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.

CPI and SPI Explained Without Formula Memorisation

Both indices are simple to calculate and easy to misread, and the misreading costs more than the arithmetic ever saved anybody.

Story Points Are Not Hours

The request for a conversion rate is always reasonable when it arrives. The rate is easy to produce and it removes the thing the points were for.

The PMBOK 8 Scope Performance Domain: What It Really Covers

Scope has a property none of the other domains share. When it is wrong, nothing tells you, and two organisations can disagree for a year without either one noticing.

Product Backlog vs Project Scope

A backlog is scope, in the sense that it is managed and ordered. It is not the project's scope, and the difference shows up most sharply at closure.

Requirements vs Scope: Why the Difference Matters

A requirement says what has to be true. Scope says what the project will do about it. Used interchangeably, they cost money in three specific places.

From Scope to Structure: Why Breaking Work Down Still Matters

A structure with a branch per department reports steady progress on a project where nothing has moved. Four tests tell you whether the units are right.