Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

Effective sprint planning is essential for the success of any agile project.  The agile project manager should ensure every iteration delivers the highest possible value to customers to stay true to agile values.  Without effective planning, the team will not start the sprint with a shared understanding of the work.  As a result, the team may defer user stories' implementation...

I was recently asked, "What is the time frame for total project completion?" The time frame for total project completion is when all project work is done and all project resources, including the project manager, can be released.  Total project completion should include the tested product, service, or other results that meet all client needs and expectations.  This time frame is a...

Project management can be a demanding role.  Use these time management tips to manage time more effectively, from day-to-day and month-to-month.

1. Know When You are Most Productive. The first step in effectively managing time is to know when you are the most productive.  This time is when you feel more energized and creative.  Are you a morning or afternoon person? This time is...

One of the most challenging tasks for project managers is creating a schedule. Any number of dependencies need consideration – logical progressions of work, resource availability, client or sponsor delivery demands, team preferences, and more.  Here are five tips for getting the best possible schedule:

1. Have enough milestones. What gets measured is what gets done. Be sure to include...

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...

 1) Be sure there is a project...

Getting good estimates is often challenging for projects.  Here are 5 tips for getting better estimates for difficult-to-estimate tasks:

1. Decompose the work further to understand it more fully. Document all assumptions and constraints.
2. Look for similar estimates provided for past projects—network with other projects or organizations willing to share their experience and expertise.
3. Do...

These tips are from Pursuing Project Excellence: Six Ideas to Improve Your Projects by Bob Jewell, PMP (with permission).

1. Define the word "scope" carefully. It is "the ... work to accomplish the ... deliverables (product, service, or other results) to the agreed-upon requirements."
2. Get clear requirements. "Assign each of the project's deliverables to a team member and give them the...

A lot of folks in San Diego wonder how the construction of Petco Park, a managed project, could have possibly spent all the funding before it was half completed without anyone knowing. While I certainly don't have proof as to the actual cause, there is a very good way a project can get into this state -- they failed to look at all three key project success factors -- time, cost, and...

Here are some additional tips for getting better plans with MS Project:

1. Manually scheduled tasks have shortcomings. Set up Project such that new tasks are automatically scheduled (Options>Schedule>Scheduling options for this project); use manual sparingly.
2. As plans expand, section them out by project phase or major deliverables through space separation, changing bar colors, highlighting,...