PMP Scope, Schedule & Finance Articles

Sunk Cost: The Money You Should Stop Defending

Money already spent cannot be recovered by spending more of it. The only question worth answering is what the remaining spend buys, compared with anything else that money could do.

Milestones vs Activities: Stop Treating Them as the Same Thing

An activity consumes time and can be half done. A milestone marks a state and cannot. Mixing them produces plans that report progress while telling you nothing.

Developing the Project Budget: Where the Numbers Become a Commitment

An estimate is a view of what something should cost. A budget is a promise with dates attached, and the difference shows up the first time the money is needed before it has arrived.

Plan Financial Management: Decide the Rules Before the Numbers

Most project cost disputes are classification disputes. They are settled long before estimating begins, or they are settled painfully in month five by whoever has the strongest position.

Developing a Schedule: More Than Putting Dates Against Tasks

A credible schedule is calculated, not typed. The dates fall out of sequence, resource availability and duration, and a plan whose dates came from anywhere else will not survive its first month.

Plan Schedule Management Before Building the Schedule

Most schedule arguments are not about dates. They are about rules nobody agreed: what complete means, whose working week applies, and who is allowed to move a milestone.

Practical thinking for project professionals