Maneuvering through the Shark-infested Waters of Project Failure!

Presented by Lois Zells

Abstract:
Are you in control of your project? How do you know? Are you confused about how much project management is enough project management? Disorganized project management and poor planning may not only lead to project failure, it can leave your career exposed to advancement liability. On the other hand proper management can save time, money and can put you at the head of the pack for promotion potential. This session, led by an internationally recognized software management expert, may address some of the latest project management challenges that organizations currently face. Depending on the questions from the attendees, the discussion may center around real-life dilemmas such as:

• The top five contributors to failure;


• Determining what a project plan is anyway


• Developing statistically reliable estimates;


• Picking the projects right and picking the right projects:


• Infrastructure: the project office and the steering committee; and


• Solving the “too many projects, too few resources” challenge.

Bio:

Lois Zells is an international author, lecturer, and business consultant in software engineering, specializing in software TQM, software process maturity assessments, the SDLC, and project management. She has authored the best seller, Managing Software Projects, and contributed to "Total Quality Management for Software," published by Van Nostrand Reinhold and "The Program and Project Management Handbook," published by AMA. Her most popular courses are “Successful Software Project Management,” “Managing Emerging Technology Projects,” “Applying Quality Initiatives in Software Engineering,” and “Effective Strategic Systems Planning”. She has served on the project management committee for the revision of ISO 9000-3; and was selected as a 1993 Woman of the Year by the Project Management Institute. She is also the co-honoree of PMI’s Wilson/Zells Scholarship for IS Studies. Because of her widely-recognized expertise in project management, Ms. Zells frequently serves as an expert witness in software project failure litigations. Ms. Zells graduated Summa Cum Laude in Data Processing Management from the University of Baltimore and also studied at Johns Hopkins University.