SigmaWay Blog

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Practical project politics

Politics in offices is an important part of corporate culture and no one can escape it. Ignoring it is not a solution. A successful project manager should be politically good also handle adverse and difficult situations and turn them in his/her or in company's favor. Project managers should try and involve in good politics for betterment of the company. There are few important points that will help project managers to survive politics. Please go through the link for more details: Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/practical-project-politics

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Necessary skills to resolve project conflicts

Conflicts are bound to arise among employees while working on a project. To resolve them we need to be sympathetic and good listeners. Project managers must keep a positive environment amongst teams to bring out the best from them. Sometimes team members cannot resolve issues among themselves, then project managers must step in. Please go through the link for more details on how to resolve project conflicts: http://www.pmhut.com/10-necessary-skills-to-resolve-project-conflicts

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Effective communication: A challenge to project managers

To achieve project targets successfully, effective communication is the key and for that proper communication planning is very essential. In recent PMI's 2013 Pulse of the Profession report, it has been revealed that effective communications is the most important success factor in project management. The report also revealed that on an average two in five projects, do not meet the project's main goal and one-half of those two unsuccessful projects are due to ineffective communications. Effective communication means providing only the useful and required information in a proper time. For doing things in a better way, a project manager has to tailor the communication plan accordingly. There are numerous tools that a project manager can use to maintain a better communication approach, few of them like stakeholder analysis, Power/Interest grid, fish bone diagram or Ishikawa Diagram and RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed) are discussed in the article. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/effective-communication-a-challenge-to-project-managers.html

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Measuring in-progress project performance

Measuring performance of an ongoing project is a difficult task. The best method to understand performance, is to primarily determine the KPI's, which in turn will give us a clear idea on which parameters we want to measure the performance of a project. Proper measurement can help us to understand the area where a project is lacking and why. It also helps us to manage expectations of stakeholders and issue warnings against any upcoming problems which might arise in future. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/george-pitagorsky/measuring-in-progress-project-performance.html

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Decision making models in project management

Inability to take decisions is one of the principal reasons for the failure of any project. Good project managers need to have proper understanding of various effective tools to manage triple constraints of any project i.e. time, cost and scope. In this article tools like SWOT Analysis, Maslow's Pyramid, Pareto Principle, Monte Carlo Simulation and Decision Tree Analysis are discussed. In the field of project management, these are regarded as highly effective tools for decision making. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/decision-making-models-in-project-management.html

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Challenges in project management

Success of any project depends upon numerous factors and several circumstances. Every project manager should be well aware of various challenges which are associated with either the project directly or indirectly. This article mainly covers ten project management challenges which are needed to be considered before startup of any project. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.daywatcher.com/top-10-project-management-challenges/

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Common project management mistakes and how to avoid them

Many big projects sometimes do not see the light of success because of lack of knowledge, skills and improper management of time, money and resources. To avoid doing such mistakes we must understand the reason behind the mistakes and find out ways to prevent them from repeating them in future. To know more about these mistakes and how to avoid them, kindly refer to the below mentioned link:-http://www.cio.com/article/717321/12_Common_Project_Management_Mistakes_and_How_to_Avoid_Them

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7 Must have project management skills for IT pros

Project’s success is highly dependent upon the efficiency of the Project Manager. A Project Manager must have some required skills to successfully manage projects and lead by example. To know more about the skills of a project manager, kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.cio.com/article/726888/7_Must_Have_Project_Management_Skills_for_IT_Pros

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Getting project management right

Proper utilization of project management is very important since it can make or break a project. Managing it optimally can bring fruitful results but overutilization or underutilization can lead to failure of a project. To know more about project management, kindly refer to the below mentioned link:-http://www.cioupdate.com/trends/article.php/3603241/Getting-Project-Management-Right.htm

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Quality objectives in project management

Objectives of a project might be more than one. The stakeholders are the ones who are supposed to earn benefits from a project, but the definition of benefit can be different for different stakeholders as stakeholders are more than one. Quality objectives may differ for different stakeholders as per their needs and requirements from the project. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/quality-objectives-in-project-management-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder

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Benefits of using enterprising tools for managing projects

In the present competitive market maintaining profit and growth is very difficult for a company. To do so the company must take help of enterprising tools. Such tools actually improves productivity and hence profitability of a company. These tools help in proper co-ordination and connectivity amongst the various processes thus reducing idle time among processes. It helps to keep track of various tasks and ensures timely completion of each task. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/7-benefits-of-using-enterprising-tools-for-managing-projects

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How can stakeholder management fail?

Nowadays, stakeholder management has become a very important aspect for successful completion of any project. It is also introduced as a Knowledge Area in the PMBOK® Guide. During the project, communication, interference, flow of information, uses of tools and matrixes, and hidden agenda of stakeholder’s should be always keep in mind and properly managed by the manager. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.business2community.com/strategy/can-stakeholder-management-fail-0631968#!RK4ai

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Hope for the best-plan for the worst

It is foolish to plan for the best by just hoping to get the best resources, productivity and enthusiasm while working on a project. It is absolutely possible that we might get to work with the worst kind of resources whose productivity is low and is less enthusiastic. In such a situation if our planning was with the best, we will be left with nothing to do. But, if we plan for the worst, we can work with any kind of resources. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/hope-for-the-best-plan-for-the-worst/

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6 Time management tips for project managers

Managing time is extremely crucial for Project Managers. For successful completion of a project, utilizing and managing time effectively is very important. By managing time, it is possible to make a positive impact in performance and efficiency of a project. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link:-http://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/lean-six-sigma-business-transformation/articles/six-time-management-tips-for-project-managers

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Choose right project management tools

Implementing wrong project management tools can ruin a business. So before deciding which tool to implement, we must first make the foundation of a project with solid definition of purpose and also it is required to estimate the various needs and requirements of project. Project management tools should work more smoothly and should deliver the results in an efficient manner. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link:  http://lnbogen.com/2014/04/14/how-project-management-tools-kill-more-companies-than-any-other-saas-out-there/

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Common construction problems resolved by project management

Project management is an important medium to reduce wastage of time, resources and money. Traditional project team models are not that much effective in construction industry. In this article, four ways are mentioned to work more effectively and efficiently. For a  successful project, it is very crucial to give importance to value engineering, identifying the associated risk, minimizing build time and maintaining long term relationships with the clients. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://projectmanager.com.au/basic/4-common-construction-problems-project-management-resolves/

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Blending agile and formal project management

For successful project, we must try and break out of the traditional and fundamental ways and try to create and implement hybrid methods for project management, so that business, client and project team member needs can be achieved. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/george-pitagorsky/blending-agile-and-formal-project-management.html

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Organization must take on innovation and complexity or else

To cultivate innovation, it is important to think relationally in a collective manner across the business unit in a broad view. The prevalent characteristic for any project is mainly dependent on the type of project or specification of running project, said Fadi Samara, PMP, of C4 Advanced Solutions. Also the people factor is a matter of huge concern when working on a project with multicultural teams. Self-inflicted complexity should be avoided to do the thing in a simple manner. Micromanaging, focusing on narrow projects, unnecessary layers of management, confound accountability and lack of proper communication can make the project even more complex. Mr. Samara also said "People underestimate complex projects due to lack of experience". So, experience plays a vital role to make a project successful. Also to deal with project complexity, leadership is the most important skill for a project manager. More than 80 percent of respondents to the PMI Pulse of the Profession® survey ranked leadership as the most crucial one. Please go through the link for more details: http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/voices_on_project_management/2014/05/orgs-must-take-on-innovation-a.html

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Why project managers should coach

There is always an opportunity for a project manager to coach team members, as the project is a full-time work. For a project management, planning is very essential for effective coaching sessions. It is important to decide whether the session will be directive or non-directive, and also in which area the team members are to be coached. Coaching can deliver a very successful project when, newly formed team or inexperienced team were properly coached and guided by the manager. It is not a replacement of formal training; it is a re-enforcement approach which will be very affective after formal training. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/why-project-managers-should-coach-2.php

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Meeting management

Arranging a meeting involves a lot of strategy, planning and tactics. A good meeting is short, effective and a good experience for everyone. To arrange a successful meeting, agenda of the meeting must be very clear to all members. Discussions should be to the point, useful and brief. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/meeting-management

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