A discussion of risk would not be completed without a discussion of probability and severity. When we are looking at risky event, we are in essence establishing or assessing the probability of some undesired event coming to fruition. However, even our desired events, for example the completion of a task on the critical path at […]
Check lists are a time honored way of keeping track of breaking down an objective and monitoring progress. There are a number of benefits to using check lists. Check lists should not be confused with a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). A WBS is a form of a check list of all of the tasks required […]
What are we trying to accomplish with a communications plan? Effective project management is the efficient achieving of an organization’s objectives. To do that, we have to keep our project team informed and working toward the target. That includes our project sponsor and other stakeholders. Ultimately our plan should be able to quickly answer the […]
We have a running discussion with some project managers and line managers on the topic of responsibility. The organization structure is matrix (weak) with seeming aspirations to strong matrix. The project managers attempting to drive the project are frequently confronted with the line management saying – “it is our responsibility”, or “trust us to deliver”. […]
My work experience informs me that the loss of slack is a big risk to projects. Without this wiggle room, we reduce our probability of success. Projects scheduled out to the last available date just do not work. The reality is these are not manufacturing or routine tasks and jobs. Even the rather routine tasks […]
By Kim Robertson and Jon M Quigley When you think of product design and development what comes first to mind? Is it an understanding of our business objectives (scope) followed by functional decomposition of requirements and allocating them to various systems and subsystems to achieve that objective? Is it design to manufacture with designers, facility […]
Our risk exposure starts at the beginning of the project. Even before the project is actually a project. The simple act of scoping a project in the initiating phase already alludes to the risks to which we may be exposed. For example, the minute we decide that our project scope is going to include software, […]
We have mapped how long it takes to prepare the vehicle for testing using the histogram. We have used the Ishikawa diagram to generate ideas we wish to investigate as causing the time to be longer than we would like it to be. Our next step is to see if the ideas suggested in the […]
We have seen our product and our sales volume grow, and we begin to see that rate of growth slow. We are entering the maturity phase of our product life cycle. In the maturity phase we are no longer acquiring customers at our previous rate. The market is becoming saturated; perhaps there are newer versions […]
In our previous blog, we developed a product that was based on market research and perceived opportunity. We have tested that product both from the market perspective and the quality expectations from the customer and our own business case requirements. Now it is time to make the product available to our clientele. We are concerned […]