Articles on project management
Practical notes on planning and controlling projects: how to build a plan, keep an eye on dates and work with risks.
Basics
Project management: the phases from idea to closure
The five phases of the project life cycle — initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure: what to do in each and what to produce.
Learn more: Project management: the phases from idea to closureWaterfall, Scrum, Kanban and hybrid: choosing an approach
How waterfall, Scrum, Kanban, PRINCE2 and hybrid approaches differ, when each one fits, and how to combine a plan with agile delivery.
Learn more: Waterfall, Scrum, Kanban and hybrid: choosing an approachA project manager’s glossary
40 project management terms in plain words: WBS, milestone, baseline, critical path, float, RACI, RAID, backlog, sprint, earned value and more.
Learn more: A project manager’s glossary
Planning
The project management plan
The sections of a project management plan, how to keep it short and useful, and how it differs from the project schedule.
Learn more: The project management planThe work breakdown structure (WBS)
How to build a project WBS: the 100% rule, levels and work packages, deliverable-oriented naming, an example structure and common mistakes.
Learn more: The work breakdown structure (WBS)How to make a Gantt chart
Step by step from a list of work to a Gantt chart with dependencies, durations, milestones and the critical path, plus the common mistakes to avoid.
Learn more: How to make a Gantt chartThe critical path in plain words
What the critical path and float are, how to work them out on a simple example, and how to use them to keep a project on schedule.
Learn more: The critical path in plain wordsBaseline and forecast
Why record a baseline, how it differs from the forecast, how to measure schedule variance and how to explain why milestones moved.
Learn more: Baseline and forecast
Control
The project risk register
Which fields a risk register needs, how to rate probability and impact, what a risk matrix is, and how to keep the register from becoming a formality.
Learn more: The project risk registerHow to meet project deadlines
Ten practices for keeping projects on schedule: realistic estimates, buffers, milestones, the critical path, catching slippage early and change control.
Learn more: How to meet project deadlines
Tools
Jira and the project plan: dates above the tracker
Why Jira issues are not enough to manage project dates, how to link a plan to the tracker, and what a read-only sync gives you.
Learn more: Jira and the project plan: dates above the trackerSelf-hosted project management software: how to choose
A checklist for choosing self-hosted project management software: data, installation, sign-on, permissions, audit, integrations, planning, portfolio, import, support.
Learn more: Self-hosted project management software: how to choose