Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

With outstanding leadership comes great responsibility. For example, suppose you are a project leader, whether a project manager or team lead. It's up to you to communicate clearly with your team and manage their expectations. Luckily, there are some things that you can do as a leader to make this process easier.

Your ability to lead is a skill that you can improve with practice and patience....

To start reserve planning requires a completed risk analysis  (for details on how to complete a risk analysis, see our publication, Risk Assessment Framework: Successfully Navigating Uncertainty) . First, estimate the financial impact for each risk, then compute the estimated monetary value (EMV). The EMV is the product of the likelihood and the impact in dollars or your local...

What is the project management risk process?  The project management Risk Assessment Framework is a flexible, easily scaled, and tailored framework aligned with the Project Management Institute's PMBOK® Guide. 

The benefit of the framework is that it is easy enough for an aspiring, new, and accidental project manager to understand yet comprehensive enough that even seasoned...

Risk management is the art and science we use to assess and respond to the risks which exist throughout the life of our projects.  In fact, risk exists in virtually any initiative - programs, portfolios, business, operations, manufacturing, and more.  We perform risk management so our initiatives are successfully managed within the triple constraints of cost, quality, and time, plus...

Good leadership does not come from a single skill, but rather a collection of skills such as team building, influence, patience,  empathy, and creativity. This article examines 5 leadership skills essential for risk and crisis management. 

Risk management and crisis management are closely related.  Good risk management may reduce or minimize crises, but it is inevitable that at...

No matter what project management methods or project life cycles you are using, risk management is an important component.  While there may be some nuances for different circumstances, some elements are universal.

It's important to note that risk is unavoidable - no environment is completely risk free. But do scale your efforts accordingly.  A very complex project, projects with large...

There are four key terms to consider to develop an organizational risk profile before writing your risk management plan.  Only three are in the PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition, and you need to read the entire Risk Management chapter to find them. The fourth (do you know which one this is?) is not likely to appear in the Seventh Edition either.  But all four are essential...

Always foster good relationships with the client and the team, and remember that the client has the final acceptance of deliverables. If you are practicing Agile, the client will also be a part of the team. Here are four ways you can use to demonstrate respect for your client.

1. Respect the client's time. Conduct efficient meetings, starting with agendas, and ending with action items and...

Decision making is a skill we need to apply to weigh the pros and cons of alternatives and choose the best path forward.  Bad decisions contribute to project risks and can put a team into firefighting mode, correcting wrong decisions after bad choices.  Here are six tips to improve your project and other decision-making efforts.

1. Treat decision making as a process. There are many...

These can assist you to keep a project on schedule:

1. Ask for "as soon as possible," rather than set a deadline.
2. Never say, "I don't have time." According to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, it is the same as saying, "I don't want to." Better: "I can fit it in next week, would that work?"
3. If falling behind, carefully consider:
   • Can I start some tasks earlier or eliminate unnecessary tasks?
   • Will the...