Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

There's nothing more daunting than a long list of urgent tasks.  When everything is urgent, it's hard to know where to start.  So here are four tips for taming your to-do list when everything is or at least seems to be urgent.

Eliminate or postpone those you can.  It's easy to feel overwhelmed by competing demands.  This is especially true if you are in a role where you have...

Despite many internet articles to the contrary, PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique) and FPA (Function Point Analysis) estimates can be valuable for many projects outside of software-related industries and not just for scheduling.

PERT estimates are a part of a more extensive system and was designed to focus on schedules.  Its benefit is that it mathematically provides everything an...

With the move to more remote work, this is a good time to think about improving virtual team communication.  Fortunately, I've been working with remote teams since the 1970s, so have learned a few important lessons along the way.  Communication, for some, is difficult face-to-face and even harder when working remotely.

Here's a perfect example of how not to act with remote...

A project charter is a document that initiates a project.  While some project management standards suggest specific formats and topics, real projects often use other documents in place of a project charter.  These may be contracts, statements of work, memoranda of understanding, or other similar documents.

The best project charters provide the most salient details, allowing the...

Managing any construction project can be time-consuming and stressful.  There are a lot of disciplines and people involved, even in smaller projects, and there is always pressure to finish on time.  So here are five tips specifically aimed at those new to construction projects.

Solve one problem at a time.  There will always be issues but be sure to tackle them one at a...

Your project management career is a journey, not a destination. If you treat it as such, you are more likely to succeed. So rather than rush to get a certification, take the time to learn and absorb the knowledge. Here are some reasons why you should look at it this way.

Project Management Takes a Lot of Knowledge

Just as human knowledge doubles daily, project management knowledge expands...

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...

Mainly during project execution, the project manager must track the work accomplished.  Tracking may be essential if a project is large and complex, has many tasks that span more than a week, or is time-critical. 

As with all project management tools and solutions, the method employed should be scaled to the project.  For example, there is no need for a $20k software solution for...

As you probably know from the Risk Assessment Framework, we firmly believe that having categories and prompt lists can help with brainstorming. While some budget estimates can be computed, a big part of the job is to ensure all costs are included. Therefore, it is critical to consider all the charges, including taxes, fees, and economic conditions. In addition, one or more of these categories...

Over the years since the first PMBOK® Guide appeared, the project management body of knowledge has grown exponentially.  More than a thousand pages are currently in two PMBOK editions needed to understand project management.  In addition, these editions are supplemented by online information, textbooks, and more.  This amount of information can be daunting to an aspiring,...