Five Benefits of a Project lifecycle are: It provides a structure for project delivery. It improves communication between team members. It enables progress to be tracked across the organisation. It provides for the progressive evolution of the project. It enables structured reviews that support governance. It provides a structure for project delivery. It provides a […]
In the APM Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ) the answer to this question might be: Project Quality Management is the discipline that is applied to ensure that both the outputs of the project and the processes used to deliver the outputs meet the required needs of the stakeholders. Quality is broadly defined as fitness for […]
Communication is always important within project management, but particularly at the beginning of the project. Here we look at what the main communication issues are at the start of a project in more detail. Communication is important in all companies, businesses, organisations and of course, within project management. It is important all the way through […]
There are many project management training courses today, which teach an array of different project management techniques. One of the fastest growing techniques is agile project management. Despite the approach having been around for many years it is still considered a new approach to project management by many organisations. There is a manifesto to follow, […]
5 barriers to communications are: 1. The environment in which the communication takes place is one of the barriers to communication. Work environment such as noise and temperature might affect communications in certain circumstances. The project manager, therefore, must ensure that the work environment is comfortable to everyone and that it will […]
Updated April 2022 Anyone who has worked as a project manager knows that the array of tasks that fall to the project manager is seemingly endless. Risk management, time management, people management, budgeting, motivational and diplomacy skills are just some of what a project manager needs to tackle in order to successfully manage a project. […]
This post was originally written back in 2014 but was updated in April 2022. Fundamental project planning techniques have changed little during that time but many of the tools we now use have changed, and our best-practise knowledge has expanded immeasurably over that time. A project plan is the glue which will hold a project […]
SWOT Analysis is a technique used frequently in project management to assist with decision-making. It is useful for project planning and risk management of complex projects and, as a consequence, it can also help to improve teamwork within a project team. The acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. These terms indicate that […]
What is Hybrid Learning Parallel has over ten years of experience delivering virtual project management training, but for the past two years, we have been providing pure virtual training, and we have learned what works best for the 7th edition of the APM Body of Knowledge. Today we are launching a new flexible hybrid approach […]
There are many different ways to approach managing a project, including hybrid project management. The best approach will partly depend on the type of project, the type of organisation and even the personal attitudes of the project manager. Some organisations will insist on following a formal methodology rigorously, others will allow a PM to adapt […]
The Cost of Drug Development There is some debate about the real cost of drug development but what you can be sure of is that it is a very large number and increasing year on year. The US Journal of Health Economics previously published a figure of US$ 802m as the estimated cost of a […]
A project Management Framework consists of three parts a project lifecycle, a project control cycle and tool and templates to facilitate the execution of the project Standardised Roles With is a framework you will often see standardised roles. They often go beyond the typical project manager and sponsor roles and can include organisation specific roles […]
The different types of project management office (PMO) is one of the new topics introduced as part of the 7th Edition of the APM Body of Knowledge. These different types of PMO can cause confusion for many candidates for the APM qualifications, most specifically the APM Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ). In this post, I […]
Overview Project Controls is a vital discipline to support the delivery of complex major projects and programmes. Arcadis and Parallel have come together to develop and launch the Arcadis Project Controls Academy. Based on the APMG Project Planning and Control™ qualification, this course is delivered by practising project controls professionals. The training will go beyond […]
A project could be something as relatively simple as designing a new kitchen, through to creating a new website to building your dream house. Or, it might even involve relocating an entire company overseas. Projects crop up in our personal life and in almost all areas of business and industry on a regular basis, but […]
Feeling like you’ve done a great job on a project is not quite enough. In order for a project to be officially a success, it must meet a set of ‘success criteria’ as set out by the project stakeholders and manager. In order for a project to be proven a success, these criteria must be […]
It would be good to think that a professional project manager could spot the warning signs of a project headed for failure but the sheer number of projects that fail to deliver on their promises, timescales or costs indicates that many project managers are not as good at spotting problems as they would like to […]
All project managers know that communication skills form the backbone of their ability to succeed in their roles. With communication channels spidering out from your project in all directions, to stakeholders, team members, managers and more, it makes sense to ensure you excel when it comes to communication skills. Being a project manager means being […]