Lots of project managers put time into creating a great project schedule, either working with an in-house planner or an expert contractor. They end up with a brilliant, robust and integrated schedule in Oracle Primavera P6 or another equally good enterprise project management scheduling tool. But the work doesn’t stop there. After you have created […]
How to Create and Use a Corrective Action Log
Corrective Action Log If you work on contracts that require earned value management as standard, you’ll be familiar with the idea of corrective actions. These are items requested, normally by the government agency you are working with, that address areas of your earned value management system that are under-performing. Across the life of a large-scale […]
5 Ways to Transfer Learning Back to the Workplace
Transfer Learning Back It can be hard to transfer knowledge back to the workplace after you’ve been on a course. Asking around the office, we found a couple of colleagues with stories of how they had learned something, found the course brilliant, and then within a month had slipped into old ways of working because […]
What is Schedule Analysis?
Schedule analysis is a way to check that your project schedule is built flexibly and robustly. It’s a set of checks that help build confidence in the dates, dependencies and resource allocations required to deliver the work. During a schedule analysis exercise, we’re looking for two things: How well is the schedule built? This relates […]
3 Common Results from RCA (Root Cause Analysis)
RCA (Root Cause Analysis) is a powerful technique that helps you understand why aspects of your earned value management system are not working as expected. As part of responding to a corrective action request, the project team will carry out an RCA exercise to identify what caused the failure. There are various tools you can […]
How To Create A One-Page Project Report
One-Page Project Report Executives are busy people. And so are project leaders. You don’t have time to write multi-page reports. While there is a time and a place for the detail, project status updates simply need to get the key messages across quickly. The one-page project report was popularized by The One-Page Project Manager, a […]
Schedule Float Explained
You probably have schedule float on your project already, and you might not even know it. However, more than one project has been saved because float provided the flexibility to take a different path if necessary, without having a negative impact on the project overall. If your project is at risk of running behind, it’s […]
5 Tools for Root Cause Analysis
Tools for Root Cause Analysis We work with a lot of companies who are going through the process of earned value management certification and who need to evidence that their system is set up to identify issues and act on them. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is one of the main techniques that contractors need to […]
Behavioral Interview Questions for Project Managers
Behavioral Interview Questions for Project Managers Every detail matters when it comes to successfully completing a project. But what about when it comes to your career? If you’re looking for a new role, you need to be just as prepared and meticulous in your approach – especially when it comes to behavioral interview questions. Interviews […]
Complex Systems and the Darnall-Preston Complexity Index
The Darnall-Preston Complexity Index Understanding and leading complex systems (such as a project) require a firm understanding of systems that have been developed from other industries and areas that can be adapted to project management to make projects much easier to manage. For this to be possible, project managers and team members must understand what […]