What do you do when your organization is forced to trim training budgets? You get creative! This week, the regular team is joined by Dr. Sean Harry from Career Management Solutions to take on the importance of training even in a volatile market, the process of creating a skills inventory, and where to find resources to continue to learn even when you don’t have the budget to pay for it.
When working with customer-based extended teams, how do you remain responsive and reactive when you don’t have visibility of customer project planning efforts? This week, John Patton and Connie Plowman take on this issue and give advice on how teams can get control of broad teams through communication and collaboration.
The problem card this week asks for help when a team is handed a new project and a timeline for delivery that most would feel is too tight to plan. John Patton and Connie Plowman work through the implications for the team — and for you as project manager — and show just how critical the planning function is, even when planning time appears to be minimal.
The problem card this week asks for help when a team member evades the work of the project and turns in sloppy work to the team. There are a number of reasons this might be happening on your projects, and this week John Patton and Connie Plowman work through the implications for the team — and for you as project manager — and outline a few simple strategies to address them.
This week, how do you drive for accurate and efficient communication when your department or operating team is growing faster than work can be delegated? This week, John Patton and Connie Plowman take on the problem of dynamic operational teams in trouble, and provide insight in how managers can keep the right people involved and informed while being more effective leaders.
When team members jump into your project uninvited, do you have an opportunity to leverage many hands into light work, or a politically charged vehicle for self-promotion? Join Cadence president John Patton and COO Connie Plowman on Ask Cadence this week and gain insights into managing extra-team enthusiasm appropriately and professionally to get the job done.
When operations and project collide in day-to-day work-life, it’s often a complicated juggling act determining where staff attention should be directed. This week, Cadence CEO John Patton and COO Connie Plowman share their expertise in managing the juncture between projects and operations and the benefits of workload planning.
When a key manager holds the keys to your project schedule, how do you deliver results without creating a politically charged situation around your project? Join Cadence president John Patton and COO Connie Plowman on Ask Cadence this week and gain insights on “managing up” appropriately and professionally to get the job done.
On this week's show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer discuss the challenges that come to project managers who fail to take the time and initiative to know and understand their customer. Whether from confusion within sponsorship ranks in the organization or project manager planning in a vacuum, the results are the same: misunderstanding of the customer causes misunderstanding of the project.
On this week’s show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer discuss the challenges that come to project managers who plan their projects without any input from the team. Whether it comes from a subconscious need to be a star, or a lack of organization of resources early in the project, this problem can be disastrous to long-term commitment to project activity. Listen now for strategies to address this problem proactively and discover who ultimately owns this problem to deliver results on your critical ...
On this week’s show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer discuss the challenges that come with team members who don’t fully support your project. Do they have a full understanding of the project objective? Do they understand the potential impact of the project on the organization? Listen now for strategies to address these team members proactively to ensure they are delivering at their best on your most critical projects.On this week's show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer discuss the challenges tha...
With more projects than people in today's project environment, organizations are often forced to assign team members to project teams who are not equipped with the skills required to contribute most effectively. This skill gap can have a severe negative impact on project deliverables and put project managers in a difficult position when working to get their projects complete. On this week's show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer address key organizational symptoms that can lead to an environment ...
This week, our Cadence graduate writes, "Complete requirements for the project are received before the project is due to be complete." Without complete organizational understanding and sponsor/customer agreement, this project problem comes up time and again. Experts Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on resolution by getting back to basics, holding the reins of communication tightly, while addressing the needs of the team. Listen...
This week, our Cadence graduate writes, "communication is a key problem on our projects." In that simple statement, she sums up the baggage that comes with all projects in some form or another. Without a proper framework, inexperienced teams can become mired in process, and cause the project to suffer. Experts Jay Christensen and Scott Lisset walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on resolution by getting back to basics, holding the reins of communication tightly, ...
Keeping a keen eye on scope is a key responsibility of every project manager. The ability to address any element that affects project performance risks triggering a cascade of changes to cost and schedule, that can have dangerous consequences to the project as a whole. Experts Jay Christensen and Scott Lissit walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on resolution by getting back to basics, holding the reins of scope tightly, while still listening to the core customer...
PMI Portland dinner meeting attendees were treated to this rousing speech by Randall Englund, author of the book “Project Sponsorship: Achieving Management Commitment for Project Success”. Englund is introduced here by Cadence COO Connie Plowman. Englund will be joined by co-author Alfonso Bucero teaching their first seminar with Cadence, Project Sponsorship, in early November. Visit cadencemc.com for more information on that seminar.
A universal understanding of project scope is critical to overcoming confusion in project start-up. This week’s problem comes from a project manager dealing with just that; multiple sponsors and members of leadership competing for input into project scope. Experts Jay Christensen and Scott Lissit walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on the resolution by getting back to basics and listening to your project customers. Listen to this week’s Ask Cadence for more on g...
This week we are thrilled to launch the inaugural episode of Ask Cadence!, tackling your gorilla project management problems, one week at a time. This week, Scott Lissit and Jay Christensen take on the perennial problem: lack of key skills on the project team. What can you do when your defined tasks don’t match the skills of your team? Listen to this episode for strategies to get your project needs met and keep your project moving!
