Projects and Systems Podcast

Is there such a thing as being over-prepared? And if so, can it be dangerous? In today's episode I explain why the answer is, "Yes!" to both questions.

Ever think you're doing the right thing, only to find out it was precisely wrong? Today I talk about how we do that in our organizations.

One reason why you may not be getting the results you expect in your projects, is that your standard of what it takes to hit excellence is far too low. What you think it takes to get an A+ on your paper, might really be what it takes to get a C+, or a B-.

When you estimate what you can pull off in the next iteration, are you basing that on a running average? Or the reality of the moment?

Are you inadvertantly creating your own bottlenecks? In this episode, I discuss one common way this can happen, and what to do about it.

There's a time for dreaming, and then there's a time to get our feet firmly back on the ground. As PM's, we need to guide our teams to meet project objectives with our existing resources.

I know it's comfortable to speak in generalities and, "We might want to's..." and, "...Maybe we should consider's...". There's a time for that in the beginning. But then, we need to put that verbiage behind us and hold ourselves to a higher standard of speaking clearly and directly.

How a little bit of situational awareness, up front, can help us avoid taking our project teams on unnecessary side trips that cause delays and lower morale.

A quick tip on something that often confuses people using Agile/Scrum to manage their projects.

As project managers we are paid to hit the objective--even if that means getting there in a way that wasn't part of our original plan.