99.9% of the project managers I know have at least heard of Microsoft Project (MSP), and all understand it to be a very capable, yet very complex environment for estimating and managing projects. But it's Saturday evening and I'm a bit cynical tonight, so I'll say that 50% of those people don't really understand how it works - and have many reasons why they should not use MSP for this project or that ... ... this is an iterative development…
Another conversation at the start of the new year - this time in our PMO, concerning project prioritization and resource assignments. Many organizations follow a "parallel" model, launching multiple projects at any one time and working concurrently to move things forward. To be fair, this often occurs because we start work on one or two things, only to have additional worthy business requirements pop-up as time goes by. Unfortunately, we don't stop the first project or delay the second; most…
This week the marketing group is getting a bit frustrated, because we're having a difference of opinion about service levels, resource availability, access to databases and servers - all exacerbated by the new owners handing down edicts for reporting requirements that are absolutely taking priority over all other work, no matter what expectations may have been set in the past. Observation #1: Is the term "Customer Service" applicable to IT? Some of the pushback I get comes in the form…