16.08.2018 - Digitisation and modernisation are phenomena that are penetrating ever faster into more and more areas of the economy and everyday life. In fact, the constant change has never been more noticeable than it is today. Industry 4.0 is no longer a vision of the future, it is catching up with us quickly. Companies of all industries are therefore forced to deal with digitization, globalization, modernization and new technologies if they want to remain competitive and economical. The term industry 4.0 refers to a summary of many phenomena that develop simultaneously and have common intersections. The Internet plays a role in many processes - not only as a source of information but also as a sales market, advertising space and communication instrument. Read more »

06.08.2018 - The blog of the IT information and news site IT-Daily.net published an article about successful change management and external consultants, in which the author deals with the role of consultants in times of globalization and digitization. These two circumstances continuously determine and transform the working environment of most people. Executives and managers everywhere are busy recording, analysing and responding to the current consequences of digitisation and globalisation. Restructuring is initiated and evaluated, forecasts for the future are prepared and repeatedly changed. Below is a summary of the article. Especially in the IT sector, the effects of global and technical changes are quickly becoming apparent. Anyone who is not in a position to react quickly as a manager here will soon be a thing of the past and can watch familiar structures become obsolete and impractical. Read more »

26.07.2018 - Intercultural competence is required at German management levels and in project management - as can be read in many job advertisements. But what does this term actually mean and how can intercultural competence be acquired and improved? The concept of intercultural competence means much more than just language skills, it includes an understanding of foreign cultures, the ability to communicate and get along well with business partners from all over the world and much more, which makes intercultural competence incredibly difficult to measure and define. If you want to position yourself in emerging companies and in project management at management levels, you need intercultural competence. Residencies abroad have become a must in a world that is moving ever closer together and in which hardly any large company works only at national level. Read more »

18.07.2018 - Worldwide, the pressure to produce and innovate increases continuously. That circumstance also affects the information and telecommunications technology sector, among others. In order to remain competitive, companies must deploy their employees efficiently to avoid revising or inactivity. This is where resource management comes into play, which is closely linked to skill management - which employees are available and what are their skills? Resource management does not only offer these operational benefits, but also a clear strategic advantage: Project managers and managing directors already know at the planning stage what capacities are available in addition to various projects and daily business. Read more »

09.07.2018 - Knowledge and the application of lean management are required in many projects - and this form of management is a subject that is highly discussed in the professional world. But what does lean management actually mean? The term and the idea behind it had its origin in the automobile industry in Japan - and already in the 1950s. There, the principle of continuous improvement and the reduction of divisional thinking were called for. The implementation of a so-called "lean production" was generally important. These principles of streamlining were then applied to planning processes, plans, administration, procedures and management in general. Lean Management, which began under the term "Lean Production", is always about improving the entire system. Through lean management, both the administration of a group and its value chain should function more efficiently, faster, leaner and thus more economically. Read more »

25.06.2018 - Project management is a profession that is in a constant process of change. People who choose a career as a project manager should be aware of this. It helps them immensely in their professional career if they are interested in new technologies, innovative methods and creative processes. Some trends arise and remain only a few months, others continue for years and decades and change project management sustainably and continuously. What are the current trends and what do we have to be prepared for? Project manager certification bodies like us, the IAPM, also have to keep up with the times. Current trends are therefore reflected in the preparatory seminars of our trainers. Read more »

15.06.2018 - Stakeholder management is still one of the most important methods in project management today. The origin of the method is unclear, but it is clear that stakeholder management is an important component of the training courses for all certifications for project managers, including those of the IAPM training partners. Stakeholder management is defined as the handling and analysis of the various needs and interests of all project participants. The various interest groups include not only customers, donors and investors, but also politicians, neighbours, local residents, the press, nature conservation associations, associations or other groups of people who are affected by the project in any way and who could have an influence on the project. Read more »

05.06.2018 - Nicole Basel is Digital Director and reports on impulse.de about her experiences with digitisation as well as her views on this topic and on the reasons why companies fail because of digitisation. Nicole Basel knows the typical mistakes that are made time and again in the various digitisation processes and wants to prevent companies from repeating these mistakes with her article. In the following we summarize her text for you: Concentrating solely on technology is a typical mistake that many companies make. The impulse is understandable: there is a new computer program that suddenly offers new, great possibilities that inspire all employees. Even the decision-makers sometimes get so carried away by amazing software solutions that they buy a software that is truly remarkable. Read more »

22.05.2018 - Project managers are ambitious in pursuing their goals, continue to develop plans and navigate the often unstable waters of their projects with determination. But despite all the targeted work and pre-planning, project managers should also always have a plan B in hand, because any problems that may arise when pursuing the project goals must not be ignored. A good project manager must therefore always work with foresight – and that means having alternatives to the preferred route up his sleeve. In politics you hear again and again about decisions without alternatives – some people interpret this as comfort, others find it consistent or even heroic. But in project management it is always necessary to take alternative paths. And the task of a good project manager is always to know a viable alternative. Read more »

07.05.2018 - Increasing project complexity has been a development in project management for many years. Project managers must therefore be able to deal with highly complex contexts and complex projects. Energy-saving concepts, environmentally friendly technologies and increased demands on project performance make a competent project manager irreplaceable, especially since increased complexity naturally goes hand in hand with more responsibility and tasks. While experts, architects and customers only have to look at the area of a project assigned to them, the project manager is entrusted with keeping an overview and keeping an eye on all aspects. This is not an easy task. The degree of complexity of a project increases uncertainty. The larger and more complex the project, the longer the list of risks and things that may go wrong. In addition, all these risks have numerous influences and effects on other project areas. Read more »