MISTAKES I HAVE MADE: COLLECTED PROJECT MANAGEMENT FAILURESAmye Scavarda Bay Area Drupal Camp - 2014 @amye

Rennett Stowe

@amye

• Project Manager at Phase2

• Acquia before that

• Maker of many mistakes

• Storyteller for other mistakes

WHO AM I?

Why is this so hard and why is this presentation full of crying statues?

What are these Mistakes you keep talking about?

WHERE ARE WE GOING WITH THIS

Svadilfari

You Must Be This Tall To Ride

WHY IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT HARD?

Team

Clients

Services

Alignment / Mission

General Sucking: Hard decisions

rondmac

Team

www.despair.com

ClientsToniVC

Services

tterrag

Alignment / Mission

General Sucking: Hard decisions

Machiel van Zanten

Now that we’ve covered that -

All you have left is the Practice.

I have a Practice of project management.

I am lucky enough to be able to Practice.

*MarS

IN THIS PRACTICE, I MAKE MISTAKES:

Frequently

Occasionally

Every once in awhile

Almost never

ONCE

Accidents of Friction

The Black Art of Estimating

Team Juggling

Agile in practice when a client wants waterfall

FREQUENTLY:drubuntu

Saying yes to something I really really shouldn’t have

Not saying anything to something I really really shouldn’t have

Letting things go to the last minute: deliverables, deadlines

Contracts: What do they mean!

OCCASIONALLY

elviskennedy

•Insane Timelines

•Theming is the true shibboleth

•Working so much that you start making mistakes. Like actual mistakes, not these little things.

•Forgetting about holidays

•Discovery: doing it wrong

•Billing: Not doing it

EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE

Alex E. Proimos

WHEN ATTACKED, FIGHT BACK

hey mr glen

The things that you did last week.

!

ALMOST NEVER

h.koppdelaney

All of the things that make you cringe when you hear them.

Oh yeah, I did that once.

ONCE

Stu Willis

EXAMPLES OF ONCE:

Screensharing chat

Forgetting the mute button

Telling clients how many other clients you’re working with

Forgetting how much your billable hour actually *is*

What are your examples of ‘once’?

A Note on Surviving Project Management

Thank You