

Making PMO More Agile Through Citizen Development
Introduction
Citizen development is one the most recent and most exciting developments in project management. It challenges the established approaches to information systems development through its own professional developers or external vendors. Like with any other professional or bespoke services, application and software development can be very expensive and somewhat lengthy. Project...


The Accidental or Citizen Project Manager- Upskill or Tool up?
A typical event in organizations is asking a business professional to manage projects. This professional may have no experience, qualifications, or training. This can be a person from any function such as Marketing, IT, Operations, and Consultancy. You can find accidental Project Managers in all industries including both public and private sectors.
It is “Accidental Project...


Paul Oppong – How Project Management can adapt in the transformation age
I recently had the privilege to be interviewed by Tim Butara on The Agile Digital Transformation Podcast on the changes to work in the age of digital transformation, in particular the work of project managers who need to adapt to the digital and hybrid-first reality.
Click below to listen to our conversation. Also available on all major streaming services (Spotify,...


5 Lessons Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Taught Me About Managing Projects
Recently I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. If you’re ever visiting Sydney, or if you live here and have never partaken, I thoroughly recommend the experience. I was equally delighted to find that climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge taught me some new lessons and reinforced some existing ones about how to manage projects to achieve success. Here is what I learned on my big adventure:
1. Be...


Paul Oppong Talks Digital Transformation, Leadership
My interview with Billion Success Media, talking about digital transformation, leadership, and what went into writing my first book.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up writing a book?
I started my career as a support analyst in a financial services organization, primarily giving technical support and advice to our clients via phone and email...


The Keys to Effective Stakeholder Management
Stakeholders have the ability to make or break projects, if they put their minds to it.
This makes them a risk to the likelihood of completing the project. The stakeholders of any project should be pinpointed, understood, and managed to increase project success. In this article we will look at who stakeholders are and their interests to understand and manage them effectively. To give a...


Benefits Realization Management? It’s easy if you do it SMART
Undertaking projects and programs needs to bring about benefits. This is to ensure that return on investment is achieved.
This has led savvy organizations to start focusing on benefits realization. Benefits realization management is a process that is undertaken to get ready for and manage planned benefits through change. The fundamental reason for doing this is that it is possible to...


Beyond the Resume — 5 Tips to Hire the Right Project Manager
The right project manager can be the real difference between your project’s success and failure despite the governance structures.
Unfortunately, even the most experienced managers often make blunders when hiring. The wrong PM will drain your time, money, and resources. Even with the best intentions, hiring managers still miss out on too many things during the hiring process. Look...


Are you practicing Agile or Mini-Waterfalls?
When I go into organizations that claim they are using agile, I sometimes see mini waterfalls instead.
This is not surprising if you consider that almost 90% of organizations report that their company works on projects in an agile manner. With this being said, some misinterpretations are present. However, agile is a very specific approach to project management and one that mini waterfalls...


Five Smart Interview Questions When Hiring A Project Manager
With so many expectations, a project manager is such a prominent position.
The never-ending demands and grind make it a critical designation that not everyone is cut out for. It requires preparedness, execution, accountability, and leadership ability.That’s why choosing the right candidate for the job is an inherently complex task with no easy solutions. Even an hour-long screening...