Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

This is a story about project reporting, and its importance to project management.  No matter how many or how few reports there are, it’s the report that provides the information that managers need to make decisions.  It’s also not about the glut or the dearth though, it’s about the quality of the content and timing of delivery that can make all the difference between right or wrong decisions, and a project’s overall outcome.

So, if you are sitting comfortably then I’ll begin.

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Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

A Hybrid Methodology combining the speed and flexibility of Agile and the structure of Waterfall is feasible and practical. I base my opinion on the research I have done. I recently presented a Webinar to Project Management Institute (PMI) members on how to merge Agile and Waterfall to achieve a Hybrid methodology. The focus of this paper is to address the greatest risk to a company in implementing the new methodology i.e., acceptance of it. I addressed how to accomplish the merger to achieve a Hybrid method in a paper I wrote and posted on LinkedIn in May.

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Guest Post by Bill Pomfret (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

20 years ago, I wrote extensively, and held a rally on Parliament hill regarding the two-faced Canadian Government and Asbestos. At that time, I had just visited India, where I witnessed Canadian Asbestos being unloaded from Vessels, with workers wearing only flip flops and loin cloths using large hooks to grab the bales.

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Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Yes…is that a ‘yes’ in that something is correct and there is affirmation of acceptance?  Or is it “yes?” in response to having one’s attention attracted, or “yes?” as a question as to how something should be done or “yes” affirming one’s agreement regarding a decision on a particular course of action.  Not all yeses mean the same.

How often though do we hear the word ‘yes’ and assume it’s what we would like it to mean.  Many take ‘yes’ to mean that there is agreement with what has been said and a positive alignment with their way of thinking or writing and the course of action to be taken.  But that’s not entirely so.

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Guest Post by Howard Wiener (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

In the previous article we discussed Waterfall, WaterScrumFall, big-A Agile and business agility.  Dissonance abounds among organizations struggling to transition their approaches to building solutions and maintaining their existing legacy infrastructures while remaking how they evolve themselves.  In attempting to navigate this they often adopt approaches that are destined not to really get them where they need to be.

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Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

In June 2022 the Office of the Auditor General of Ottawa Canada issued an audit report on the city’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process. This piece looks at the audit results and what they say about the state of ERM in local government. It also looks at how the recommendations compare with an ERM study in New Zealand. Finally, it discusses the implications for ERM going forward.

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Guest Post by Bill Pomfret (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Of course, we all know that knowledge is king, but how can we know which resources will deliver valuable insights? The internet has made each of us content creators and publishers if we want to be. According to Statistica, as of February 2020, more than 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute, which equates to approximately 30,000 hours of newly uploaded content per hour. (And of course, YouTube is not the only video platform! By some measures, TikTok is overtaking YouTube.) It’s safe to say that everyone wants to share their knowledge.

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Guest Post by Howard Wiener (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

We should all be aware by now that business agility is the primary enabler for companies seeking sustainability.  In the past, companies would evolve in chunks, a project at a time.  The costs and risks of implementing change, whether system-related or otherwise, were large, so designing and planning upfront (the Waterfall approach) was applied to create predictability and moderate risks.

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Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

We have many kinds of assurance in the project management world.  These, generically include business assurance to track the economic viability of a project, technical assurance for the technical integrity of a product, process or system, and user assurance to check that specified requirements have been met.  Assurance demonstrates compliance to a project’s business case, meeting end user’s operational requirements, and that there is technical compliance against codes, standards or specifications.

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Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The project hasn’t been going too well; KPI’s indicate problems, staff are demotivated, the customer is complaining, the schedule is in double digit revisions, rework and resubmissions reflect quality, and you may be on your third or even fourth project manager, and cash is all but flowing.  Phew…what will happen next?

Despite these symptoms the project is allowed to struggle on until, one day, one brave soul has the courage to admit that enough is enough!  The self-help applications of Band Aids and a couple of paracetamols obviously haven’t worked.  Making an appointment to see your local GP or even a trip to the emergency room at this juncture may also be a tad late.  It’s time for a surgeon or, in project terms, a troubleshooter.

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