Tightly focused articles regarding the theory and practice of technology and software development project management.
A Wrinkling Time – Part 1: Layered Calendar Management Strategy in MS Project
Calendars in Microsoft Project are used to indicate the working time for resources. Working time is determined by the hours that a resource is available and the impact of what MS Project calls an exception. Exceptions are usually holidays, vacations, or other scheduled time off but they can be time on for what is normally time off like working on a weekend. An exception is any [Continue Reading]
How Do I Know What I Know – Project Assumptions Management
Just the other day I was asked my opinion on RAID logs. I had to admit that “RAID” was a project management acronym I had not heard of. Checking the PMBOK Guide turned up nothing. I did find entries on some of the big PM sites via search. The thing is a Risk, Assumption, Issue, and Dependency log, for those of you hadn’t heard of a RAID log either. Apparently, some [Continue Reading]
Project Risk Management and the Risk Register
A critical component of any well-managed project is the discipline of risk planning and management. Risk is uncertainty concerning events which, if they occur, will have an impact on the project. Note that these impacts can be either positive or negative. The process of risk management entails planning for, identification, analysis, and controlling this uncertainty on the [Continue Reading]
Project Scheduling and Dependency Attributes
Part of building a project schedule entails the sequencing of tasks to be completed in furtherance of the project. There are a number of determinants that go into sequencing, but one of the most important is to determine project schedule task dependencies. A dependency between tasks is: what needs to happen before something else can occur. The first task, that is the task that [Continue Reading]
Stakeholder Analysis and the Salience Model – Part 2: Using the Model
Using the Salience Model will be the subject of this second part exploration of using the technique in your stakeholder analysis practice. The theory and background is covered in Stakeholder Analysis and the Salience Model – Part 1: What is the Model. The combination of the analysis of power, legitimacy, and urgency of a proposed stakeholder yields their salience. Based on [Continue Reading]
