Small Business Blog from Atlantic Canada

Did you know that a project’s success or failure is determined to a large extent even before the charter is signed. As a project manager, your goal is to deliver a project that will benefit the business. Unless it is regulatory, your project deliverable will help the business increase revenue and/or reduce costs. It is your moral responsibility to get it right the first time. Following the guidelines in this post has helped me succeed as a project manager. I trust it will help you too.

Just as you cannot solve a problem without identifying one, you cannot plan for risks without identifying risks. So whether you are managing a project, program or business, it is prudent to spend some time identifying the risk drivers. Without getting into jargons, let’s discuss a common sense approach to identifying risks.

The Mawhinney group of companies in Saint John, NB recently closed its operations. While I have not researched it, it probably is a safe assumption that there are number of businesses out there who have ceased to operate. While most leaders cite lack of financial resources, credit crunch, etc., I keep wondering if that is the root cause of their business failures. Is it truly the paucity of funds or is the leaders’ management that forced them to cease operations?

I just passed the PMP® exam last week - and as with any project closure one needs to file away lessons learned. But first some comments on project management and the PMP® certification exam. Having gone through the exam, I now more firmly believe that project management is common sense.Read the PMBOK again. It takes a few readings for the PMBOK contents to sink in. I did not read it three times- though I would have liked to review it at least twice. I managed to go over it just once.