PMP Tools, Techniques & Tailoring Articles

Data Visualisation for Project Decisions

A chart is worth making when it lets somebody see a pattern they would otherwise have to calculate. Most project reporting shows numbers that were never going to change a decision.

Affinity Diagrams: Turning Messy Ideas Into Structure

Three hundred individual observations are data nobody can act on. Grouping them by natural similarity, before anybody names the groups, turns them into a handful of things you can fix.

Brainstorming That Produces Better Decisions

Most sessions elaborate the first idea offered and call it collaboration. A few small changes to the shape of the hour produce something a project can actually use.

SWOT Analysis in Project Management

Applied to a project in general, SWOT produces four lists of adjectives. Attached to a specific decision, with discipline about what is inside your control, it takes an hour and changes what you do.

Prioritisation Matrix: Effort vs Value Without Pretending It Is Exact Science

A prioritisation grid is not a calculation. It is a way of making two judgements visible at the same time, and its worth depends entirely on who is in the room when they are made.

Configuration Management: The Control Most Projects Notice Too Late

Change control decides what should happen. Configuration management records what is actually there, which is the question everybody asks at the worst possible moment.

Practical thinking for project professionals