Ronald B. Smith, MBA, PMP

Discover the spooky parallels between Halloween and project management, from scope creep monsters to ghosted team members, in this fun survival guide for PMs.

Discover essential best practices and tools for managing remote project teams effectively, from communication strategies to handling time zone differences.

Learn why 43% of IT projects exceed budget and discover Tom DeMarco’s four-point framework to improve cost estimation accuracy for software development projects.

Learn 9 key stakeholder roles and 8 proven engagement strategies to control expectations and drive IT project success with real-world examples.

Discover how AI is transforming project management through predictive analytics, automation, and data-driven insights that improve success rates and efficiency.

Learn how project management parallels swimming, from overcoming initial fears to continuous improvement, while mastering swim lane diagrams to enhance workflow visualization and team collaboration.

Learn how to evaluate projects with a weighted ranking matrix that compares new proposals against ongoing projects for better strategic alignment and resource management.

Learn how to evaluate and select multi-cloud service providers using objective criteria to enhance flexibility, security, and cost-efficiency for your organization.

Learn why timing and structure of project status meetings matter, with real-world insights from a Daylight Savings Time project that reveals best practices for scheduling effective team check-ins.

Explore why project managers often shoulder blame for project failures, and discover why 76% of failure causes actually lie with executive management. Learn how creating a culture of responsibility can lead to better project outcomes and PM growth.

Is your project haunted by scope creep? Terrorized by tight deadlines? In this seasonal piece, Ronald Smith shares clever parallels between project management and Halloween, from battling “zombie risks” to handling those scary unknowns. Plus, discover why “less is more” might just save your project from a nightmare scenario.

Learn how reverse planning in project management can improve communication, innovation, and resource allocation by starting with the end goal and working backwards.

Discover four essential strategies for project managers to enhance their communication skills, foster collaboration, and improve project success rates in an increasingly technology-driven workplace.

Learn how to conduct effective post-project reviews to extract valuable lessons, improve future projects, and drive organizational success through systematic reflection and analysis.

Learn the importance of breaking down projects into manageable activities for effective project management. Discover how to estimate activity durations and utilize tools like RACI matrix and RAM to ensure clarity, accountability, and project success.

Introduction Scope or requirements creep is the uncontrolled and often unmanageable growth of a project’s original requirements. According to a study done by the Project Management Institute, about 50% of […]

Learn how IN-N-OUT Orvis, and quality planning, assurance, control, and improvement in IT projects can illuminate the importance of quality assurance in project management.

Learn the importance of external examination by independent testing experts to find defects and ensure quality in software and hardware products.

Project managers conduct their teams like maestros lead an orchestra: unifying diverse skills, setting the tempo, and delivering harmony to achieve a shared vision. Explore the parallels and improve your project management skills!

Explore the nuanced landscape of project management methods, uncovering challenges, and discovering strategic solutions to navigate limitations and ensure successful project delivery in the ever-evolving world of organizational priorities and technological advances.

Explore the eerie parallels between Halloween and Project Management. Learn to adapt, conquer past mistakes, and tackle recurring issues. Embrace the project spirit this October and enjoy a Spook-tacular Halloween!

Explore the vital role of discipline and consistency in project management, and how these core values drive success.

Understand the basics of Enterprise Project Management and how organizations can determine when to implement EPM for better project success.

Learn the fundamentals of Earned Value Management (EVM) and discover how it provides a powerful tool for project managers to measure progress and make informed adjustments.

Taking over a failing project is a daunting task. Learn how to assess the situation through interviews and document review, develop a recovery plan, rebuild team morale, and implement strategies to turn the project around and achieve success.

Learn how to effectively pull the plug on major projects, exploring real-life examples of failed projects and valuable lessons to be learned.

Learn how to set up a project file in Microsoft Project 2019 Professional desktop edition using templates, key aspects, and shortcuts.

Quality management is not independent of risk management. Both should be managed together, and are two sides of the same coin.

Infrastructure improvements are essential for ensuring the reliability and availability of applications and services. This article provides guidance on making decisions about infrastructure improvements, designing for success, and selecting vendors.

The Project Information Repository (PIREP) is a fundamental tool for managing and administering software development projects. It should be an online database accessible to all team members and contain key information such as milestones, risks, issues, changes, meetings, and decisions

Using visual indicators in MS Project can help you quickly spot project performance. This article explores different ways to display values graphically, including indicators, status indicators, task progress, and formulas with graphic displays.,

Assessing Risk Countless studies over the last four decades point to similar findings: Approximately 50% of projects you undertake will be late and/or over budget, and approximately 25% will be […]

Introduction Management reviews, sometimes referred to by project managers as phase exits, stage gates, or kill points, are very important for keeping projects on track. These moments serve as decision […]

In this article, I’m referring to IT projects with the ‘shape’ of them being their visible form. Projects, IT projects in particular, come in many different shapes (i.e., plans). The […]

Setting the Stage Communication is a fuel that drives project success. In fact, various experts have claimed that communication is the most important skill for a PM. Obviously, this includes […]

Most courses and books on project management discuss the “Triple Constraints” in terms of a three-legged stool (see Figure 1 below). The first leg represents Scope Management, the second, Time […]

No. Reason % 1  Incomplete and/or changing requirements 24 2  Lack of user involvement 12 3  Lack of resources 11 4  Unrealistic expectations 10 5  Lack of executive support 9 […]

First…Back to the Past Let’s first travel back in time and look at the state of data processing and information technology (IT) historically. Knowing the past gives us a basis […]

The Background Story… I have been a project manager for over forty years. Over that time, I got into the habit of checking my projects for late starts and finishes […]

Mentoring is the sharing of one’s knowledge, skills, expertise, experience, etc. for the benefit of another. Mentors can play a crucial role in a person’s career. They can offer advice […]

A previous article, Chess and Project Management, explored the similarities between the game of chess and project management. A professional chess player who is also a PMP found the first […]

A resource pool can help you see how resources (i.e., work or materials) are used across multiple projects, so you will be able to track costs per plan, as well […]

How many times have you hidden a column in your MS Project plan that you think you might need in the future or don’t have space for when printing and […]

Prevention measures should be considered to reduce or contain the root causes of troubled projects, thereby improving project quality, profitability, and customer satisfaction. This article is not intended to be […]

In MS Project, filtering is a way to see or highlight only the task or resource information that meets the criteria you choose. Filtering does not change any underlying data […]

In my early years as a project manager (PM) for IBM, I worked on several assignments where third party vendor or sub-contractors (usually with a specialized skill to perform) were […]

Running a project is akin to reading a book. You have a beginning (otherwise known as the project charter) and an ending (the project closeout). A book consists of many […]

Many kids learn to play chess in school or after school. I was a member of my school’s chess club when I was in the 7th and 8th grades. I […]

Looking for Red Flags Periodically during my career at IBM, a live project would be thrown “over the fence,” and, inevitably, hit me on the head while I was working […]

In my 40 plus years of project management, I have found most new project managers (PMs) lack skills around giving presentations, conducting meetings, and listening. This gap in communication can […]

Success or Failure of a Project is a People Thing Although technology and software development tools are essential for most projects, it’s the leadership of a project that makes the […]

The Microsoft Project product family has so many solutions, pricing structures, and platforms to choose from that it can be confusing to many people on what to use. In this […]

The Essence of an Approach Organizations that perform IT projects may select a project management methodology that follows the same system of practices, policies, procedures, techniques, and rules as others […]

When I turned eighteen, I ran away from a disconnected home and joined the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Periodically, I heard the term “SWAG” from officers and didn’t […]

My first article on the topic of “Timesavers” was published about two months ago. I covered many of Project’s data manipulation tools and best practices for setting up easy access […]

The Benefits of Documenting Nice-to-work Tasks Microsoft Project (MSP) comes in two editions, Professional and Standard. The Professional version costs almost twice as much as the Standard, but it comes […]

From DOS to Windows 10 I started using Microsoft Project (MSP) in its earliest DOS beginnings around 1986, and it reminded me of Microsoft’s Excel. In other words, I initially […]

Saving Time with Tips, Keyboard Shortcuts, and Macros. Project has many data manipulation tools and ways to set up easy access to different commands. Implementing these shortcuts will allow you […]

There have been times throughout my career that I was given a “project,” but soon realized that it was really a group of related projects or a portfolio. In MS […]

Imagine putting a fifty-piece puzzle together that depicts an overview of a typical project. Each puzzle piece is like an artifact or one of the tangible by-products developed during the […]

Learning to Walk Before You Start Running PMI describes the Project Management Office (PMO) as a strategic driver for organizational excellence. The PMO seeks to enhance the practices of execution […]

Most people hear “project risk” and they think of an adverse event or threat that may occur. Regardless, the term carries a negative connotation, but this common belief means you […]

How to stop playing games with your project schedule Most baselined project plans are inaccurate because they have unrealistic start dates, finish dates, work hours, costs, and/or durations. The following […]

Watch for these warning signs, so you don’t end up twisting in the wind! As a project manager (PM) for an international consulting firm, I was once assigned to a […]

Reducing the Risk of Project Shortcomings Project teams usually do their own (early) Partial Testing, which consists of unit and function testing. Unfortunately when the early phase is completed, the […]

Have you ever wondered about the history of project management, or how it evolved into its’ present day usage? This article will cover most of the major project management happenings […]

An Outline that Can Be Used for Tracking Progress It could be said that communication is the oil that keeps a project running smoothly. Project managers (PMs) can spend up […]

In my last article, I covered four misconceptions about critical path. Now, I’ll be going through some of the mechanics of finding the critical path in a project, so that […]

Most non-technical people don’t know what the critical path is; whereas, those that work on IT projects know what it means at a high level, but have few insights into […]

More Ways to Separate your Project into Manageable Chunks In Part 1 of my article “Split It Out,” we looked at ways to separate projects task into smaller parts or […]

How to Separate your Project into Manageable Chunks Splitting your project into smaller parts or pieces that are more controllable helps you to move closer to your ultimate goal of […]

Turning Project Financial Analyses into a Painless Exercise Introduction “No Pain, No Gain” is a popular exercise slogan that promises greater rewards for the price of hard work to achieve […]

Very few projects run exactly to plan. This happens for a number of reasons (one example is scope creep). The bottom line is that you should expect changes to happen! […]

Some of the Worst Practices that Guarantee your Time and Money Won’t Be Well Spent An outsourcing project, especially in Information Technology (IT), can be a long and winding road […]

Trust Building between Stakeholders and the Project Team Is a Powerful Asset In Part One of my article on power, politics, and providing for a project, we looked at two […]

Trust Building between Stakeholders and the Project Team Is a Powerful Asset The following statement made by Dr. Gary L. Richardson, University of Houston, is one of the most commanding […]

Upcoming Movements in Project Management and How You Can Prepare   We started to discuss in Part 1 of this article what project management opportunities are ahead and how PMs […]

Upcoming Movements in Project Management and How You Can Prepare Have you found yourself wondering what project management opportunities are ahead and how you could be getting ready? We know […]

Turning the whole system into something greater than the sum of its parts   In the first part of my article, we covered how the selection of projects is crucial […]

Turning the whole system into something greater than the sum of its parts   A crucial part of Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is the selection of projects. This is an […]

In Part 1, we looked at the history of Agile and the Waterfall vs. Agile model. Now, I’d like to pick up where we left off and consider how MSP […]

“Implementing Agile can be challenging but rewarding“ Implementing Agile can be very challenging for many organizations (especially in Waterfall development cultures), but at the same time, it can be rewarding. This […]