When a company undergoes major changes, some people see mainly the opportunities and others mainly the risks. When discussing the topic of digitisation, the younger generation frequently likes to highlight the opportunities and advantages that the digital world offers, while large portions of the older generation tend to see the risks. Digitisation is undoubtedly changing everyday life and the professional world. Thanks to smartphones and countless apps, anyone who embraces this technology can quickly and easily access the Internet. Even people who are less computer-savvy can ...

In a working world of increasing digitisation, you are often torn between enthusiasm for the beauty of this new world and confusion about how complicated it is. As a project manager however, you have to get to grips with this new technology to ensure that you don’t miss the boat. The virtual team is a way of working which is increasingly coming into modern project management due to globalisation – if this doesn’t set alarm bells ringing, it’s high time to get involved. Project meetings are a completely everyday task for project managers. In the past few decades, the team, the customer or expert, sat together at a table, discussing plans, making decisions and then shaking hands and saying goodbye. ...

The Internet has not only changed the world of work and everyday life but is also taking government affairs to a new level. First and foremost, the "Internet of Services" as it is known is what enables the state and administration to be a new smart government. The aim is an intelligent and networked government that optimises its administrative tasks and simplifies and facilitates them for citizens. Different governments around the world are pursuing different approaches and ideas. However, it is noticeable that digitisation is almost everywhere and is changing the nature of administration. ...

The digitalisation of our world, particularly in the world of work, is marching forward every day. The term Industry 4.0 describes a development that is expected to lead to a new fourth industrial revolution and is fundamentally characterised by digitalisation. Some observers even believe that digitalisation will have as much impact on economic affairs as ...

Classic conference formats have both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage, for example, is that the schedule can be planned in advance, which (hopefully) ensures that the content of the conference is of a high quality and participants know from the outset exactly what they have signed up for. However, one disadvantage that must be borne in mind when choosing this approach is that the classic conference structure tends to be purely based on the participants listening

The pressure to produce and innovate continues to rise across the world, a circumstance which affects the information and telecommunications technology sector among others. In order to remain competitive, companies have to be able to employ flexible project management methods which are oriented towards the most transparent project times possible, Of course, shying away from a particular project management method either out of habit or due to lack of knowledge also carries its own risks, especially on projects where requirements can change unexpectedly. Hybrid project management gives project teams far more ...

In each project, irrespective of its scope, it is important to avoid misunderstandings wherever possible. Many arise because some project participants have false expectations about the project in question. In order to ensure that everyone is working on the same assumptions and more or less have the same preconceptions about the setting of goals and the implementation of the project, it is worthwhile defining from the outset what is part of the project and what is not. The project scope must be clearly defined. This step is often referred to in project management jargon as ...

All project managers hear about milestones during their first few weeks of studying project management and they soon find that numerous meetings and discussions focus on this subject during their everyday professional lives. For many customers milestones are ultimately one of the few criteria by which they can measure the progress of a project, which enables them to avoid having to get too deeply involved in the minutiae of the project or having to keep a close track on things on a daily basis. However, milestones are not only an important way to keep the customer updated on project progress, they are also used in everyday project management to ...

Decisions are an everyday aspect of project management and project managers are often expected to make them both quickly and professionally. That’s not an easy ask because to make informed decisions you need enough time to consider all the facts. In a project environment, however, this time isn’t always available, so the project manager will resort to using one of several possible decision support tools. He may opt for the cost-benefit analysis, a tool that helps project managers to make fast and informed decisions. ...

Every project manager has his own set of project management tools that have proven effective to him over the years. This personal tool-kit is an extremely valuable asset that the project manager should always keep up to date. Tool-kit updates are always worthwhile because new trends in project management are emerging all the time and any project manager’s good reputation depends on how well-informed he is about these new trends. The Gantt chart is a powerful graphic tool for visualising all the tasks and activities in a classic project. It has been in use for decades, and it played a key role in the famous Hoover Dam construction project. The Gantt chart is named after American engineer and management consultant Henry L. Gantt, who used it to provide..

The project start-up process can be decisive to the success or failure of a project, whatever its size. When the project manager is preparing to kick off a project he can do many things to put the project on the right track, but also make decisive mistakes. That’s why it’s so essential in project management to make the necessary preparations for the project, to show project participants how the project will be structured and give them the assurance that project processes will be professionally managed in the initial project meetings. At the outset of the project they are more likely to accept new structures and processes.Later on, it will be more difficult

Although quick and direct decisions are part of the everyday routine at all business enterprises, a company still needs a long-term vision to give it a picture of where it is heading. That vision also provides a reality check for the people who make the decisions. Project management is one of the keys to success in business, however big or small the company is. SMEs have taken this insight on board by employing professional project managers to keep their projects on track - from the design phase through the implementation phase to the post-project evaluation phase. It’s obviously impossible to transfer the project management practices and methods used by major corporations to SMEs without some adjustments because...