Stories about: Critical Path

The author is a Senior Network Engineer specializing in large-scale enterprise and data center network design for the Department of Defense

Project management applications are usually centered around Gantt charts, where each step in a project is represented as a bar in the chart. These visuals are linked to lists of the resources tied to each task

CEO optimism isn't perhaps quite as widespread as it was back in late 2006 and early 2007 when Gartner's report "Creating Enterprise Leverage: The 2007 CIO Agenda" showed two out of three enterprises wanted to grow faster than the market that year. Nonetheless competitiveness remains a key goal for company heads

You've identified that your IT project is in trouble. What are the best ways to save the situation?

Farm Credit Services of America doesn't sound like an organization that courts controversy. The cooperative association makes loans to more than 66,000 farmers and cattle ranchers in the US Midwest so that they can buy cows and pigs and tractors and backhoes. Its main reason for existence - providing $US11 billion of operating capital and real estate financing to those who feed America - is as homey as the images of corn fields, gently rolling green pastures and rugged, resolute farmers that adorn its marketing materials

In today's fast-paced business world, proper project planning can often take a backseat to other objectives. Employees are asked to leap into the project before the scope or Work Breakdown Structure is even defined. Does this scenario sound familiar? Your frazzled boss comes running into the room with a hot new project that needs to be completed ASAP. He tells you that there is no time to waste on discussing the project and wants you to get to work on it pronto. Essentially he is asking you to skip the most critical phase of the project--planning.

Project plans with large lists of tasks in the last weeks of the project set the project up to fail. Reverse planning avoids this and spreads the workload more evenly across the duration of the project

Telecommuting provides employees with the flexibility and quiet they need to optimize their productivity. Plus, it offers employers opportunities to save money and recruit workers from a more geographically diverse — and potentially cheaper — talent pool

All program teams run the risk of developing a culture that encourages deception and self-delusion. Here's how to avoid fostering an environment of "wishful thinking" and keep your projects out of strife

When business and technology march down the aisle, it's best not to trip over each other's feet