Lynda Bourne
Written Articles
Stakeholders are becoming increasingly vocal in their demands for ‘good governance’. The rise of stakeholder activism (remembering shareholders are stakeholders) is increasingly affecting the way organisations of all types are governed and managed, and this will in turn affect the way projects are initiated and managed, with consequences affecting your career. One of the major […]
Projects and programs are undertaken to enable an organisation to achieve part of its strategy, usually by creating new or better ways of working. The fundamental reason any organisation chooses to undergo this type of change in its operations is to realise or create ‘value’ for some or all of its stakeholders. Project managers are […]
In my post Creating Value from Change I looked at the difference between project change control and organisational change management: Project change control is described in the PMBOK® Guide and focused on managing changes to the projects deliverables to meet the requirements of stakeholders. The process is controlled by the project manager, although authority to […]
Just as each project is unique, so is each of its stakeholders! Whether as individuals, groups or organizations, every stakeholder, and every stakeholder community has a unique and evolving set of cultures, expectations and perceptions. To effectively engage with, and influence, this diverse community the traditional approach to project communications of regular reports and other […]
The project management community and the wider business community are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of soft skills. However, being aware of their importance and investing in developing improved capabilities are different. Before most organisations (and individuals) will invest in developing improved soft-skill capabilities, their value needs to be demonstrated. A recent report prepared […]
The short answer to this is question is ‘Yes’; and to make matters worse, your opinion of your stakeholders, your team and yourself are also affected by bias. Complete objectivity is nearly impossible to achieve especially in the realm of stakeholder, and other interpersonal, relationships. We are all innately biased, the best that anyone can […]
There is a steadily increasing focus within organisations on managing change and maximising the opportunities change is supposed to generate through realised benefits and value creation. The question this post asks is ‘What are the responsibilities of the project manager when it comes to managing these changes?’ In part, the answer to this question depends […]
A Level 5 Leader (L5L) is an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will. The characteristics and success of these leaders were first identified by Jim Collins in 2001 and formed a central plank in his best selling book, ‘From Good to Great’. The Level 5 discovery derived from a research project […]
Particularly when you have to deliver bad news to a person, the processes you use are at least as important as the decision you have made. The car manufacturing industry in my home town of Melbourne Australia is in the process of ceasing manufacture and moving to an importing business and over the next few […]
Whilst frequently treated as separate topics, conflict management, problem solving and decision making are interrelated and all are focused on achieving the best possible outcome. In an ideal world there would always be sufficient information and rational maturity to treat everything as a problem and apply the following steps to reach the optimum solution: Investigate […]