Elyse Nielsen's Page

Audits can be misconstrued as a nasty word. Before an audit there is a sense of dread for not meeting a benchmark. After an audit there are activities are focused on to obtain the mediocre benchmark, not focusing on the cause and development of colleagues. No wonder, Audits are not faced with happy smiling faces.

A properly constructed audit can help the organization embrace the PMO as a helpful resource. The trick of the trade is to tune in upon the goals of the organization and have a support… Continue

As you are laying bricks to build the foundation of a good project management process, a low hanging fruit is the status reporting process. It is often the first practice rolled out, but simply having a template available is not where the true value is earned.

Project status reporting is the hospital organization’s view into how well that Capital Spend is progressing and your department’s chance to facilitate communication with senior management and your business customers. A mature project rep… Continue

In my humble opinion it is a sign of maturity in the organization to grow into a matrix structure. As this evolution occurs, it is time to review the processes to manage resources. Typically, in a PMO there are three key management activities.

• Forecasting resource requirements – There are some tools which forecast resource needs for you, however some tools do not. I find a 3 month planning horizon is a good time frame for predictive resource needs, have a process where project m

… Continue

Long has it been an urban legend, that the Ostrich hides it head in the sand when faced with an risk. While this is simply not true, it is a method that some managers use when dealing with risk.

As a project manager, one needs to be on the lookout for symptoms of this management technique. Comments often heard are:

• Risk Management is a negative attitude, you are looking for things to fail.


• Do we really need to worry about that now? I know its coming, but…

So what is… Continue

Long has it been an urban legend, that the Ostrich hides it head in the sand when faced with an risk. While this is simply not true, it is a method that some managers use when dealing with risk.

As a project manager, one needs to be on the lookout for symptoms of this management technique. Comments often heard are:

• Risk Management is a negative attitude, you are looking for things to fail.


• Do we really need to worry about that now? I know its coming, but…

So what is… Continue