SigmaWay Blog

Project management is an important medium to reduce wastage of time, resources and money. Traditional project team models are not that much effective in construction industry. In this article, four ways are mentioned to work more effectively and efficiently. For a  successful project, it is very crucial to give importance to value engineering, identifying the associated risk, minimizing build time and maintaining long term relationships with the clients. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://projectmanager.com.au/basic/4-common-construction-problems-project-management-resolves/

This article tells us why both Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) are needed.  Please go through the link for more details: http://qfd-institute.blogspot.in/2013/03/dfss-dfls-and-qfd-why-we-need-both.html

In an article published in newindianexpress.com, explains how IVR systems will be both intelligent and intuitive. These IVR systems will keep track of his or her responses in their earlier interactions so as to provide him a better and fast service the next time that person calls. Interaction history will be used to better the performance of the system. This will help organizations to customize their services for different clients based on their responses.

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For successful project, we must try and break out of the traditional and fundamental ways and try to create and implement hybrid methods for project management, so that business, client and project team member needs can be achieved. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/george-pitagorsky/blending-agile-and-formal-project-management.html

In an article written by Jenny Dearborn (Chief Learning Officer at SAP), tells us how organizations all over the world are trying to sophisticate their workplaces by introducing robots and other artificial intelligence software. A venture capital firm in Hong Kong has nominated an artificial intelligence program in its board. Jenny tells us in her article that although companies might be shifting towards a more technologically evolved working place but then also it will not be possible for them to totally erode human capital from their pay rolls. A survey conducted by Oxford University's Oxford Martin School lists three types of job categories that can never be conducted by robots or artificial intelligence software. The jobs are as follows: - complex perception and manipulation, creative intelligence and social intelligence.

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To cultivate innovation, it is important to think relationally in a collective manner across the business unit in a broad view. The prevalent characteristic for any project is mainly dependent on the type of project or specification of running project, said Fadi Samara, PMP, of C4 Advanced Solutions. Also the people factor is a matter of huge concern when working on a project with multicultural teams. Self-inflicted complexity should be avoided to do the thing in a simple manner. Micromanaging, focusing on narrow projects, unnecessary layers of management, confound accountability and lack of proper communication can make the project even more complex. Mr. Samara also said "People underestimate complex projects due to lack of experience". So, experience plays a vital role to make a project successful. Also to deal with project complexity, leadership is the most important skill for a project manager. More than 80 percent of respondents to the PMI Pulse of the Profession® survey ranked leadership as the most crucial one. Please go through the link for more details: http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/voices_on_project_management/2014/05/orgs-must-take-on-innovation-a.html

There is always an opportunity for a project manager to coach team members, as the project is a full-time work. For a project management, planning is very essential for effective coaching sessions. It is important to decide whether the session will be directive or non-directive, and also in which area the team members are to be coached. Coaching can deliver a very successful project when, newly formed team or inexperienced team were properly coached and guided by the manager. It is not a replacement of formal training; it is a re-enforcement approach which will be very affective after formal training. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/why-project-managers-should-coach-2.php

This article explains how companies are benefiting by improving and modifying workflow processes. Main areas of improvement are planning and forecasting, scheduling, call and appointment management. This article also throws an interesting light towards few approaches taken by the companies for adopting the best practices in workflow processes.

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Arranging a meeting involves a lot of strategy, planning and tactics. A good meeting is short, effective and a good experience for everyone. To arrange a successful meeting, agenda of the meeting must be very clear to all members. Discussions should be to the point, useful and brief. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/meeting-management

A research is meaningful only if the students get to learn something from a project and maximizes their knowledge while working on a project. Preparing questionnaire and determining sample size for conducting a survey is very crucial. Post- survey, preparation of report and giving recommendations are also very important. For companies this is a profitable situation as they get free advice with no costs involved.

To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/designing-a-meaningful-research-project/

Inability to take decisions is one of the principal reasons for the failure of any project. Good project managers need to have proper understanding of various effective tools to manage triple constraints of any project i.e. time, cost and scope. In this article tools like SWOT Analysis, Maslow's Pyramid, Pareto Principle, Monte Carlo Simulation and Decision Tree Analysis are discussed. In the field of project management, these are regarded as highly effective tools for decision making. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/decision-making-models-in-project-management.html

The normal reaction towards any kind of change is always negative. To change such a scenario one must be very careful. Firstly we must explain the reason as to why the change is imminent and things which are associated with it. Secondly providing adequate support helps to accept the changes more easily and smoothly. Thus proper measures and support can help to make changes happen.  Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/5-tips-to-help-make-changes-happen

Moustafa Alzuabi (IT Manager at the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and a certified project management professional), talks about some of the common misconceptions in project management. The focus of the article is mainly on uniqueness of results, project constrains, project plan and project schedule. For more details please follow this link: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140428203280

To complete a project successfully a project leader must have the details and nitty-gritty’s of the project i.e. the constraints, requirements, demands clear in his or her mind. Documentation of the details is very important for any project and so is the ability to utilize and make the most of the team members for successful completion of the project within the stipulated time. To know more about the basics of project management, please visit Olga Sa's article at: http://www.pmhut.com/10-basics-of-project-management

According to a research done by Gallup Organization's State of the American Workplace, it was found that tapping the strengths of team members can create wonders and if utilized properly and efficiently can provide highly productive results. They also found that when employees become aware of their strengths, they become 7.8% more productive. Team members should be allocated jobs based on their area of expertise which will not only be beneficial for the company but also for employees and this will give them more job satisfaction and hence will bring better results. To know about how to build the strengths of your employees, please visit Tim Clark (partner and senior analyst with The FactPoint Group, a market research and consulting firm)'s article link at: http://www.pmhut.com/11-ways-to-build-on-the-strengths-of-your-team-members

A project is not complete until it starts delivering benefits or profits to the owner of the project.
Following best techniques and using best resources while development of the project is of no use unless and until the project starts giving returns.
To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link:-
 http://www.pmhut.com/is-a-project-complete-without-benefits-realization

Design for Six Sigma is a design methodology. It works if properly instituted and executed. Wrongly designing and forcefully applying can cause more harm than help. If we need to implement Design for Six Sigma we should do it at the primary levels and not during the mid or operating level. To know more about this topic, go through Alan Nicol (Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions)'s article link: http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2012/04/wrongly-doing-design-for-six-sigma

The market is becoming more competitive nowadays. Companies like General Electric, Honeywell, Raytheon and IBM have managed to save billions of dollars in cost savings by process and quality improvement through Six Sigma. The majority of companies like to implement DMAIC methodology because they have existing processes. The remaining minority of Six Sigma practitioners is using a Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) approach to design a new product. DMAIC mainly focuses to improve the existing processes in such a way that final products can be produced with extremely low defects i.e. 3.4 defects in 1 million opportunities. Design for Six Sigma on the other hand, is about the design, development and commercialization of new products and processes for Six Sigma quality. To know more about DMAIC and DFSS, please go through the link: www.isixsigma.com/new-to-six-sigma/design-for-six-sigma-dfss/design-six-sigma-dfss-versus-dmaic/

Project management provides a strict framework to achieve business goals. As economic conditions are improving day by day, responsibility of project managers are also increasing to deliver projects efficiently. It is important to allocate resources properly by providing structural framework in such a way that ensures the investment in a positive direction of a growing economy with anticipated benefits. Hence, it is important for project managers to estimate and invest wisely in projects to ensure a long-term future. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/can-project-management-lead-us-out-of-recession.html