How to Calculate Present Value
If you were the head of your state's department of transportation, how would you choose between the following expenditures? Repaving a road: A large, one time expenditure which eliminates smaller expenditures for a long time. Filling potholes: A small, one time expenditure which eliminates the need for re-paving today, but....
Project Management for Small Projects
Studies show that over 85% of projects have a value below $100,000. These are projects where the bulk of the work happens within only a few weeks to a month. Because of their short duration, these types of projects have their own unique set of circumstances that warrant a slight....
How to Stop Scope Creep
Like termites that build their invisible kingdoms secretly and slowly, projects have a similar parasite that grows under the surface until it suddenly exposes itself with disastrous consequences. It's called scope creep, and it has eaten many projects alive. Scope creep is the unauthorized addition of tasks into a project. ....
How to Control Project Scope
If your scope is pointed the wrong way, you're not going to hit the target! In fact, ineffective project control is one of the biggest sources of project distress. For this reason, one of the most important aspects of a project manager's job is controlling the boundaries of the project,....
Estimating Task Durations
Once the project has been divided into tasks and resources assigned to those tasks, the next step is to determine the task durations. This may seem trivial, but its importance cannot be understated because these durations will be used to construct the project schedule. Just like the tiny O-rings that....
Schedule Planning
If there's one part of project management that's bigger than all the rest, it's project scheduling. Since a project is defined as a temporary endeavor with a distinct beginning and end, defining when that end takes place and making sure it finishes on time are, by definition, extremely important to....
Cost Performance Index (Earned Value Analysis)
In project management, getting an early indication of problems is the silver bullet that allows the project manager to correct the problems before they start. The Cost Performance Index, usually abbreviated as CPI, is one of the fundamental outputs of the Earned Value Management System. It tells the project manager how....
Cost Variance (Earned Value Analysis)
In project management, getting an early indication of problems is the silver bullet that allows the project manager to correct the problems before they start. Cost Variance, usually abbreviated as CV, is one of the fundamental outputs of the Earned Value Management System. It tells the project manager how far....
Professional Project Scheduling
If there's one part of project management that's bigger than all the rest, it's project scheduling. Since a project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end, defining when that end takes place and making sure it finishes on time are extremely important to any project, large or....
The Quality Control Process
Controlling the quality of a project’s deliverables can be the silver bullet that makes everything else feel easy. Unfortunately it’s often easier said than done, but there are tried and true techniques that help you get there. On the flip side, a single poor quality deliverable can create a cycle....