My Journey To The PMI-ACP Certification

In October, I successfully passed the PMI-ACP exam with an above target ranking in all key areas. I wanted to document my preparation process along with some recommendations for anyone considering the certification. There are a ton of opinions out there about both the difficulty of the PMI-ACP exam as well as the best ways […]

Why has Smartsheet become so popular?

When I started working in project management, Microsoft Project was the tool that was used. Over the last several years with the emergence of Software as a Service (Saas), other tools have skyrocketed in popularity. Over the last 18 months, we’ve completed 12-15 projects for project management software implementations. Of those 12-15, 9 have been […]

10 keys to being an effective project manager

We often record lessons learned at the end of a project to learn what we can improve upon as a team during future projects. What I am attempting to do in this article is often some of my own lessons learned as a project manager and provided some of my own keys to managing projects […]

9 Keys for Running Effective Meetings as a Project Manager

I was in a meeting a couple of years ago with the CEO of the company I was working with. The CEO of the company along with about 8 other people were invited to a meeting on a key issue. At the exact meeting start time, only 3 of the 8 people were in the […]

When should a company consider custom project management software?

As I browse through postings for one off projects on various sites including a number of freelance sites, I am struck by the number of posts I see where companies are looking for built from scratch custom project management tools. To answer my own question (when should you consider custom project management software?), I would […]

How much subject matter knowledge should a project manager have?

“Project management processes are industry agnostic so you can manage a project in any industry on any subject matter.” “The project manager should always have a high degree of subject matter knowledge.” Those are two of the most common responses to this question when it comes up on the PMI forum on LinkedIn. The question […]

What value does a project manager add?

I do a lot of reading about project management whether it is on the PMI forum on LinkedIn, reading various tweets on Twitter, or just browsing various industry related sites on the internet. Over the course of doing that, it is clear to me that many people are not completely sure as to what value […]

Should a Project Manager always be on-site?

A few months ago, I was browsing the PMI Project, Program and Portfolio Management forum on LinkedIn when I came across a question from a group member which I would best paraphrase as follows, “I am the project manager of an upcoming deployment. On deployment day, my boss has advised me that he doesn’t want […]

What does a Project Manager do and how is that different from a Virtual Assistant?

I recently attended the Philadelphia Small Business Expo in Oaks, PA. I had the opportunity to participate in some of the speed networking sessions. When I explained to the person I was matched up with every 3 minutes that Allerion Solutions is a project management consultant in Philadelphia, I was met with looks of uncertainty. […]

Which Project Management Software is best for your company?

I’m sure you clicked on this post expecting an answer to the effect of, “Software XYZ is by far and away the best project management software and you shouldn’t look any further.” You aren’t going to find that here and that is for a simple reason – there isn’t one that is the best for […]