1: generate immoveable deadlines – forcing project teams to focus on what is required (to meet the milestone) and to rethink problems and look for creative solutions 2: encourage cross-functional teams and/or construct teams of people who rarely or never work together – enhances the chances for new thinking between different disciplines and the reframing … Read more
I’ve been thinking more about learning in projects and the infrastructure & processes to enable more effective learning and knowledge exchange and development. I see the experience of project working as the building block for ‘deep’ collaborative working. Learning in projects operates broadly on three levels: Individual: often focused on developing new skills and knowledge … Read more
An interesting post here on PM 2.0 – a more ’emergent’ approach to managing projects that is more about collaboration and learning – especially in the build, test, rebuild approach.
svprojectmanagement have this article on complexity thinking in projects. The article reflects some of the key questions I come back to about projects and organisations in general, especially the question on a “school of fishes swimming together without a manager. Why don’t they need overhead?”. See managing complexity by nurturing emergence – interesting stuff that … Read more
Interesting article on running a planning session using what they call a ‘storyboard’ approach – I’ve used something similar (described here) but utilising de Bono’s six thinking hats. Its interesing to see the glee in some people’s faces when we get onto the black hat stage of basically destroying ther initial plan!
Was pointed to this post on PM Hut from Raven’s Brain on project management skills and competences. The emphasis on the ‘softer’ people management skills: be a leader and a manager be a team builder and a team leader be a negotiator and an influencer be an excellent communicator alongside other skills you’d expect in … Read more
In an increasingly complex and changeable/ chaotic environment I find that in many instances traditional control based project management approaches don’t work or don’t add value. Take Prince 2, for example, the clue is in the title – PRojects IN Controlled Environments. Project and organisational boundaries are increasingly permeable and managers need to manage between … Read more