July 2011 - PMOs, The Modern CIO, Executives Role in Project Success, and more

Rate this item
(1 Vote)
RSS

An eJournal to help you run initiatives successfully — July, 27 2011 

THIS MONTH'S SELECTED ARTICLES

 

Sign up for the
Vision to Value eJournal

Simply fill out and submit the form below.

The Modern CIO

Information Technology organizations continually struggle to build systems that meet their customer's needs. They work tirelessly developing solutions that are delivered late, difficult to use, or deficient in key features and functions. This is nothing specific to the last couple decades; it stretches back to the first systems developed. Fredrick Brookes eloquently underscores this in his recount of the 1960's software engineering project to develop the IBM 360 in his book The Mythical Man-Month (1975) and is required reading for all IT executives. For the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to solve this problem takes a new approach, one, nearly opposite from today's direction.

Read more...

 
 
 

Executive's Contribution to Project Success

Few would question that executives are responsible for ensuring projects are aligned with the corporate strategy. They also need to ensure these initiatives remain in line with these goals as business conditions change. To achieve this, they have to be engaged with the project when it starts and maintain that context throughout its life cycle. This requires more than ensuring the project maintains its scope, schedule, and budget; projects must deliver value. Too many projects start with the inspirational support of upper management, but as the project (or company) drifts, the executives have long since disengaged from the project and are unable to straighten out the misalignment. This wastes company resources and hinders the company's ability to deliver.

Read more...

 
 
 

The On-Again Off-Again World of Projects

Businesses exist to make money. To improve operations they create various initiatives with promises of improving the bottom line. Projects, though, cost money. They do not make a profit. The dichotomy in a strapped economy to spend savings on projects to improve future profits usually results in the conservation of cash. Many an argument has been had over whether it is better to run improvement projects, burning precious cash and heading off the competition, or taking the traditional approach and wait for times with better cash flow. Subsequent to 2008's financial folly, it is well known that most companies sat on their reserves and waited. That action may have some unintended consequences that are in the midst of surfacing.

Read more...

 
 
 

I Want A Shining New PMO, Too

Last week I gave a presentation at the San Diego PMI Chapter's Tutorials conference. Flanking both sides of my ten o'clock presentation in the leadership track was Steve Romero. His two presentations were on IT governance. His energy, insight, enthusiasm, and passion (not to mention being the IT governance evangelist for CA Technologies) made him an excellent selection. And, what is so news worthy about that? Nothing. However, for someone that has little regard for adding one more layer of management to solve a problem, I was surprised that I sat through both of his presentations. He provided a three hours of information on governance—both PMOs and PPMs—crammed into two intense and valuable hours.

Read more...

 
 
 

Leadership and Project Management

"I just want to be a project manager. I don't want all that responsibility." The room was silent, save a few exasperated sighs. We all looked around trying to figure out how we would handle the comment. However, there are many levels of project management maturity and only the highest levels require leadership. In fact, the prominent certification process—PMI's PMP®—has little to do with leadership. So where do we learn about leadership and how can we improve our leadership skills?

Read more...

 
 

Cheers,
   Todd C. Williams
   President, eCameron, Inc.
   www.ecaminc.com
   Office: 1-360-834-7361
   Cell Ph: 1-360-521-9051

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on Twitter

Connect on

Todd's LinkedIn page

Read 5189 times

Leave a comment

Latest Articles on Project Success

  • Strategy-Execution Gaps Written on Friday, 17 November 2017 15:35
    The statistics on strategy execution are dismal: 59% of middle managers fail at resolving conflicts in corporate strategy. 45% of middle managers cannot name one of the top five corporate…
    Read more...
  • Success vs Culture Written on Thursday, 12 May 2016 12:20
    The other day a Latvian student contacted me for my views the connection between culture and success criteria—an important and intriguing topic. After working in Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Israel,…
    Read more...
  • Kill The White Knight Written on Sunday, 27 December 2015 17:26
    There is a reason we hesitate to teach classes on fixing failing projects. Many a cynic feels that we simply do not want to teach our trade, however, our reason…
    Read more...
  • Tales of an Expert Witness: Sex, Lies, and Video Tape (Part II) Written on Wednesday, 02 December 2015 06:30
    Trust relationships, certifications, and standards sound like such a safe harbor. These sound like such great words in a proposal or statement of work. How could you possibly go wrong…
    Read more...

Filling Execution Gaps

Available Worldwide

Filling Exectution Gaps cover

Filling Execution Gaps is available worldwide. Below are some options.

 

PG DirectLogo
Limited Time Price $20.99
Amazon logo
Book or Kindle
Flag of the United States Canadian Flag Flag of the United Kingdom Irish Flag Deutsche Flagge
Drapeau Français Bandiera Italiana PRC flag
Japanese flag
Bandera de España
Flag of India
Bandera de México
Bandeira do Brasil
Flag of Australia
Vlag van Nederland
DeG Press Logo
Barnes and Noble Logo
Books a Million Logo
Booktopia Logo
Worldwide: Many other
book sellers worldwide.