Project Management Whitepapers

Thank you for your interest in LSA's Project Management Best Practices Research Whitepapers.

10 Simple Steps for Leading Virtual and Global Teams
Upward of 70% of our workforce now works virtually. Learn how to ensure that these teams communicate effectively and efficiently while integrating cultural influences and differing perspectives.

3 Proven Steps to Better Manage Project Stakeholder Risks
In this article we’ll address the people swirling around your project: stakeholders. You’ll find some tips and other resources for optimizing stakeholder involvement in your project.

4 Keys to Present Like a Rock Star to Senior Executives
Senior Executives are one of the hardest-hitting crowds you will ever face as a presenter.

5 Critical Characteristics of a Great Executive Project Sponsor
There are so many reasons for an important project to fail.  But if you have a well-chosen project sponsor, they can navigate you safely past all kinds of stumbling blocks and guide you and your project team to deliver what was promised.  So what should you look for in an executive project sponsor? Here are 5 recommendations.

5 Steps to Create a Smart Crystal Ball for Project Success
If you have any experience in managing projects, you know how critical a project post mortem can be in trying to figure out what went right, what went wrong and how to continuously improve.  This process is, of course, after the fact. Its usefulness is in learning how you might handle things better the next time.

5 Steps to Get Your Project Team Pulling in the Same Direction
The more important, complex and visible your project, the more critical it is to have all the team members working together and pulling in the same direction.

6 Proven Steps to Running Better Technology Projects
What is it about information technology projects? Since Gartner highlighted project management as a critical success factor for IT projects in ’95, we’ve seen a flood of training, methodology, and PMO initiatives that continue today. Despite this massive investment in better project management, IT projects are a continued source of frustration for many organizations. Learn how to change that.

6 Research-Backed Reasons Small Projects Beat Large Projects 2 Out of Every 3 Times
A recent Gartner survey found that large projects fail 66% more often than small projects.  This is not surprising when you consider how much more difficult it is to manage a complex, long-term project with a huge budget than one that is less costly, shorter in duration and with fewer opportunities for shifts in scope. But what option do you have when major change is required?

6 Ways to Foster Better Project Team Collaboration
Project teams that work collaboratively are high performing teams that consistently produce high quality results and care about the goals they reach together.

Break the Gridlock: How to Prioritize to Accelerate Projects
What happens when we try to juggle too many projects? Gridlock. Too many of us experience it on the freeway every day. Working on too many projects has the same effect. Read about the five key factors to accelerate your project.

Create More Realistic Schedules with Multi-Project Resource Leveling
Resource leveling is essential for building a realistic schedule. If our schedules call for personnel to work 24 hours a day in order to meet milestones, it’s a good bet we’ll miss the milestones. As more people work on more projects, it isn’t enough for a project manager to avoid over-scheduling team members. It takes the coordinated effort of multiple project managers and the managers who have authority to assign people to projects.

Earned Value Management: What Counts When Assessing Project Progress
Is your project on time? On budget? Do you really know? Often there is a fine line between success and failure. Developing accurate progress assessments is difficult as projects grow in size and complexity. Fortunately, the proven project management practice of calculating progress based upon original cost and schedule goals provides a consistent, logical method for tracking and reporting cost and schedule status.

Field-Tested Factors to Project Management Success
Most of us at one time or another will be responsible for the successful completion of a project. Explore the challenges of managing projects and get 5 field-tested tips for improving the success rate of all projects.

Getting the Right Project Resources to Succeed – 7 Key Questions
With every project comes competition for resources to get the job done. When managers tell you there’s not enough staff or budget to give you what’s needed to get the job done, how do you get more than your “fair share?”

How to Best Handle a Fixed Deadline when Project Scope is Unclear
Lewis and Clark finished their journey almost 1 year behind schedule. When your project finishes 10 months late, chances are there aren’t any parades. How to handle a fixed deadline when project scope is unclear.

How to Gracefully Overcome the Top 4 Project Challenges
Poor project execution causes more failures than poor strategies. Learn about the 4 biggest challenges and what can a project leader do to deliver predictable results.

Leading Virtual Teams – Top 4 Challenges and 3 Winning Communication Strategies
Virtual teams have some special challenges. If you are leading a virtual team, there are three dimensions of communication you need to know.

Portfolio Management: How to Choose Between Projects
With so many potential projects, how do we decide which ones are worth the attention and resources? Project selection and portfolio management are the hottest new topics in project management today. Once project teams become better at executing projects, the big issue becomes, “Which Projects?”

Practical Team Building Guidelines for IT Project Managers
Successful IT projects typically depend on using a specific technology. But when projects require more than one person to complete, they also require high performance teamwork.

Principles for Effective Teamwork – the Top 18
Effective teamwork can help drive true business results. Our research has uncovered 18 key principles. Some are obvious and some may surprise you.

Project Management Best Practice Templates
Want to save time and frustration? These 20 proven Project Management Templates will help you to manage your projects more successfully by saving time, reducing cost and improving project quality and business value.

The 6 “Get Right” Basics of a Great Project Kick-off Meeting
Every project must at some point be introduced and presented to the project team members who will be responsible for delivering the “goods” and the project stakeholders who play various roles on the road to results.  Most practitioners refer to this critical session as the official kick-off meeting. It will set the tone for the entire project. It must go well.

The Most Important Things To Do About Missed Project Deadlines
Not all missed deadlines are created equal.  Missed project milestones should be treated differently based upon the circumstances and the performance culture that you want to create.  Learn why it matters in your organization if you miss a deadline on a project…

Three Keys to Project Leadership
So what is Project Leadership? Is it task lists? Is it Gantt charts? Schedules? People stuff? The answer is YES, all of the above, and much more.

Top 10 Project Management Mistakes and How to Prevent Them from Destroying Your Next Project
Most high growth companies today complete much of their core work through projects and project teams.  Successful high growth organizations know how to define, plan and execute successful projects. They learn from early slip-ups.

Top 5 Warning Signs of a Bad Project Leader
As Project Leaders, we rarely think that we are the Captain of the project version of the Titanic or that the problem lies with us. We blame any problems on our teams, clients, stakeholders, sponsors, or other external factors—not on ourselves. Learn if you or one of your project leaders is the issue and what to do about it.

Unlocking the Value of Enterprise Project Management
What is the next step in Project Management? Once clients have seen the positive effect that sound project management practices and technologies can have on their businesses, they often ask how to raise results to the next level. Read more to learn about Enterprise Project Management (EPM).

Virtual Project Teams: 5 Tips to Avoid the Most Common Dangers
Virtual project teams contain additional (and often hidden) risks.  Creating a high performing team is challenging enough when all team members are on the same site. When the team operates virtually, the challenges are multiplied. Here are some project management tips for virtual teams that will keep you all on track.

“Accidental Project Managers” – PM Is Not Just for PMs Anymore
Professionals in every department – marketing, accounting, purchasing, and human resources, for example – are being affected by the need for project management capability.