To address the points raised by colleagues, I would like to share a personal work experience as told to me by my friend. She said: “… I was working as part of an IT entity in a major university in…   Read more»

I agree with most ideas brought up by my colleagues regarding the qualities a manager should possess. In addition, I would like to add that an excellent manager is someone whose radiating enthusiasm is felt by the employees in the…   Read more»

For me, it was very helpful in a way that it taught me about the real life of a biomedical engineer in industry and after school, since most classes focus only on the technical part of being an engineer, neglecting…   Read more»

That is an interesting question to think about. For me, I would certainly work several years as an engineer, as I learned a lot in my engineering years during undergrad and grad school. I think it will be hard for…   Read more»

That was an interesting study! However, I was not very surprised with the results. Although most people think that the “Fair Pay” is the main reason that would an employee to keep working, I think it is not easy to…   Read more»

It is very essential in any team to have some sort of enthusiasm regarding the project in order to perform their best and have the highest level of productivity. This can be certainly directed by the project manager in most…   Read more»

After the team development, execution process should work on the planned timeline by team members in which each should perform the assigned tasks on the planned time. However, during any possible employee absence or vacation, the project manager should have…   Read more»

Although there are many important factors that would affect project planning and execution a project manager should focus on, I would emphasize on choosing the right person (team member) for the right task. Spending some time learning about team member’s…   Read more»

I do agree with all these points, each would play a critical role in project success as it all depends on each other in a way or another. For me, I would add another two important aspects that would affect…   Read more»

Planned value (PV) and actual costs (AC) does matter in the monitoring and controlling phase as both are essential for the controlling and monitory phase as each would have a direct impact on the project budget. PV is defined as…   Read more»

In my opinion, although there are many important monitoring and controlling techniques in the phase of the design control, I believe that for a team to success in the execution stage, it is important to ensure and check that plan…   Read more»

Due to the PMI website definition, schedule variance (SV) is the difference between the earned value (EV) and the planned value (PV). [SV = EV-PV]. There are several factors that could affect the schedule variance negatively in any project. It…   Read more»

It is true that managing duration in a project is one of the hardest tasks for the PM to handle ideally. Even though all task durations were arranged and planned precisely, some out-of-control issues could appear at one point and…   Read more»

In my opinion, a planning phase is very important, a successful plan has to be built up in a way that allows for dynamic changes. In other words, when the need for revisiting an earlier phase (ie. planning phase) a…   Read more»

In order to avoid such a delay issue, a project manager should initially contact multiple vendors, and get all the information he/she needs for the product. This would give flexibility on time and flexibility to switch to any other alternative…   Read more»

Although task scheduling is very essential in the project process during the planning phase, setting a risk management plan and a backup strategy is a must. these risks could be caused by the organization and management, the development internal/external environment,…   Read more»

In my senior design for my undergrad, I found it very useful to log every single detail in my work. This includes writing tasks to be done, what was done, when and how. I was recording all meetings, and taking…   Read more»

I agree with you. All phases are important, and missing one phase could lead to project failure at one point. Project initiating may be the most important as other project management processes would rely on it, such as the planning…   Read more»

If I was the PM, I will try to find a time that members can meet in two different sessions to speed up the process. Also, an online meeting through Google hangout or skype would be appropriate. Another solution could…   Read more»

It is well known that having a clear milestone in any project plan would make it easier for the PM and the team member to keep track on the project main tasks and to plan important events, meetings, agreements, and…   Read more»