From Best Practices to Baseline Practices: Is that the path to follow?

  “If you want your success to go viral .. think unique.” Project management is typically regarded as a structured mechanism of delivering projects. It embodies a variety of best practices. By definition best practices are the preferred ways, approaches, tools, and techniques to accomplish project tasks. Because tasks in a project are typically inter-dependent, […]

Two watchmakers and efficiency

Once upon a time, there were two watchmakers. Hora and Tempus. Hora was famous for making fine watches with unique designs and reliable clockwork. Hora had many customers, but so do Tempus. Tempus watches were of comparable quality to his competitor. It was difficult for customers to distinguish which watches are better, made by Hora […]

The importance of Mindset, Culture and Atmosphere for Self-Organisation in Projects

This whitepaper is the result of an intense collaboration between a diverse group of people who met during the IPMA Hackdays 2020. The IPMA Hackdays were held as part of the 8th IPMA Research Conference and were intended to provide an experience for self-organization in the context of and through projects. Self-organisation is necessary at […]

Project value proposition designer: Is such a role needed in PM?

Value creation is the core business of project-based entities.  Projects start with an objective to create a unique outcome. However, success of a unique outcome is heavily dependent on whether the team working on the project is able to design and construct value into the outcome. What it means is that just constructing the outcome […]

Just-In-Time in Project Management

Imagine doing only what is necessary, when it is necessary, and in the necessary amount. How much would that influence your productivity? I can tell you. It would increase your productivity a lot 😊 This philosophy of doing the right thing at the right time is known as Just-In-Time. Maybe you heard someone say: Oh, that was […]

IBM and IPMA have signed a co-operation agreement to provide content in the field of project management for the Skills-build programme

The co-operation between large multi-national co-operations and non-profit organisations is a vast and interesting topic for both researchers and practitioners. The benefits such a co-operation can provide are numerous. As underlined by some authors*, non-profit organizations (NPOs) confront competitive pressures derived from complex economic and societal challenges.  In their article, the authors underline that NPOs […]

Cultural lens and communication

Communication is the key to mutual understanding and trust-building. Research has shown that communication facilitates relationship building and trust development (Ferrell & Kline, 2018; Lin et al., 2008). Moreover, communication impacts individual performance through trust (Sarker et al., 2011). It might be further concluded that a high level of trust among team members helps teams […]

A Coaching in product development

Can Coaching help during product development? A friend asked me that question recently. He founded an education program focusing on product development. He noticed that similar development programs already included coaching in their structures. He was curious about not missing something. Well. It depends on what you expect. That was my first-hand answer. Ok, then. […]

Coaching, a manager way to freedom

“Being coached helped me realized that I could make the biggest difference as a leader not by doing more than everyone else, but by empowering other people to do more and motivating them to do their best.” This self-reflection from the Guide to Coaching Employees by Harvard Business Review clearly states why coaching as a […]

Customer Disappointment Experience (CDX): Why does it matter in PM?

Customer is the king. The words illuminate the centrality of role customers play in driving economic activities. As such, customer experience (CX) has become the most important consideration for new product and service development, and customer management efforts in general. CX is defined as “customers internal and subjective response to their direct and indirect interaction […]