Tag: Project Management

  • Is it worth going the extra mile?

    That last bit of effort Most of us have encountered many situations where we need to make a decision: do we want to put in just a little bit more effort or should we just let it go. There is the project proposal that we have been working on for days. Should we do another…

  • The robot – a case study about the value of process automation

    The case for process automation Many business analytics programs follow a classic approach – they start with process automation. It is the low hanging fruit. Executives and project managers like process automation as it is usually easy to measure and identify the benefits (e.g.: cycle time reduced by 2 days, aggregation is 60% faster). However,…

  • Champions League – The role of confidence and positive energy

    The Champions League finale Did you watch the Champions League finale this weekend? Chelsea beat FC Bayern Munich in the penalty shoot-out. It was an interesting and intense match. Bayern Munich was the better team for the majority of the match. After 82 minutes they had managed to get over 16 corners while Chelsea had…

  • Why you should add prototyping to your toolbox

    The value of prototyping Last week, I came across an excellent post by the Truly Deeply blog. It was titled ‘Brands need to Innovate or they will fade‘. The author of the blog argues that brands are under pressure to innovate their products and services. But innovating becomes harder and harder as the “future is…

  • 7 things recovery has taught me about project management

    Project Management “Only big dreams have the power to move men’s souls.” Marcus Aurelius Back in December I was diagnosed with cartilage damage in my knee. This is a nasty injury that often results in people not being able to walk without pain let alone do any kind of weight-bearing sport like skiing or running.…

  • Professionalism – 5 Things We Can Learn From Athletes

    PROFESSIONALISM Professionalism is on of those things that is hard to explain. We admire people that are really professional. And many folks would probably think of themselves as being highly professional. Yet, many people are frustrated when it comes to their careers. They are either not getting promoted or they feel that their accomplishments are…

  • A lesson in simplicity

    SIMPLICITY IS THE ULTIMATE SOPHISTICATION? Last year, severe knee pain caused me to completely stop running for two months. The physical therapist I started working with quickly came to a conclusion about my problems. It took him two minutes. Over the course of six sessions he developed an intricate training program that consisted of various…

  • How to create happy business people

    “Projects could be so much fun if it wasn’t for the users.” Well, I have often heard this from different project teams. And there is some truth to this: Too many projects fail to ‘wow’ an organization because the business is disappointed about the final results. Based on my personal experience, I believe that the…

  • A simply awesome idea for your projects

    “Make sure the teams get to know each other! It’s a lot easier to collaborate once you have had a drink together.” That was the ubiquitous advice from my former boss. We were discussing some communication problems related to a large international project. Some team members on a global project were running into some issues.…

  • Three ideas for better user requirements

    Let’s face it. Way too many projects fail. And they often fail because of low user adoption. Users hate the new processes, they dislike the new report style, they are not sure how to best use the new planning software. Project managers claim that the users are not open to change. Sounds familiar? But when…