A Practical Project Planning Process

A Practical Project Planning Process

Blog Barista: Bob Marquis, CPA, PMP | May 24th, 2022 | Project Management | Brew time: 4 min
How much planning should go into a project? Over-planning is inefficient, but under-planning can lead to major project issues. This is why I’ve outlined some practical tips to help you find the right balance. First, understand that planning is hard work. It can be tedious and mentally draining. So, many of us try to avoid it. But in the long run, if we want a project to be easy and run smoothly, we have to work hard at planning it…

The Value of Earned Value

The Value of Earned Value

Blog Barista: Bob Marquis, CPA, PMP, PgMP | May 26, 2020 | Project Management | Brew time: 5 min
What does a project sponsor or project executive want to know about their project? In simplest terms, they want to know, “How are we doing? Is the project going as planned?” These questions, of course, cover a number of dimensions such as schedule, cost, quality, scope, and ultimately actual benefits. Looking at these factors gives us…

Project Benefit Risk: An Auditor’s Analogy

Project Benefit Risk: An Auditor’s Analogy

The Likelihood of Achieving Expected Benefits
Blog Barista: Bob Marquis, CPA, PMP | July 1, 2020 | Project Management | Brew time: 5 min
Project managers typically concern themselves with risks that will cause project delays, budget overruns, resource constraints, etc. Usually, they don’t look at the risk to the value of the project itself, i.e. the risk that…

Is Process the Problem or the Answer?

Is Process the Problem or the Answer?

Blog Barista: Bob Marquis, CPA, PMP | Feb 26, 2020 | Project Management | Brew time: 5 min
Following process seems to get bad press these days. For example, the Agile Manifesto suggests “People over Process.” Managers say, “don’t let following the process stand in the way of satisfying the customer.”…

Recognizing & Embracing Team Differences

Recognizing & Embracing Team Differences

Factors You Should Be Aware of to Ensure Project Success
Blog Barista: Bob Marquis, CPA, PMP | Oct 16, 2019 | Project Management | Brew time: 5 min
Project managers tend to be structured, organized, and process oriented. This is a good thing. Unfortunately for project managers, not everyone on a project is this way. Usually, people aren’t as manageable as a well-documented project plan…

Management Musings from a Coder

Management Musings from a Coder

Advice for Creating Great Relationships Between Managers and Team Members
Blog Barista: Alex Morris | September 25, 2019 | Project Management | Brew time: 8 min
As a professional software developer for almost 20 years, I have had the privilege of working on many great projects with talented teams. I spent half of those years as a developer and I spent the other half in a team management capacity…

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