Skip to content
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Help
  • Careers
  • Contact
New Signature
  • About
      • Company

        Cognizant Microsoft Business Group is dedicated to changing the way businesses innovate, transform and run based on a unique cloud operating model. You will now be redirected to our new microsite to learn more.

        View Company

      • Awards

        As a company, we are regularly recognized within the IT industry as well as the communities we serve.

        View All Awards
      • News

        Read the most up-to-date corporate announcements, Microsoft technology updates, innovative business solutions and learn more about how the Cognizant Microsoft Business Group can take your business even farther.

        View News

      • Partners

        New Signature works with a number of outstanding technology companies to deliver the best experiences to our customers.

        View Partners
      • Leadership

        Cognizant Microsoft Business Group’s executive team is comprised of innovative leaders with proven experience and deep industry expertise. You will now be redirected to our new microsite to learn more.

        View Leadership

      • Industries

        Our solutions are tailored to empower organizations across a wide range
        of industries.

        View Industry Experience
    Close
  • Solutions
      • Intelligent Enterprise
        Solutions

        Going Digital
        Unleash cloud capability, deliver change and compete at speed with a Microsoft digital operating model, enabling you to work more efficiently as you transform your IT environment. Learn More

      • Featured Solution

        Secure Cloud
        In a world of constant threat, ensuring that your underlying cloud platform is protected is the first step on your organization’s journey towards a secure, compliant operating environment. Learn More
      • Intelligent Workplace
        Solutions

      • Secure Workplace

        Work Anywhere

        Endpoint Health

        Identity Health

        Teamwork Support



        VIEW WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS
      • Intelligent Cloud
        Solutions

      • App Factory

        Azure Accelerator

        Azure Launchpad

        Azure Launchpad for DevOps

        Application Health

        Platform Health

        VIEW ClOUD SOLUTIONS
    Close
  • Services
      • Begin your journey towards becoming a digital business with GO, our unique end-to-end framework based on the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework.

        GO DIGITAL OPERATING MODEL
      • Intelligent Enterprise

      • Consulting

        We go beyond just technology to help your organization understand how digital can help you uniquely differentiate and better serve your employees and customers.

        VIEW ENTERPRISE SERVICES
      • Intelligent Workplace

        • Identity

          Identity is your new first-line-of-defense. It’s vital to your users and clients that your identity platform is properly configured and secured.

          Endpoint

          Whether your devices are on-premises or remote, personal or business-owned, we can ensure they are properly managed and protected.

          Teamwork

          Today’s workforce is collaborating than ever before.  We can empower your current teams with tomorrow’s progressive technologies.

          VIEW WORKPLACE SERVICES
        • Intelligent Cloud

          • Platform

            The cloud is no longer some future-state. It’s the here and now. Adopting a cloud-first platform is one of the best ways to maintain a future-proofed competitive advantage.

            Applications

            We build cloud-native apps and modernize legacy systems with the power of Azure to give your organization a competitive edge.

            Data

            We can help your organization create secure, scalable data platforms to deliver simpler and more sophisticated insights to your business.

            VIEW CLOUD SERVICES
        Close
      • Client Stories
          • Case Studies

            Browse a comprehensive list of companies who have created successful partnerships and experienced transformative solutions with New Signature.

            View All Case Studies

          • Featured Case Study TalkTalk Modern Workplace

            New Signature worked with TalkTalk to define a new Modern Workplace solution based on Microsoft 365, which kept the user firmly at the center of the transformation.
            View Case Study

          • Testimonials

            We love transforming our customers businesses, take a look at what they have to say about New Signature.

            View Testimonials

          • Featured Testimonial Davis Construction

            With New Signature’s help, Davis was able to take a progressive step forward by migrating their private branch exchange (PBX) phone system to a Voice of Internet Protocol (VoIP) system.
            View Testimonial

        Close
      • Explore
          • Guides & Ebooks

            Dive deeper into education with your team by leveraging our expert-developed guides and eBooks.

            View All Guides & Ebooks

          • Infographics

            Rich with statistics and information, our infographics are great tools for quick but insightful learning.

            View All Infographics
          • Podcast: Office Explorers

            Join Kat and Rob monthly as they chat with New Signature experts and explore the world of O365.

            Listen to Podcasts

          • Videos

            Visit our videos stream to access recorded webinars, service information and to learn more about us.

            WATCH ALL VIDEOS
          • Flyers

            Searching for information about our services? Our flyers are a great takeaway for all those details.

            VIEW ALL FLYERS

          • Featured Stream

            Learn more about the tooling and expertise required to unlock productivity and mobilize your teams.

            MODERN WORKPLACE
        Close
        Close
      Blog

      Flexibility in Project Management

      New Signature / Blog / Flexibility in Project Management
      March 27, 2020March 23, 2020| Alyce Hyatt

      Here at New Signature, we work with our clients on a wide variety of projects. They can range from one person for one week to eight consultants for several months. The challenge with this, from a project management point of view, is to consistently provide high-quality delivery and reporting while appropriately sizing the overhead and management that each project requires.

      Project management flexibility goes beyond simply adding time and cost buffers to account for change. Instead, we focus on allowing flexibility in the processes and taking a pragmatic view to reveal tasks that could be scaled back which frees time for other resources on unexpectedly large challenges.

      There are a few key ways that I try to ensure flexibility in all of our engagements and help provide the proper level of project oversight while allowing for agility.

      Plan ahead for change

      In all of our projects, I try to plan in flexibility and time for changes within the engagement. Identifying the riskier aspects of a project helps me develop an appropriate strategy to mitigate those so as not to impact execution, such as deciding to tackle it first to gain understanding up front or hold off in order to wait for additional information to be made available. This allows other work to keep moving while we are working on the hard problems or waiting for outside resources. It’s important to have all parties know how changes are to be handled. This way, when they come up, we feel confident on assessing the impacts, presenting alternatives, and proposing the most ideal solution, so we can get back on track as quickly as possible.

      Empower everyone on the team

      As the single project manager for multiple ongoing projects, I cannot be involved in every decision or part of every discussion. I want our entire team to feel responsible for making decisions and not require unnecessary approvals that slow down the process. It’s important that there is a shared responsibility for success and understanding of expectations from everyone involved. This allows problems to be properly addressed early and reduce delays.

      Break the work into reasonable chunks

      Breaking work into smaller pieces where we can show we are producing real outputs quickly and efficiently helps the team stay flexible. By breaking a larger deliverable into smaller pieces, we can validate along the way and get feedback that will overall produce a better product. This method works well with scrum, where the focus is on delivering to production each sprint, but it can also be leveraged on other engagements. Instead of just checking the boxes on the deliverables, examine each one to see if there is a better way to approach it. This could be done potentially iteratively where we can take something from idea to complete, instead of pushing all the work slowly through typical waterfall planning gates.

      Set clear expectations and validate along the way

      One of the most common ways a project can get off track is when there are different expectations. We might be working on providing knowledge transfer as part of an engagement, and the manager is expecting formal documentation to be provided while the engineer is expecting a few working sessions to demonstrate things in real time. In this scenario, we could get to the end of the engagement and not meet the manager’s expectations, which can then cause additional work and scope that wasn’t initially planned.

      Therefore, I like to try to call out any assumptions as early as possible in the process, show real examples of what they can expect, and validate that our expectations match the client’s. This process can be part of more formal project review meetings or done informally through discussions, but the important thing is to document and share assumptions as they come up and confirm expectations are being met.

      If you have a project that you’d like to bring our team in on, you can reach out to one of our experts any time.

      Categories
      Tips and Tricks
      Contact New Signature

      Managed Services

      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent fermentum, enim ac dignissim aliquet

      VIEW ALL MANAGED SERVICES

      Professional Services

      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent fermentum, enim ac dignissim aliquet

      VIEW ALL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

      New Signature

      About

      • Company
      • Awards
      • News
      • Leadership
      • Partners
      • Industries

      Solutions

      • Intelligent Enterprise Solutions
      • Intelligent Workplace Solutions
      • Intelligent Cloud Solutions

      Services

      • GO
      • Intelligent Enterprise
      • Intelligent Workplace
      • Intelligent Cloud

      Client Stories

      • Client Stories
      • Testimonials

      Explore

      • Guides & Ebooks
      • Podcasts
      • Flyers
      • Infographics
      • Videos
      Copyright © 2022 New Signature
      • Blog
      • Events
      • Careers
      • Help
      • Anti Slavery
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
      • About
        • Company
        • Awards
        • News
        • Leadership
        • Partners
        • Industries
      • Services
        • GO
        • Intelligent Enterprise
        • Intelligent Workplace
        • Intelligent Cloud
      • Client Stories
        • Case Studies
        • Testimonials
      • Technologies
      • Explore
        • Guides & Ebooks
        • Infographics
        • Podcast: Office Explorers
        • Videos
        • Flyers
      • Blog
      • Events
      • Careers
      • Contact
      • Search
      Cookie Settings
      New Signature uses "Required Cookies" to run our website, "Functional Cookies" used by third parties to personalise marketing, including social media features.

      Change your preferences by clicking the “Cookie Settings” link at the bottom of every page. Learn more about cookies in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. By clicking the “Accept Cookies” button below, you consent to our use of cookies.

      Please note that “Required Cookies” will be set regardless of your consent.
      Cookie SettingsAccept Cookies
      Privacy & Cookies Policy

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
      Performance

      Performance Cookies provide Content Delivery Network assets that deliver faster site content delivery capabilities.

      Required

      These cookies are required mainly in order to deliver Multilanguage site capabilities.

      Functional

      Functional Cookies allow us to provided advanced media capabilities including videos, surveys and other multimedia capabilities.

      Disabling Functional cookies will block the playing of videos and other multimedia site components.

      Targeting

      Targeting Cookies are used to capture user information in order for New Signature to deliver better user experiences.

      Save & Accept