Project Management and Change Articles

Articles

Andre Malowney writing at a desk, working through project management reference texts and printed process diagrams

Practical thinking for project professionals

Articles on project delivery, governance, risk, predictive, Agile and hybrid practice, alongside a growing PMP® knowledge library for professionals preparing for the current exam.

The PMBOK 8 Resources Performance Domain: What It Really Covers

Most readers assume this domain is about people. Half of it is, and the half that causes the expensive surprises is equipment, facilities, materials and capacity.

Estimate at Completion: What Question Are You Really Answering?

Every estimate at completion carries an assumption about whether what has happened so far will keep happening. Report the number without the assumption and it means nothing.

Budget vs Cost Baseline vs Funding

Three numbers that get used interchangeably and behave differently. A project can be inside its budget, on its baseline, and out of money in the same week.

Schedule Compression: Fast Tracking vs Crashing

One overlaps work that was meant to be sequential and buys time with rework risk. The other adds people and buys time with money. Both run out sooner than expected.

Burn-up vs Burn-down Charts

A burn-down shows what is left. A burn-up shows what is done and how much there is to do, which is why it is the one that catches scope quietly growing.

Critical Path Explained Without the Mystique

It is the longest chain of dependent work, and it tells you where a day lost is a day lost. It says nothing about what is risky, and teams routinely ask it to.