Culture

PofE 090: Are Business Applications Popping Up In Your Environment?

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Weeds often pop up in someone’s yard while they’re away, and unfamiliar applications and software often do the same in technological environments.

5 Things to Think About When Applications Are Popping Up

Sometimes businesses purchase databases, technical solutions, or software without first talking to the IT department or technology group. When this happens, the technology introduced into the environment may not fit with the current architectural plan the organization has in mind. Before a company makes the decision to implement new technology, there are five steps that should first be taken.

Portfolio Management

PofE085: The History of Portfolio Management

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After the Great Depression, investment diversification became the cry of the decade. It also became the mantra in music, and the Bass instrument led the way. Check out my video to learn what the history of Portfolio Management has in common with the electric Bass.

 

Applied Project Portfolio Management in a Historical Context

Discover what the electric bass can teach you about your investments and the critical role that diversification plays in portfolio management.

To gain a firm understanding of the best portfolio management techniques, it helps to understand the history of portfolio management and how it has evolved from the Great Depression to the present day. Interestingly enough, the electric bass provides a relatable metaphor for how investment diversification emerged out of the Depression. As you'll quickly discover, the two histories have a surprising amount in common.

Culture

PofE080: Everything I Learned Playing in an Orchestra

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Conductor CEO

For as long as I can remember, I have been a musician.  I have played the bass, both upright and electric, throughout my youth and into adulthood. During these many years as a professional and classically trained musician, I learned more than just playing notes. I learned systems and how they work together.

Consider an orchestra for a minute. You can break them into four sections:

  1. Strings
  2. Winds
  3. Brass
  4. Percussion

These are all led by a conductor. Within each of these sections, there are smaller sections.

Strings – Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello, and Bass (my favorite).

Winds – Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon.

Brass – Trumpet, Trombone, Horn, and Tuba.

Percussion – Timpani, Snare, Marimba, etc., (there are many different instruments in this section).

Within these sections, you can break them down into even smaller categories:

Strings– Inner player and outer player (players share a stand and can read two different parts from the same sheet of music).

Winds– Flute (Piccolo, Alto, Bass Flutes), Oboe (English Horn), Bassoon (Contra), and Clarinet (there are many sizes of clarinet, all the way to Contra Bass).

Brass– Trumpets (Piccolo, and other sizes), Trombone (Bass), and Tuba (Euphonium).

Percussion– Like I said earlier percussionists must be the master of all types of instruments- the one rule is they must be struck. Did you know that a piano is considered a percussion instrument?

In each section there is a hierarchy- usually, the first chair runs the section, and they usually have the second chair as a partner. If there were a president of an orchestra, it would be the concertmaster- or first chair violin. The conductor can be thought of as the CEO.

Agile

PSGS 027: Expert Interview with Joseph Flahiff

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Joseph Flahiff

Joseph Flahiff is President and CEO of Whitewater Projects, Inc. and author of the book “Being Agile in a Waterfall World: A guide for complex organizations.” He is focused on bringing hope to people who work in difficult business contexts, making sense of these seemingly conflicting approaches, methods and cultures.

Joseph has more than over a decade and a half of experience executing, coaching, consulting and training in traditional and agile delivery across large scale complex enterprise IT organizations as well as smaller boutique agencies. Joseph’s provocative, engaging, and energetic courses and keynote presentations are in demand across the USA and in Europe.

Portfolio Management

PofE 071: 3 Ways To Improve Organizational Productivity With Portfolio Management

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Productivity gains are key to the bottom line profits of your department and organization because they allow you to accomplish more with less. The purpose of this webinar is to discuss the 3 vital elements that can help you and your organization increase its productivity gains by: Cascading Activity Alignment Optimizing Resource Utilization Increasing Throughput […]

Portfolio Management

PofE 066: PPM Tips and Techniques

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PM Tools PMIWDC Workshop Research has shown that top performing organizations that practice project portfolio management (PPM) and IT Governance have a 40% greater return on IT investments than their competitors. During this presentation, the speaker will cover tips and techniques such as:  How to develop a shared vision Portfolio optimization practices that work  How […]