
One of the key drivers to success is a successfully developed project schedule. How to develop a project schedule is a great skill which all project managers need to master. Let's discuss some of the coaching tips which can help...
The Top 5 Reasons why PMOs Fail.
(Indexed 2009-09-29):
There is a painful problem, like any of the top 10 characteristics of a chaotic project management process, and someone decides a PMO might just be the right idea. Someone is brought in to the position or promoted into the...
Tips of the trade - 5 ways to assure you communicate effectively
(Indexed 2009-09-27):
We have all heard that 90% of a Project Manager's job is communication. Communications take a large part of a project manager's time, and it is crucial to convey information effectively. Information is constantly streaming at us continually via email,...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Knowing when you have a project and when you don't
(Indexed 2009-09-25):
As you begin to move from a Chaotic Project Management Culture, one of those struggles for the organization is going to be how do I know when do I have a project? PMI's definition is a bit nebulous for the...
Getting Ready for the Meaningful Use EHR - Assessing your vendor management skillset
(Indexed 2009-09-25):
I'm sure you are one of those individuals who has bought a car in their lifetime, maybe more than one car. Did you get a deal? I wonder who gets the better deal, the car salesmen whose profession is to...
Getting Ready for Meaningful Use - Assessing your vendor management skillset
(Indexed 2009-09-22):
I'm sure you are one of those individuals who has bought a car in their lifetime, maybe more than one car. Did you get a deal? I wonder who gets the better deal, the car salesmen whose profession is to...
Evaluating your portfolio - The Qualifiers, Enablers, and Maintainers
(Indexed 2009-09-17):
One of the tools commonly used with a PMO to communicate project status is the Portfolio Dashboard of Active Projects. This tool is another excellent indicator for how your organization views information technology. Previously, we discussed the healthcare it strategic...
Sharing PMO Best Practices
(Indexed 2009-09-11):
Over on Gantthead, there is an interesting discussion about not reinventing the wheel with project management manuals. Naomi shares some really great site reference of leading organization who have rolled out successful PMOs. I'm including them here for Anticlue's followers....
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Use WBS to define deliverables
(Indexed 2009-09-08):
Defining Scope is good, clarifying deliverables is best. One common problem with Chaotic Project Management environments is that the scope or what is to be done is not understood by all. A common tool to help bring clarity is the...
Getting Ready for Meaningful Use - Assessing your project execution ability
(Indexed 2009-08-22):
As we are getting ready to run a marathon on the dash for cash from ARRA, it is time to look at the brutal facts regarding your organization's project execution culture. After all it is going to be all about...
Engaging Sponsorship - team up during project launch
(Indexed 2009-08-21):
One of the first steps according to PMI is to assign the PM in initiation. As the PM, the first thing I need to know is who the Project sponsor is. Engaged Sponsorship is critical to the project success. I'd...
Engaging Sponsorship - Start off on the right foot before project launch
(Indexed 2009-08-02):
Project sponsor are typically championing an effort long before the project manager is even assigned. Typically the transition from a good idea into a formalized project is not as smooth as it can/should be. Let's review a few tips of...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - How to stop running the daily meeting marathon
(Indexed 2009-08-01):
I'm certain you are aware of the daily meeting marathon, starting at around 8:00 am or 9:00 am one can see their calendar booked until 4:30 or 5:00 pm with meetings. It gets bad when it turns out to be...
Getting Ready for Meaningful Use - Getting your Physician Leadership Engaged
(Indexed 2009-07-25):
As we are all updating our strategic plans, assessing the impact of ARRA's meaningful use. It is also time to do a review our your physician leadership engagement for IT efforts. Looking at past projects or current initiatives, let's limit...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Have a defined and approved process to accept work.
(Indexed 2009-07-24):
You know what I really hate - Demand Management by Meteor Shower. One walks the halls, goes to the cafeteria or even in the restroom and receives work requests. It is not the customer's fault. Often, they just recognize you,...
Computerizing Healthcare - The refinement of meaningful use
(Indexed 2009-07-20):
This past week, we received a refinement on the meaningful use criteria. I hope everyone is updating their strategic plans and collaborating with clinical departments. This will be a great project for all, if we plan it right! I broke...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Collaborate on Prioritization Decision Criteria
(Indexed 2009-07-18):
The next item we need to move forward on our way to taming a chaotic project management culture is to establish organization wide decision criteria. Our first place to look is at the overall strategic plan. The strategic plan should...
The Five Key Responsibilities of a Project Sponsor
(Indexed 2009-07-15):
The role of a project manager and project team are quite well defined. There is literature on the subject and the keys to success. However, the responsibilities of a project sponsor can be nebulous. This is the individual who has...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Establish your organization current and desired need of Healthcare IT
(Indexed 2009-07-14):
Let's take a little more strategic view of our taming our Chaotic Project Management culture. We are going to have to start early on this item, as it will take effort before it achieves efficacy. It is not as simple...
7 tactics utility IT organizations can use to assure engagement with project sponsors.
(Indexed 2009-07-10):
One of the common misconceptions for implementing solutions in Healthcare IT is that there is a lack of project sponsorship. I do not think that is the case. In my decade of experience implementing healthcare solutions, I have heard of...
Taming Chaotic Project Management - Find out how many active projects are in flight.
(Indexed 2009-07-07):
One of the top ten characteristics of a chaotic project management environment is having way too many active projects going far beyond organizational capacity. I have seen this problem in several organizations, and it is one of the quick wins...
How to implement organizational change - We have our change team, now where do we find our quick win.
(Indexed 2009-07-02):
At this time, we probably have a forming change team. It is now time to scope out the low hanging change fruit for quick and early wins. Early wins build momentum and confidence in the change initiative, but one has...
Reader's Questions: Where is the best place to start with a scope control process?
(Indexed 2009-06-29):
As a part of our help out a reader section here on Anticlue, every Sunday we will be helping out our followers by answering a reader's question. This week, our question is "Where is the best place to start with...
Top 10 Characteristics of a Chaotic Project Management Culture
(Indexed 2009-06-27):
Sometimes an idea resonates with you, like the term a Chaotic Project Management Culture. I'll be expanding a little on these later but here are the top ten characteristics of a Chaotic Project Management Culture. Having way too many...
How to implement organizational change - We know our purpose and strategic vision, but can one change agent change the world?
(Indexed 2009-06-24):
Our change agent has shared the vision of the new world with the organization. But truth be told one cowboy can't herd all those cats, you need a coalition. It is time for our change agent to pick the team....
How to depict the business value a PMO enables
(Indexed 2009-06-12):
Truth be told in today's tight economic times. Program Management Offices need to be proclaiming the business value they enable. I'm going to share a process I have been using for the past 6 months. It has had some success....
Example of a Scope Management Standard
(Indexed 2009-06-11):
One process which can be established by the PMO is a scope management standard. This process can be a guideline for each project manager to utilize on their project. The decision guidelines should be review with the executive sponsor and...
Five Reasons to drive Process Improvement Efforts through your PMO
(Indexed 2009-06-10):
Five Reasons to drive Process Improvement Efforts through your PMO As we continue to focus on doing more with less, it is becoming increasing important to improve organizational performance. Now is the time to partner with your business colleagues...
How to implement organizational change - We have a sense of urgency but what is our purpose and strategic vision?
(Indexed 2009-06-09):
Our change agent has instilled a sense of urgency amount the management team and staff. They are ready to cross the change river, however the question of what is on the other side has occurred. Everyone should know what culture...
How to implement organizational change - We determined the current state of affairs, but where is our urgency?
(Indexed 2009-06-03):
Our change agent has surveyed the lay of the land. Now time to get the organization to cross the change river. Our change agent should begin by building a sense of urgency. Strategy without action is just a dream. We...
Relative Costs of performing a scope change sooner rather than later
(Indexed 2009-05-28):
One of my favorite sayings is that bad news does not improve with age. This also holds true with identifying scope changes. I'm certain everyone has come across a scope change or two in your time. One truth of business...
ITIL The Financial Management Process
(Indexed 2009-05-25):
One of the key function of IT services is to provision stewardship of the IT assets and resources of the organization. This is a key component to managing your organization. Financial Management presents the foundation for planning and executing...
How do you handle being told to do a scope change by your manager?
(Indexed 2009-05-23):
As a part of our help out a reader section here on Anticlue, every Friday we will be helping out our followers by answering a reader's question. This week, our question is "How do you handle being told to do...
Have you heard this tale? It is the tale of two contractors and scope management
(Indexed 2009-05-22):
In a mythical land - rain laden at this time - exists a beautiful historical community called Avondale. Avondale has seen its trials and tribulations over the years. Most houses were built before the great depression and have withstood hurricanes,...
The top ten causes of project scope change
(Indexed 2009-05-21):
One of my favorite project management sayings is Good - Fast - Cheap you can have any two! Let's talk a little about a universal approach to having a good project scope change control process. Change requests have the power...
What is the difference between the live plan and project plan
(Indexed 2009-05-16):
In a new section here at Anticlue, every Friday we will be answering a reader's question. This week, our question is "What is the difference between the live plan and project plan?" from Cindy. In PMI's strictest sense, the project...
Improving Healthcare IT Credibility by growing your project management maturity
(Indexed 2009-05-13):
After reviewing the Healthcare IT Credibility curve and levels of project management maturity, there is a striking correspondence. Could it be that one key venue to improving your Healthcare IT Organization's Credibility be to focus on advancing the maturity of...
The 5 levels of Healthcare IT Credibility
(Indexed 2009-05-12):
One of the key initiatives of the ARRA is the push to move healthcare from 1980's information management to 2010 information management. With questions driving from what is a "meaningful use" EHR to how are we going to assure the...
Levels of project management maturity - One size does not fit all
(Indexed 2009-05-08):
One of the key items with my employer, is that there are several health systems with several levels of maturity. Therefore the one size template does not fit all. For example sitting with the project sponsor and discussing the benefits...
Status Check - The pulling mechanism of how to check progress?
(Indexed 2009-05-07):
One of the many changes of a project management methodology is leaving the project chicken game behind and receiving accurate status reports. Perhaps you have never heard of project chicken, its an extremely frustrating game. You have a project team,...
How to implement organizational change - Do we really want it?
(Indexed 2009-04-30):
Implementing a PMO is instituting an organizational change. Life will be different afterwards. Transparency on project efforts will be brought to your organization. Executive Leadership will notice an accountablity for project sponsorship. The portfolio mix will be kicked up a...
Common Practices in Developing an RFI
(Indexed 2009-04-21):
An RFI (Request for Information) is a planning document which inquires information from vendors for acquisitions, requirements-gathering, or comparison. Vendors are informed of the organization's needs, and then the vendors provide product information, FDA clearance (if applicable) and preliminary cost...
The project kill switch and project management.
(Indexed 2009-04-15):
A wise man once said, Project Management is doing project rights. Portfolio Management is doing the right mix of projects. Depending upon how your organization is utilizing information technology will be portrayed in your organization's project mix. Currently, we have...
Project Status Reporting Lessons Shared
(Indexed 2008-12-19):
He who hath the money hath captivated the audience. It has been a while since I posted. Too long in fact. So in considering what to share, I decided to discuss improvements to our project bulletin board. We have been...
Imagine the possiblities - BI impact on revenue cycle operations
(Indexed 2008-11-15):
Just to share as a place for the longer term benefits. I noticed this blurb from the ACHE weekly update this week. "Taking the Next Step in Revenue Cycle Management" Health Data Management (11/08) Vol. 16, No. 11, P. 50;...
ITIL Availability Management Process
(Indexed 2008-10-08):
Let’s take a couple of minutes and review the ITIL availability management process. The purpose of availability management is to provide a cost-effective and defined level of availability so the organization can depend on systems to reach the business...
IT Staffing Models from HIMSS Analytics April 2008 Data
(Indexed 2008-10-05):
For those of us feeling the impact of tightening current year budgets, this morning doing some research I came across two resources which highlight the HIMSS Analytics data set. Characterizing the Health Information Technology Workforce: Analysis from the HIMSS...
Establish a Resource Planning Process
(Indexed 2008-09-04):
Lately, I've been playing with a way to manage resource demand for upcoming project work. There are gaps or problems, which I believe are common place. I'll share them here for others. First, even with the education provided, there is...
Do we have the right mix of projects?
(Indexed 2008-08-18):
As we examine portfolio projects one of the key questions is did we launch the right mix of projects? Have we balanced our strategic initiatives with a smooth blend of operational endeavors with a smidgeon of mandatory requirements? One has...
Priorization: The art of choosing what not to do
(Indexed 2008-08-17):
Let's take a couple of moments discussing how budget and resource capacity drives the need for a prioritization and selection process for IT project request. Over the years, IT has been viewed as a utility in some hospital environments, even...
The key elements in establishing a PMO
(Indexed 2008-08-16):
Let's take a couple of moments to talk about the fundamentals. A PMO needs to have some basic elements in place to drive the project portfolio. These elements include: A process for project presentation, prioritization, and selection. An understanding of...
Typical Barriers rolling out a project status reporting process.
(Indexed 2008-07-29):
As with any change there are barriers, after rolling out a project bulletin board. I'd like to share the barriers, I have encountered and how to overcome these barriers. First there is the avoidance barrier, expressed as either "This involves...
What do business analyst's do?
(Indexed 2008-05-01):
CIO.com has a nice article on what business analysts do for software implementation projects. The eight key criteria are a good basis to compare the skills of your business analysts. Scope the system Interpret business need Translate Technical Issues Scope...
Implementing a project dashboard 101
(Indexed 2008-04-18):
For the past several months, we have begun emailing a project bulletin board to our directors and executive suite. This bulletin board contains a comprehensive listing of all active and requested projects involving information services. On a bi-weekly basis the...
Our best intentions and the effects of not collaborating
(Indexed 2008-02-24):
It should of been a slam dunk, it is a good endeavor. It isn't technically challenging, operationally challenging, and has a lot of benefits. Everyone was well-intentioned. But we collaborated as silos and not as a team, and the project...
Quick Little Risk Management Checklist
(Indexed 2008-02-24):
Here is a little checklist of what it means to do Risk Management during project management. Use a risk-discovery process to compile the risks lurking about to impact the project Make sure the entire core risks are represented on the...
Tasks, Projects, Programs
(Indexed 2008-02-12):
As the development of a methodology persists for a PMO, there is a vagueness surrounding the conceptual differences between a project, program, and task. For the project description, simply having a temporary unique endeavor with a beginning and an end...
Planning and Managing Risk
(Indexed 2008-02-07):
A corporation's ability to plan their work and work their plan is the key difference between success and failure. If your enterprise doesn't understand the interdependent nature of departments, a component which can help bring a project in and deliver...
Graphical Hospital Quality Ranking by Locale
(Indexed 2008-02-05):
The Healthcare IT guy has a link which nicely illustrates Hospital Ranking linking HHS hospital database and Google Maps. Capitalizing upon the publicly available information from the Department of Health and Human Services, it portrays an interesting picture. It quickly...
Risk Management & Healthcare IT
(Indexed 2008-02-04):
Surprisingly, it is simply amazing how essential the practice of risk management is in Healthcare IT projects and how often this practice is abandoned. As organizations mature and grow from a reactionary mode of operations to a proactive mode, risk...
That's just some mumbo jumbo project management BS
(Indexed 2007-10-03):
"That's just some mumbo jumbo BS! Now, what's it gonna take to add sharepoint to our exchange implementation for the email file exchange size." I have to say, I almost burst out laughing, but it was coming from the...
Nurse Call, VOIP, and Wi-Fi: Its just cool when things come together!
(Indexed 2007-09-18):
In early September, we integrated our wireless phones with our nurse call system in the new surgery center. Elevating application and technology integration to the next level, our Nurse Call System is connected to our VOIP Phones via the WPA2...
Contract Closure Process
(Indexed 2007-09-12):
When you have a contract, the Contract Closure process is just common practice. Contract Closure puts the finishing touches on Project Procurement Management. The four inputs to the Contract Closure Process are: The Procurement Management Plan – The Procurement...
Reasons for Initiating a project
(Indexed 2007-09-10):
We in the industry all know, there is a plethora of reasons for initiating a project. Before we had a structured request method for project at one place, several ITers never lunched in he cafeteria because it just created a...
Organization Prioritization: A couple steps forward
(Indexed 2007-09-09):
Started rolling out the prioritization criteria for the project in the Liaison meetings this week, overall it was a good start. I have a couple liaison meeting responsibilities -Radiation Oncology and Cardiology. Items I’ve learned from past experiences, is that...
Oh I think I need a murder board
(Indexed 2007-09-01):
Oh, I think I need a project murder board. For those of you who aren't familar, a murder board is a group of individuals from key business constituents who decide whether a project cuts the mustard or doesn't. Organizationally, I'd...
Contract Administration Process
(Indexed 2007-08-25):
The Contract Administration process helps to assure the projects goals and needs are on track and on schedule and the seller is behaving appropriately. The Contract Administration process is apart of the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group. The inputs for...
ITIL: Service Continuity Management Process
(Indexed 2007-06-27):
Oh the disaster, the sudden unexpected disaster. Some of us have been through the major ones – Hurricanes, Tornados, and Ice Storms. Others of us have been through the smaller ones – Boiler Exploding in a building, a building...
Six Sigma: Data Stratification Model
(Indexed 2007-06-24):
We have all been there from one time to another in a large meeting room, hearing a problem from everyone’s perspective. Needless to say, when you are in the mix, it is good to start analyzing. To gain an...
Six Sigma: How to assure a valid measurement
(Indexed 2007-06-23):
In measuring it is all about the quality of the data, good data is a result of a good measuring technique. So before you measure, let’s validate the method of measurement. Your technique to measure should be: Precise -...
ITIL Problem Management
(Indexed 2007-06-19):
Problem Management is structured to address the causes of incidents which pose the greatest risk. (Negative risk) Therefore it focuses on the heavy hitter recurring service affecting events; it doesn’t find the root cause or permanent fix for every...
Imaging Informatics Professional (IIP) Certification
(Indexed 2007-06-03):
A new certification program for PACS Administrators, IIP, has been introduced by the American Board of Imaging Informatics. It is nice to see an industry standard certification for PACs Admins. The certification also covers a broad range of topics: Procurement,...
Request Seller Responses Process
(Indexed 2007-05-30):
The Request Seller Responses process is when the project manager obtains the quotations, bids and proposals from the vendor. The vendor responses should include how the project requirements can be reached and the costs associated. Just remember there needs to...
Plan Contracting Process
(Indexed 2007-04-27):
Plan Contracting provides the time and place to craft the documents needed to support the Request Seller Response process and Select Sellers process. The Plan Contracting process provides the documents which enable requesting seller bids and determining which sellers to...
Plan Purchases and Acquisitions Process
(Indexed 2007-04-05):
The Plan Purchases and Acquisition process provides a pattern which can be used to determine which needs are better met by using an outside organization versus the project team. Common inputs to this decision is when the result is needed...
Project Procurement Management Processes
(Indexed 2007-04-03):
Project Procurement Management involves engaging in a systematic process to purchase or acquire the needed products, services, or results from an outside source which will perform the work. Procure Management encompasses contract management and control processes necessary to administer contracts...
Risk Monitoring and Control
(Indexed 2007-03-30):
Risk monitoring and control is the process of identifying, analyzing, and planning for newly discovered risks and managing identified risks. Throughout the process, the risk owners track identified risks, reveal new risks, implement risk response plans, and gage the risk...
Risk Response Planning
(Indexed 2007-02-21):
Risk response planning is the process of developing options to minimize threats and maximize opportunities. The risk response should be inline with the significance of the risk, cost-effective, and realistic. Normally a collaborative discussion needs to occur to assure the...
Quantitative Risk Management
(Indexed 2007-02-12):
Quantitative Risk Analysis is completed on the prioritized risks from Qualitative Analysis studying the affect of risk event deriving a numerical value. Quantitative Risk Analysis is performed to access the probability of achieving specific project objectives, to quantify the affect...
Qualitative Risk Analysis
(Indexed 2007-02-12):
Qualitative Risk Analysis assesses the impact and likelihood of the identified risks in a rapid and cost-effective manner. By evaluating the priority of risks with consideration to impact on the projects cost, schedule, scope and quality objectives, Qualitative Risk Analysis...
Quantitative Risk Analysis
(Indexed 2007-02-08):
Qualitative Risk Analysis assesses the impact and likelihood of the identified risks in a rapid and cost-effective manner. By evaluating the priority of risks with consideration to impact on the projects cost, schedule, scope and quality objectives, Qualitative Risk Analysis...
Risk Identification
(Indexed 2007-02-07):
Risk Identification ascertains which risks have the potential of affecting the project and documenting the risks characteristics. Risk Identification begins after the Risk Management Plan is constructed and continues iteratively throughout the project execution. The Risk Identification process naturally progresses...
Risk Probability and Impact Definitions
(Indexed 2007-02-07):
Within Risk Management Planning, it is essential to define risk probability and impact. Commonly an impact scale is developed which reflects the impact of negative impacts of threats or the positive aspects of opportunities. Below is an example which reflects...
Risk Categories
(Indexed 2007-02-06):
Risk Categories are a common listing of sources of risk. Depending on the size of the project, one might employ a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). Download file The Risk Breakdown Structure is a hierarchical structure which decomposes identified risk categories...
Project Risk Management
(Indexed 2007-01-31):
Project Risk Management involves conducting risk management planning, engaging in risk identification, completing risk analysis, creating a risk response action plan, and monitoring and controlling risk on a project. Project Risk Management is a continuous process to be engaged in...
Ways to Improve Communication
(Indexed 2007-01-31):
Since communicating is about 90% of a project managers time, there is a reason to improve communications on a project. To overcome communication barriers, project managers must establish clear lines of communication and keep stakeholders constantly informed about the development...
Managing Stakeholders
(Indexed 2007-01-30):
Frankly, miscommunication can quickly derail a project. Miscommunication commonly takes place when people issues are mishandled. Stakeholder management illustrates how to manage communications with stakeholders focusing on the needs of the stakeholders and the issues that arise from the stakeholders....
Performance Reporting
(Indexed 2007-01-28):
Performance reporting is the process of collecting all baseline data and distributing performance information to stakeholders and the project. An aspect of this report is to clarify how resources are being used to obtain the objectives of the project. This...
Deming's 7 deadly diseases
(Indexed 2006-12-29):
The following are Deming's 7 deadly diseases:Lack of constancy of purpose in planning product and service that will have a market, keep the company in business, and provide jobs.Emphasis on short-term profits: short-term thinking (just the opposite of constancy of...
Communication Barriers
(Indexed 2006-12-29):
When one begins to contemplate how important communication is to project success, it is also interesting how common barriers to communication become. Communication barriers often present an obstacle to delivering a successful project. Project Managers should be considerate of the...
Information Distribution
(Indexed 2006-12-28):
Information Distribution is about assuring the right information is available to the right people at the right time. Information Distribution executes the communication plan and responds to the unexpected requests for information. The distribution mechanism can affect the informations usefulness...
Communications Planning
(Indexed 2006-12-27):
Communications Planning determines which stakeholders need what information, when they will need it, how the information will be communicated, and who is responsible for communicating the information. One of the key task is to assure a reliable way to meet...
Project Communications Management
(Indexed 2006-12-27):
Project Communications Management Knowledge area provides a critical link between people, ideas, and information at all stages in the project life cycle. Project Managers should be spending about 90% of their time communicating. Formal processes aid in decision making and...
Rating the level of PM Excellence
(Indexed 2006-12-27):
Harold Kerzner identifies five levels for achieving excellence in project management (PM). Level 1: Common Language is the basic knowledge of PM and the terminology used. Level 2: Common Processes defined and developed are applicable and repeatable. Level 3: Singular...
Managing a Project Team
(Indexed 2006-12-24):
Managing a project team involves tracking individuals performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and coordinating changes to enhance overall project performance. In a functional organization it is much like managing a department team with the nuance of enhancing the projects performance...
Developing a Project Team
(Indexed 2006-12-23):
Developing a project team improves the overall competencies and collaborations among team mates. This improvement will eventually result in enhanced project performance. The goals of developing a project team is to increase the teams skill sets and increase trust among...
Conflict Management Approaches
(Indexed 2006-12-23):
Approach Description When to use Problem - Solving The problem-solving approach involves supporting the individuals involved in the conflict to help them consider all the options and find the best solution. Sometimes refered to as the Confrontation approach. This...
Acquiring a Project Team Process
(Indexed 2006-12-21):
Acquiring a project team is the process of obtaining the people needed to accomplish the project. Sometimes the project management team has control over the selection process. When selecting teammates, there are several base considerations which need to be evaluated....
Project Human Resource Management
(Indexed 2006-12-19):
Project Human Resource Management includes the processes necessary for organizing and managing the project team. Project Human Resource Management processes are sequential. The outputs of one process are the inputs to the next process. The Project Human Resource Management processes...
Performing Quality Control
(Indexed 2006-12-18):
The Quality Control Process engages in monitoring project results to ascertain whether the results conform to the relevant quality standards, and reveals ways to eliminate causes of unacceptable performance. Obviously performing quality control is continuously throughout the project lifecycle. In...
Monitoring and Controlling Capacity Management
(Indexed 2006-12-17):
As with all things, once you have implemented Capacity Management there is a need to assure that the system is working and operating within quality standards. First one has to set the stage with assuring someone is accountable for the...
Perform Quality Assurance
(Indexed 2006-12-17):
Quality assurance is the execution of planned, systematic quality activities to assure the project will take advantage of all processes necessary so the product, application or service meets customer requirements. An aspect of quality assurance is continuous process improvement which...
Quality Planning
(Indexed 2006-12-16):
Quality planning is the process which identifies which quality standards are important to the project and determines a way to satisfy the relevant standards. Project managers normally develop the quality requirement as a part of the Planning Process Group. The...
ITIL: Capacity Management Activities and Methodology
(Indexed 2006-12-15):
Capacity management is the practice of considering future capacity requirements for the current and yet to be implemented IT services. The purpose of capacity management is to ensure sufficient capacity exists to support new services and solutions considering the advances...
Project Quality Management Processes
(Indexed 2006-12-15):
Project Quality Management is all about the synergy of continuous improvement of the project and the principal of project delivery. Using a Quality Management approach play a key role in assuring the project meets the customer requirements. The three processes...
Controlling Project Costs
(Indexed 2006-12-15):
Controlling Cost in a project is the only way to assure the within budget part of a successful project. Cost control involves being diligent of about requested changes and handling those changes through the integrated change control process. A change...
Cost Budgeting
(Indexed 2006-12-13):
Cost Budgeting is the process of establishing a budget for the project. This is normally completed by summarizing the estimated costs of the work packages in order to establish a cost baseline. The cost baseline will help to assure that...
Cost Estimating
(Indexed 2006-12-12):
As previously mentioned, cost estimating is the process of developing an estimated cost for the resources needed to complete project activities. Cost Estimating normally occurs in the planning process group and is dependent on several of the outputs from the...
PMI Cost Management Processes
(Indexed 2006-12-11):
The cost management processes are all about the cost of the resources necessary to complete the project activities. The three processes in the Project Cost Management knowledge area are:Cost Estimating Cost Estimating is the process of developing an estimated...
Controlling the Project Schedule
(Indexed 2006-12-10):
An ever enjoyable aspect of managing a project is the control the project schedule. The managing and maintaining the schedule proactively is your best way to assure the project comes in on time. In order to be proactive about this...
Six Sigma: Successful Strategies with BPM
(Indexed 2006-12-09):
The purpose of business process management (BPM) is to assure the objectives of each department are aligned with the quality and long-term goals for the organization. BPM synchronizes activity across the lines of business and improves overall performance, capability, and...
PMI Earned Value Management Terms and Formulas
(Indexed 2006-12-09):
Earned Value Management is a way to measure a projects performance against the project baseline. An earned value analysis can clue the project manager into trending deviations from the projects cost and schedule plans. Earned Value Management integrates cost, time,...
Developing the project schedule
(Indexed 2006-12-08):
The project schedule is the PMs best tool for forecasting how long a project will take to complete. In order to develop the project schedule it is necessary to use several key inputs. The inputs are as follows: Project Scope...
WBS Key Facts
(Indexed 2006-12-08):
The WBS is: A deliverables-oriented collection of project componentsServes as the project scope baseline. The WBS is an input to:Cost EstimatingCost BudgetingResource PlanningRisk ManagementActivity Definition The WBS Dictionary explains the WBS components, assigned resources, time and cost for each element....
Activity Resource Estimating
(Indexed 2006-12-05):
So you have a project, now it is time to get the team together. First step is to figure out what type of resources will be needed, then how they will be used and even if they are available. Thankfully...
Activity Sequencing
(Indexed 2006-12-05):
Sitting in one of too many meetings, the topic was becoming more abstract at a time when things should have been firming up and realization had occurred. So I asked Can you take a minute and explain the dependencies and...
An overview of Capacity Management
(Indexed 2006-12-05):
Capacity management is concerned with having the appropriate IT infrastructure and utilizing the IT infrastructure in the best manner. This process includes proactively adding components, space, or people in a cost justifiable manner while assuring performance is at acceptable levels...
Activity Definition
(Indexed 2006-12-03):
Activity Definition is the process of decomposing a project into a number of tasks which are needed to complete the deliverables. The inputs to the Activity Definition process are:Enterprise Environmental Factors Enterprise environmental factors are all of the external...
Project Time Management Processes
(Indexed 2006-12-02):
Time is a valuable resource. It is also the scarcest. Once time passes, it is never again to be recouped. A project manager must be skillful in managing her time and the time of the team. The easiest way to...
The Scope Control Process
(Indexed 2006-12-02):
The scope control process has two key parts. First, it controls changes to a projects scope. Secondly it assure that all scope changes are process by the described Integrated Change Control Process. A scope change is any alteration affecting the...
Verifying Project Scope
(Indexed 2006-12-02):
First off, it is always a good practice to verify. Verifying project scope is just an outcome of this fundamental truth. Verifying project scope is the process of reviewing deliverables and work results compared to the Work Breakdown Structure dictionary,...
SIPOC Diagrams
(Indexed 2006-12-01):
We have a habit sometimes of only looking at a portion of the puzzle. Sometimes it is just necessary for being able to focus and manage your time appropriately, other times there is a need to collectively see the same...
Common Risks associated with Service Level Management
(Indexed 2006-12-01):
As with everything there are some common issues encountered in implementing a Service level management program. Recognizing the risks ahead of time can help mitigate, avoid, or lessen the impact of them. The first risks are associated with the culture...
Controlling and Monitoring the Service Level Management Process
(Indexed 2006-12-01):
Like everything else in life, if you want to assure service level management is going to succeed you need to have the right person accountable or the right level of leadership. This designee is normally the service level manager. The...
Service Level Management Processes
(Indexed 2006-12-01):
Service Level Agreements are the foundation of the Service Level Management Process. When deciding to implement an SLA, one has to consider the different structures to determine what will work with your organization. There are different structures for Service Level...
Introduction to ITIL's Service Level Management Process
(Indexed 2006-12-01):
There is a simple process that needs to be followed in providing great customer service. First, you have to understand what the customer needs, desires, and dreams. Second, you have to clearly define if you what you can meet. For...
Creating Work Breakdown Structures
(Indexed 2006-11-30):
The creation of a work breakdown structure (WBS) is the process of subdividing the major project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components at least according to the PMBOK. There are two formats of presenting a WBS, the...
Defining Project Scope
(Indexed 2006-11-30):
Lets face it, defining what project scope means is critical. We have all been in the meetings where two or three people leave with different impressions of the discussion. Creating a project scope statement is a key way to ensure...
Six Sigma Creating SMART Project Goals
(Indexed 2006-11-29):
"We want to become the most powerful, influential, and respected Healthcare information technology department in the world." Take a moment and consider the above goal? Is it obtainable? How do you measure the success of obtaining such a goal? While...
Scope Planning
(Indexed 2006-11-29):
Scope Planning is an important component of the project management. The Project Scope Management Plan is the document that details how the project scope will be defined, developed, and verified while provisioning how scope will be managed and controlled by...
Measuring Process Problems
(Indexed 2006-11-29):
A process problem is a problem that weakens the quality of the process. The need is what the customer is looking to obtain from that process. If customer consistently do not get what they want or need, then the process...
Six Sigma Defining the Problem Statement
(Indexed 2006-11-28):
A key element of a Six Sigma project charter is the problem statement. The problem statement is a clear and concise statement that describes the symptoms of the problem to be addressed. A good example of a problem statement is,...
Planning Project Scope
(Indexed 2006-11-27):
Managing project scope requires a planning. The project scope is the foundation of all other project management activities and processes. The project scope management processes are:Scope Planning Scope Planning is all about developing the Project Scope Management Plan. A...
Closing a project
(Indexed 2006-11-26):
Closing a project follows the same pattern as all other project management processes, there are inputs and outputs associated with closing a project, as well as tools and techniques to help with the process. The inputs are used to verify...
Integrated Change Control
(Indexed 2006-11-25):
In project management, integrated change control is a way to manage the changes incurred during a project. Integrated change control is the described method that manages reviewing the suggestions for changes and utilizing the tools and techniques to evaluate whether...
Directing and Managing Project Execution
(Indexed 2006-11-24):
There are times it is about the planning, and then there is always the execution. Ideas are fundamentally wonderful. Implementing them is another matter. Directing and Managing project execution has the same characteristics as most of the PMI processes. There...
Monitoring and Controlling Project Work
(Indexed 2006-11-24):
Considering that the Project Management Plan is the baseline for the project. This is guide for monitoring and controlling the project. As a project manager, one will need access to work performance information, performance reports, and change request. This information...
Release Management Lessons Shared
(Indexed 2006-11-23):
Release management is all about having an efficient process of introducing new hardware and software into the IT infrastructure. However, there are some standard problems and costs that can occur at every company. Implementing a release management process is a...
Release Management Management Tools and Techniques
(Indexed 2006-11-23):
All processes need quality control checks. They also need someone to manage and assure a successful process. In ITIL release management, the controller of the release management process is the release manager. The release managers duties are:To act as an...
Developing the Project Management Plan
(Indexed 2006-11-23):
We know that the project management plan is the key document that contains the overall planning, monitoring, and implementing activities to be done in a project. So how does one derive such a document? First one has to look at...
Release Management Activities and Methodology
(Indexed 2006-11-22):
Take a moment and recall, release management is about controlling the flow of changes into a production environment. In order to control, one needs to know what is being controlled and how it is being controlled, so we need a...
Developing the Preliminary Project Scope
(Indexed 2006-11-22):
The preliminary Project Scope statement documents product requirements, project boundaries, methods of acceptance, and high-level scope control. As scope is defined a shared understanding among the stakeholders and project management team occurs, and it is further defined by the projects...
Developing the Project Charter
(Indexed 2006-11-21):
Congratulations, you have been elected to write a charter. So with about 5 dollars you head over to your local starbucks and wonder what to do next. A project charter is a pretty systematic document. If you have one at...
ITIL: Release Management Overview
(Indexed 2006-11-21):
Release management process is about controlling and monitoring the flow of changes into an IT infrastructure. Each update or upgrade of a Configuration Item is referred to as a release. There are three levels of releases. These levels related to...
Project Integration Management Processes
(Indexed 2006-11-21):
Project integration management is primarily concerned with integrating processes to accomplish project objectives. The seven process are:Develop Project Charter Develop the Project charter is initiates the project. The derived project charter approves and sanctions the project and gives the...
Closing Process Group
(Indexed 2006-11-21):
Project closure is an important part of the overall project lifecycle. It brings things to the ended state in a formal approved way. PMBOK defines the Closing Process Group as Those processes performed to formally terminate all activities of a...
Monitoring and Controlling processes
(Indexed 2006-11-21):
Monitoring and Controlling a project touches every facet of the project lifecycle. Changes can occur that impact project scope, time, cost, and quality. These changes need to be managed to assure there are no downstream impacts. While engaged in a...
Critical-to-Quality Tree
(Indexed 2006-11-20):
The Critical-to-Quality Tree or CTQ Tree is the six sigma tool for transforming customer requirements into measurable data. The CTQ Tree identifies and describes customer requirements in a specific measurable manner. Once specific Critical to Quality requirements have been obtained,...
Dimensions of Product and Service Quality
(Indexed 2006-11-20):
When it comes to measuring the quality of your services, it helps to understand the concepts of product and service dimensions. Users may want a key board that is durable and flexible for using on the wireless carts. Customers may...
Introduction to the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group
(Indexed 2006-11-19):
A project needs consisting monitoring and controlling in order to stay within scope, be completed on time and within budget. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group has twelve processes which help to oversee project execution by measuring actual performance versus...
Executing Process Group
(Indexed 2006-11-19):
The Executing Process Groups function is to coordinate people and resources to complete project work as outlined in the Project Management Plan and to meet project objectives. According to the PMBOK, the executing process groups is those processes performed to...
Planning - Procurement Management
(Indexed 2006-11-18):
Procurement Management Planning is the process of examining project components to determine what and when to purchase or buy. This includes the method of documenting the requirements and identifying the potential sellers of the needed component. First, you have to...
Configuration Management Process, Roles, and Responsibilities
(Indexed 2006-11-18):
What is your organizations IT infrastructure configuration? What is the process to record who owns and uses the computers, how about the software applications? Is this information in one electronic source? Or is it in the collective knowledge of you...
Risk Management Planning
(Indexed 2006-11-18):
Risk Management processes aid in determining the potential hazards or opportunities for a project. Thats right, risks are not always negative. Five of the Risk Management processes are: Risk Management Planning - Risk Management Planning is about planning to make...
Communications Management Planning
(Indexed 2006-11-16):
One of the secrets of project management is the precise execution, doing the right things, with the right people at the right time. Communication Management Planning helps to assure this occurs. Communications Planning ascertains the information and communication needs of...
Human Resource Planning
(Indexed 2006-11-16):
Human Resource Planning begins with reviewing the preliminary Activity Resource Requirements. This review determines the people and skill sets needed for the project. While engaged in the review it is a good practice to keep in mind the enterprise environmental...
Quality Planning Processes
(Indexed 2006-11-16):
Quality Planning is the process of identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and ascertaining how to meet those standards. The inputs to the quality processes are:Enterprise Environmental Factors - Any external and internal environmental factors from all...
Cost Management Planning
(Indexed 2006-11-15):
The goal of a project manager is to complete your project on time and within budget. The best way to accomplish your goal is to plan for it, so the two key task in planning are costing and scheduling. Therefore...
Time Management Planning
(Indexed 2006-11-14):
Good News, we have a Work Breakdown Structure, now all we need is to set a realistic timeline to accomplish the necessary activities. An activity refers to the component of work performed during the course of a project. There are...
The project management plan and the scope management knowledge area
(Indexed 2006-11-14):
Once the initiating process group has been completed, the two main outputs, the project charter and preliminary project scope statement are inputs to the planning process group. The project charter is a document issued by the sponsor that formally authorizes...
Process Management
(Indexed 2006-11-13):
Oh the silo world, the business viewpoint that is only comprised of the little corner of the world. Departmental mental models just impede. That is one of the powers of the Six Sigma, for process management in Six Sigma means...
ITIL Incident Management
(Indexed 2006-11-13):
You know the call. We all have received them it is the break fix call. The call occurs any time during the day. The call that tell you three main things, someones unhappy, someone has to handle this, and isnt...
Project Planning Groups Interdependencies
(Indexed 2006-11-11):
It is the interdependencies! In order to understand how to manipulate, the first thing you need to do is understand the interdependencies. The Planning Process group has 21 processes comprised of activities that are a key component of the control...
Project Planning Process Group
(Indexed 2006-11-11):
It isn't impossible, but it is definitely doing things the hard way. If you don't plan for something, it is definitely harder to make it a reality. Project planning is key to project management success. Planning allows for proactive decisions...
ITIL: Organizations involved
(Indexed 2006-11-07):
Lets take a moment to review ITIL and ITSM. Departments, units, or companies that provide IT services to customers, whether internal or external, need to provide a level of service that increase the quality of and the profits of the...
Credibility, Execution, and Fries with that
(Indexed 2006-08-24):
Its been a while since I have posted. I have been pretty busy with work and life. Enjoying what summer time I can on the boat. However, a couple of friends have commented on how far and between posts have...
Managing the projects, the requests, and the operations
(Indexed 2006-06-05):
There is a triangle to managing the work to be done. There are the projects, those with capital dollars, the request for work from our business partners, and the work that simply needs to be done so the operation continues...
Interesting Pod Casts
(Indexed 2006-05-09):
From the Hal Helms newsletter, and just a place I can check back to listen, when time presents. Blah Blah Architecture at http://www.mariocardinal.com/podcast/. Although too Microsoft-centric for my taste, in the few episodes that Mario Cardinal eschews all things Redmond...
CF Open Source List
(Indexed 2006-04-27):
Looking for a list of Open Source Tools available for CF? Check out Remote Synthesis's Cold Fusion Open-Source Project List. At this time, there are 95 Open Source Projects to examine....
An Open Source Cross-Platform HL7 Interface Engine
(Indexed 2006-04-20):
I recently came across Mirth, a Open Source Cross-Platform HL7 Interface Engine, and I thought might interest to many of you. The goal of Mirth is described as The goal of the Mirth Project is to develop Mirth, an open...
Reporting on File Transfers
(Indexed 2006-03-20):
As organizations grow and more integration is needed. The cobweb of integrated systems becomes a management and security risk as time continues. A product to check out is software assist's FTP/Reporter. FTP/Reporter reports all FPT activity on mainframe and distributed...
Project Management Success
(Indexed 2006-03-14):
Ah the soft skills, the items that assist with project managment success but are rarely mentioned. Yesterday, I was presented with this listing, and I thought it was definitely worth sharing. Twelve Rules for Project Management SuccessGain consensus on project...
Soarian Financials
(Indexed 2006-02-16):
Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time with Dennis from Siemens Soarian Financials. We are going to the Soarian Suite of Applications, we have started with the Soarian Clinical Access which should be up and running in June, early...
Its time to drink the kool-aid
(Indexed 2006-02-16):
One of the activities on Monday, I attended was the Project Management SIG for HIMSS. I have come to the conclusion that it is time to start taking some action, instead of just lamenting on how misunderstood and underutilized this...
Government Reporting is not the only usage
(Indexed 2006-02-11):
Here in NY State, there is the State Planning and Research Cooperative System, SPARCS. Among the many data elements that are reported, there are a couple that need to examined for the benefit they would have to improve the quality...
Project Status Updates
(Indexed 2006-02-08):
Every so often, we need to have project status updates just to clearly identify who is doing, what and when, and how it is going. What is sometimes bewildering to me, is that although status updates are common place, they...
Project Management and Healthcare
(Indexed 2006-01-22):
Project Management should be one of the hot topics for healthcare. The ability for health systems to be able to execute in a nimble strategic fashion is needed. Project Management is the tool in the toolbox that allows the ability...
The Tango Project
(Indexed 2005-11-27):
One item worth checking out is the Tango Desktop Project from Steven Garrity and friends. The project is an effort to standardize and make a consistent UI for the desktop and the web. A great effort to see in action....