Project Management Essentials Blog
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Alan Zucker has over 25 years of experience working in Fortune 100 companies leading projects and large organizations. In 2016, he founded Project Management Essentials to provide training and advisory services. His areas of expertise are project management, Agile transformation, and leadership.
Project Management Essentials Blog
2w ago
Thank you Mr. Zucker the great class, I truly have a better understanding of Agile and the approaches used. I appreciate your enthusiasm and extensive knowledge on the subject – awesome job teaching us and encouraging participation. Look forward to seeing you in another class. I will check out your website for more information and the articles you listed…
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Project Management Essentials Blog
2w ago
A picture is worth a thousand words. Projects can generate a lot of data. Large, mature organizations generally have the tools to capture, store, and analyze this information effectively. However, small and less mature organizations and those leading non-traditional efforts often lack the tools, practices, and experience. I teach project fundamentals classes to non-traditional project managers…
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Project Management Essentials Blog
2M ago
Making good decisions is a critical project management skill. The challenge is to create a fair, efficient, effective, and transparent process for our teams and stakeholders. In a McKinsey survey, only 20% of respondents stated their companies excelled in decision-making. The path to the answer is often as important as the solution. Making better decisions requires understanding the…
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Project Management Essentials Blog
2M ago
Shift-left is an Agile/DevOps call to action. It signaled the need to address quality sooner. As we adapt to the current dynamics, we should challenge standard paradigms and reevaluate when to execute project processes. Timing is crucial for successful project outcomes. By shifting events earlier (left), later (right), or consistently doing others throughout the project (middle)…
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Project Management Essentials Blog
4M ago
Time is our only finite resource. We cannot buy it or create it. Therefore, we must spend it wisely. Effective time management is a critical project management competency. Regrettably, many teams lack these skills or discipline and consequently fritter away their time. There is not a silver bullet to managing time more effectively. Many skills and practices can be learned…
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Project Management Essentials Blog
4M ago
Words matter. Even in project management. Words can carry meaning far beyond their formal definitions. Connotation and perception can have unintended consequences. Even basic project management terms can create misunderstandings that can disrupt or derail a project. In this article, I expose some linguistic pitfalls impacting the profession. The Project Management Institute’s formal…
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Project Management Essentials Blog
6M ago
An agile backlash is underway. Some organizations have declared victory, fired their agile staff, and moved on. Others are agile in name only or are “doing” agile but have not fundamentally changed the way they work. We should not blame Agile for bad Agile. The problem is not with the values, principles, and practices. Instead, it is with organizations and their approach to agility.
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Project Management Essentials Blog
7M ago
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will transform project management. Gartner estimated that AI may replace 80% of project management activities by 2030. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review described “How AI Will Transform Project Management.” I say, “Bring it on!” I look forward to the opportunity. AI is powerful, potentially disruptive, and will change what project managers do and how they...
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Project Management Essentials Blog
7M ago
ChatGPT generated this article to demonstrate the difference between human and AI-generated content. The prompt was: “As a project manager, I want a 500-word description of how AI and machine learning will impact project management.” Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are revolutionizing industries across the board, and project management is no exception.
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Project Management Essentials Blog
8M ago
We make hundreds of assumptions and take small risks daily. Without them, we would spend innumerable hours worrying about everything. We assume our car will start. Our air conditioner will work. The weather forecast is accurate. These daily assumptions are banal. Recovering from these risks may be inconvenient but not horribly impactful. Project assumptions and risks are not as casual.
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