Although each phase is critical, the most important phase in the project process for longitudinal success is the planning phase, as it is when the project proposal, scope, and requirements are establi...

The first step to effectively balancing expectations from all involved bodies (e.g., FDA, shareholders, and consumers) is for the PM to recognize that all these groups value different outcomes. Regula...

The phrase "everything is about risk" in risk management refers to the habit of organizations to contextualize decisions, meetings, and discussions around identifying/evaluating potential risk. Such a...

@mmd55 You definitely bring up an interesting point about the relative importance of resources vs. management oversight in a project's early stages. While having funding or other resources is definite...

A way companies can reduce the cost of returning to earlier development phases is through strengthening early-stage planning and risk identification. This can be facilitated by thorough design reviews...

A WBS definitely facilitates better project planning via facilitating the organization of a complex project into smaller and more clearly defined tasks that can be more easily managed and tracked. By ...

One aspect of EVM that has yet to be discussed is its value in forecasting, not just monitoring. EVM can certainly convey whether a project is ahead or behind, but it can do more than that. EVM enable...

Another way to consider the distinction is to focus on what event is being protected. In FS dependencies, you are protecting the start of the successor task, since these tasks cannot begin until the p...

An additional way to mitigate financial pushback in front-end R&D could be to rework the product architecture before assuming the business case is fixed. Rather than presenting a high-COGS device ...

In medical device development, the PM's responsibilities definitely expand beyond traditional management, but I would not say they shift completely away from it. Instead, I think compliance assurance ...

For a project to return to a previously "completed" phase in the PDCA cycle, a PM needs strong skills in risk assessment, change management, and stakeholder communication. This is an extremely expensi...

As you had said, Jacob, I think the longitudinal ROI in Project Management for degrees and certifications serves different, yet complementary functions. I certainly agree that PMP/Six Sigma gives you ...

Your example certainly highlights how verification failures often shed light on component selection and manufacturability issues rather than about the test itself. This certainly illustrates how the f...

An effective way to avoid such a situation would be to do integrate "version control checks" into the design change request process. For example, by mandating requesters to directly reference the docu...

Effective project managers can skillfully align business needs and customer satisfaction by rectifying organizational strategy and customer value. Typically, business needs and customer satisfaction a...