Your Guide to Project Management Best Practices

Category: PM Framework

PM Framework

Lean Thinking Project Management in Six Sigma & Agile Models

The philosophy of Lean project management teaches us to operate more efficiently by eliminating any defects and waste in products, services, inventory, processing, transportation etc. This philosophy becomes central for Agile software development and Six Sigma process improvement. The principles of Lean thinking and Kaizen management are indispensable for successful Six Sigma implementation. When combined with the DMAIC cycle, Lean-Kaizen contributes to easier identification and quicker resolution of project quality issues. In order to succeed at the largest scale, software development teams combine Agile incremental delivery with Lean-thinking project management.

Project staffing plan

PM Framework

Defining Roles, Responsibilities and Skills in Project Staffing Plan

The purpose of a project staffing plan is to make certain that the project is provided with sufficient human resources that possess the talents, knowledge and experience required for successful work completion. Roles, responsibilities and skills are the key elements that compose the plan and thereby should be considered with great care. The following article provides common definitions of project role, responsibility and skill and briefly describes how to plan project staffing needs by considering these definitions.

PM Framework

Key Benefits and Common Mistakes of Project Scheduling

Right project scheduling makes it possible to determine when a planned activity is best to start and finish in terms of the resources and objectives this activity relates to. An accurate and complete schedule template captures durations, dependencies (predecessor tasks and their relationships), resource availability, and target completion date of the project, so it becomes easier for the team and other stakeholders to get a clear idea of what work items are to be done, in what sequence and when. The benefits of good scheduling can be also derived by the project manager who is enabled to review work progress, comply the activities with business policies, and reach efficiency in program management. Meanwhile, there are several common mistakes in scheduling that often cause project failure. Let’s find out more about the key benefits and mistakes.

Agile vs Waterfall Custom PM

PM Framework

Going Agile vs Waterfall Approach? Custom Project Management is Better

The question ‘What is better – Agile or Waterfall?’ remains open, even regardless that both approaches are well defined and their best practices are explored and proven for given business environments. Because different companies have different values, every organization needs to decide on either a traditional, step-by-step project management approach or an iterative-based, highly-adaptive method for planning and managing the business objectives. But is there another option, except for considering Agile vs Waterfall approach? Apparently, there is. Custom project management (PM) provides a framework that combines traditional PM methods with adaptive, iteration-driven practices. Today many businesses begin to customize the way they plan and do their business projects to tailor their PM approach to their business needs.

Mind Mapping for project planning and management

PM Framework

Mind Mapping for Project Planning and Management

Creativity, patience and organizational ability are all important talents for project managers, but detailed documentation is a critical success factor which should addressed first of all, and mind mapping is a great way to manage project documentation. Because mind maps create visual and easy-to-understand-and-follow documents, many professionals regard this tool as ideal for project planning and management. Priorities, tasks, dependencies, milestones, resources, durations, lead times and more can be visualized and presented to the team with help of mind mapping software. And you don’t have to be well experienced in idea visualization and presentation – everything you need is to use your creativity and have right understanding of subject matter to stimulate your mind and create a project map, either Gantt chart, WBS hierarchy, Team organizational chart, or whatever else document.