by Bernhard BalsI was always thinking about writing a personal article in my blog. This week there will be a Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious at all. But during the last weeks things were happening that would perfectly fit to a stereotype Friday the 13th. So I feel pushed to write about what I do when things go wrong. I hope it will be useful for you. Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsSome might say it only turns out in the end whether a decision was good or not. While that is certainly true, I believe that good decisions are those decisions that can potentially solve a problem. What is the difference? Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsOne of the most important causes for project delays and budget overrun is changing requirements. Actually, it is not the changing requirements that make projects fail. It is the negligence of properly dealing with them. So what can you do, to prevent changes making your project fail? The answer is: requirements change management. Here is my approach. Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsChange is natural in projects. Some people even say that change is the only constant. But change also costs money and creates risks. The more a project has progressed, the higher are the related cost and risks. Here are five undesirable causes for changing requirements – and my strategies to avoid them. Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsChange is a natural process in projects. However, it takes a lot of efforts to change requirements in a running project. As a project manager, my life is much easier when this does not happen. So in general, I try to prevent causes for changing requirements to appear. But especially in long term projects there are some causes for change, which can hardly be prevented. When they appear, avoiding change could be a mistake. Continue reading and find out about good reasons to change requirements. Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsIf a project exceeded the budget, it is easy to identify the causes afterwards. And everybody wonders: why did the project manager let it happen? The key to the answer is “project monitoring”. Project monitoring takes efforts? – Sure, but it’s the job of a project manager. Project monitoring will cost money? – Of course. Continue to read if you want to find out why project monitoring will actually save you money. Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsWhy are so many projects late? In project management there are so many details that can cause a project delay. In the delayed projects I experienced, there were similar causes. Find out what causes project delay and what countermeasures you can take. Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsProjects are complex by nature. This turns out to be true when a project gets stuck at some time. When this happened to me, I felt lost. How can you prevent this? How can clear objectives help you to overcome project complexity? Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsYour project is never isolated. You can influence your environment, and your environment does influence you. Knowing your environment and your stakeholders will give you an advantage. Take the initiative and plan how you can actively influence your environment rather than being influenced. Continue reading
by Bernhard BalsWhat comes into your mind when you think about risks? Before knowing much about risk management, my first associations for risks were uncertainty, loss, pain. That did not sound comfortable to me. Today I know a lot more about risk management. To be honest, loss and pain still do not sound comfortable. Uncertainty however does sound acceptable to me now, otherwise I would not be self employed. Why is that? Continue reading