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PROJECT ENVIRONMENT
Collaboration and Communication : Challenges and Potential Improvements
-- Carol A Dekkers
In construction and manufacturing, the close collaboration between interrelated disciplines as contracting, material ordering, resource scheduling, inspections, is critical—especially when the project involves geographically remote suppliers, designers and architects. However, effective collaboration in software development (especially involving customer team members) is still a novel concept today. Considering that only a third of software projects achieve `success' and that soft skills are not natural in software projects, collaborative engineering techniques offer promising results. This article examines the industrial state of collaborative engineering and suggests potential improvements for consideration in future research.
© 2009 Carol Dekkers and Quality Plus Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
PROJECT ENVIRONMENT
Applying a Project Management Model for Medium, Small and Micro-Enterprises
-- Alfonso D Núñe
Latin America is undergoing a significant transformation in terms of project development. In this scenario appears the Medium, Small and Micro-Enterprises (Pequeña Y Mediana Empresa - PYMEs) which account for 60% of the region's GDP. These organizations, in order to continue surviving with big corporations, require mechanisms to drive their needs, prioritize, implement and quick feedback to continue their growth. This pressure proposes a new project management model based on Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). This article covers the simple set of concepts and best practices to conduct the projects into PYMEs in order to manage the Requirements Portfolios in a successful manner.
© 2008, Alfonso D Núñez. Originally published as a part of 2008 PMI Global Congress Proceedings- Denver, Colorado, USA. Reprinted with Permission.
PROJECT TOOLS
Project Management : Sovereignty of PRINCE2 Methodology
-- Peter Kemp And John McManus
Following a project methodology such as PRINCE2 helps project managers and those involved in organizing and delivering software projects, but methods such as PRINCE2 can become an almost insignificant factor in the face of risk, stakeholder management and personal politics. From the author's experience, methodologies such as PRINCE2 generally becomes a fetish, a procedure used with pathological rigidity for their own sake and not as a means to an end. Used in this way, PRINCE2 provides relief against anxiety and insulates the practitioner from risks and uncertainties of real engagement with people and problems. If we consider the inherent complexity of risk (i.e., time, cost and quality issues) associated with software project delivery, it is not too surprising that only one in eight projects will be delivered to their original time, cost and quality requirements.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
PROJECT STRATEGY
Applying Complexity Thinking to Manage Project Complexity Dimensions
-- Kathleen B Hass
Traditional project management, system engineering and business analysis practices are often insufficient when applied to complex projects that behave dynamically. In the case of complex projects, leadership is the critical component that can make the difference. This fourth article in the series on managing project complexity presents practical techniques for project leaders faced with challenging complex initiatives. We estimate that putting these techniques into practice can reduce project rework by 30-50%, thus, eliminating excessive time and cost overruns.
© 2008 Management Concepts. Reprinted with Permission.
COVER STORY
Turning Good Ideas into Good Business : Chartering a Portfolio Pathway to Profit
-- Anders Hemre
Increasing the return on innovative effort requires both—a way to nurture and guide the ideation process as well as a way to systematically and fairly valuate both new ideas and new projects. To ensure best possible returns on projects, innovation-driven businesses could apply the portfolio concept also to the early ideation stage and combine this with a comprehensive valuation of innovation projects using the real options concept.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
PROJECT GOVERNANCE
Complex Projects : Evaluation Criteria for Front-end Governance
-- Ole Jonny Klakegg And Tore Haavaldsen
There is an international agreement that there is a need to develop improved methodologies for documentation and evaluation of project concepts in order to bring the typical problems of large, complex projects under control. The Norwegian Ministry of Finance has recently introduced a Quality Assurance regime that applies an intervention logic that complies with, for instance, the principles of Logical Framework Approach (LFA) and integrated evaluation criteria recommended by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for international development projects. This article describes how these frameworks have been useful in improving Front-end Governance.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
PMspeak
The key to sound time-risk management is to accept the inevitability of delay to progress and to have the tools at hand to manage its consequences
-- Keith Pickavance |
