Guerrilla Project Management

Understanding and Managing Conflict in Projects

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 03 May 2012 06:56:35 +0000

Margaret Meloni shares insights on why understanding and managing conflict is a critical skill for project managers and offers practical strategies for resolving conflict in projects. The work of leadership often requires that project managers confront people to deal with problems that they would rather ignore. This can often lead to difficult and emotional conversations....

Behavioral Project Management – a conversation with Benoit Hardy-Vallee, Ph.D., PMP

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:05:53 +0000

Benoit Hardy-Vallee, Ph.D., PMP, shares his insights on the case for behavior-based project management and how we can apply its principles to deliver successful projects Benoit Hardy-Vallée says that projects often fail because organizations put more emphasis on rational factors than on employees’ psychological engagement — and the cost to organizations is enormous. Benoit suggests...

The GPS for Your Change Journey: Change Readiness Assessments

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 06:26:07 +0000

Kate Nelson on the importance of Change Readiness Assessment as an effective tool to pinpoint enablers and barriers to change and guide our change management work plan Kate Nelson believes that, just like a GPS, a Change Readiness Assessment can help the project manager and team define the starting point for a change initiative, chart...

The Neuroscience of Change: a conversation with Walter McFarland

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 05:30:19 +0000

Walter McFarland shares insights on the latest neuroscience research findings that inform how we lead organizational change Walter McFarland believes that the emerging field of neuroscience may be a source of new insight into the theory and practice of organizational change. As neuroscience research increases our knowledge of the brain, information relevant to organizational change...

12 Essential Conversations for Project Success

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 10:06:58 +0000

Shawn Kent Hayashi shares insights from her book on the 12 fundamental conversations every project leader should master to be truly effective. Listen to the audio or download the full transcripts below. Whether we are trying to gain commitment from a team member, set expectations for a project stakeholder, or negotiate a contract with a...

Change Takes AGES: A Brain-based Model for Making Change and Learning Stick

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:56:16 +0000

Dr. Tobias Kiefer, Director of Global Learning and Development at Booz & Company, on how to create brain-friendly change programs that stick. What’s the latest research telling us about how the brain wants to learn and process change? When Dr. Tobias Kiefer, Director of Global Learning and Development at Booz & Company, needed to create...

How to identify, prevent, and recover from project failure

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:12:05 +0000

Todd Williams says that as a project manager, your reputation, your job, your career, and your entire organization could be at risk if a major project fails. Todd should know – he is an internationally known leading authority, consultant, speaker, and educator on project auditing and recovery. In this interview, Todd shares the big ideas...

Leadership and the Neurobiology of Fear

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:03:13 +0000

Dr. Srini Pillay shares insights from his book “Life Unlocked” on the neurobiology of fear and how leaders can understand and overcome it to unlock their full potential In his book Life Unlocked, Harvard Medical School Assistant Clinical Professor Dr. Srini Pillay draws from the latest brain research to show how the biggest roadblock to...

Industrial Psychology for Project Managers with Bernardo Tirado

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:42:20 +0000

Bernardo Tirado, an Industrial Psychologist, shares insights on how Industrial Psychology helps project managers maximize team performance. Bernardo Tirado, an industrial psychologist and project management executive, helps project managers understand how Industrial Psychology can help them maximize team performance and develop a working knowledge of how to profile teams to obtain optimal productivity results. In...

Social Media For Project Managers – A Conversation with Elizabeth Harrin

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:54:09 +0000

Elizabeth Harrin shares insights on how social media can support and supplement existing project management techniques. There’s a change happening in project management: social media tools are finding their way from branding and marketing to talent management and to the hub of companies and project teams. Elizabeth Harrin says that Project management methodologies are being...

Why Team Building Is Not An Event – A conversation with Kirk Weisler

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:39:41 +0000

Kirk Weisler shares strategies, behaviors, and, most importantly, the mindset that should guide effective team building. Team building is the process of transforming a collection of individuals into a high performance team. My guest today says that team building is not a one time event. It is more than team exercises and icebreakers. Kirk Weisler,...

If You Will Lead

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:31:50 +0000

Doug Moran, author of the bestselling book “If You Will Lead”, offers practical ideas and guidance on what it takes to excel as a leader. LeadershipNow.com named Doug Moran’s latest book If You Will Lead: Enduring Wisdom for 21st-Century Leaders, as one of its “Best Leadership Books of 2011.” In this book, Doug explores the...

How IT Can Deliver New Business Value Every 12 Weeks – Adobe Systems Case Study

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:17:21 +0000

Paulette Scheffer, Senior Director of IT Infrastructure & Service Management at Adobe Systems, on how her team Delivers new business value 12-week sprints. I am joined today by Paulette Scheffer, Senior Director of IT Infrastructure & Service Management, to talk about how her team at Adobe Systems delivers business value in 12-week sprints. Paula shares...

The LOE Index: Measuring The Individual Response To Organizational Change

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:28:27 +0000

Dr. Victoria Grady shares insights about the Organizational Loss of Effectiveness Index: a quantitative Tool for measuring individual response to organizational change. I am joined today by Dr. Victoria Grady to talk about her Organizational Loss of Effectiveness Index, a quantitative Tool for measuring the individual response to organizational change. The LOE Index is used...

How to Conquer Information Overload – A conversation with Dr. Joanne Cantor

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:03:52 +0000

Dr. Joanne Cantor shares insights from her latest book Conquer CyberOverload: Get More Done, Boost Your Creativity, and Reduce Stress. Do we own our electronic gadgets or do they own us? Dr. Joanne Cantor challenges how we think about our relationship to our smartphones, ipods, ipads, and other digital devices. Although these are great tools,...

Simple Meditation for Busy Project Managers

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:14:39 +0000

While it is now a common knowledge that meditation, even in small doses, can be an effective stress management technique, we project managers can find it challenging to incorporate it in our busy schedules. Simple Meditation for Busy People is an Audio Book in which Josephine Thomson introduces the concept of a simple meditation that...

Why lean IT matters – A conversation with Steve Bell

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:29:47 +0000

Steve Bell shares insights from his latest book Lean IT: Enabling and Sustaining Your Lean Transformation on the application of Lean in IT and recommendations for organizations wishing to start their own Lean journey. As more organizations turn to Lean to drive operational efficiencies, they are increasingly demanding speed and agility from their IT departments....

Leading projects with the brain in mind: Building High Performance Teams

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:23:39 +0000

Jeff Richardson on how understanding the latest brain research can help Project Managers build and lead high performance teams. Jeff Richardson, of Empowered Alliances, believes that every team has the capability to achieve extraordinary performance results but so few ever realize this potential. Jeff is doing his part to change this. Continuing this series on...

How To Be A Brilliant Project Leader: A Conversation with Mike Clayton

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:39:57 +0000

Author Mike Clayton talks about his new book Brilliant Project Leader: What the best project leaders know, do, and say to get results, every time. I recently read Mike Clayton’s new book Brilliant Project Leader: What the best project leaders know, do, and say to get results, every time. I found this book to be...

Leading projects with the brain in mind: Why You Are Not Your Brain with Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:58:36 +0000

Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D. shares insights from his latest book “You Are Not Your Brain” on how to understand, identify, and free ourselves from deceptive brain messages. When we are faced with the constant stress of the day to day challenges of our projects, we can get overwhelmed and easily slip into self-doubt, indecision,...

Leading projects with the brain in mind: The Emotional Brain

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:58:38 +0000

We like to think that our decisions are based on logic and rational thinking but my guest today says that “everything we do is rooted in emotion”. Latest Neuroscience research is showing that our emotional brain plays a very important role in determining our thoughts and behaviors. It is also important that we understand how...

Successful Change – How to implement change through people

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 06:33:27 +0000

Leading major change initiatives means facing key challenges that range from securing senior management buy-in and sponsorship for change right through to overcoming resistance from the people on the frontline who are impacted most heavily by the change. In his book Successful Change, David shares his insights from the experiences that he and his colleagues...

Leading projects with the brain in mind: the Neuroscience of Effective Change Management

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 08:14:02 +0000

Change is pain. Responses to change can range from frustration, anxiety, to fear and anywhere in between. Understanding how the brain responds to change and how to create the right conditions for a more productive response to change enables us to be more effective as project managers and change leaders. Continuing this series on leading...

Leading Projects with the Brain in Mind – 7 Habits of Highly Effective Brains

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:20:23 +0000

Jonathan Jordan reveals the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Brains”, based on his recent presentation to the United States Senate staff. Joining me today is Jonathan Jordan who shares insights from his presentation on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Brains that he gave to the United States Senate staff earlier this year. Jonathan says...

Insights from Gartner 2011 PPM and IT Governance Summit – A Conversation with Donna Fitzgerald

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:02:54 +0000

Donna Fitzgerald, Research VP with Gartner, shares insights from the Gartner 2011 PPM and IT Governance Summit. I had the great pleasure to talk to one the thought leaders that I count on for advice on Program and Portfolio Management. Donna Fitzgerald, Research VP with Gartner, shares with us insights from her four presentations at...

How to handle stubborn resistance to change

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:40:45 +0000

A conversation with Cindy Margules, a Director of Project Management Office, on how to handle stubborn resistance to change. Cindy Margules, Director of the Project Management Office at Convio, Inc, shares with us insights on how to overcome the challenges of leading change. Cindy discusses: The key components in change management and how attitudes...

Leadership Lenses by Omar Khan

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:31:04 +0000

Omar Khan, founder and senior partner of Sensei International, on how to help create the Karma we wish to experience and the difference between being judged based on actions vs. potential and impact vs. intent. The following is a reprint of two pieces by Omar Khan, a leadership thought-leader that I look up to, admire, and...

Writing Statements of Work That Keep Your Projects on Track

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 17 May 2011 06:54:34 +0000

Matt Karlyn, a partner with the law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP and is a member of the firm’s Information Technology & Outsourcing Practice, shares his insights on writing vendor Statements of Work that keep IT projects on Track and protect them from vendors who don’t deliver. At the beginning of a project that...

Leading Projects with the Brain in Mind – The Neuroscience of Leadership with Dr. David Rock

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 06 May 2011 04:17:52 +0000

Dr. David Rock on the neuroscience of leadership and the SCARF Model: a brain-based framework for increasing effectiveness in collaborating with and influencing others. Brought to you by: PMTeleseminars.com I have been following the work of Dr. David Rock for quite some time now. For many years, he has been exploring the field of neuroscience...

Putting Brakes on a Rocket: Managing Velocity, Reward, and Risk at Intel

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:33:40 +0000

Russ Martinelli, Senior Program Manager at Intel, on what it takes to manage a high-velocity program at Intel Corporation and what it takes to survive when one crashes. Brought to you by: PMTeleseminars.com Russ Martinelli, a senior program manager at Intel, shares with us what it takes to manage a high-velocity program at Intel Corporation...

A Fool with a Tool is Still a Fool: Overcoming The Pitfalls of Introducing Collaboration Tools

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:07:49 +0000

Thomas Juli, PhD, PMP shares with us what it takes to successfully introduce collaboration tools in our projects. Thomas Juli, PhD, PMP says that as virtual team work becomes prevalent these days, collaboration within and across project teams becomes more important. While numerous tools promise to improve collaboration, a tool by itself is no guarantee...

What CIOs want from their Project Managers

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:17:25 +0000

Dr. Lewis Temares, CIO Emeritus at the University of Miami, shares key people management best Practices from his award winning IT organization at the University of Miami. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss this opportunity to hear fifteen of today’s leading and emerging voices in Project Management. Dr....

A methodology for rescuing troubled projects

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 04:27:45 +0000

Brian Munroe, founder and CEO of MTI Learning, shares a methodology for effectively and efficiently planning and executing the entire project rescue process. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Brian and fifteen of today’s leading and emerging voices in Project Management. Brian Munroe,...

ITIL Planning Concepts For Project Managers

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:17:53 +0000

Marisa Oldnall, PMO Lead for HP Canada’s Enterprise Services, shares key concepts of ITIL and project management best practices that we need to incorporate into our next project. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss this opportunity to hear fifteen of today’s leading and emerging voices in Project Management. Joining...

Knowledge Management Success equals Project Management Success

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 07:42:41 +0000

Dr. Ginger Levin shares how Knowledge management, if implemented effectively and used, is the key to success in project management and can transform the organization to excellence. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss hearing Dr. Levin speak at the PM Telesummit. Joining us today is Dr. Ginger Levin,...

Never work weekends again: The keys to a sustainable work pace

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:46:47 +0000

A conversation with Rich Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovations, on how agile methods enable his team to build a sustainable and humane work pace while still meeting the needs of his business. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss hearing Rich speak at the Telesummit. Software development projects are...

Building camaraderie and accountability in your project meetings

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 05:56:10 +0000

Dana Brownlee shares facilitation techniques and best practices to build a sense of camaraderie and accountability in our project meetings. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss hearing Dana speak at the Telesummit. Today, I have the distinct pleasure to chat with Dana Brownlee, President and founder of Professionalism...

How to replace a vendor who is not working out

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:11:53 +0000

A conversation with Patricia Garofano on how to successfully replace a vendor who is not working out and ensure a smooth transition to a new vendor with minimal impact on your organization. Don’t miss hearing Patricia speak at the Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10,2011. Find out more here. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit...

Join me at the Project Management Telesummit

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:08:37 +0000

I am excited to be bringing you the first edition of the Project Management Telesummit on March 8-10, 2011. When budgets get tight, training and professional development are usually the first things out the door. Taking charge of your own training and professional development and investing in your future is the best way to create...

Project Management: it is not for WIMPS!

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 07:44:38 +0000

A conversation with Traci Duez on the importance of developing the courage to lead. Today, I have the distinct pleasure to chat with Traci Duez, President and founder of Break Free Consulting, who shares with us her insights on why courage is the backbone of leadership and how values secure the backbone in place. Traci...

Leading Global Teams: Do You Know What it Takes?

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:05:47 +0000

A conversation with Dr. Margery Mayer, author of the book “The Virtual Edge: Embracing Technology for Distributed Project Team Success” on what it takes to lead global teams. Joining us today is Dr. Margery Mayer, author of the book “The Virtual Edge: Embracing Technology for Distributed Project Team Success”. Dr. Mayer will share with us...

Tangible Tips for Handling the Endless Stress in Project Management

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:00:41 +0000

Dr. Steve Flannes shares his insights on the five stress management techniques that have proven successful with project managers. Today, I have the distinct pleasure to chat with Dr. Steve Flannes about his tangible tips for handling the endless stress in Project Management. Dr. Flannes describes why Project management is inherently stressful due to matrix...

A conversation with Dr. Harold Kerzner

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 22:21:29 +0000

Dr. Harold Kerzner shares his insights from his four presentations at Pink Elephant’s 15th Annual International IT Management Conference & Exhibition. Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss this opportunity to join fifteen of today’s dynamic and engaging thought leaders in Project Management. Today, I have the pleasure to...

A Sixth Sense for Project Management with Tres Roeder

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:23:19 +0000

A conversation with Tres Roeder, president and founder of Roeder Consulting. In this conversation, I had the pleasure to chat with Tres Roader, President and Founder of Roeder Consulting, about what it takes to achieve real and meaningful change and project success. Tres reveals why successful project managers need more than great technical skills. They...

Global System Rollouts – Focus on System Integration Challenges

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:25:12 +0000

In this interview, I talk with Bipin Shah, President and CEO of Kovair Software, about the challenges and lessons learned integrating a mix of tools to provide an integrated Software Development and IT Lifecycle Management environment for one of the top ten global IT Companies. Kovair’s customer, a global leader in delivering technology solutions to...

Making Life Simple for Small and Mid-sized PMOs – A Pre-Configured Project Server Solution

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 06:58:42 +0000

In this interview, I talk with Greg Bailey, founder & CEO of SharkPro Software, about how his company’s solution SharkPro Projects™ enables mid-sized companies to take the next step in Project and Portfolio Management maturity. Greg describes how SharkPro Projects™, a pre-configured implementation of Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint 2010, can be up and running...

How to Manage the People Side of Change: An Applied Framework

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 04:57:21 +0000

In this edition, I invited Brian Richardson PMP to talk to us about managing the people side of change. Brian will share with us information that he presented at the 2010 PMI Global Congress. Brian Richardson is the founder and principal of Richardson Consulting Group, Inc., a professional services firm with deep expertise in organizational...

Rescue the Problem Project – Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:35:45 +0000

I had the distinct pleasure to sit down with Todd Williams and talk about his upcoming book Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure. The book will be released in March 2011 by AMACOM Books. Todd shares with us his Project Recovery framework that helps Project Manager’s...

Understanding Politics, Conflict, and Influence in Projects

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:33:28 +0000

In this interview, I have the pleasure to speak to Bernardo Tirado about Politics, Conflict, and Influence in projects. Bernardo brings a fresh and unique perspective to this very important topic in project management, combining his background as an Industrial Psychology practitioner and a Project Management Executive. Bernardo has extensive experience in building global shared...

The Value of the PgMP Credential in the Working World

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:43:57 +0000

In this podcast, I invite Jeff Hodgkinson, PgMP, PMP, RMP to talk to us about the benefits and value of the Program Management Professionals (PgMP®) Credential in the Working World. Jeff will share with us information that he presented at the 2010 PMI Global Congress with Brian L. Grafsgaard, PMP, PgMP, QBS about the results...

Agile Practices in Large System Integration Projects – ERP Case Study

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 15:12:18 +0000

I had the pleasure to talk to Jason Fair about his work in bringing Agile to large complex integration projects. This is a topic that I am very interested in and have been writing about lately. You can check out the series of blog posts on Agile Practices in Large System Integration Projects. Jason recently...

Self-Mastery: An Interview with Doug DeCarlo – Part 3

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:51:20 +0000

This is part 3 of my interview with Mr. Doug DeCarlo, author of the landmark book, eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility and one of my great Project Management teachers. Make sure to listen to Part 1 and Part 2 where Doug shares his great...

Self-Mastery: An Interview with Doug DeCarlo – Part 2

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:41:48 +0000

This is part 2 of interview with Mr. Doug DeCarlo, author of the landmark book, eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility and one of my great Project Management teachers. Make sure to listen to Part 1 and Part 3 where Doug shares his great insights...

Self-Mastery: An Interview with Doug DeCarlo – Part 1

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:24:00 +0000

I had the distinct pleasure to speak to Mr. Doug DeCarlo, author of the landmark book, eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility and one of my great Project Management teachers. Few years ago, I read this paragraph in one of Doug’s articles: When teams heed...

7 Steps to Writing Effective Statements of Work – Step 3

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:20:28 +0000

In my initial port in this series “Seven Steps to Writing Effective Statements of Work – Intro”, I provided a high level overview of the Statement of Work (SOW) development process. Step 1 covered the planning the effort. Step 2 covered formatting the SOW. This post will describe step 3 – Collect and Analyze Requirements....

7 Steps to Writing Effective Statements of Work – Step 2

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:51:59 +0000

In my initial port in this series “Seven Steps to Writing Effective Statements of Work – Intro”, I provided a high level overview of the Statement of Work (SOW) development process. Step 1 covered the planning the effort. This post will describe step 2 – formatting the SOW. You can choose to have one person...

7 Steps to Writing Effective Statements of Work-Step 1

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:35:38 +0000

In my previous post “Seven Steps to Writing Effective Statements of Work – Intro” , I provided a high level overview of the Statement of Work (SOW) development process. In this post, I cover step 1 – planning the effort. This step includes the following activities: Establish a Preliminary Scope Statement Start the SOW writing...

7 Steps to Writing Effective Statements of Work – Intro

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:12:53 +0000

There are many ways to approach writing a Statement of Work (SOW) for projects that involve vendors. This series explore the seven steps that will lead you through the process of writing any SOW. These seven are not necessarily sequential, but it should be possible to move backward/forward to the previous/next step depending on the...

No-Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects – The Neal Whitten Interview

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:57:56 +0000

I had the distinct pleasure to speak to Mr. Neal Whitten, one of my great Project Management teachers. Few years ago, I attended Neal’s popular and outstanding seminar “Neal Whitten’s No-Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects” and read his two popular books: Neal Whitten’s No-Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects and Neal Whitten’s Let’s Talk! More No-Nonsense...

It takes a village to fail a project

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:00:35 +0000

In my previous 2 posts, I wrote that failure is in the eye of the beholder and there is no failure, only feedback. In this post, I propose that we need to take responsibility for our part when our project fails, but only for our own contributions to the outcome. We should never shoulder the...

There is really no such thing as failure, only feedback

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:21:25 +0000

In my last post, I wrote that failure is in the eye of the beholder. When a project ends, talking about whether it was a success or a failure is sometimes like talking about religion or politics. For the most part people will have their own opinions and there is nothing you can do to...

Failure is in the eye of the beholder

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:40:09 +0000

Success for one person can still be seen as failure in the eyes of another. Show me a successful project and I will show you at least one stakeholder who thinks the project failed to meet their expectation. Over the course of a project, stakeholders change their mind about what is important to them, re-evaluate...

The Eight Constants of Change – An Interview with Stacy Aaron

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:48:25 +0000

In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Stacy Aaron co-author of two books on organizational change: The Change Management Pocket Guide published in 2005 and The Eight Constants of Change published in 2008. These books are popular with many Fortune 500 companies such as, American Express, Bayer Corporation, FedEx, UPS, Johnson...

Global System Rollouts – Focus on Latin America

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:39:24 +0000

In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Nicolas Sulla on large global rollouts. I attended Nicolas’s presentation on this topic and invited him to share with us his experience from a global rollout of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) in Latin America. Nicolas is a global Project Manager with more than 15...

On Wearing Two Hats: Project Manager and Product owner

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:37:45 +0000

A healthy conflict between the Project Manager and the Product Owner creates a build-in system of checks and balances that protect projects from getting hijacked by single-minded agendas. In our experience, when these two roles are performed by a single person, that individual is likely to be much stronger in one area than the other....

Tips for Effective Statements of Work

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:27:06 +0000

The current economy is forcing vendors to re-organize, cut staff, and re-think their strategies and business models. These changes often have the potential to impact the commitments they have already made to their clients and customers. How will you make sure that your project is not affected by such changes? In the case of a...

Tailoring Agile Practices for Enterprise System Integration Projects – Part 2

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 15:17:46 +0000

In my previous posts, Agile Practices in Large System Integration Projects and Tailoring Agile Practices for Enterprise System Integration Projects – Part 1, I argued that we need ways to incorporate Agile in system integration projects without (a) changing the entire organization or (b) waiting for the organization to change. We also need to tailor...

Tailoring Agile Practices for Enterprise System Integration Projects – Part 1

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:04:38 +0000

In my previous post, Agile Practices in Large System Integration Projects, I argued that some Agile practices are not easy to implement in enterprise system integration projects without tailoring. In this series of posts, I will identify a set of key Agile practices that offer the greatest value and recommend ways to tailor them to...

Don’t get caught between your Vendor and a Hard Place

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 26 May 2010 06:25:49 +0000

The reputations of many great project managers were ruined because their projects failed due to their mismanagement of vendors. The biggest mistake project managers make in discerning the status of their project is to rely solely on vendor status reports. These reports give only one version of the project’s progress. And that version happens to...

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:06:58 +0000

Sometimes, to break an impasse on your project you may need to say you are sorry, whether you are right or not and whether the other person is right or not. This is hard. Saying “I’m sorry” is hard because it challenges our natural need to protect ourselves. Our ego has been engineered to protect...

What I know for sure

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:01:50 +0000

A project manager asked this question on askaboutprojects.com: “I am a new project manager working on my first project as project manager. Can someone please share the examples of challenges they faced in projects” I gave the following advice before and I think it is appropriate for this question: The biggest challenge you will face...

Agile Practices in Large System Integration Projects

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:17:55 +0000

The reality of organizations is that they don’t come in a very neatly packaged configuration to which we can apply a single project management methodology. I spoke a couple weeks ago at an Oracle users group conference about my experience applying Agile practices in a large Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) upgrade project. From discussions with...

How to become an All-Terrain Project Manager

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:40:54 +0000

The more successful projects you deliver, the more likely it is that your management or clients will call upon you to lead more complex projects that are outside your repertoire of skills and even beyond your domain of technical expertise. When you deliver the goods on these projects, success will strengthen your self-confidence and enhance...

Making Emotional Conversations Unemotional

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:00:53 +0000

Listen now: Right click here to download the MP3 In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Rick Morris, author of the outstanding and popular book: Project Management that works. I attended Rick’s presentation at a PMI Global Congress a couple of years ago and the insights that Rick shared had a...

The “Chaos Report” Myth Busters

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 05:11:45 +0000

Brought to you by: Project Management Telesummit: March 8-10, 2011 – Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear 15 of today’s leading and emerging voices in Project Management at this live “virtual” online Telesummit. In a previous blog post titled, Let’s say “No” to groupthink and stop quoting the Chaos Report, I wrote that: “We...

Compassion is the “Killer App”

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:06:01 +0000

Derek Huether, at The Critical Path, wrote a fun blog post about his take on Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham story. If you don’t know the story, here is a quote from Derek’s post: Sam offers Green Eggs and Ham to an unnamed character. This character adamantly states he does not like them. Sam...

Interview with Geoff Crane, author of PaperCutPM.com

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:04:24 +0000

Listen to the interview now: In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Geoff Crane author of the popular blog PaperCut Edge. Geoff is the popular and beloved twitter known as @PapercutPM. Geoff is the owner of Papercut Project Monitoring, a consulting company with experience in global multi-million dollar projects that helps...

Interview with Deanne Earle, author of UnlikeBefore.com

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:06:30 +0000

Listen now: Right click here to download the MP3 In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Deanne Earle author of the Change Thru Action blog. Deanne is known to her followers on Twitter as @UnlikeBefore. Deanne is an expert at initiating, leading, and delivering change projects. She helps clients bridge the gap...

“Scope Seep” or what happens if you give a mouse a cookie

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:30:28 +0000

Most of us by now know about the consequences of “Scope Creep” But there is a much more dangerous problem that we Project Managers get ourselves into. It is called “Scope Seep” “Scope Seep” is a term coined by Alan Weiss and refers to situations when you, the project manager, not the customer, allow extra...

Interview with Mark Gibson on Recovering Troubled Projects

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:35:35 +0000

Listen now: Download the MP3 In this episode of the Guerrilla Project Management Podcast, I interview Mark Gibson, author of markdgibson.com. I read Mark’s blog post Resuscitation for a Red Project Team about recovering troubled project and I had to talk to him further about his approach to these types of projects. Mark is an...

The risks of road rage on your project

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:02:25 +0000

As Project Managers, we have to remember that our number one priority is to create an environment where our team members can do their great work and feel safe to speak up and express their ideas, no matter how silly or contrarian others might find them. We all know that bullying and intimidation take place...

Turning “Pro” and redefining the meaning of success

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:21:23 +0000

In project management, turning “Pro” to me means reaching the point in your career when you can still feel successful, even when we end up delivering a failed project. I believe this requires 3 things: Unlearning what we have been taught, since the beginning of our careers, as the definition of a successful project manager....

Do you make these 7 test planning mistakes?

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:10:56 +0000

There is a very good discussion on PMStudent.com about an article by Jennifer Bedell titled “Do testers goldplate too?”. Jennifer says in her post: Goldplating by a tester can occur when a tester goes beyond the stated requirements in an effort to produce a “quality” product. A tester may feel that their suggestion would improve the...

Being respectful does not mean being a doormat

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:57:08 +0000

Kareem Shaker wrote a very good blog post about RED Leadership, a term he coined for his 3 leadership pillars: Respect, Empathize, and Develop. I particularly liked what he said about respect: “Do not expect people to respect you because you are higher in position, even though they may try to show respect whenever they...

What software projects and battlefields have in common

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:50:55 +0000

Stephen Cohen wrote a wonderful blog post on 10 analogies for managing software projects. One analogy that really resonated with me is # 7 “Battlefield management”. He wrote: While I don’t mean to in any way belittle the heroic efforts and significant risk to those in real battlefield situations; software, particularly large complex solutions, required...

Let’s say “No” to groupthink and stop quoting the Chaos Report

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:24:12 +0000

A project manager asked on LinkedIn: We know that IT projects are almost always failures in the sense that we never hit our dates nor budget. Are there metrics that prove PMPs do a better job? Here is my response to this question: We need to be able to examine the underlying data and measurements...

How not to be intimidated by Project Audits

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:28:36 +0000

It is extremely frustrating for us Project Managers when auditing and quality assurance folks forget that quality actually has a cost. And in projects, unlike in normal operations, this cost has to be accounted for in the project’s budget and schedule from the start of the project. There is nothing worse than to be asked...

There is no such thing as a dysfunctional organization

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:32:23 +0000

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received about managing projects? For me, the best advice is: “There is no such thing as a dysfunctional organization, because every organization is perfectly aligned to achieve the results it gets”. This quote is from the book “the Practice of Adaptive Leadership” by Ron Heifetz,...

Connecting through conversation

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:08:02 +0000

Susan Scott, author of the acclaimed book Fierce Conversations, has these recommendations to help us connect through conversation: Come into the conversation with empty hands. Bring nothing but yourself. Set aside your own agenda and ask, “What is the most important thing we should be talking about today?” When you ask, really ask. One of...

The “Emotional Wake” of terminated projects

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:24:50 +0000

In today’s limited resources and competing priorities, terminating a project which no longer advances the organization’s objectives, is a sound business decision. It takes courage and should be celebrated as success. The resources saved can be deployed where they will matter the most for the organization in the long term. Unfortunately, terminating projects leaves behind...

Are your blind spots holding you back?

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:04:04 +0000

A project manager asked: What do you think are some key reasons why even good project managers sometimes miss getting great projects or even great career advancements? Here is my response: It is easier for us to blame our environment. And believe me I know that there are lots of environments out there where advancement...

Being Economical with the truth

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 07:36:18 +0000

When it comes to reporting project status, project managers have to make tough decisions about what to report, when to report it, and how to report it. These decisions are more challenging during crisis situations, when careful crisis communication becomes a very sensitive component of any status reporting. You feel the sensitive nature of crisis...

Simple setup for using SharePoint for project communication

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:00:57 +0000

This short video shows Project Managers a simple setup of SharePoint to organize project documentation. I used this same configuration on a recent project and it worked really well. It is a very basic setup using SharePoint built-in document and list management features. Please leave a comment below and let me know how you are using SharePoint in your...

Sometimes failure is an option

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:30:50 +0000

We spend so much of our time preparing for the success of our project but we hardly invest any time in preparing ourselves for coping with the aftermath of failure. Yet, it is inevitable that some of our projects will fail, no matter how much efforts we personally invest in them. The reality is that...

Assuming Equality

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:05:43 +0000

If there is one thing I learned from leading complex projects, over the last few years, it is that self confidence remains the foundation of successful project leadership. Without self confidence, it does not matter how well we know our project management processes, as we may not have the courage to make the tough calls,...

The Case of the Missing Project Sponsor

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:55:49 +0000

A project should never be approved without an official sponsor, who is willing to lobby and fight for it. Unfortunately, there are still many organizations that don’t have a decent project governance process for project selection and approval. As project managers, we get too excited about new projects that we sometimes start work without a...

Uncovering the Project Manager Blind Spots

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:43 +0000

Transitioning from individual contributor to project manager is one of the hardest phases of one’s career, especially for those of us with a technical background. The habits and behaviors that made us successful in the past are unlikely to make us successful as project managers. Often, these become blind spots that we have to learn...

Why a blog about Guerrilla Project Management?

samad@guerrillaprojectmanagement.com (Samad Aidane) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:50:48 +0000

It has taken me months to finally decide to publish my first blog post. I thought long and hard about what I wanted this blog to be about. I knew from the start that I wanted it to be about my passion for project management but I wasn’t clear on what kind of topics I...