Project Management

 
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    Project Shrink

  • Personal Branding – Episode 34 Project Shrink Podcast

    Bas de Baar
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:38 pm
    In episode 34 of The Project Shrink Dave Garrett (Gantthead.com) is talking about personal branding. He’s discussing how to demonstrate/prove your specific expertise online in a way that people will link to it as a reference point. You can click here if the episode isn’t displayed below. This recording is the final part of a session “Why Should You Care About Social Media?” at PMI Global Congress 2009 by the PMI New Media Council. Other parts of this session can be found here: Collaboration With Skype, Vyew and Google Docs Using Yammer For Frictionless Communication Be…

  • Talking About Gantthead And Wrike

    Bas de Baar
    16 Nov 2009 | 2:36 am
    Last month I had the pleasure of meeting Dave Garrett from Gantthead.com and Andrew Filev from Wrike. Below are two short video’s I recorded. Dave Garrett About Gantthead.com – Project Management Community Talking to Dave Garrett (CEO Gantthead.com) about the largest online IT Project Management community. Project Management 2.0 And Wrike Talking to Andrew Filev (CEO Wrike.com) about Project Management 2.0 and Wrike (project management software). PM 2.0 brings the concepts of Enterprise 2.0 to projects. Other people who liked this article liked these tooProud Postings: Project…

  • Mastering Three Spaces: Personal, Reputation And Project

    Bas de Baar
    13 Nov 2009 | 2:57 am
    Do you remember last years “The Four Dharmas Of Project Management“? “I learned that you cannot jump from the PMBoK directly to topics like “mental flexibility” and “emotional intelligence”. I am sorry to tell you, but most people cannot make that jump that fast. A path to “project enlightenment” has to be defined. Conveniently, I think I have one… In Buddhism teachings are presented in Turnings of The Wheel Of Dharma. Each turn builds upon the previous one and brings the student to a higher level of consciousness.” I have been going back and forth…

  • Size Matters: Without Enough Audience, No Leaders

    Bas de Baar
    12 Nov 2009 | 6:17 am
    This is a follow up post to “Leaders And Followers In Social Networks“. I love to write and talk about Project Management… uhm, Leadership… or “The Thing That A Project Manager Does To Move His Project In The Proper Direction, Related To People“. I want to share new and exciting stuff and hope it challenges your thinking, enhances your mental flexibility and provides you with useful information. I really appreciate the audience (hi!). Although I sometimes say things excited and full of passion (”you need to…”), it’s always an…

  • A Project Churn-Fest: when project team members spin wheels, burn time, or simply can’t make a decision

    Bas de Baar
    11 Nov 2009 | 2:35 am
    ** This is a guest post by John P Vajda, PMP, CSM. Find out more about John at the bottom. ** Churn: (verb): to stir or agitate violently, to produce, proceed with, or experience violent motion or agitation. Fest: (noun): a gathering, event, or show having a specified focus. Sometimes word definitions provide all that we need to label something clearly, and other times “slang” terms are all we need to understand the specific meaning. When considering all the terminology in the Project Management world, all of the phrases, colloquialisms, adjectives, and buzz words, 2 words come to mind…
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    Pawel Brodzinski

  • Google Wave: What You Should Avoid When Releasing Your App

    19 Nov 2009 | 9:24 am
    You can approach this post in at least four different ways. Your attention can be drawn by Google Wave part, namely my rant on the subject, or by a list of thing which you should avoid while shipping your application, which is a kind of lesson learned from the part one. You may also come here for both or neither of them. In the latter case I guess that’s quite a success I kept you here up to this point.Anyway the whole thing starts with the story about Google Wave. Feel free to skip to the second part if you don’t feel like reading yet another rant about yet another Google…

  • The Kanban Story: Implementation of Kanban

    16 Nov 2009 | 9:50 am
    So you want a story about the most painless implementation of new software development/project management methodology in industry history? Here it goes.There was nice afternoon, sun was shining and air-conditioning was silently humming. One of our engineers asked me what about this new methodology we were talking about a couple of weeks earlier. So I described them how it works in details telling basically nothing more than could be found in great Henrik Kniberg's article on Kanban I mentioned earlier. It took definitely less than a half of hour, including Q&A.Then we drew our Kanban…

  • How to Reduce Number of Meetings to One per Quarter

    12 Nov 2009 | 12:44 pm
    Meetings are boring. Most meetings are irrelevant. There are too many meetings we have to attend.A confession: during past half of year I organized exactly two meetings with engineers in my team. Both were mostly about organizational issues regarding whole company, not just my team.How did I do that?Let’s start with why meetings are organized. Most of the time meetings happen to enable communication between people. Why don’t people just go to meet each other at their desks? Well, because they sit in different places, have different things to do and, often, have little free slots in their…

  • The Kanban Story: A Discovery of Kanban

    10 Nov 2009 | 10:05 am
    In the last chapter: A small team was built and they tried to set up a methodology for building their projects. After establishing a set of techniques and trying them against first couple of projects they faced a list of issues. They realized they needed something more. How would they deal with the problem? What would be their choice?When I read Henrik Kniberg’s article Kanban vs Scrum it was first time when I thought I get the whole idea. I even thought it might work for our team but if you know me a bit you know I’m very reluctant to drop anything we’re currently doing just to try out…

  • Co-location Rules!

    6 Nov 2009 | 10:44 am
    A lot of interesting discussions today. During one of them we went through co-location and its influence of team productivity.I’m lucky enough to work with all my team in one room. I’m aware of all disadvantages of grouping people doing different things in one place but I’m still saying I’m lucky.I know development requires focus. I know that grouping a bunch of people in one place generates some chit-chat which distracts people trying to focus on their tasks. I know occasional phone calls do the same. I accept the fact. Hey, have I just said I accept lower productivity of our…
 
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    Project Smart

  • Are Your Project Managers Working too Hard to be Successful?

    21 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am
    'Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.' - Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988). The latest Standish Group report shows more projects failing and fewer successful projects. So what is going wrong out there? Why are your projects being challenged in this way? Are your project managers perhaps working too hard to be successful for you?

  • Great Sponsor + Great PM = Great Success: Ten Truths of an Effective Sponsor/PM Partnership

    19 Nov 2009 | 11:59 am
    The sponsor/PM partnership is the most important relationship determinant of a project's success potential. Both the sponsor and the PM need to be acutely aware of the relationship and recognise the necessity of working together to better secure a successful outcome and provide value back to the organisation.

  • Why is People Capability Maturity Model Necessary?

    18 Nov 2009 | 12:36 pm
    The Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute developed the People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) to help businesses manage knowledge workers across global borders, as well as between greying and millennial generations. Similar to CMMI, P-CMM has five maturity levels, but the model is focused on the need to improve the capabilities of a workforce as a differentiating factor from the competition.

  • Controlling Change Requests

    13 Nov 2009 | 9:11 am
    Project Managers can accept the fact that all projects need to change in some way during their life cycle, but sometimes changes can get out of hand and end up derailing the project! In this article we provide you with tips on controlling the requested changes so that you can prevent them from taking up excessive time and still implement the ones that add value to the project.

  • Has Your Project Team Considered all the Key Dimensions of the Problem?

    4 Nov 2009 | 12:37 pm
    Many readers have mentioned to me that they feel that a lot of the projects they sponsor (even the successful ones) are often on "automatic pilot." This typically happens once the project teams feel that they understand the problem and have decided on what they believe to be the most appropriate direction for solving the key issues facing the project.
 
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    The Tao of Project Management

  • 74: Judge & Jury

    20 Nov 2009 | 8:50 am
    The ProjectOver to Northcote House first thing on Monday morning to check everything was OK with the Executive Suite upgrade and it was. So many thanks to everyone for an excellent upgrade. There are now just two more buildings to upgrade to complete phase two of the project.It was my last project board meeting on Tuesday so I presented my recommendations for the on-going management of the next phase of the project, which they seemed fairly happy with and I even got a vote of thanks from SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed). I don’t really like to make judgements but I think on the whole the…

  • 73: Freedom & Responsibility

    13 Nov 2009 | 10:39 am
    The ProjectIt was a fairly tense week again, with the upgrade of our top executives’ part of the network on Thursday and Friday. Thursday went quite well but there were some problems with the new network Friday morning. It was a bit nerve-wracking but all sorted out by 2pm and by 5pm everyone seemed happy. Most of the executives were away (which is why we did it this week) but they are all back on Monday so it will be fingers crossed first thing.The whole project team and our colleagues in desktop support worked well on this one and everyone seemed to know what they were doing. We had to…

  • 72: Spiritual Awareness

    7 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am
    The ProjectIt was a fairly quiet week for a nice change. It gave me a bit of time to catch up with things and think about preparing the papers and reports for the next project board meeting. Come to think of it this will be my last project board as the one after is scheduled for January and I will have left. Now there’s a happy thought.Two key members of the team were away this week so there are a few things I couldn’t do and will need to do some catching up on Monday. Then come Thursday we start on a fairly high profile update for the executives so there’s going to be a lot of checking…

  • 71: All the Answers

    31 Oct 2009 | 4:49 am
    The ProjectI had a nice bit of feedback this week so I must be doing something right. But it’s all down to the team effort really. I might be able to do some things right and I might even be able to ask the right questions sometime, but technically it’s the team that counts.The cabling contractors have done a very good job so far let’s hope the get it right over the weekend and everything is OK on Monday morning. I’ll be in bright and early to check so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.The WayNo one has all the answers! As Donald Rumpsfeld once proved, knowing that you don’t know…

  • 70: There is Nothing New

    23 Oct 2009 | 9:20 am
    The ProjectWe managed to get the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies upgraded this week but again hit a few problems. The cabling contractors never told us that they hadn’t finished testing the new fibre cables which delayed us for half a day. Then a mix up on the active directory print queues and people going home early meant we couldn’t get all the printers up and working but we fixed it early the following morning so everyone was happy. Then I tried to test the wireless access to find the new access points hadn’t been patched in so I had to chase up the cabling contractors again.
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    Gantthead: IT Project Management

  • Sweat the Small Stuff

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Want to make your job a little easier? How can you and your associates give and get back some lost time? Small stuff on your part is one of the answers.

  • The Sky is Falling!

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    It's easy to revert to fight or flight, but that is deleterious to your career. Instead, take the lead appropriately--it will set you apart from the headless chickens.

  • Going Global with Communities of Practice

    15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    During project delivery, the manager often relies on his project team and the extended network of project, program and portfolio managers to solve PM challenges. The Virtual Communities of Practice project provides a useful resource for PMs to leverage.

  • Project Maestros

    15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Why are great project managers thriving in a global economy? Economic globalization is important to project management for several reasons--but while global opportunities are abundant right now, so are the risks associated with managing global projects.

  • The Marshall Effect (Part 3)

    15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    George C. Marshall is an unrecognized military leader who changed the world. Here, we look at how he recognized and implemented the best practices for project managing World War ll.
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    ITToolbox: Project Management

  • Checklist for Establishing Internet Partnerships

    20 Nov 2009 | 10:18 pm
    CHECKLIST FOR ESTABLISH INTERNET PARTNERSHIPS   Yes No N/A Remarks ...

  • The Three Database Clustering Users

    20 Nov 2009 | 6:22 pm
    The PostgreSQL community and the database industry have a bewildering profusion of clustering product and projects, utilizing a plethora of technologies and optimized for a diversity of different requirements. Clusters are single-master, multi-master, middleware, database engine, application-based, statement-based, group communication, distributed table, partitioned database, federated, shared disk,

  • Managing Internet Computing Projects

    20 Nov 2009 | 3:35 pm
    Ensure delivery of a quality project in a cost and time effective manner. Specific objectives are to: · plan the project in detail and mobilize the project team, · manage the delivery of a quality project, · ensure satisfactory completion o...

  • Checklist for Managing Internet Computing Projects

    20 Nov 2009 | 10:27 am
    CHECKLIST FOR MANAGE INTERNET COMPUTING PROJECT   Yes No N/A Remarks ...

  • Developing a Launch Plan

    20 Nov 2009 | 6:11 am
    Develop the plan to guide the introduction of the internet computing initiative. Gather Information Determine the roll-out timing requirements and constraints. Identify the timing for the pilot deployment so that the launch plan timing can be synch...
 
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    Project Management Articles - PM Hut

  • Trust: Your 6th Sense of Project Management

    PM Hut
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:37 pm
    Trust: Your 6th Sense of Project Management By Mike Boyer Smith Think about the people you manage – do you trust them to deliver? Chances are you know you can rely on most of them, but then there’s one who always misses their deadlines, or needs constant pushing… For those who don’t deliver so reliably, there are four [...]

  • Identifying Performance Issues with Your Project Team

    PM Hut
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am
    Identifying Performance Issues with Your Project Team By Dave Nielsen The phrase “project manager” is a bit of a misnomer; while project managers do manage projects, they deliver them by managing a project team that does the work of the project. How successful they are at managing that team will go a long way to determining the [...]

  • Project History File - Project Closure

    PM Hut
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:42 pm
    Project History File - Project Closure (#5 in the series How to Close Out a Project) By Michael D. Taylor This series discloses important aspects of closing out a project by describing the following aspects: Scope Verification Contract Closeout Administrative Closeout Lessons Learned Historical Records Final Report Celebrating Success Without gathering data from previous projects the project manager is at a serious loss when it [...]

  • The Ten Uglies of Project Management

    PM Hut
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:01 am
    The Ten Uglies of Project Management By Kerry Wills Project Management methodologies, classes, and books are adequate at explaining the mechanics of running projects and the tools used to do so. Understanding these mechanics is essential, but it is experience that distinguishes successful Project Managers. More specifically, it is the sum of all of the negative experiences [...]

  • How to Deal with a Project Crisis

    PM Hut
    18 Nov 2009 | 1:54 pm
    How to Deal with a Project Crisis By Michael Stanleigh Dear Project Coach: My project is over budget and over time. My project team is dysfunctional. My sponsor is getting nervous. We are managing by crisis. I don’t know where to begin to get this project back on track. Do I just accept the situation and hope to [...]
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    SantexQ - Online Project Management

  • SantexQ Online Project Management Tool: Basic Accounts vs Premium Accounts

    admin
    27 Oct 2009 | 4:26 pm
    Did you know? You can take SantexQ online project management tool for a test drive by taking advantage of our free basic account. Just sign up and you can have your first project up and running in less than 15 minutes. Once you’ve tried it, you can easily upgrade to a Premium Account with the full set of features for a flat fee of $9.95/month. Premium Accounts include unlimited users and unlimited projects plus key features including file uploads, invoice generation, a punch clock and more. See the full list of SantexQ features If you’re still searching for that perfect project…

  • 6 Reasons Why You Should Use an Online Project Management Tool

    admin
    1 Oct 2009 | 10:57 am
    Online project management tools speak for themselves. Take ten minutes with one and you’ll see how easily they can help you organize, track and report on your projects, all while keeping the important information you need right at your fingertips. Still need convincing? Here are 6 Reasons Why You Should Use an Online Project Management Tool: Constant communication: Online project management tools keep everyone on the project team informed and updated. All team members need to do is log on and they can easily view projects and tasks they are assigned to, update project information, and…

  • Lunch Break! The Great Office War

    admin
    22 Sep 2009 | 12:04 pm
    Has this ever happened in your office?

  • Top 10 Office Phrases I Will Hear in a Week

    admin
    31 Aug 2009 | 10:21 am
    Much like David Letterman’s top 10 list, I have decided to put together a top ten list of most commonly heard office phrases heard around SantexQ headquarters. Perhaps it will give you a taste of what it’s like to work here, perhaps not. The only thing I know is that our online project management tool keeps us organized amongst the chaos of office life! Without further ado, here are the top ten office phrases I will hear in a week: 10. Oh look, another ‘Space Available’ sign is up. 9. I am just going to be in here cranking away… 8. Edit Undo, Edit Undo! 7. Oh what is that on…

  • Computers + Humans = Online Project Management Success

    admin
    25 Aug 2009 | 2:32 pm
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    Journyx Project Management Blog

  • Building A Better PM Grapevine

    Journyx
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Project communication needs to engender and leverage stakeholder relationships. Sure, all parties with a stake in a project require access to quality information, the right information, in the right format and form on a timely basis. They need venues to vet issues and concerns and forums to share and reach consensus. Each stakeholder may also require their own unique views of content and progress to satisfy their personal communication styles and organizational responsibilities. But most importantly, successful projects need effective collaboration. To achieve that end, the right…

  • Got Testing?

    Journyx
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    In the United States we are in the American football season. America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys have a new stadium with a new high definition scoreboard that is 60 yards long, 24 yards high and has 30 million bulbs (it’s Texas huge). Unfortunately, in the first pre-season game the scoreboard became part of the game when a football hit it during a punt. In fact during the pre-game warm-ups it was clear the scoreboard is so low that when a punter kicks the ball there is a potential it will hit the scoreboard. At a cost of $40 million dollars you would think that the scoreboard would have…

  • Creating an IT Project Timeline You Can Stick To

    Journyx
    15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Developing a project timeline is a cornerstone of any project management strategy. But as many IT project managers have learned, developing and adhering to a timeline isn’t easy. From technical glitches to human resource problems, unexpected complications can pop-up at any time, quickly throwing an IT project off-track. Regardless, a project timeline is an important component of time management planning and a useful project management tool for keeping your client informed and your project on target. A project timeline allows an IT project manager to: • Identify potential problems…

  • There’s a Reason IT PMOs Fail

    Journyx
    12 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Only a third of IT PMOs will ever work, and the rest of ‘em won’t. For the mathematically challenged, such as myself, that means that two-thirds of all the IT project management offices (or programme management offices, or whatever you want to call them) will fail. Nothing scientific in these numbers, mind you, and I didn’t do an extensive survey, this is just what I’ve seen myself, and you’re going to have to take it (or not) on faith. In my line of business, I see lots and lots of PMOs – in fact, I’d say that they’ve become almost fashionable…

  • The Project Manager’s Quick Guide to Getting Things Done

    Journyx
    10 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    We will now interrupt this grim and ugly recession to offer thanks for great project managers. They are the pros — part diplomat, part cheerleader, part polymath, and 100 percent efficiency junkie — who get complicated projects done to spec, on time, and on budget. We need them even more in this economy, when specs are more demanding, time is shorter, and budgets are leaner than ever. But there’s one more truth about this recession: To paraphrase FDR speaking during an earlier economic rough patch, we’re all project managers now. The best PMs are masters at managing expectations and…
 
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    PMPort News

  • FLUOR CORPORATION; Fluor Awarded Gas Storage Contract in the Netherlands

    22 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) announced that it was awarded a contract by TAQA Energy B.V., a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC, for engineering, procurement and construction management services (EPCM) for its Bergermeer Gas Storage project in the North Holland province of The Netherlands. The contract was booked in Fluor's third quarter 2009.

  • LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL; Learning Tree Named One of Top 20 IT Training Companies by TrainingIndustry.com

    19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    Learning Tree International (NASDAQ NGM:LTRE) has been included in the 2009 "Top 20 IT Training Companies" list published by TrainingIndustry.com. Consideration for selection for the Top 20 list includes commitment to the IT training industry, industry recognition and innovation, strength of clients, and potential growth in IT training services.

  • CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING; New data from D. Arditi et al illuminate research in construction engineering

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    "Women hold relatively few project management positions in the construction industry. Most studies conclude that women's exclusion from the industry is mostly due to the industry's male-dominated culture, but no study ever attempted to find out whether women are excluded from project management positions in construction because they are deficient in managerial competencies," scientists in the United States report.

  • CIVIL ENGINEERING; Studies from University of Illinois describe new findings in civil engineering

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    According to recent research published in the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, "The ability to effectively communicate progress information and represent as-built and as-planned progress discrepancies are identified as key components for successful project management that allow corrective decisions to be made in a timely manner. However, current formats of reporting (e.g., textual progress reports, progress curves, and photographs) may not properly and quickly communicate project progress."

  • PROJECT MANAGEMENT COLLEGE PM COLLEGE; PM College Introduces Interpersonal Skills Training Series to Help Project Managers with the Soft Skills

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    While even seasoned professionals struggle with the fundamental interpersonal skills that make a project successful, the bulk of project management training available focuses on improving technical skills and execution. PM College recognizes this need and has launched a series of customizable corporate training courses that help project managers master the key interpersonal skills that lead to improved project performance.
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    PMToolBox News

  • The art of Lean Healthcare IT – Understanding the 5 key lean principles

    Elyse
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:11 pm
    The main guiding principle to Lean Healthcare IT is to create the right value for our patients, colleagues, community, and physicians with minimum effort. Simply to work smarter, not harder and with a value driven sense of purpose. Everyone should... Related posts:Lean Healthcare Quality Improves Patient ExperienceLocomotive Lean Manufacturing at GELean Manufacturing Improves Patient Care

  • Capabilities Based Planning

    Glen B. Alleman
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:55 am
    One of the five process areas of our program management method is "Capabilities Planning." Here's a small picture of a moderately complex topic. In the same style of asking the Five Questions, these question need answers if you want to... Related posts:Deliverables Based Planning(sm)IMP/IMS and Deliverables Based PlanningWhat do Program Planning and Controls Staff Do?

  • Basecamp Due Dates

    John Milan
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:24 am
    We are already receiving pings on this one and, thanks to our crack engineering staff, have updated IntelliGantt and the IntelliGantt Add In for Microsoft Project. Now IntelliGantt will publish the Finish dates of your tasks as Due Dates within Basecamp.The value here is whenever you need to reschedule a project, you have the full power of a rich scheduling engine to automatically adjust the dates and the rich integration of IntelliGantt to automatically all the due dates within Basecamp.We will keep the 'old way' of adding due dates to ToDo Items so that it will be easy for people to back…

  • Book Review – The Lazy Project Manager

    JohnZachar
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:55 pm
    Author: Peter Taylor, available through Amazon See details on how to win this book below It is extremely unusual for me to pick up a ‘management book’ involuntarily. I think I lost that particular desire when I did my MBA in the nineties. However, occasionally there is a need to acquire additional information or background knowledge. So it was [...] Related posts:Book review: The Lazy Project ManagerRelax, have a seat in your comfy chair, and enjoy ‘The Lazy Project Manager’Giveaway winner: The Lazy Project Manager

  • Calling all Admins – There’s a New Blog for You

    Heather O'Cull
    19 Nov 2009 | 3:06 pm
    Announcing the Admin Blog!  Coinciding with the release of Public Beta, we are aggregating all Project Administrator / Implementer content into a TechNet blog located at  http://blogs.technet.com/projectadministration The content of this blog will cover setup, upgrade, performance, backup/restore and planning topics for Project Server 2010/Project Client 2010.  We will also have Project Server 2007/Project Client 2007 and Project Portfolio Server 2007 related topics as needed.  We will also use this blog to announce patches, administration best practices and temporary…
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    The PM Podcast

  • Episode 132: A WBS Can Make Your Project A Success

    Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:13 am
    A project is defined in the PMBOK® Guide as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. At the core of this definition lies the fact, that there is “something” that our customers want and that it’s our job to deliver this something. We call this “something” the scope of the project. And the absolute best way to define, document and detail your scope is by using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). But now honestly, when was the last time that you used a WBS on your project? And if you have used one, did you use it correctly? Josh Nankivel is a PMP…

  • Episode 131: PMO Assessments. A Waste of Time?

    Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
    7 Nov 2009 | 3:43 pm
    This week’s episode is on one of my favorite topics: PMOs. In particular we are going to discuss if a PMO Assessment will lead to accelerated enterprise improvement or if it is simply a waste of time. But of course, we first answer the question what on earth is a PMO assessment, how do you do one and what type of results and follow up work can you expect if you do it right. To help us look at this I have invited Pat Zornes as a podcast guest. Pat is an executive consultant for Robbins Gioia (www.robbinsgioia.com) wrote a whitepaper on exactly this topic so she has a lot to say about this.

  • Episode 130: Gartner's Audrey Apfel on PMO, PPM and Governance

    Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
    21 Oct 2009 | 10:53 am
    I attended the Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summit in Orlando, FL last month. During this time I got a chance to speak with Gartner's Audrey Apfel and learn more about specific findings and recommendations that Gartner has for it's clients. Unfortunately, I was 25 minutes late to our 30 minute meeting. However, Audrey was kind enough to get with me over the phone, so that we could still discuss the summit, what she sees as surprising research findings that were presented, her personal thoughts on important Project Management Office (PMO) strategies that organizations should keep in mind…

  • Episode 129: PPM Solutions Overview

    Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
    13 Oct 2009 | 11:22 pm
    Project Portfolio Management (PPM) describes a methodical approach for analyzing and collectively managing a group of current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. And yes… you’ve heard me say this exact sentence about 2 weeks ago as I introduced the interview with Rick Moreau from Compuware. The reason why I am repeating this sentence here is because you are going to hear from 8 companies who were exhibitors at the Gartner PPM & IT Summit and learn more about 7 PPM Solutions and 1 online project management community. The original plan was that I would have a…

  • On Vacation until 31 October 2009

    Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
    5 Oct 2009 | 2:06 pm
    The Project Management Podcast™ is a trademark of OSP International LLC. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The Project Management Podcast™ and its RSS feed are copyright © by OSP International LLC 2005 - 2009. All rights reserved. This episode is sponsored by The Project Management PrepCast at http://www.pm-prepcast.com
 
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    entp hoth blog

  • Currently on the Tender roadmap

    will
    6 Nov 2009 | 5:57 pm
    User feedback is an essential part of software development. For many of us, it's the lifeline that polishes our products. This post is to share what is currently in view on the roadmap for Tender Support. Watchers Watchers is a feature that allows users to subscribe to or unsubscribe from a public discussion, as well as invite others to join. Currently, we have all the backend functionality completed. We're just sitting on the UI portion while we tweak the last minute details. We expect it to roll out to the public in the next week if all looks good during testing. Give us your input! Join…

  • It's tradition

    will
    4 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am
    Zack Hobson hard at work building his own desk at the ENTP office before he starts his first day as an ENTP'er on Wednesday. The desk building thing has become a bit of a tradition.

  • Recent updates to Tender

    rick
    2 Nov 2009 | 2:52 pm
    It’s too easy to let the little things slide by unnoticed. Bug fixes, tweaks, and additional minor functionality are pushed to Tender Support all of the time. Below are the most recent changes and additions to Tender. Now with FAQ ordering You can now tweak the order of FAQ articles. To do do this, go to the Knowledge Base / FAQ area in your admin and then select an FAQ category. In there you’ll see this small change… Just click on the arrow icons and drag the FAQ article to the location in that category where it belongs. We also added FAQ redirections. Previous FAQ ordering consisted…

  • Postmortem of Tender issues

    rick
    27 Oct 2009 | 1:43 am
    As most of you are well aware, we’ve spent the last few days troubleshooting heavy response times on Tender Support. Current status As of 4:30 p.m. PDT, the brunt of the problem appears to be behind us. In the meantime, we’re keeping a close watch on things for when traffic escalates on Tuesday morning. We’re also still going through the data to double check that nothing was lost. So far, all data has been kept intact and delivered. We would also like to formally apologize about the severity of the issue. We’re just as dependent on our support system as our users and felt their pain…

  • Tender status for Monday, Oct 26

    will
    26 Oct 2009 | 10:19 am
    After a weekend of troubleshooting in response to the Tender Support server delays on Friday, Monday has shown no mercy as usage picks back up to normal. Currently, the servers are suffering from extremely heavy response times, causing frequent timeouts and delay in email processing. Over the weekend we took extra precautions by adding additional resources to the server as well as some extra caching measures. We are currently working side by side with our host to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. You can also follow us on Twitter for continuous status updates
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    Better Projects

  • The Scrum Team and old roles

    18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm
    As you know, in the scrum world there are only three roles; Product Owner, Scrum Master and Team. From observing the conversation on the internet, discussions with colleagues and observation, many teams also find a place for testers and QA people.Business analysts seem to fall outside of the “team” into proxy Product Owner roles, or into Product Owner assistants. System analysts seem to be migrated into the team as QA or dogs bodies. Project managers appear become product owners, team coaches or shields from organizational politics. There are two things in this context I am reflecting on…

  • Managing Project Cost

    17 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm
    At "AskAboutProjects" a user asked whether it's still Project Management when you aren't managing the budget. Mainly he answers floated around the point taht yes, it is. A few examples were mentioned inlcuding projects with a flat resource profile.Here's the thing; Just because there isn;t anything to do on the budgets doesn;t mean that you are not managing cost. If your team burn through $20k per month, you have a pretty direct influence on the budget by the way you manage the project.Will it go for 6 months or two years?Of course cost is one half of the value equation, but it isn't as…

  • No matter how it might look, people are trying to be helpful to the best of their ability.

    16 Nov 2009 | 10:40 pm
    "No matter how it might look, people are trying to be helpful to the best of their ability."Brett Schubert writes a great post based on his experience as a customer of an agile team.  It's not all flowers and early releases.

  • Quote: "The grim frivolity of unnecessary precision"

    15 Nov 2009 | 10:09 pm
    Quote: "The grim frivolity of unnecessary precision"What a great phrase!Find out what it means here.

  • FIST Values

    11 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm
    Dan Ward wrote a thesis on values and how they contribute to project success.  His thesis is that success is correlated with a set of values he tags with the acronym F.I.S.T: Fast, Inexpensive, Simple and Tiny.Dan works in defense where many projects span decades and yeild little value for taxpayers (beyond jobs in regional areas, maybe.)  His work argues against an embedded bias towards expensive, large complex projects with massive scope.(You can read his thesis yourself, here.)Ask yourself this: If you were your project's sponsor and you were given a choice across these values,…
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    BrightHub: Project Management

  • Should You Change Your Inventory Method?

    JScheid
    21 Nov 2009 | 3:35 am
    It’s possible most project mangers don’t even think in terms of inventory when working on projects. Inventory can be more than parts, nuts, and bolts. What is inventory in project management and should you change your inventory method? Jean Scheid takes a look. What Is Inventory in Project Management? We all know that a project ...

  • Evaluating Project Teams from Multiple Perspectives

    npsmith07
    21 Nov 2009 | 3:29 am
    Most managers dread completing annual performance reviews because they are extremely time consuming often provide little insight into true performance. By incorporating two additional components into the typical review process, project managers can make annual reviews more meaningful and useful. Three Components of Project Team Performance Evaluati...

  • Project Planning: What the Experts Do

    JScheid
    21 Nov 2009 | 3:27 am
    Project Planning is more than the beginning, the middle, and the end of a project. It is defining a goal and implementing that goal to a successful end. So, throw those yellow sticky notes you have away and let's look at what the experts do. Be a Project Planning Expert Project planning is important if you don't want to fall behind. Planning sk...

  • 10 Free Six Sigma Templates You Can Download

    mmcdonough
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:42 pm
    If you’re tired of spending hours trying to format a chart or diagram for your project, check out some of these Six Sigma templates that are available as free downloads from the Project Management Media Gallery. Available templates include Fishbone Diagrams, PICK Charts, and SIPOC Diagrams. Templates for Six Sigma Projects The use of charts a...

  • Protect Your Project Against Cost Overruns

    Xintel2001
    18 Nov 2009 | 11:53 pm
    What happens when one of the activities goes over budget? How do you mitigate the cost risk associated with critical activities? Reserve Analysis holds the key to these project budget related answers. Introduction Reserve Analysis is one of the techniques used to determine a project budget. During Reserve Analysis, a project is analyzed fro...
 
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    WordPress Tag: Project Management

  • Bug on a Windshield: Personal Effectiveness, Project Management and Fun

    Joelle Godfrey
    21 Nov 2009 | 6:04 am
    It’s the third week of the month again. If you’re new here, the third week of every month, I pull together all the links that I’ve run into since last month that made me think or laugh. This week’s Bug on Windshield links are related to: Personal Effectiveness, Project Management, and Fun Personal Effectiveness: 25 Free Lifelong Learning Resources Managing Personal Effectiveness by Building  a list Personal Responsibility: Christopher Avery How to Take Action on What You Read How to Write in a Journal Effectively Project Management Kaizen by Inspiration is not Kaizen The Right…

  • My Ten Favorite Tweets - Week Ending 111909

    Hutch Carpenter
    21 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am
    From the home office in the restarted Cern Large Hadron Collider along the French-Swiss border… #1: What Shaun White & Snowboarding Can Teach You About #Innovation http://ow.ly/E8h7 Get exposure for ideas early, so others can digest impact #2: Managing Employee Innovation Communities (via Spigit blog) http://bit.ly/3SREBr #innovation #e20 #3: City of Manor’s “citizens’ innovation” project (using Spigit) is featured on WhiteHouse.gov blog: http://ow.ly/DURl #gov20 #4: RT @CarolineDangson #IDC Social Survey: workers say they use IM for…

  • How to Choose the Best Project Management Training Courses

    Construction English
    21 Nov 2009 | 3:29 am
    Project management covers many fields of works, like construction, engineering, IT management, internet marketing, finance…In order to get a project manager certificate or degree, you should enroll project managing education classes. Choosing the right training course will assure the success in your project manager career. Select the proper training course is based on some basic factors. Most importance is choosing a well-known school with a good reputation and the second factor is finding a suitable training course that including all the project management skills. Typically, training…

  • Updated Information: Global Projects Logistics Network (GPLN) Global Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    projectcargologistics
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:30 pm
    Rio de Janeiro: Location of GPLN's 2010 Meeting I am writing this mail to draw attention to loads of new information that we have put up on our website about the GPLN Global Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the Intermodal South America in São Paulo a few days before. First off, you may notice a new red button in the menu on our home page. By clicking on this button you will go to a sub-website that has been created for these two events. In that sub-website is all the information concerning dates, costs, accommodations, visa information, etc., that you need to be able to plan your…

  • Managing agile projects with kanban

    magia3e
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:19 pm
    I’ve been listening with great interest to the tweets on #agile over the last few months. It’s been a great way to understand what people currently think about agile projects and where the thinking is headed in relation to its use. Recently I’ve noticed a growing number of tweets on #kanban mixed in with #agile and so I finally asked the twitterati what kanban was really all about. Fortunately, I was pointed in the direction of Jim Benson of Personal Kanban. Personal Kanban is a great website for starting your own kanban journey. In essence, Personal Kanban relates that you…
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    Staying on the right T.R.A.C.C

  • The car is now a first-class citizen of the cloud

    3 Nov 2009 | 2:35 pm
    The ngConnect car is a concept car created to show the potential of the next-generation connected devices, in this case, a car. Connectivity is achieved via LTE, a 4G technology being developed by leading telecommunications companies such as Alcatel-Lucent.The LTE Connected Car initative is involves partners from multiple industries, and include Alcatel-Lucent, QNX Software Systems, Toyota Motor Sales, Atlantic Records, chumby, and Kabillion all working together to develop applications and services under the ngConnect program.You can watch the full video here.It is incredible how by…

  • Leadership Principles: Reciprocal Loyalty

    19 Oct 2009 | 2:53 pm
    I am reading a book called “The 12 Leadership Principles of Dean Smith” by author David Chadwick. I found the book buried upstairs in the guest bedroom and decided to give it a read.The book is written by David Chadwick, a former student and player of basketball coach Dean Smith. Chadwick has distilled what he thinks are the 12 leadership principles that allowed Smith to be one of the most successful college basketball coaches of all time.I am currently reading the first chapter on the first leadership principle, and I can say that so far I am not super impressed. It is not that the…

  • A Tree Named Performance

    30 Sep 2009 | 1:23 pm
    What does reactive mean to you? And by reactive I mean in the situation or person sense and not in the chemical sense :)I found this great definition for reactive over at the Business Dictionary. Being reactive means:"Behavior that is not internally motivated but manifests in response to a situation or the actions of others."So is being reactive a good thing, a bad thing, or something in the middle?In some cases it is indeed a good thing. Reacting to changing and fluid situations to put the right people and processes in place to solve a problem is a good thing.Unfortunately being reactive…

  • The future of Car Infotainment

    29 Sep 2009 | 8:30 am
    QNX is up for an award at the Adobe Max conference under the "Mobile" category. You don't get much more mobile then a car. Unless your battery is dead that is, then it is not so mobile until you get a boost.The QNX CAR application platform in an all encompassing reference platform for building next generation infotainment systems and digital instrument clusters.Vote for QNX Car at Adobe Max's site today! You can also see other cool applications of Flash technology from the other finalists too.

  • Kudos to me!

    23 Sep 2009 | 8:13 am
    Yay me! My blog was added as a top project management blog to The Daily Reviewer."Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 project-management Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included! You can see it at http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/project-managementThe Daily Reviewer is an an online aggregator of content similar to Alltop, which, incidental I am also on. The Daily Reviewer seems smaller, much newer, and more advertising driven then Alltop.Looking at their terms, it…
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    Project Management Tips

  • Defining Implementation Success or Failure

    Brad Egeland
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:55 pm
    Sometimes indentifying whether your project or implementation was a success or failure is not as straightforward as just looking at the metrics involved with project management.It’s not always about on time and on budget.And it may not entirely be about customer satisfaction either. In Henry Lucas’ book “Information Technology for Management” he defines first what an Implementation is and then looks at some of the possible criteria for determing that implementation’s relative success or failure factors. What Is Implementation? Implementationis part of the process of designing a…

  • The High Road

    Brad Egeland
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:41 pm
    I was recently involved in a “discussion” that prompted the thought process and communication exchange that I am about to discuss.And by “discussion” I mean argument. What happens during an argument?Tempers flare…sometimes even nostrils, voice levels escalate, faces may even turn red and neck veins may even bulge.When these things start to happen you’ve probably already lost the battle because losing control is never a good thing.In fact, losing control is something a Project Manager should never do. Thankfully, in a cordial…or at least, professional…business environment these…

  • Alliances: IPMA and APM Group working together

    Elizabeth
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:37 am
    Well, I never expected it, but I’m really glad.  What am I talking about?  The International Project Management Association (IPMA) and The APM Group have announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will enable the two organisations to support and recognise each other. I’m very impressed that the project management discipline is coming together in this way.  Maybe the Chartered debate is helping the groups – in the UK anyway – align their objectives more effectively in order to support project managers as a whole. The alliance of the two parties is designed…

  • Should You Equip the PMO with Netbooks?

    Brad Egeland
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:49 pm
    Let me answer that right now…NO.However, are they bad?Again, NO.Now that I’ve gotten my feelings off my chest on this, let’s dive in a little further. Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly approve of netbooks.I’ve purchased two of them in the past four months.They’re great in the right situations and some of those can be PM-related. First, I feel that there are some misperceptions with netbooks that most people have and need to overcome – I was included in this group at one time: The screen is too small.It’s not.It’s small, but unless you’re working heavily on graphics, the…

  • Defining Business Processes

    Brad Egeland
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pm
    When a large enterprise project kicks off, the hope of every project manager is that the customer organization has done a thorough and thoughtful job in defining their current business processes.Implementing a new enterprise solution usually means that some significant areas of the organization are going to change.Things have been done one way up until now and it is time that the organization change those things with the implementation of the enterprise solution that they are now incorporating. To know exactly where they want to go and for you to know how to get them there, there must be an…
 
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    Management House

  • Greatest Importance for Success

    Jeff Edwards
    30 Oct 2009 | 7:38 pm
    Lewis and Clark knew management. One important management principle shows up in the correspondence between Lewis and Clark as far back as 1803. American readers will remember that Lewis and Clark, with a group of frontiersmen, set out to find a water passage from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. The timing of the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806) seems as though President Jefferson was telling the men, “We just bought a huge chunk of land. Now go see what we just purchased.” In reality, Thomas Jefferson had pursued several ideas for…

  • Towers Perrin's Top-10 List for Employee Engagement

    Jeff Edwards
    25 Aug 2009 | 6:39 pm
    Another firm that chimes in about employee engagement is Towers Perrin. Like Accenture, Towers Perrin also has a top-10 list for employee engagement.Senior management sincerely interested in employee well-beingAbility to improve skills and capabilities Organization’s reputation for social responsibility Employees' input into decision making Quick resolution of customer concerns Setting of high personal standards Excellent career advancement opportunities Challenging work assignments that broaden skills Good relationships with supervisors Organization encourages innovative thinking Most of…

  • Accenture's Top-10 List for Employee Engagement

    Jeff Edwards
    19 Aug 2009 | 9:54 am
    I found that Accenture’s Human Performance service line has considered how employee engagement affects profit, productivity, and innovation. They have found a direct relationship between employee engagement and profit, productivity, and innovation. Accenture’s analyses have shown that the higher an organization scores on the ten areas below, the higher the employee engagement rating.Recognition and rewards must be linked to job and business performanceHr systems must provide managers with the information they needLearning opportunities for current and future positions must be…

  • Sacred PM Practices – Bottom Line

    Jeff Edwards
    3 Aug 2009 | 9:08 pm
    Most project managers, project management instructors, and publishers of project management material are spending much effort on management topics that are of little importance to the success of large IT projects, and little energy on those topics which are present in many of these successful large IT projects – leadership, ownership, trust.I am not suggesting that knowing how to create a project plan, or managing project risks are not important. I have come to believe that topics like leadership, ownership, and trust are little understood. How much time do you, or your project manager,…

  • Sacred PM Practices – Topics for Consideration

    Jeff Edwards
    22 Jul 2009 | 7:11 pm
    Traditional project management resources seem to address topics that do not necessarily support the successful execution of large IT projects. Project Management Institute claims to be the world’s leading publisher of project management information. Its books, newsletters, training courses, and seminars focus on traditional concerns such as resource estimation, risk management, and scope management.American Management Association’s books, seminars, and self-study materials focus on traditional project management activities – setting measurable project objectives, estimating project…
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    ThE pM sTuDeNt

  • Don’t Screw This Up: Reliability

    Josh Nankivel
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:38 am
    Reliable - by Hryck. via Flickr So far in this series we have 3 attributes of project management that can be used as means to judge any given implementation of it. Delivering Value Consistency Alignment For this installment, let’s talk about reliability.  This is somewhat related to consistency so let me get the definitions clear.  Consistency speaks to repeatability, or the capacity to be successful again and again….a systemic enabling of success. When I speak of reliability in this context, I’m referring to the dependability of various things like estimates being…

  • Don’t Screw this Up: Alignment

    Josh Nankivel
    17 Nov 2009 | 2:53 am
    What happens when the way you manage projects doesn’t align with the goals of your individual projects, department, organization, and industry? Aligned - by HugoDeschamps Failure, that’s what. Here’s a great post I ran across discussing the alignment of individuals to organizations.  The same is true of the way you manage projects. Projects Should Further Organizational Objectives If your portfolio of projects is heading all over the playing field in different directions, it’s going to be difficult to move the organization forward and count projects as successful. …

  • Don’t Screw This Up: Consistency

    Josh Nankivel
    12 Nov 2009 | 2:52 am
    A solid implementation of project management must have the attribute of consistency.  Without it, how can Old Faithful 1856 - by speedphotos via Flickr sponsors make good judgments about what projects to take on?  How could you possibly seek to improve? Random Project Management This is what I did when I first starting managing projects.  I didn’t know I was managing a “project” per se, just that something needed to get done.  I wasn’t systematic about my approach, and so I did this for years without really making significant progress in my ability to deliver…

  • Happy Veteran’s Day

    Josh Nankivel
    11 Nov 2009 | 2:38 pm
    The Three Soldiers - by Jeff Kubina via Flickr My brother Zach has come home since last  year’s post when he was serving in the Middle East and Africa.  I’ve been able to pick on him in person like the good old days since then, and he’s stationed in Virginia now.  He’ll likely have another tour coming up soon, so I chat with him over the phone at least weekly while he’s in the states so I can get all the harassment in before he ships out again. Here’s to all those who are currently serving their country and those who have in the past! Heroes By Jared…

  • Don’t screw this up: Delivering Value

    Josh Nankivel
    11 Nov 2009 | 2:35 am
    First and foremost, all projects must deliver value to their stakeholders, especially their key stakeholders. value by Material Boy via Flickr Why else would we be doing the project in the first place?  Sometimes value is easy to measure, and other times it can be more qualitative in nature. I’ve seen different definitions of value, and to me it’s a ratio of the benefits produced by an action and the total cost involved.  Benefits and cost certainly include monetary measures, and they also include everything else that has an impact on stakeholders.  Morale, risk,…
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    Ron Rosenhead

  • England’s World Cup Bid - brought back from the abyss?

    Ron
    17 Nov 2009 | 4:02 am
    “Lord Coe warns over faltering World Cup Bid.” This was the headline in the Times newspaper on November 11. One day later the Board heading up the bid to host the 2018 Football World Cup was slimmed down.  What has this to do with project management? Rather a lot!  According to The Times Lord Triesman, the bid Chairman was told that “…the bid would be lost unless he is capable of demonstrating stronger leadership”. Comments by people on our project management training courses suggest there is often a lack of leadership from senior managers. It is sometimes…

  • Projects introduce change….which needs managing

    Ron
    10 Nov 2009 | 1:23 am
    During a project management training course we looked at managing change. Participants were clear that the company did not manage change very well. So, I threw down the gauntlet and asked them how they think it ought to be managed. The result of this work is shown below. 1. Communicate throughout the change. The group suggested that if you wanted to take people along with you then even communicating that ‘you do not know’ would help 2. Wherever possible involve people in the change. There was realism in the group recognising even if you involved people in the changes ahead, some,…

  • Organisational issues that get in the way of effective project delivery

    Ron
    3 Nov 2009 | 1:49 am
    I was doing some diary planning with our company’s Administration Manager, Alison Smith. We cantered through November and December and suddenly we were into 2010; where did the year go? Finishing diary planning I started to reflect on the year so far. After a few quiet moments one aspect that came through was the obstacles companies put in the way of successful delivery of projects. They may not realise it but they are obstacles. I started to make a list: There is no project management system to speak of and people can ‘do their own thing’…and no one does Having…

  • Project branded as “A master class of misadministration”

    Ron
    26 Oct 2009 | 11:30 pm
    There have been many articles in the press and on TV and radio complaining about the Single Payment Scheme which has culminated in a damning report by National Audit Office (NAO). The report published has hit the headlines here in the UK for another poorly delivered project and suggests that: “The implementation of the single payment scheme encountered difficulties that could result in the European Commission imposing a sizeable penalty.” In addition, the main complaint from UK farmers has been they have had to wait inordinately long times to receive payments. “The…

  • The Perfect Project

    Ron
    23 Oct 2009 | 12:51 am
    The term “PERFECT PROJECT” was coined by a course participant on one of our project management training courses. He was aiming for what the title suggests and he felt that the course which had just ended would give him this. With this person’s permission, we use the words “PERFECT PROJECT” as the name of one of our courses.You can discover how to have a “PERFECT PROJECT” by coming along on our one day event in Central London. It promises to be an exciting and participative day on December 8th. You can find out more by going here If you want more…
 
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    Dot Connector

  • God is a Salesman by Mark Stevens – Book Review and Favorite Ideas

    Regis Hadiaris
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:53 pm
    “Thinking a lot about money is the best way to ensure you never earn a great deal of it.  Far wiser is to focus on a passion, on something powerful you can do to change peoples’ lives.  I’ve always believed the money will then follow.” - Bill Gates (to Mark Stevens) Stop judging this book by it’s cover.  Right now.  I know, you’re probably thinking something like “God is a Salesman? Great, now we’re going to talk about religion.”  Nope, not really. Please read on… Yes, Mark Stevens uses the prism of religion to demonstrate how…

  • Goal Setting Worksheet and Weekly Planner Template [The One Goal Project]

    Regis Hadiaris
    27 Oct 2009 | 8:08 am
    This post is part of the One Goal Project to achieve exceptional performance at work.  Learn more. Feeling overloaded?  Try these two templates. (source: antwerpenR / CC 2.0) My team hears me say it all the time, and it always goes something like this: “We all have a hundred things on our plate, but are you working on the right things today?” Easy enough to say, but harder still to deliver on. Why? Because we are creatures of habit.  We show up (physically) on Monday morning. We check email and voice mail and then “ping pong syndrome” begins. What is “ping…

  • Business Decision Making – 3 Questions to Ask Yourself [The One Goal Project]

    Regis Hadiaris
    13 Oct 2009 | 8:04 am
    This post is part of the One Goal Project to achieve exceptional performance at work.  Learn more. Business decision making can be a maze.  Use these questions to find your way out. (source: joncampbell / CC 2.0) Better Business Decision Making – 3 Simple Questions to Ask Yourself “Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.” Marcus Aurelius We all need to make decisions.  Sometimes, we make bad decisions and learn from them.  Other times we make great decisions and wonder why we even deliberated.  Some people like to make really fast decisions and…

  • Inspirational Quote about Fear

    Regis Hadiaris
    10 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am
    Courage is just fear delayed another moment. -Gen. George S. Patton See also:Inspirational Quote about Ingenuity Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what...Commitment to Success: Inspirational Quote The following “I promise…” statements were sent to me by...Inspirational Quote about Economics Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent....

  • 3 Lessons From My Dad [Plus: Tweet for ALS on October 1st!]

    Regis Hadiaris
    30 Sep 2009 | 8:55 am
    Take time to reflect. Source: Richard0 / CC BY 2.0 5 Years ago, I lost my Dad.  He was an honest, caring man that led a life filled with great experiences.  These experiences turned into tons of colorful stories from the Great Depression, World War II, and the rest of his long life. Through his stories, and whether he always knew it or not, he taught me many lessons about how to live my own life.  On this 5 year anniversary of his passing, here are 3 of my favorites. 1. Sometimes in life you have to sacrifice your interests to help others in need. I was taught that I had to work hard for…
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    ThousandtyOne! - .NET, Life and Logical Thoughts By Rajiv Popat

  • Programmer Tip: A 'Large' Project Means Nothing.

    Rajiv Popat
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:46 pm
    Sam questions: We hear vague descriptions about project size tossed about all the time: Ruby on Rails is better for small projects. Java is for large projects. Skip the framework for small projects, but I recommend using one for large projects. What factors go into determining the "size" of a project? Reflect on the question dear reader; and chances are that you might realize the problem in attempting to answer the question. You probably know this already. If you do not; ask anyone who has spent even a couple of years programming and estimating projects and he will tell you that: Simply…

  • A Gentle Nudge: Too Much Inspiration Is Highly Overrated.

    Rajiv Popat
    15 Nov 2009 | 1:38 pm
    At TED videos and inspirational books; I completely understand the importance of inspiration. Having said that; most good inspirational book nudge you to read them and then go out there and work. TED talks range for just 18 minutes where people talk about what they have 'done' or 'built' and the entire event ends in about three days; Jeff Atwood describes this phenomenon rather articulately in He explains: It's an easy conceptual trip from building bridges to building software. In software, some developers take up residence on planet architecture, an otherworldly place where software is…

  • Surviving Without Random Lies In The World Software Development.

    Rajiv Popat
    14 Nov 2009 | 1:12 pm
    If you are a programmer or even remotely associated with the world of software development; you have probably seen an entire team; built and function on lies. No; I am not talking about the occasional long nosed marketing weasel. Somewhere; during the life time of your project; usually even before the project starts; someone lays a foundation or a contract built on a lie; and then it snowballs from there. Before you know it; you have an entire ecosystem built to survive and thrive in an environment of lies. He explains: Back when I was doing project work in the traditional waterfall way, I…

  • Programmer Tip: Stop Those CYA Emails And Engage In Meaningful Discussions.

    Rajiv Popat
    12 Nov 2009 | 3:01 pm
    During my stay at SVN logs into emails and send those out for every check-in that they did. For every piece of work that you did; for every minor assignment you completed; it was expected that you to write an email; and send it out. When you send the email you were expected to  copy the entire team. Now; to be honest; there was nothing wrong with me getting over a hundred emails. I would have been happy deleting the emails and moving on with my life; but then a hundred plus emails in my inbox meant that: People on the project were wasting a lot of time writing these emails. People on the…

  • Programmer Tip: Strive To Connect With Human Beings Whenever You Can.

    Rajiv Popat
    8 Nov 2009 | 3:53 pm
    During my childhood I was told by many that I was what they called an --- 'introvert'. As far as my side of the story was concerned; I found human beings; to be these hugely  complex creatures who were very difficult to understand and establish a connection with. If I can be honest here; it was not the human race that was a problem. I actually liked interacting with other human beings. It was just the first five minutes; the small-talk; the how-are-you-doing or how-is-the-weather-there discussion along with that phony smile that I found hugely complicated and pointless. Computers and…
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    the Intervals Blog by Pelago

  • Compare Browser Type CSS Options

    John Reeve
    13 Nov 2009 | 3:21 pm
    I admit it. I’m a typophile. Addicted to descenders and x-heights, I could stare at the lower-case ‘g’ (the one with the closed descender) forever trying to inherit the genius of the early typographers who gave us Garamond and it’s brethren. Exploring type on the web isn’t as limitless as it’s analog counterpart, but there are still a lot of variations that can be accomplished with browser type. Here to help reign in the number of options we have when designing and developing web sites using browser text and CSS is www.typetester.org. Definitely check it…

  • Three Reasons Why Not To Sign Non Disclosure Agreements

    John Reeve
    10 Nov 2009 | 1:52 pm
    In the nine-plus years that Pelago has been designing and developing web sites and web-based applications, we’ve been asked more than once to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before putting together an estimate. Whether they are trying to protect a business process or an idea, the client usually has a genuine concern for keeping information private. Given the client’s good intentions, why don’t we sign NDAs? We have a few good reasons… The client’s idea is rarely unique There is a big difference between having a unique idea and being first to market. The…

  • Why Evolution is Better than Revolution

    John Reeve
    3 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am
    “In art there are only fast or slow developments. Essentially it is a matter of evolution, not revolution.” — Béla Bartók The landscape of web-based time tracking, task management, and project management tools has become a little noisy. It seems that each month another company is throwing their app into the fray and hoping for the best. While those of us behind Intervals believe this to be a good thing, because it offers the small business more options in finding a solution that will fit them best, it has become interesting to watch how various web-based offerings…

  • A New Collaborative Web Site for Project Management Questions

    John Reeve
    2 Nov 2009 | 2:25 pm
    A new web site for helping people find answers to project management quesitons has recently launched over at AskAboutProjects. The site does a great job of allowing the community to participate without being overwhelmed by the big words and acronyms that usually go hand-in-hand with project management discussions. Go on over and participate. It would be nice to see this web site take off like its counterpart StackOverflow. Related posts Three Reasons Why Not To Sign Non Disclosure Agreements (16) Why Evolution is Better than Revolution (3) Project Landscape Report (0) Periscope Report (0)…

  • Project Landscape Report

    John Reeve
    28 Oct 2009 | 10:52 am
    We’ve added a new report to Intervals, the Project Landscape Report. This report is useful for comparing data across several projects at once. Whether taking a glance at how your projects are doing, or digging in deeper to view tracked time, task totals and financial balances and budgets, this report is ideal for gauging project health. The report filters enable project managers to break down the project landscape into a countless number of perspectives — view all billable projects across your company or run a history of all active and inactive projects for a specific client. The…
 
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    Projects and Programs

  • Project Management 2.0 Tools -Part 4:Collaboration Planning Tools

    krishan kukreja
    15 Nov 2009 | 9:42 pm
    According to Wikipedia : “Collaborative planning software helps people plan projects and activities together on the peer base. Everyone can equally contribute, assign tasks and track the progress. Collaborative planning software is a mixture of project management software, groupware and collaborative software. Tools such as Wrike enable users to organize projects and activities as project management [...]

  • Project Management 2.0 Tools -Part 3:Wikis

    krishan kukreja
    15 Sep 2009 | 1:24 am
    We have already discussed what is Project management 2.0  and Project management 2.0 blogs in Part-1 and Part-2 of this Project management 2.0 series. Today I am going to cover wikis.What Can you expect to learn from this Article ?  Well You can expect to learn  the followings: What is Wiki? How to use wikis in Project [...]

  • Project management 2.0 Tools: Part-1

    krishan kukreja
    10 Sep 2009 | 6:25 am
    In this series of articles about project management 2.0  , the new  technologies which are very effective in  the field of project management  , I am going to cover : What is Project management 2.0 ?, Project Blogs, Wikis, Collaborative software, and The difference between Project Management 2.0 and the traditional Project management.                                          image via wikimedia First thing first , let’s  [...]

  • Project Management 2.0 Tools- Part2: Project Blogs

    krishan kukreja
    30 Aug 2009 | 9:57 am
    Blogs There are several new generation applications  used by thousands of companies ,known as project management 2.0  tools , and the most popular of these  are blogs and  wikis .  What is most interesting is that these are easy to use and are very inexpensive . A few of the most popular  blogging tools are- WordPress  [...]

  • PMP Exam – 10 Frequently asked questions.

    krishan kukreja
    24 Aug 2009 | 7:23 am
    PMP Exam FAQ-1 What is PMP ? Project Management Professional (PMP) is the certification administered by Project Management Institute (PMI), USA. The PMP is the most  popular Project Management certification and  assures your potential employers that you have demonstrated a good foundation of Project Management Knowledge. PMP Exam FAQ-2 What is the PMBOK® Guide – Fourth Edition? The PMBOK® Guide [...]
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    Project Management 2.0

  • E-mail Is Dead…Long Live E-mail! from Enterprise2Open

    Andrew Filev
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
    A couple of weeks ago, I took part in the Enterprise 2.0 Conference San Francisco. As usual, it was a very interesting event, and I was glad to make my contribution to the discussion. Below is the presentation I prepared for the Enterprise 2.0 conference’s Enterprise2Open session. My session was not meant to be just a regular speech. I wanted to create a discussion and share the stage with other E2Open participants. That is why many of the slides in the presentation contain questions to the audience. View more presentations from Wrike com. I thought it would be a good thing to continue…

  • Project Management 2.0 Was Short-listed for the 2009 IT Blog Awards

    Andrew Filev
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
     I’m excited to announce that my blog was chosen to be in the short list for the 2009 Computer Weekly IT Blog Awards in the project management category. I’m honored that the organizers of this contest thought that Project Management 2.0 should be among the best blogs of the industry. Now comes the most competitive part where your help would be very much appreciated. If you think that Project Management 2.0 deserves a spot in the top, please go to ComputerWeekly.com and vote for this blog in the project management category.

  • Talking to Project Shrink about Project Management 2.0

    Andrew Filev
    16 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
    Bas de Baar from Project Shrink interviewed me at the PMI Global Congress and asked me about Project Management 2.0 and our project management software, Wrike. I tried to briefly explain my view on what the new trend in project management is about. My opinion may seem controversial to some of you, but I think it’s only natural. Project Management 2.0 is an emerging trend, and it constantly evolves. As always, I’d like to say that I do appreciate you and your participation in the ongoing Project Management 2.0 discussion. Your comments are welcome.

  • Why Project Management 2.0 Is a Different Ball Game

    Andrew Filev
    4 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am
    At the PMI Global Congress that I attended in October, I met many project management practitioners. Some of them asked me about my views on Project Management 2.0. One of the questions was “How is Project Management 2.0  different from what many organizations have today?” I decided to summarize my answers and came up with a short list of key factors that distinguish Project Management 2.0 from traditional project management. They are: Environment. Manuel Castells, the author of "The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture (v. 1-3)" and a visiting professor in…

  • “Win a Book!” Series: the Collaboration Economy (Review of “Wikinomics”)

    Andrew Filev
    21 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am
    When this book was published nearly four years ago, it shook the U.S. business world with its claim that we've barely begun to imagine the ways in which the web will transform our lives as workers and consumers. Later, “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything” was published in 26 languages and was named a finalist for the Goldman Sachs/Financial Times Business Book of the Year award. “Wikinomics” became a popular buzz word, and the ideas first pronounced by the authors of the book influenced the minds of many business people. I’m not an…
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    Expiriance Program / Project Management Blog

  • Project Management: Art Or Science

    Jorge Dominguez, PMP
    31 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm
    Is project management art or science?Project managers are certainly both artists and scientists though not in the context in which we know these words. Project managers apply a science using art.Science comes into play when the PM acquires and embraces all the theory he/she has learned through experience, training, certification, etc. PMs use frameworks such as PMBoK or PRINCE based on time-tested methods that have been proven to be effective through years of implementation.Some science points:• Different methodologies and frameworks available (PMBoK, PRINCE, etc.)• Standard processes and…

  • Breaking The Work Breakdown Structure

    Jorge Dominguez, PMP
    30 Sep 2009 | 9:01 pm
    The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.The WBS organizes and defines the planned work tasks of the project. How detailed should it be and how many levels should it have? The obvious answer is as detailed and as low as it can be scheduled, estimated, monitored and controlled, or it won’t be effective. You can have the most detailed WBS in the world but if it cannot be managed it will not work. So, depending on the project…

  • Agile Project Management

    Jorge Dominguez, PMP
    31 Aug 2009 | 9:30 pm
    Businesses all over continue to struggle implementing the PMBOK or PRINCE as a whole or parts of them claiming that they are too complex, too involved and take from the time it takes to produce the project deliverables. Adaptive Project Framework (APF) comes to the rescue by adapting to the ever changing business environments.I read and re-read “Effective Project Management – Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme” by Robert K. Wysocki every time I get a chance. It is an excellent book that I always carry with me. This book dedicates a few chapters to APF.APF is an iterative and adaptive (and I…

  • PM Products Are Not Complete

    Jorge Dominguez, PMP
    31 Jul 2009 | 9:01 pm
    There are many tools for project management and project managers, from large companies and from small companies. Some have more functionality and others have less functionality. But all of them put together do the same thing.Don’t take me wrong but no product that I know of has any particular functionality that stands out and that no other tool has. For example, most tools have a scheduler, some do the job better than the others, and others do it easier. Some tools have a resource management module while others have a timesheet module.Does it mean we are already “there” when it comes to…

  • Few Companies Have A PMO

    Jorge Dominguez, PMP
    30 Jun 2009 | 9:01 pm
    With the maturity that project management has in this day and age there are few companies with a PMO group and I have not been able to explain the reason why even though I can think of many.The one reason that always comes to mind first is the lack of understanding out there of what the role of the PMO should be. Organizations all over ask the question: why do I need a PMO? Really, why? Is this just another administrative and bureaucratic function that brings no tangible results? More than a year ago I wrote “An Effective PMO” where I say that “…PMOs have become just another…
 
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    Utpal Writes

  • Going To Kashmir For Holidays With Friends

    Utpal Vaishnav
    13 Nov 2009 | 2:08 pm
    Kavita and I are going for holidays to Kashmir from tomorrow for about a week and I am not sure whether I will  have access to internet over there. I think sometimes it is cool to be in such a near-to-nature place. Brian Guest (giant rebus)'s Flickr photostream I prefer designing and planning such holiday tours on my own. I’d like to share what I did. Found a great company for the tour. (Going with my 3 college friends who accept one another the way we are.) Ensured that the tickets are confirmed. To and From – both. Consulted 2 colleague friends who are from that place.

  • They Don’t Understand 7

    Utpal Vaishnav
    13 Nov 2009 | 11:42 am
    Government does not understand… Organization does not understand… Clients do not understand… Family does not understand… Friends do not understand… Wife does not understand… What you don’t understand? Can you do anything about it?

  • Project Management Isn’t 7

    Utpal Vaishnav
    10 Nov 2009 | 10:41 am
    A perfect plan that never executes. Everyday status meetings. Just an ability to use a collaboration tool or Ms Project. Not communicating the bad news to the stakeholders. Not managing the self first. Something that can’t be learned. Perfect! (but still serves the purpose) See Also:Twenty One Project Management Tips On How To Get Co-operation of Senior ManagementEveryday Status Meeting – An Absolute Project KillerProject Management Is 7Dependable Project Manager 9Directness, A Deviant Act That Is More Than Worth In Agile Project Management

  • Project Management Is 7

    Utpal Vaishnav
    10 Nov 2009 | 10:36 am
    Planning – asking the right questions. Communicating – keeping everyone on the same page. Leading – the team from the front. Inspecting – what is expected. Ensuring – the timely delivery. Managing – Stakeholder expectations. Sharpening the self – learn the lessons to execute the next project better. See Also:Project Environment Analysis 8Project Management Isn’t 7Dependable Project Manager 9Twenty One Project Management Tips On How To Get Co-operation of Senior ManagementDirectness, A Deviant Act That Is More Than Worth In Agile Project Management

  • 12 Words You Should Eliminate From Your Vocabulary (As Per A Distinct #Author Who Can @UpbeatNow, You!)

    Utpal Vaishnav
    1 Nov 2009 | 8:46 pm
    They have the power. The power to create or destroy. Create or destroy anything. Any idea what they are? Yes? No? Maybe? I’m talking about the conversations. And, you know we are what our conversations are! One of the most influential ingredient in the conversations is our choice. Choice of the words we use. Below is an invitation for you to revisit your actions related to the below referred 12 words. Read through each of the word and the corresponding link which will take you to the source of inspiration. Luck:Unless you want to chase exceptions in life, stop chasing luck! Status…
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    RationalPlan News

  • RationalPlan Project Management Software 3.15.6 is available

    27 Oct 2009 | 4:10 am
    Stand By Soft just released RationalPlan 3.15.6, a project management software. For additional information, please visit http://www.rationalplan.com.

  • RationalPlan Project Management Software 3.15.4 is available

    23 Sep 2009 | 5:00 am
    Stand By Soft just released RationalPlan 3.15.4, a project management software. In the news: Added more task types Increased execution speed Silent install possibility on Windows Bug fixes For additional information, please visit http://www.rationalplan.com.

  • RationalPlan Project Management Software 3.15.0 is available

    20 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am
    Stand By Soft just released RationalPlan 3.15.0, a project management software. In the news: Changed the scheduling mechanism such that it will allow users to have conflicts Added shortcut icons for the guide when hidden Copy/paste tasks with assigned resources Added successors tab in task details view Export more data to Excel Bug fixes For additional information, please visit http://www.rationalplan.com.

  • RationalPlan Project Management Software 3.14.0 is available

    14 May 2009 | 6:10 am
    Stand By Soft just released RationalPlan 3.14.0, a project management application. In the news: Added code for internationalization Added deadline column and graphical representation Outlook integration for .ics file (only VEvent) when sending email with assignments to resources Possibility to directly open Single Project files into Multi Project files Possibility to disable "check for updates" Increased execution speed Store/load settings for risks view Improved look and feel for Mac OS X Improved file locking mechanism Bug fix: Related to importing MS Project files Bug fix: When changing a…

  • RationalPlan Project Management Software 3.13.3 is available

    14 May 2009 | 6:10 am
    Stand By Soft just released RationalPlan 3.13.3, a project management application. For additional information, please visit http://www.rationalplan.com.
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