Alan Zucker

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker Meteorologists are better at predicting the weather than project managers are at delivering projects.  About a third of projects are delivered on time, on budget, and with the desired scope.  By contrast, a seven-day forecast is accurate about 80% of t…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker Project managers ascend the career ladder based on accumulated experience-derived wisdom and managing progressively larger and more complicated efforts.  A typical trajectory involves moving from managing projects to programs, portfolios, and proj…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker Stakeholder alignment—or lack thereof—can be the difference between project success and failure. In today’s dynamic business environment, projects face multiple stakeholders and constituencies. Often, these groups have competing or divergent interests….

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker Hybrid projects are not constrained by a single methodology or well-defined framework.  By definition, they are a melding of practices.  A huge responsibility accompanies this unbounded freedom of choice.  Project managers must clearly describe how the…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker A project manager’s first major decision is selecting the approach and lifecycle.  Historically, this was a non-issue.  The default option was preordained based on the project type, organizational preferences, and inertia.  Construction …

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker I authored my first project management article 10 years ago.  A mentor recommended I start writing to launch my transition from managing project organizations to teaching. Writing those early articles was challenging.  Reducing complex ideas …

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker We should view project management approaches as a palette of options.  Predictive, Agile, and Lean/Kanban form the boundaries.  Hybrid is the vast interior space.  The first article in this series described the boundaries and color-mix of approaches: T…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker Hybrid project management just had its breakout moment!       The Project Management Institute’s Pulse of the Profession® 2024 reported that hybrid (32%) is now the second most commonly used approach.  Predictive (44%) still ho…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker 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 lea…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker

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 […]

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PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker 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 fo…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker “Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.”  Peter Drucker Time is our only finite resource.  We cannot buy it or create it.  Therefore, we must spend it wisely.  Effective time management…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker 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 …

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker

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. Project The Project Management Institute’s formal definition […]

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PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker 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 Agi…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker

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, […]

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PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker 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.”…

PMP Certification Exam Prep & Training – Velociteach https://www.velociteach.com/ by Alan Zucker

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 […]

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