10 Qualities of a Project Leader

Project management is more than just working with numbers, charts, templates, graphs, and computer systems.  A common denominator in all projects is people. There is nothing more powerful than a project manager who utilizes one of the three main project management methodologies but focuses most of their time on being....

The 5 Main Roles of the Project Manager

Project managers have one of the most important jobs around. Projects make a one-time improvement to a business process, therefore the end products or services almost always represent an important focal point to the organization.  In addition, projects are by definition unique and have little repetition to draw from, hence project....

The 10 Primary Project Roles

Every project has distinct roles that must be fulfilled in order to function properly and provide the products or services it was intended to provide. As a minimum, it needs a project manager and a project team who does the work, although those roles could be fulfilled by the same....

The 4 Types of Project Organizational Structure

A common way to differentiate between business organizational structures is between ongoing operational work versus capital projects.  Operational work maintains an existing sales channel, whereas projects are one-time, unique expenditures with a defined budget, beginning and end dates, and they accomplish a specific goal. There are four types of organizational....

The Benefits of Virtual Teams

Virtual teams are groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their roles with little or no time spent meeting face to face. In recent years the availability of communication technology such as email, audio conferencing, social media, web-based media, and video conferencing has made virtual teams feasible for many projects....

The 8 Critical Elements of Project Team Management

Project team management is the process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, and managing project resources to optimize project performance. It is one of the central cogs in the wheel of project management, and also one of the most difficult.  No wonder why many books have been....

The Role of the Project Team

In project management, the project team is the component of the project organizational chart that carries out the project's technical work. The project team reports to the project manager. For small projects, the project team and the project manager can be the same person.  But this does not invalidate the presence....

How to Maximize Resource Utilization

Resource utilization is a metric that measures the uptime of a project resource. It is one of the most important business metrics for service companies such as engineering, software, or consulting firms.  Even non-service companies can benefit from the calculation and tracking of the utilization rate. It is a very....

How to Use a RACI Chart to Simplify Responsibilities

A RACI Chart (pronounced "racy") is a visual representation of the responsibilities of a project.  RACI stands for Responsible - Accountable - Consulted - Informed. It is an excellent way to communicate what the responsibilities of each member of the project team are.  In a RACI chart, each project task....

The 6 Steps of Resource Allocation

Resource allocation is the process of assigning and scheduling resources to project tasks. Resources are the life blood of project management.  Resources are used to carry out the project, and are returned to their owners if not consumed by the project. There are 6 steps to performing a proper resource....