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business projects
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Why Business Projects need to be handled differently

By Frank Einhorn

When looking at a project management landscape, why do we need to handle business projects differently? And how do we handle them effectively?

Business Projects

Why business projects need to be handled differently

First, we need to look at what can be classified as Business Projects. The best way to understand business projects is to contrast them with a typical construction project (where something is being built to an approved design).  There are several aspects:

 Construction ProjectsBusiness Projects
RequirementsThe objective is clear.  The main tasks are known and can be estimated by a Quantity SurveyorThe objective is probably understood, but how to get there may not be, making estimating difficult
ChangeOnce the design for the construction is approved, there is relatively little changeBusiness projects change all the time, including their priority.  Rolling-wave planning is common
SizeConstruction projects are generally larger and there are people assigned to do scheduling and costing. On-time, within-budget is important to avoid penalties or eroded profitBusiness projects are smaller, and the PM does most of the schedule and cost tracking.  Nevertheless, business projects may be complex, critical for the organisation, and carry high risk. Business satisfaction with the results is the measure
BenefitsConstruction benefits come directly from the deliverable.  One can drive over a bridge as soon as it is builtRealising business benefits may take time and need involvement from many people; the PM has often moved on
ProgressFor construction, progress is visible and inspected by people wearing hard-hats.For business (especially IT) progress can be hard to see and evaluate
Location & resourcesMost construction tasks happen in one location with dedicated peopleBusiness projects are often geographically spread, with many part-time team members (Matrix management).
SkillsConstruction skills, while important, are fairly interchangeableFor business projects key people may have unique skills; to replace them requires a lengthy learning curve
ManagementThe construction site PM is in charge and has authorityBusiness PMs need to lead by persuasion, expertise, influence, and understanding of the prevailing politics
Business vs Construction Projects

While the project management principles apply equally to construction and business projects, the way that they are applied may be very different.  Documented project techniques simply do not work for some business projects – or need significant adaptation.  Clearly, there is a spectrum with some business projects having construction elements.  Also, construction, engineering, and mining organisations run many business projects.

What are the essentials?

When managing a business project there is no time for all the text-book ‘should dos’.  While the project may be complex, it needs to be managed in the simplest possible way.  The essentials include:

  • Have a business sponsor (not necessarily the money provider).  He or she must be a senior person who really needs the project to happen.  Without a sponsor’s support there are many problems that can sink a project.  So, if there is no sponsor, it’s best not to start the project. 
  • Produce a Project Definition Document or Project Charter, starting in the first week of the project.  The headings include things like:  executive summary, goals and objectives, scope and deliverables, benefits, costs, risks, resources, roles, and milestones.  Gathering input would involve the stakeholders – business and project team.  Any significant disagreements might need to be resolved by the sponsor.  When done, the expectations of stakeholders should be aligned, and the PM should have an excellent grasp of the project. Planning would then continue after checking that the business case (benefits versus costs and risks) remains sound.
  • Have a repository where documents can be kept in a structured way, accessible to all.  Few documents are confidential.
  • Flesh out the scope (activities or tasks) and deliverables as best you know it.  Often the activities evolve as more becomes known. Check that the team can cover the important activities.
  • Develop and track (monitor and update) a schedule or task list.
  • Develop and track a cost budget (where appropriate) – related to work achieved.
  • Hold regular, short, minuted, team meetings – track progress.
  • Identify and manage project risks (ongoing) – plan response actions to reduce the probability or impact.  Some risks you might consciously accept.  Allow contingency (cost and time).
  • Manage project issues (problems that threaten success) and changes (mainly to scope).
  • Produce regular reports (1 page is ideal) with a status indicator (e.g. Red, Amber, Green). Doing them regularly, like fortnightly, helps the PM to keep a ‘finger on the pulse’.
  • Keep in touch with stakeholders throughout – business and the team.
  • Close the project, checking that stakeholder needs are met.  A report, of a few pages, should be produced, with headings like what was achieved, things still to be done, and lessons learned.

Most documents produced do not need to be elegant, but they must give a good understanding. For example, an issue document needs a brief description, alternative solutions, and the resolution – usually all in one page.  The thinking involved is vital.

Business Project variations

How the above items are done might depend on the project.  For an Agile project, a Kanban board might be used instead of a schedule.  Also, who plays the PM role might vary.  It could be done by an experienced PM, a ‘scrum master’ for Agile, or a business person with good people, communication, and problem-solving skills. But, whatever the situation, it is important that the essentials are done consistently and well. 

About the Author

Frank Einhorn has over 40 years of project management experience.  He graduated as an electrical engineer and later completed an MBA at UCT.  He worked with customers in many industries, but mainly banking, insurance, mining, and public sector utilities. 

Frank has been a PMP since 1995. Frank has convened programmes and lectured at Wits Business School since 2011. His PhD was completed at UJ in 2018. 

Recently his book ‘Managing Business Projects: The Essentials’ was published internationally.  It is available in South Africa

Organisational leadership and project management
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5 Productivity Hacks for Project Management Practitioners

By Ronie Salazar

Project Managers are acquainted with juggling many tasks across multiple projects. This leads to workdays which are never the same from one week to the next. Not only is there variety in the type of work we do, but also in the number of people we need to engage with. Project Managers are constantly chasing deadlines and prioritising to get the most important, and urgent tasks done every day. Productivity hacks can prove to be especially useful to become more efficient with our time.

Imagine this scenario

You have two tasks left to complete. You have postponed them for as long as possible, but now they must be done before the end of the day. One involves combing through hundreds of pages of text searching for key terms. As for the other, it concerns updating important excel files that another team can use for the completion of a part of their project.

Although it may seem overwhelming, there are several steps you can take to make sure these tasks are completed as quickly as possible. Here are 5 useful tips and tricks that will help you to effectively manage your time.

#1 Multi-tasking can be good for you

In this scenario, you should start with the most tedious task. It might take time but if you do it first, you can skip over it. Then you can proceed to updating the excel files. Working in a specific order can give you a feeling of accomplishment as soon as you finish the task.

Also, while performing this tedious task, multitasking is your best friend. Try not to spend too much time on one document only; otherwise, you’ll feel like it is taking forever. You may want to switch between different documents with different tasks. Doing this will allow you to zip through each document faster than if you concentrated on only one at a time.

#2 Regular breaks

People can develop tunnel vision while working on something for a long time, be sure to take a five-minute break every hour. You may get your coffee or chat with your coworkers while taking a break. It’s important to give your mind a moment to rest so that you can come back feeling refreshed and ready to work again.

#3 Build in variety

5 productivity hacks

If the tedious task does not have a set deadline, you can reassess it after a five-minute break and see if it is still worthwhile. If not, you can move on to the next important task and pick up where you left off another time if and when it becomes necessary.

Go to work on the alternative task next, namely updating the important excel files. Trying to fix multiple worksheets at once can cause confusion and more errors. Because working with excel for about an hour or longer, might lead to mistakes. Allow time to quality review the updates that you have made.

#4 The 15 minutes or less rule

If you can complete a task in less than fifteen minutes, it’s best to do so immediately. Don’t postpone such a task to tomorrow when you could have quickly done it today. It will contribute to your sense of accomplishment at the end of each day that you have managed to complete a few tasks.

#5 Work without interruption

Lastly, try to finish a task that requires deep concentration before your next break or lunch. It will take you longer to get back to it, after an interruption or a break. This is easier said than done, because we live in a world of constant interruptions. However, there are way to manage it. For example to put your phone on silent, to close email and instant message notifications and to focus on the task at hand.

If you are in the creative space, there are many online tools and resources for your projects that will help you save time

What to do about context switching

Context switching means moving between separate, unrelated tasks. It occurs when you abandon your current task and move on to another task without completing the first. This increases that feeling at the end of the day when you feel you have not accomplished anything. Context switching is particularly destructive because it takes time and effort to pick up where you left off and get back in the zone.

One way to combat context switching, is by working in time blocks. This involves setting aside specific blocks of time for certain activities throughout your day. To make the best use of your time, schedule your most important tasks on your peak hours for productivity.

Another way is by prioritising according to the level of importance. Then you start with the highest priority tasks first and gradually work your way through them.

These are just a few strategies to structure your workdays better, to be more productive and to get the most important tasks done every day!

About the Author:

Ronie is a vivacious and energetic content marketer with extensive experience in the digital realm. His curiosity and enthusiasm resulted in an ever-growing portfolio that encompasses anything from video editing jobs to distributing his creative work to top-notch websites.

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The Connection between Project Management and eCommerce

Connection between project management and eCommerce

By Sarah Hollenbeck

When you’re leading a team who is working on digital projects (or if you are in the process of becoming a project manager), you may normally seek advice on how to manage different personalities, how to keep everyone on track and tips on how to stay sane juggling multiple projects at once. But have you ever stopped to think just how important other aspects of your company — such as the connection between project management and eCommerce — directly affect your projects?

While it might not be common for Project Management Practitioners to dive deep into eCommerce trends, the information can be more valuable than you’d think. By gaining a better understanding of what your company’s customer base is looking for as well as how they interact with your brand online, you can strengthen your current projects and ensure they meet their goals.

Say for instance you are a product manager, leading a small team to create a new product line. How can you even begin to launch a new line of products without first understanding your consumer’s sale patterns, their needs and what they are willing to pay for similar products? And while you could rely on another team to get you that information (which is the easier route by far) you will get the most value diving into the data yourself.

To help Project Management Practitioners of all kinds take the leap into research, the team at WebsiteSetup has created a Guide to eCommerce Trends that you need to know about. From industry-wide statistics to a deeper breakdown of consumer behavior both before and after the pandemic, check out the top stats below or visit WebsiteSetup for even more information.

How the eCommerce industry has changed

Before you and your team dive into your target market’s specific preferences and trends, it is crucial to understand how the eCommerce industry behaves as a whole. Though online shopping has always been popular, it has taken on a new life in recent years, surpassing previous records on an almost yearly basis. And this past year, thanks to the global pandemic, this trend has only continued to rise.

You may ask: “Why exactly do consumers flock to brands with eCommerce sites in place?”

For one main reason, the convenience. Being able to shop for what they want when they want it! It means no waiting in traffic to get to the store and no lines at the checkout counter. Plus, they can shop on their own schedule, even late into the night when traditional brick-and-mortar stores would be closed.

Another aspect of the eCommerce industry that consumers really love, is delivery. Whether through the brand directly or through a third-party service provider, consumers are almost always willing to pay more for expedited shipping straight to their door.

View these statistics to better understand how eCommerce industry as a whole, influences the market:

  • eCommerce sales hit $794.5 billion in 2020, which is a growth of 32% from the previous year’s sales.
  • During this year (2021), over 2.1 billion people are estimated to make purchases of goods or services online.
  • The eCommerce industry is expected to grow to over 450,000 jobs by the year 2026.
  • Over 95% of all purchases will be completed through eCommerce websites by 2040.
  • To help business owners create a website with ease, online platform use has skyrocketed in the past few years:
    • WordPress powers over one-third (39.5%) of all websites currently live.
    • From March 2020 to April 2020, the number of stores created on Shopify grew by at least 62%.

Looking Deeper into Consumer Trends

Now that you and your team understand a little bit more about how businesses operate online, lets dive deeper into specific consumer trends. While of course, your proprietary data about your own customers will always offer the best insight into how to manage your products, and the related projects, looking at consumer trends is a good place to start (especially if you are working for a new business that doesn’t have a large customer base yet).

Find the most important statistics on how consumers interact with eCommerce brands:

  • Convenience drives sales. In fact, 11% of consumers admitted that even before the pandemic they let convenience drive their purchase decision.
  • Even older audiences have mastered eCommerce, as shoppers 55 and up have moved to online shopping and say they plan to continue shopping this way.
  • When it comes to user experience, having a properly run website is crucial as 84% of customers say that they will walk away from a brand they love after just one bad experience.
  • Customers of all kinds prioritize convenience over cost, as they are willing to pay more for an easier online shopping experience.
  • When designing a customer service program, go with real people over bots. Studies have shown that over 65% of consumers trust a brand more if they can talk to a real person.
  • Delivery is important, as 98% of consumers will be more loyal to a brand if they offer these types of services. Even better if it’s free and fast!

Check out the infographic below for even more tips on eCommerce trends from WebsiteSetup!

A guide to eCommerce trends
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The Changing Role of the Project Manager in Agile

By Linky van der Merwe

The changing role of the project manager in agile

Most project management professionals are aware of the project management trend of the accelerated shift from Waterfall to Agile Project Management as the only way to deliver on benefits in a dynamic and complex environment in order to learn and adapt quickly.

When project managers find themselves moving into agile due to this shift, what does it mean for the careers of these professionals?

For one thing, project managers will have to transition from following the typical traditional life cycle on projects to an agile approach like Scrum as an example of one of the most popular approaches.

Traditional project lifecycle

Furthermore, on agile project the triple constraint changes from having a fixed scope with time or cost being variable/ negotiable, to scope/feature being the variable part that will be negotiated, based on the needs of the customer.

triple constraint in agile

Daunting Journey

This can be quite a daunting journey and puzzling to highly experienced project professionals to position themselves as an Agile Project Manager or an Agile Project Leader. There are a multitude of agile frameworks in the new paradigm to increase organsiations’ agility. Most project management professionals will find it challenging to get into that space where people can follow your lead, like they have been for years.

Quite often people will feel like they are starting from scratch.  There is this long journey of having to adopt an Agile mindset, to go for Agile training and possibly become certified in a new role, and then to become completely familiar and competent with the Agile principles and practices that need to be followed daily.

journey to agile

How the Project Manager role is changing

Project Managers need a different mindset and be practicing the values and principles of agile. PM’s need a working knowledge of agile frameworks and how to best apply them in your organisational context. They need to apply new tools and techniques and let go of being centre of coordination.

As a facilitator and coach they need to build collaborative decision-making environment. And in the Leadership space, they should focus on people rather than process.

Challenges during the transition

As part of the change there are things that we need to stop doing and start doing. Both are equally hard to do.

Agile is fast paced, disciplined and demanding.  In high-change projects, there’s more complexity than one person can manage. Instead, cross-functional teams coordinate their own work and collaborate with the business representative PO. PM are accustomed to being at the centre of coordination for a project, while tracking and representing a project’s status to the rest of the organization. This will need to shift from being the center to serving the team and management.

As agile project leaders there is a change in emphasis to coaching people who want help, to foster greater collaboration on team, and to encourage improved team performance due to the inspect and adapt approach.

The agile project leader needs to align stakeholder needs. Ensure appropriate engagement of all stakeholders, as the Product Owner (PO) is not always correctly positioned or skilled to do so. It’s really important to be very effective in stakeholder engagement to remain valuable.  It doesn’t matter what you are called as long as you are clear about how you fit into the totality of project responsibilities.

Focus on the outcome (rather than output) and on what needs to be done to achieve client acceptance. Use judgment in aligning your approaches to the demands of the project. It undoubtedly means that project managers, must adapt our roles to the context.

Other Research Perspectives

adapt to context

Based on agile guidance from the Project Management Institute (PMI), it is said that each project is unique and that project success is based on adapting to the unique context of the project. Determine the most appropriate method to produce the desired outcomes.

Tailoring the approach is iterative and it will be a constant process throughout the project lifecycle. Depending on the project, objectives and stakeholders, use just enough process to achieve the desired outcome, while maximising value, managing costs and enhancing the speed. Tailor with a holistic perspective of the business environment, the team size, the degree of uncertainty and the complexity of the project. Then discuss and agree as a team on the best delivery approach and resources required.

Furthermore, it is good to remember that a Certified Project Manager (PMP) or other qualified project management professional is one of the most highly trained and skilled knowledge workers in the organization. Reducing the available pool of knowledge workers as an asset is highly questionable. Smart organizational leaders find ways to include everyone who can contribute to the overall success of developing products and services that meet customer demands.

Trained Project Management professionals are equipped with key characteristics:

  • Leadership, 
  • Influencing
  • Team building 
  • Motivation
  • Communication 
  • Facilitation
  • Decision making
  • Political and cultural awareness
  • Negotiation
  • Trust building
  • Conflict management
  • Coaching

You can be confident about what it is that you bring to the table with your skills and experience.

Options in Agile

There are multiple agile frameworks to choose from, but one of the most popular is the Scrum approach and in an enterprise organization, it will need to be scaled.

Scrum has very defined roles like the Product Owner (PO) and Scrum Master (SM). You will find an overlap between PO and PM: 

Product owner & Project Manager overlap
  • Both concerned about projects meeting their objectives
  • Negotiating work with teams
  • Managing scope, time and budget
  • Managing stakeholder communications

Similarly, there is an overlap between the roles of the SM and the PM, namely:

Scrum Master and Project Manager overlap
  • Leadership
  • Excellent communicator, facilitator
  • Conflict Manager
  • Analyst & lateral thinker
  • Content knowledge
  • People’s person
  • Enabler

In the corporate enterprise environment where all three roles are often present on strategic Programmes, you’ll see a distinct difference in terms of the focus areas and responsibilities.

A Product Owner

  1. The PO is concerned about the overall scope and he’s responsible for the product backlog prioritization 
  2. The PO is responsible for the quality of delivery from a User Story acceptance, Definition of Done (DoD), sprint and release perspective.
  3. The PO needs to know about the Release status and is involved with Scrum events like backlog refinement, end-of-sprint review and demo as well as sprint planning (what is required).
  4. From a financial perspective, the PO is part of the Cost management and responsible for benefit realization.

Scrum Master

  1. The SM’s concerns are the sprint goal and sprint backlog, as well as sprint prioritization.
  2. The SM looks at the velocity of the team, driving delivery.
  3. The SM is responsible for scrum events like the Daily standup, sprint planning and retrospective.
  4. For status the SM looks at daily status (updates on tool), sprint status
  5. Risks and issues management from the perspective of helping to remove impediments, blockers.

Project Manager

  1. The PM will look at the overall agile project life cycle and is responsible for compiling a Conceptual Sprint Plan (CSP) view of the project.
  2. The PM will look at Release planning and integration aspects within the project, as well as with external projects and vendors or stakeholders.
  3. PM is still involved in many meetings like Steercom, Scrum of Scrum (SoS) and Change Control
  4. The PM is concerned about overall status feedback to the Steercom and the Project Management Office (PMO).
  5. The PM is responsible for risk and issue management and escalations.
  6. The PM does Cost management – planned/forecasts and actuals.

Project Manager & SM combined

Another option is where people have combined the role of a PM with that of a SM in the context of a consulting company serving customers, while fulfilling both roles on some projects or just the PM role on other projects.

Source: Shama Bole – plastergroup.com

Project Manager in SAFe

Based on another source: PMI Conference Paper by D Cornelius, PMI Global Congress, Oct 2014, the Paper evaluated the PM role using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) practice. Since SAFe includes portfolio, program, and project levels, it provides the best opportunity for the PM to use the skills obtained from PM training. It will fulfill the role as Release Train Engineer (RTE). In this context the PM is also seen as a coach and facilitator.

The same Paper describes a trend where the PM practice is accepted as a key desired management skill and it moves project leadership from a specialized role back to the functional managers responsible for day-to-day operations. Project management is also one of the key courses required of students in MBA programs to ensure future business leaders obtain the knowledge to plan and execute projects.  The elevation of project management as a key knowledge area for business leaders also will play a role in the reduction of the PM  a specialized role.

The Paper concluded that the certified PM is a highly skilled knowledge worker that is capable of adding value in a lean and agile world, some-one who will participate effectively in enterprise agile organizations. 

When a PM is deployed in a Scrum-only environment it limits the PM’s choices to participate as the Product Owner, a Scrum Master or a Scrum of Scrum Master (scaled).

The SAFe landscape provides the best opportunity for the professional PM to use their skills obtained from PM training. In Scrum @Scale, there is a Scrum of Scrum Master which could also be a good match for PM skills.

The PM is expected to lead by influence without authority. In the lean and agile world, the PM must become a servant leader which is only difficult when previous experience has been a command-and-control model, but In my opinion not so much if your leadership style was more facilitative and adaptive based on the context of the project. An agile PM provides a value that enables continual learning and improvement to members in the organization.

What Agile Project Leaders need for success

success as agile leaders
  • You need to work on growing skillsets beyond your area of expertise.
  • You need to tailor delivery approach based on the context.
  • It will be very valuable if you can coordinate between different systems, methodologies while coaching the teams in a singular direction.
  • You need to delegate control of detailed product planning and delivery to the team.
  • Focus on building a collaborative decision-making environment. 
  • Ensure teams have the ability to respond to changes.
  • In an adaptive environment, you will use adaptive planning.
  • High emotional Intelligence with a focus on people rather than process.
  • Stakeholder engagement continuously and appropriately for the project needs.
  • Changed Leadership styles calling for situational and servant leadership.

You can transform yourself to become an agile project leader by knowing what your options are and by deciding where is the best fit based on your strengths, experience and value-add. Commit to continuous learning.

You will enjoy a stimulating work environment while your needs for variety, being autonomous and a change-maker are met.

Let us know what you think about the transitioning of project managers to agile?

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5 Online Courses for Project Managers

By Raj Vardhman

Most Project Managers will testify that their work can be tough. No two projects or teams are the same. One of the most challenging aspects for project management practitioners is the amount of training needed to stay up-to-date in the face of changing practices.

Fortunately, training is easier now than ever before, thanks to online courses for project managers. The e-learning market has become large enough to provide a slew of materials for your professional improvement. It’s projected to reach $325 billion according to Mark in Style.co.uk by 2021.

Top Online Courses

But which courses are worth your time? There are plenty of them out there, but you can’t take them all. Should you take a free or a paid course? Another question that is often asked when looking for good online courses is:

“What are the top 5 online courses for project managers?”

So, here’s a list of online courses guaranteed to bring value to you and your company. 

1.     Alison: Diploma in Project Management

2.     Coursera: Project Management: The Basics for Success

3.     Master of Project Academy: Bundled Course

4.     PMI – The Complete Agile Project Manager

5.     Brain Sensei: PMP Exam Prep Course

Let’s take a closer look at what each course has to offer.

1.   Alison Diploma in Project Management

Alison Diploma in Project Management

If you’re looking for a course that suits both those with experience in project management and those without, Alison’s course is a great choice. Alison is a platform for free learning with over a thousand online courses. From diploma courses to certificate courses, it’s excellent for online learning.

The course contains 27 modules, and it takes anywhere between six and ten hours to complete it. It teaches you about various useful facets of project management. These include methodologies like Agile and Scrum, working with PERT and Gantt charts, using the project life cycle, planning, evaluation, and analysis, in addition to electronic, specialist user documentation, and more.

A completion rate of 80% or more on every module is enough to earn the course diploma. While you can get certificates from Alison’s shop, you can also opt to have one in electronic form.

2.   Coursera’s Project Management: The Basics for Success

Coursera Project Management basics

Project Management: The Basics for Success is a great solution for learners looking for knowledge on a budget. You can complete it without paying a dime, although you will miss out on getting the final grade or the actual certificate.

The University of California is in charge of this course, so you’ll be in safe hands throughout the whole thing. You’ll need somewhere around seven hours to complete it, and you’ll have flexibility regarding deadlines.

That said, the course has a live instructor, meaning that you can’t log in and start learning whenever you want. Instead, you’ll need to wait for when it’s available.

That inconvenience aside, you’ll learn plenty of things during this course. You’ll gain an understanding of the project life cycle, the work breakdown structure (WBS), as well as how to deal with different kinds of people in your team, among other things. For a free course, that’s more than enough. 

3.   Master of Project Academy: Bundled Course

Master of Project bundle

Master of Project Academy is a pretty large e-learning platform, having around 500,000 enrollments around the globe. Its course bundle gives you a wide range of relevant course materials for already skilled and inexperienced project managers. Keep in mind that it’s designed for more skilled project managers than for novices.

If you need to know more about Microsoft Project, Agile and Scrum, PMP,and other topics, Master of Project Academy: Bundled Course will be perfect for you. Additionally, you’ll find courses that cover ITIL and CAPM, too.

The bundle features tons of content, so you can choose to pay for the parts you’re interested in. It’s also self-paced so that you can take your time. You can also take advantage of moderated forums, round-the-clock assistance, and comprehensive guidance for your PMP exam.

It will likely take you some 35 hours to complete the courses. You can choose to pay for them in three ways. There’s the $37 per month option, but you can also get it for $185 per year or $370 for lifetime access.  

4.   The Complete Agile Project Manager (From the Project Management Institute)

PMI The complete PM

Those who aspire to gain invaluable insight into the Agile methodology can benefit from PMI’s Agile course. It’s especially beneficial if you’re already a PMI member since you’ll be entitled to pretty great discounts. In that case, the course costs $243, while it costs $372 for non-members.

This course comprises nine sections. It covers Agile project management and the implementation of Agile methodologies in a very comprehensive way.If you’ve just started leading an Agile team or your company is moving toward that work method, this course could be a lifesaver.

It should take you around 17 hours to complete it if you have a good knowledge base. It covers a whole slew of topics, from scheduling and planning all the way to leading an Agile team and engaging stakeholders.

5.   Brain Sensei: Complete PMP Exam Prep Course

Brain Sensei PMP course

Brain Sensei’s PMP Exam Prep Course is a terrific way to hone your skills if you already have experience in project management.

The course gives you a detailed project management overview, even fundamentals about project closing, project initiation, among other subjects. There are eight different course modules available. They discuss defining, planning, executing, controlling, monitoring, and closing projects, in addition to other key issues.

The entire course lasts six months, and it contains as many as nine hundred practice exam questions. The whole package can be yours for $500.

Make the best choice for your needs

Hopefully, this information will help you to make a more informed decision and to choose the online course that will meet your needs.

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5 Tips for Project Leaders on Millennials and How to Manage Them

By Raj Vardhman

5 Tips on Millennials and how to manage them

Half of today’s workplaces are comprised of millennials, while in the near future, they will make up to three-quarters of the workforce. Generation X, or people born 1965-1979, sometimes need a helping hand in dealing with them in the workplace. They might not have similar mindsets, and they might enjoy different working styles, but should be able to function properly and as a team in the same space. 

Managing a team is a complex task, especially if you are leading a group of people with different outlooks on business and life in general. Being in charge can become that much easier just by understanding millennials as employees. 

Here are 5 tips for dealing with millennials on projects.

#1 Offer words of encouragement 

Regarding their employment, millennials tend to keep an open mind – meaning that they strive for more than just a regular desk job with low career goals. By approaching their work as something meaningful, they will feel appreciated and reciprocate accordingly. 

Most of them would perform better at a job that promises a learning experience and the ability to grow within the company. The employer should be there to offer a face to face talk with an employee and land a helping hand or an opportunity to educate them further. 

If you, as a leader, recognise a team member’s hard work, they would feel stimulated to stay and continue the good work. A simple ‘well done’ goes a long way.

#2 Work fewer hours

Even though statistics show that they work one hour less on average than Gen-X, millennials are hard workers. Almost 90% of them think that flexible working time makes for a more productive result. People feel motivated to finish their workload and would do it successfully if met with an adequate need. 

Furthermore, many consider that working remotely can make a tremendous difference in how quickly a job gets done. So, a chance to work from home now and then can result in flying colors.

Consequently, if offered a dynamic and flexible working time and place while still delivering results, it will set the team and their work apart from the rest of the pack.

#3 Keep up with them

Millennials are curious and tech-savvy; they keep abreast of the latest fashions in technology and consider it to be an important part of progress. 

Most of them grew up with electronic devices, and they can offer new insight into how tech can be an integral part of communication with co-workers within and out of the company. Being a part of their group chat can be significant. It is also a big advance in thinking innovatively while leading them on a project. 

#4 Teamwork makes the dream work

5 Tips for Millennials

Over 70% of millennials believe that teamwork is necessary for an effective working environment. They think that being able to rely on another person’s opinion helps their thought process.

Having defined roles in a team is a great way not to allow head bumping. It can be quite an advantage for a project manager to hear different ideas while simultaneously counting on millennial workers to accomplish projects successfully and efficiently.

#5 Create future leaders

Most millennials will not settle for stagnating in their work. This is a massive problem for not only millennials but any ambitious person. Nobody expects to be handed a promotion on a platter, but people must see an opportunity for growth. By offering a tip or a hint that an employee is heading up the ladder, you would motivate them to work harder.

A leader should not feel intimidated by younger employees with potential but should take upon themselves to train them to become future leaders capable of guiding and being ready for upcoming endeavors. 

Conclusion

Having a good perspective on millennials in the workplace, might help project managers to deal better with them. Though not a different species, they are more conscious about the business world around them and how it works, how cruel it may be, and they are always on the lookout. They value hard and honest work, just like any other generation. 

A significant number of them require a support system and solid relationships while still being given the freedom to express themselves through their work, whether that’s in an office with flexible hours or not. 

Regardless of the negative connotation that sometimes comes with the word ‘millennial,’ they are tireless workers focused on the future and its perks, as well as constant improvement.

About the Author: 

Raj Vardhman is the co-founder of GoRemotely.net. He is a WordPress virtuoso and white hat SEO expert with a passion for developing SEO strategies. His experience and work over the years have driven him to give other individuals lessons about taking control of their work and finding remote jobs. 

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Catch the 2020 Wave

Welcoming 2020

2019 Year in Review

I would like to reflect on some 2019 highlights and share our top 12 articles published on the blog this year. 

In March 2019 we celebrated at Virtual Project Consulting, our 10 year anniversary.  In August 2019, Virtual Project Consulting has been awarded in the 2019 African Excellence Awards as the Best Online-Only Project Management Consulting Services Provider. 

African Business excellence awards

Read more about it here.

In November 2019, one of our articles was awarded 2nd place for Most Valuable Post in the Methodologies and Tools category, by the ‘Project Magement Update’ company. It’s nr. 3 in the list below.

Most Popular Blog Posts

Now for the most popular articles on the blog in the past year in case you missed it:

  1. Key Project Management Skills Needed for the Future – a January article that explored how major current trends impact the skills of project managers, what skills are in demand in the future and what action plan can project management professionals follow.
  2. Innovation through Projects – An interesting perspective ontraits that innovative people share, how projects are used for innovation, how to measure the outcomes and some examples of innovative projects.
  3. 7 Common Project Management Methodologies – Find a break down of project management methodologies with a helpful animation from Fundera.  This article was awarded 2nd place for Most Valuable Post in the Methodologies and Tools category, by the ‘Project Magement Update’ company
  4. What’s Happened to Project Planning? – If you wonder what makes project managers successful, research has shown that planning is one area where high-performance project managers spend most of their time.
  5. Are you on a Time-Critical Project?– How to do better planning on time-constrained projects including strategies and tactics to apply.
  6. How to Make your Project Successful – There are many common causes for project failure, but also remedies. Find out how to make your project successful.
  7. Your Guide in the World of Project Management– Learn about the most important things to do on any successful project during my “Interview with an expert” that was done by the well-known PM Tips blog.
  8. Is Your Company Using Project Portfolio Management (PPM) Effectively?  – Discover the current trends, best practices, common benefits, and average ROI of Project Portfolio Management.
  9. Project Management: Planning with Purpose – A look at competencies found in high performing project managers, as well as the typical journey of project managers through their careers based on insightful research.
  10. Biodegradable Plastic Project break-through– Discover more about the project that made the breakthrough biodegradable plastic possible. An interview with the developer and producer of biodegradable plastic bags, Anika Nell.

Emotional Intelligence

The Agile Project Manager

Your Career in 2020

2020 career goals

If you have lofty goals for your career in 2020, here are tips from elite-cv.com on how to improve your career in 2020.

  1. Be radically open minded: challenge your own thoughts and ideas, don’t be too attached to them. Also stress test your ideas, let others find holes in your reasoning.
  2. Own your outcomes: you are responsible for your own successes and failures. Reflect on your journey thus far and inspect what you could have done differently to obtain better results.
  3. Leverage other people’s strengths: Find out and list those things you’re not good at, then get people who are good at those things to gain great leverage. Asking for help from those who are strong in areas where you are weak is a great skill that you should develop.
  4. Learn how to make decisions effectively: Challenge your own thoughts and ideas and inspect if you are harvesting the best possible solution/s.

I wish for all of you a radically successful, rewarding and prosperous 2020!

Subscribe to Virtual Project Consulting

Please subscribe to Virtual Project Consulting not to miss any future updates, especially on Agile project management!

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Training Service Provider: GreyCampus – Training Project Professionals, Enhancing Careers

Certification training to develop new skills is an important aspect of career advancement. It not only recognizes your skills, but helps you get hired in a dream job. A 2012 Microsoft study highlights certification as an important hiring criteria. For hiring managers, a certification represents high skillsets for a candidate.

In a recent IT professionals survey, more than half of respondents stated that they landed new jobs due to a certification. It is part of important criteria for selection in project management jobs. If you plan to become certified in 2017 and you are looking for training, consider GreyCampus as the one-stop destination for all your training needs.

Introduction to GreyCampus

GreyCampus is a private education management company. Founded in 2014, it has its head office at Dallas, Texas in the United States. It is a leading training provider and has helped train more than 10,000 professionals worldwide. It provides training to professionals in the areas of project management and quality management. It is a registered education provider (REP) for many professional training courses. GreyCampus has also partnered with institutes like PMI, Axelos, PeopleCert, PRINCE2 and more.

Training methods

GreyCampus conducts training through the following methods:

  • Instructor-led online classes
  • Instructor-led traditional classroom courses
  • Self-learning online courses.

Project Management Training

PMP exam preparation courseThe project management courses at GreyCampus are available in the following modes:

  • Instructor-led
  • Online self-learning

The course provides learners with the essential tools needed to pass the exam. It is aligned as per the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) Guide, Fifth edition. It is also competitively priced to make learning affordable.

The instructor-led classes, both online and classroom are priced at $999. The online self-learning course is priced at $400.

GreyCampus also offers courses on CAPM and PMI-ACP certifications in different learning modes.

PRINCE2 Training

PRINCE2 FOUNDATIONGreyCampus offers the following courses around PRINCE2:

  • PRINCE2 Foundation Training and Certification course. It is available in both instructor-led and self-learning modes.
  • PRINCE2 Practitioner Training and Certification course. It is available in both instructor-led and self-learning modes.
  • There is also a 3-day instructor-led only PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner Combo course.

Project Professionals

GreyCampus training offers short courses to help project professionals earn Category A Professional Development Units (PDU). These PDUs help them keep their PMI certification, to develop themselves and to be up to date in the job market.

For example, the Microsoft Project Fundamentals priced at $5 will earn the student 5 PDUs. The Project Schedule Management Basics priced at $10 will gain the student 10 PDUs.

The other project applicable courses available are Project Collaboration and Management, MiniTab Online Training, Slack Introduction and many more.

Special offer

Project managers who are looking for training in 2017 can check the details of the project management courses on the GreyCampus website. You can check the course schedule, eligibility and location and make your choice as per your needs.

In partnership with Virtual Project Consulting, GreyCampus offers a special discount of 50% if you sign up from here. Just use coupon code PROJCOL.

***Some links are affiliate links.
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Project Success Story – Tension between Business and IT

Project Success StoryThis is the story about a project manager, Gren Gale, who was working for a large insurance company in the UK who wanted to update their CRM system to provide a much smoother experience for call centre operators and allow better integration of customer information between call centre and back office.

Politics

While the business area was very anxious to get on with the change, there was friction between business change and IT over the choice of system and the degree of involvement of IT in the implementation.  This particular area of business change had suffered from previous poor experience with the IT department and wanted to bypass them.  With IT having strict rules for the compliance of any new system to its technology standards, there were political issues to handle as well as a complex implementation to manage.

Outsource

Tension between IT and BusinessA tender was issued by IT to six vendors, using requirements put together by business change.  As seemed almost inevitable in the situation, business change preferred the system that was the least compliant with IT standards, while IT preferred another system.

Negotiations between the IT project manager and IT’s preferred vendor resulted in a big reduction in up-front costs by the vendor who were keen to get a foothold in the Insurance sector.  Despite luke-warm support from business change, the recommendation to go with this vendor was presented to the director of the business area and approved.

This left IT satisfied, but business change feeling not entirely happy about the choice.

Analysis and Design

Meetings were arranged to agree a final design between the business area and the vendor.

These went well, but hit a couple of issues:

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Agile? 3 Benefits of Managing your Projects with Eylean Board

By Dovile Miseviciute

Within the fast paced world we live in today, staying on top of things is one of the most important and most difficult goals we give ourselves. Whether it is in our personal or our professional lives, we often find it challenging to keep up with the latest information, understand the whole picture and to make the right decisions fast. The good news is – we have tools like Eylean Board, to help us stay on track and see our projects to completion with ease.

Like many other great products, the story of Eylean Board starts with a small group of people struggling to find a tool that would fit their needs and like many others before them, deciding to create one of their own. Five years later, the small group of people is known as the team of Eylean, the tool is called Eylean Board and it is used by teams all over the globe.

You may wonder what is it that makes Eylean Board so great? Amongst multiple layers of projects, tasks and subtasks, time tracking, reports and integrations, there are three key benefits that put this software on top.

#1 Visual boards to represent every important detail

Eylean Visual boardOne of the most important things in project management is being able to see both the big picture and the important small details. However, analyzing the details takes time and thus we are left to rely on our team to give us the information. Needless to say, many things get lost in translation this way and we end up struggling to make the right decisions.

With Eylean Board however, the important small details are right there in the big picture. You can see who is working on which tasks, how much time they have taken, what problems they are facing and monitor the due dates represented in color-coded notifications on the board. And if you want to know more – simply expand the task details to see descriptions, commentary, attachments and more.

#2 A tool that is easy to use

Eylean Task detailsBeing able to understand and use the software immediately is another big problem companies are facing today. Introducing a new tool to your team usually means hours of training, followed by weeks of confusion and the wait for actual results that may never come.

The beauty of Eylean Board is that the whole user interface is based on intuition. Tasks can be moved, assigned and tracked all with a simple drag and drop. The software is self-explanatory and the ability to modify the board gives you an opportunity to duplicate your previous solution in order to have a smooth transition period for all. Contrary to some other tools, Eylean Board can be used by developers, sales, marketing, finance and any other department in a company at the same time.

#3 Latest project management methods at your fingertips

Eylean Agile templatesLastly, you need an innovative tool to keep up with project management practices that are moving forward. Eylean Boards is just that – you will find templates for Scrum, Kanban and Scrumban boards or will be able to create your own templates modifying and improving the Agile methods to be just right for you. Furthermore, the Eylean team is fully emerged in following the latest Agile trends and can help guide your Agile journey.

Eylean Board is an intuitive and easy to use project management software that allows your team to realize their potential.

About the author: Dovile is the marketing manager at Eylean. She has been actively immersed in the Agile project management field for two years by working within the methodology and writing articles about the newest trends and shifts in the industry.

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Project Story: Retail Project for Clearance Sales

Retail project for clearance salesThe story is about a project in the Retail Sector with the objective of enabling the ability to do clearance sales and promotions in more than one price zone at different times. The Retailer had expanded its operations into multiple countries and, as a result, needed to track clearance sales in each of the countries at different times to the clearance sale in the original country.

To achieve this, the Retail Management System needed to cater for multiple price zones (one zone per country). The complexity of the project was that multiple systems would be affected, requiring a huge testing effort across many functional teams and systems. In addition to that, there were only two periods within the trading calendar that allowed the implementation of such an intrusive project in either June or September.

Although the project was originally planned to take 6 months and it took 9 months, it was considered a success due to the fact that the re-negotiated time and budget was achieved and the business benefit could be immediately realised. The business was able to run clearance sales in more than one zone at different times and they could copy the original clearance to another zone.

Project Structure and Frequent Communications

The project manager, Jeremy Powdrell, ensured that the project structure was setup properly with all key stakeholders identified upfront. Due to the sheer number of stakeholders and to ensure clear project communications that would align all involved, a monthly meeting was arranged in the company’s 200 seat auditorium. At the monthly meetings various sponsors and other key stakeholders presented aspects of the project, this assisted in alignment and raised the profile of the project.

During the Test Phase, the project manager scheduled daily meetings, especially during the final weeks of testing in order to deal with defects and issues quickly.

Performance feedback was intentional by engaging with both the project resources and their managers to discuss performance. This helped to ensure that Managers could properly recognise and reward the team members through the normal channels.

The Business analysis was also done very well. Training was prepared in advance and the training contributed to the fact that people were better prepared for the change.

Scope Changes and Planning Constraints

As a result of changes in senior management, the project sponsor had changed. The new sponsor then introduced scope changes to the existing project. The subsequent change control meant that the time required to implement the solution had to be extended.

The release of the new solution had to be carefully planned. Continue reading…