Praveen Malik

Learn about the differences between contracts and project charters, key elements of each document, why they are essential for project success.

Learn how to create a project charter, a crucial document that authorizes a project’s existence and outlines its objectives. Discover the key components, best practices, and the importance of obtaining stakeholder buy-in for successful project management.

What is the difference between product manager and project manager? Even though they overlap with each other, they are completely different.

Project governance is an oversight and controlling function that aligns an organizations strategy with the project lifecycle. It provides project managers with a framework for making decisions, defining roles, and ensuring project success. Learn about the key elements of project governance and how it differs from project management

Many project managers struggle to understand the concept of process groups and often confuse them with project phases. This article explores the differences between the two, explaining how process groups are repeated within each phase of a project and highlighting the importance of distinguishing between them

About two decades ago, I was working for an IT Services organization. Our company got a re-engineering project from a Fortune 500 company, and I was designated as the project […]

I regularly provide project management advisory and Project Management Office (PMO) related consulting services to my clients. On many occasions, I have found that project managers do not distinguish between assumptions, constraints, […]

I have been conducting PMP training workshops for about 15 years. I usually start my training sessions by asking participants to introduce themselves and state their expectations of the training […]

I was working for an IT services company in early 2000. The much-dreaded Y2K problem had just passed without giving us too much trouble, and we had gotten a big […]

Aristotle was a great philosopher, but it’s my belief that if he had lived today, he would have become a great project manager. Living in 4th century B.C., Aristotle wrote […]

A company’s organizational structure is the system that defines a hierarchy within the organization. It typically describes job functions and reporting relationships. It can also describe how activities are directed […]

I regularly conduct PMP training workshops. About one hour in, I discuss project stakeholders, and almost always the same question comes up: What is the difference between the project manager […]

There are a few reasons you may wish to understand the role of a project manager more fully. Perhaps it is because you are looking for a project management job […]

You are likely reading this article because you are part of MPUG community, and you’re aware of a tool called Microsoft Project (MSP). Do you know why MSP was first […]

Please find below a transcription of the audio portion of Praveen Malik’s webinar, Ten Best Microsoft Project Tips, being provided by MPUG for the convenience of our members. You may […]

Event Description: Nowadays, most software is easy to use. MS Project is one of the most user friendly software out there. Unlike other scheduling software, you don’t need a user manual […]

Fun fact: Try typing “lifecycle” into Google and you will see results for “life cycle.” Over the years, people have started using the single word instead of two words, but […]

I have been conducting PMP training for about 15 years. During training workshops, I get all kind of project management-related questions, but one of the most frequently asked questions is […]

Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs):This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDU in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle. Event Description:MS Project is a very intuitive […]

Let’s consider the following situation: Your project has been running behind schedule for the past few weeks. You have done everything in your power to rectify the situation and bring […]

  Please note – An unexpected connection issue occurred at the beginning of the session. Please skip from 1:50 to 5:19 minutes.   Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units […]

Nowadays, most software is easy to use, and MS Project is one of the most user friendly out there. Unlike many other scheduling tools, you don’t need a user manual […]

A short answer to the question stated in this article’s title is that it can take between eight to twelve weeks to prepare for the PMP Exam. Before elaborating, I’d […]

It is said that “change is the only constant.” The PMP exam is no exception. In fact, it changes roughly once every two years, and we are seeing a change […]

MS Project (MSP) is an excellent tool for preparing and tracking project schedules. Excel is also a great tool for analyzing any type of data. So, which one should you […]

Even before children learn to walk, they start to communicate. Human beings have the inherent gift of communication. It is the most basic part of our daily lives. But, what […]

MS Excel is a generic tool that can be used in many situations. In terms of project management, it is an average tool for preparing project schedules, at best. It […]

I’ve been covering a variety of MS Project (MSP) tips and guidelines in my last few articles. This time, I thought I’d write about the most common errors found in […]

Throughout my career as a project manager, I have been through many project audits, but the first one is etched in my memory. During that first audit as a PM, […]

Have you ever driven a stick shift car? If you’re new to it, it can give you a lot of trouble. You have to use your left foot for the […]

How do you expect MS Project (MSP) to behave when you enter an Actual Start date for a task? You would likely expect it to store the date in the […]

Gantt charts are very popular with project managers and senior managers. They are primarily used to create and communicate project schedules but they can also be used for preparing status […]

Gantt chart is the default view in MS Project. Since the inception of MS Project (MSP), Microsoft engineers have used Gantt chart as the default, although I have often wondered […]

A few years ago, I was hired as a Project Management Office (PMO) consultant for a software products company. My assignment was to setup their PMO, implement best practices, and […]

How would you feel about someone else doing a job for you and not charging you a penny? I am sure we’ve all had moments when this would sound pretty […]

A person inexperienced in project management may think that resource leveling is a method of making use of resources having the same height. Most experienced project managers know that it […]

What would you think if you were steering your car right, but it turned left, as if it had a mind of its own? You would probably curse the machine […]

I’m sure you know that a good schedule is critical for the project success. However, did you know that network diagrams are extremely important for creating a good project schedule? […]

Having been a project manager for all of my working life and now a teacher of project management skills for more than a decade, I always tell my students to […]

Frederick P. Brooks Jr., in his famous book, The Mythical Man-Month, wrote, “Adding human resources to a late software project makes it later.” His statement is popularly known as Brooks’ […]

One of the most frequently asked questions when someone is about to start a new task is likely, “how much time will it take?” Time is limited. Our lives are […]

Jason’s face was totally blank and his eyes were still. He looked completely disinterested in the proceedings. Jason (name changed) is a senior project manager with a small IT services […]

Do you understand how to use Visual Reports in Microsoft Project? In my experience, seldom do project managers use any kind of Project reports — let alone the visual ones […]

I’m a software engineer by education. In 1997 I was working for a software development company, managing small software projects with the help of a small team. In the same […]

Which tool would you use for project scheduling — Microsoft Project or Microsoft Excel? I’m guessing your answer (like mine) would be Project. It has many inherent advantages over Excel. […]

If I were to ask you what your project management risk strategy was, would you respond something like this? “Duh! We will deal with the problem when it comes.” In […]