The Ten Fallacies of Project Management

# 4 - You can make up time

It is very difficult to make up time on a project. Once a major task misses a milestone date by more than a few days there really is no way to fully make up the lost time. The reason is that the work effort for the remaining tasks doesn't change. Even with overtime or extra resources you will probably only recoup part of the time. Check out the Project Right Track web page tip of the week at http://bit.ly/9hdM9H for more on this issue

The Ten Fallacies of Project Management - #5

I can add more resources

On IT porjects that are behind schedule adding more resources often does not woirk because typically the new resources are contractors who do not know your systems or applications. One way to mitigate this is to build a relationship with a consulting firm who will invest in getting some of their esources familar with your company.

The Rush is On

OK so it is after Labor Day. In many organizations the rush is now on to deliver a whole bunch of projects in the next few months. As project managers we know this time of year well. The pressure increases for delivery of the projects no matter what it takes. This is where we need to remind ourselves that it isn't our project but the company's. Thus we need to make sure that we make project decisions that are in the company's best interest. Taking shortcuts with quality so we can say we met the deadline is seldom in the company's best interest. What is in the company's best interest may require tough choices such as delaying one project so that a more critical project can get done.

The Ten Fallacies of Project Management - #5

"It's My Project"

This week the tip of the week will cover fallacy #5, "It's my Project". Ownership and accountability by a project manager to their project is important but you always need to remember that it is the company's project. Thus your decisions and actions must be those that are best for the project. This includes admitting early that the project may miss a date or milestone. Check out the full tip at www.projectrighttrack.com