http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk The Real Art of Project Management and Software Delivery Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:30:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We all have to do it at some point or other and it's never easy. There is no magic formula, there is no way to find a truly accurate answer. All you can ever do is guess and suffer the consequences. But there are a few things you can do to ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/q-is-for-quantification/ Managing a software delivery project, as you may have already found from reading this guide, leaves no scope for complacency. You need to keep you wits about you at all times. There will be times where everything seems to be going right; your team are on target, the customer is onboard, ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/k-is-for-keep-pushing/ As an aternative to the Scoping Sword, there is another technique that can be used to protentially bring benefit to you as a Project Manager or your project, it's called Upscoping. Upscoping is a method whereby you actually expand the scope of your project to take in additional deliverables, functions, ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/u-is-for-upscope/ One of the more advanced techniques covered in the A-Z, Slow Play is all about avoiding doing something you really don't want to do. The term originates from the land of Poker, but can be applied to software delivery too. The technique centres around giving the impression you are doing ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/s-is-for-slow-play/ This is the bit that really gets the adrenaline flowing. When you have to think on your feet and wing-it in the face of adversity. You can plan all you want and dry-run all you want. When push comes to shove and you have to stand up in front of your ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/w-is-for-wing-it/ The Lab Rat is the team member that scurries around from location to location looking for morsels of cheese. Sorry information. You'll find them hanging out at the desks of their pals, next to the coffee machine, or out at the smoking area, even when they don't smoke. They're not really ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/l-is-for-lab-rat/ You know what it's like when you take a five-year-old for a journey in the car. After about five minutes of the drive, they will quietly ask, "Are we there yet?". At this point, you're fresh and your patience is intact and, in a rational manner, you will be delighted to ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/y-is-for-are-we-there-yet/ An older, wiser man than us once said, "If you hear the sound of hooves, you should shout 'Horse', not 'Zebra'". It's a perfect example of suggesting you should perhaps jump to the obvious conclusion first. This also applies to the times you're trying to solve a problem, particularly a technical problem. ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/z-is-for-zebra/ Projects can be precarious things. It's a delicate balance of resources, requirements and time. If you keep it all under control, things can go swimmingly, but the slightest knock can bring it all crashing down around your ears. A bit like a game of Jenga TM. As Project Manager, it's your job ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/j-is-for-jenga/ When your project, or indeed life is getting you down, always remember you have options. Even when it may seem like you have no choice in something, believe us, you do. You perhaps just need to briefly take a step back from the coal-face and think bigger, or wider, or longer ... http://www.itsnotthathard.co.uk/o-is-for-options/