Projects generally have multiple tasks going on at one time. With this being said it would definitely be possible for the project to have multiple priorities going on at one time. There will be tasks that have a greater priority…   Read more»

A team is going to follow their project manager’s examples. Therefore if he is lackadaisical his team is most likely going to slack off on assignments, thus causing a cascade of issues. It is important for a project manager to…   Read more»

The two survey answers seem unrelated to me. I say this because you can love your job without being praised. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and receive recognition, but if you truly love what you’re doing do you really need…   Read more»

I am a little surprised that percentage for benefits, meaningful work, and being recognized are the lowest. One of the most famous saying is “do a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Which I…   Read more»

No one has all of the answers, and most people are learning as they go along. In the mini-sims I always tried to gather up as much information as I can and make a sort of informed “gut” decision. It…   Read more»

I believe for myself personally I would need improvement in the risk management portion of project management. It seems as though it is something that may come with experience. One can obviously count for all of the expected risks, but…   Read more»

In almost all cases it is the project manager’s sole responsibility to make sure that everyone is talking regardless of organization. The title the person hold is “project manager” meaning that they must manage what is going on within the…   Read more»

Using the minisim as an example. The product that was being made required a specific amount of friction in order for the product to work. Specifications should most certainly be followed to a t when a final product is being…   Read more»

Reactive management is most certainly not a bad thing if it required. Hopefully, it will not be required as a good PM should be able to account for any delays or foreseeable issues. Usually reactive management is characterized by a…   Read more»

EV, SV, and CV are mainly used as estimates so that the PM and stake holders can know where the project is at, and how it is doing. These values allow the PM to adjust, and make changes so that…   Read more»

If I had to choose between the two possible cases I myself would go with scenario 2. It is better to be behind schedule but under budget, than ahead of schedule and over budget. I say this because you can…   Read more»

I believe by growth you mean scope creep. Scope creep generally refers to changes or uncontrolled growth in a project’s scope. This can involve poor change control, lack of initial identification of tasks in the project, etc. I do not…   Read more»

When determining a schedule human factors should already be taken into account. I believe that a good project manager should already have sick days, and vacations accounted for. The most dangerous waste of resources would obviously be what cannot be…   Read more»

Both variance types are crucial when trying to stay within the scope of the project. Schedule variance is calculated by subtracting the planned value out from the earned value (EV-PV). Schedule variance gives the PM an idea of where they…   Read more»

I do not have experience with industrial projects, however I have been on a surgical research team. While on this team we went over the DDP of the project, and covered all tasks required. While working on our project it…   Read more»

manolo the issue with what you are asking is that ISO are regulations that must be required. Different devices need these regulations or else they will run into issues with the FDA. The FDA could then stop these companies from…   Read more»

No, personally I do not believe it is ever okay to shorten time frames if it means risk will be increased. In the simulation there was an option to shorten testing, and it was all luck that the FDA over…   Read more»

As most responses in this thread indicate, talking to the vendor directly to let them know the issue would be the simplest way of dealing with any problems in regards to the product they are providing. In the original example…   Read more»

Like previous posts have mentioned, having a full scope of the project is key to completing the project in the proper time frame. Risk analysis is involved in multiple areas of a project, and runs directly parallel with the design…   Read more»

@ manolo, I am curious as to what you mean by “overcommunication”. I agree with you that being pestered by someone constantly can become quite a nuisance, however, I would only say that this would extend to coworkers or subordinates….   Read more»