posted Apr 12, 2012 12:26 PM by Jack Doyle
[
updated May 24, 2012 8:12 AM
]
Deliverables: reality and
perception in client invoices
Trust,
honesty, and openness with your client are especially important when invoicing
for a project that require days or weeks of attention before reaching a
milestone. Get started with Microsoft
Project and Visual Basic programming
Andrew Makar goes back to basics and offers
simple VBA examples that you can apply to Microsoft Project schedules
Tablet apps for project managers
Project management is a natural use case for
tablets. Will Kelly takes a look at some of the tablet apps available for
project managers.
Project risk management checklist
Many
projects have inherent risks that can wreak havoc if left unmanaged. This
checklist will help you assess and minimize the risk potential for your project
and head off possible problems.
PMI's Agile Certified Practitioner: A cert is bornThe Project Management Institute's new Agile Certified Practitioner certification might be right for you if your organization uses scrum, Lean, Kanban, and XP. Read more Five cloud-based PM tools to suit a wide range of projectsLearn about Zoho Projects, Planbox, ProWorkflow, Basecamp, and Milestone Planner to determine if one of the project management tools might be the right fit for your client. 10 project management lessons from the Titanic disasterOn the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, Calvin Sun considers key lessons that project managers can take away from the details surrounding the tragedy. Five questions to ask before approving a projectBy asking a few questions at the start of a project, organizations can improve their successful project completion rate and enjoy the fruits of their success instead of performing post mortems on failed initiatives. |
posted Jan 7, 2012 9:36 AM by Jack Doyle
[
updated Mar 31, 2012 9:34 AM
]
Tactical tips for creating a successful deliverables-based SOWWhen you're creating a deliverables-based Statement of Work, Ken Hardin advises that you err on the side of clarity. Four elements of measuring program successRick Freedman explores a program measurement theory that consists of measuring success in terms of delivery, organizational, marketing, and innovation capabilities. Resource leveling with Microsoft Project 2010's Team Planner viewIn Microsoft Project 2010's Team Planner view, you can identify resource over allocations, adjust dates, and reassign work. 10 questions non-techie managers should ask about IT projectsBusiness managers may lack the tech knowledge to make sure a project is on the right track. Here's what they should be asking IT to improve the odds of project success. Resource leveling by hand using Microsoft Project 2010Resource leveling by hand takes longer than using the rule-based engine in Microsoft Project 2010, but Andrew Makar believes it produces a better schedule. Debunking four resource leveling mythsAndy Makar explains why these four resource leveling misconceptions or mistakes he has encountered are inaccurate Nudge stakeholders into addressing project issues nowKen Hardin shares tricks on how to get stakeholders to answer your questions about a project’s business requirements. If you don’t get answers now, it will cost more to figure out later. Successful IT projects: Good news travels slowlyGood news travels slowly, so perhaps it is not surprising that I only recently found out about an October 2011 GAO report called Critical Factors Underlying Successful Major Acquisitions, which examines seven recent government IT systems acquisitions -- ranging in dollar value from $35 million to $2 billion -- that have met their schedule, cost, and performance targets. (I don't recall seeing anything even in FCW about this report when it came out, and a search of the fcw.com website with the key words GAO and the title of the report came up dry. FCW, tell me it isn't so!) Activity Manager makes managing projects a breeze Activity Manager is free, reliable, and simple to use project management tool that helps PMs keep track of collaborator time. |
posted Oct 5, 2011 12:41 PM by Jack Doyle
[
updated Dec 23, 2011 8:14 AM
]
Andy Makar describes projects where the free social platform Cohuman helps teams collaborate and deliver. Read
more 5 Lessons From Federal IT Project Reviews
TechStat IT oversight program saved more than $900 million, offers insights for IT managers from all sectors.
Free project collaboration tools that rock
Andrew Makar explains why these three project collaboration tools are worth a look: Cohuman, Asana, and Trello.
Conduct lessons learned sessions throughout the engagement
Brad Egeland describes his process for conducting lessons learned sessions, which he says are helping his IT project teams and customers.
Track and manage critical data with Project Drive
Here's a look at the pros and cons of Project Drive, a customizable Web-based project management software tool.
Project collaboration in the cloud via Mindjet Connect
Work management tools are offering new ways to work and brainstorm solutions using mobile platforms and storing solutions "in the cloud." Mindject Connect is one example.
IT project managers: The quick and the dead
What used to matter most in IT project management -- cost and quality -- now ranks below speed, capacity, and adaptability.
Four Functional Disciplines Needed on all Projects
All projects have a set of common characteristic by definition: they are temporary endeavors undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. Because of this, they also have some common activities that must be executed.
Celoxis -- A feature rich and affordable PM tool
Brad Egeland says there's a lot to like about the Celoxis
online project management tool. Get details in his review of the PM
software. Read more
The IT industry is accepting failure as the norm
No project manager sets out to fail. But have project/program managers and leads begun to accept failure as the norm? Read more
A Simple Way to Identify Problems with IT Projects
Identifying problems with IT projects before they get out of hand really isn't that hard. All you have to do is ask project team members where they think the project might go wrong.
How PMs can get the grease without squeaking
Get senior management to notice your project without being a nuisance by following Brad Egeland's "inform, introduce, and invite" approach.
Scheduling: What Comes Next? Presentation
Building a solid project schedule requires an understanding of the deliverables and the business' culture. This 31-page PDF from gantthead.com will give you pointers on building a schedule that is flexible enough to address the unexpected, while being strong enough to keep the initiative on track.
Highlight missing baselines in Project 2010
Learn how to apply a custom filter to highlight the tasks missing baseline data in Microsoft Project 2010.
Review:
Project Insight web-based project management software
Despite a couple of drawbacks, this reviewer finds
a lot to like about Project Insight, a customizable project and resource
management solution. Read
more
Scope change request log
One key to keeping a project on track is to maintain careful records of change requests. This scope change request log lets you consolidate and summarize all the requests into one easy-to-read document.
Don't Think BPM And Customer Experience Are Your Problem? Think Again
Development leaders! Project leaders and business analysts! Application & solution architects! Want to move forward on your Business Technology (BT) journey and be viewed by your business stakeholders as a valuable team member? Take a tip from last week's Forums held in Boston. Embrace Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Experience. Don't ignore them, embrace them. Why? They're essential to helping you achieve your business outcomes.
Wrike: Simple Social Project Management
Project planning and coordination tool is aimed at business managers, not IT personnel or project management specialists.
Yes – TEAM Has an I in It
For decades coaches have told their players there is no I in TEAM. The point they’re trying to make is that the interest of the players should be the team first and themselves second. Players that put themselves first ahead of the team are often called prima donna or selfish. |
posted Jul 1, 2011 11:30 AM by Jack Doyle
[
updated Sep 28, 2011 9:13 AM
]
Can an IT Project Really Get Universal Acceptance?
Seems so, at least at Seattle Children's Hospital, where VDI is welcomed by doctors, nurses.
The importance of documenting clients' business objectives
From day one, IT consultants should ask about and document clients' business objectives before suggesting fixes for the current solution.
The Relationship Between IT Project Size and Failure
A recording of this Web Short on is now available. It is about 20 minutes long, perfect for a mid afternoon coffee break. Invite a few friends over to your computer and start a discussion!
Confessions
from the PM of a chaotic project
If you've ever had the misfortune of managing a
project that spiraled out of control, you'll relate to this story. Read
more
Project Team Meeting Agenda Template
Nobody likes meetings, but without them your project will derail quickly. Use this agenda template to make sure you and your team are prepared to have a productive — and hopefully short — project meeting.
Preparing for Requirements Gathering
Before the sessions, understand the needs of the business you are trying to support.
Virtualizing
your way to better enterprise projects
Virtualization can be about far more than retiring
a few servers or making the background functioning of IT a bit more efficient.
Read
more
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: THE LIE OF THE "THREE LEVERS"
The three-level theory says that one can move any two of the levers (scope, timeline, or cost) and the other will move independently of the others. Patrick Gray disputes that assumption.
What's the Status of the Program?
With Microsoft Project Server 2007 and 2010 you can easily
create reports on the actual state of your program. But when senior management
asks, "What are the changes since our last meeting?" typically, you'll have to
look at the last report, find these changes, and create a new report. This
article describes a simple process for preparing a nice PowerPoint presentation
that can be updated dynamically for every reporting period...
Too
Many Projects on Your Plate?
It used to be that we would hear of
people managing three or four projects at a time. Now we are hearing of people
who are managing 10 to 15 at a time. Chances are, others might have even more.
Sure it is a sign of the times; organizations having to do more with less. But,
are organizations really doing that much more with less or are they deceiving
themselves? What is the criterion for determining when someone is managing too
many projects at one time? Read entire article and comment
Why Projects Fail
A what-not-to-do list could save your company a lot of time and money. READ MORE >>
Assess the Damage Before Resurrecting a Failed Project
Salvaging a failed project is never easy. The best approach for figuring where to start rebuilding is to understand what went wrong.
Yes, You Can Quickly And Accurately Estimate Your Project
There are simple project management tools that allow us to quickly and accurately estimate projects (or tasks) even when we don’t have a lot of time to make the estimate nor a lot of details on the effort.
Surviving Fixed-Everything IT Projects
Using fixed-price contracts for a contract may seem to limit risk, but it mostly costs more and produces less satisfactory results.
ONE IN SIX IT PROJECTS HAVE 'OUT OF CONTROL' BUDGETS
Major IT projects are put at risk by low probability but high impact problems, such as show-stoppers, which can put businesses and public sector organizations in jeopardy.
Four Steps To Identifying And Managing Project Risks
Some IT consultants overlook risk identification and management, especially on small engagements. Brad Egeland says this oversight could cost you future business.
FIVE AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT MIGRATION TIPS
Rick Freedman shares five tips for PMBOK, CMM-style shops considering agile migrations. He also recommends an agile PM book that he says is a must-read.
LiquidPlanner
3.0 for Project Management
LiquidPlanner 3.0 ($29 per member
per month) brings scheduling down to earth. Rather than asking users to enter
soft dates, Web- based LiquidPlanner lets project managers schedule by priority.
Its rich feature set, impressive online file storage, advanced reporting, and
unlimited projects enables participants to keep close tabs on every facet of
their workflow.
FIVE REASONS TO USE MINDGENIUS ON YOUR PROJECTS
MindGenius software provides a better user experience for data capture, categorization, and export activities than other mind mapping tools, according to IT project expert Dr. Andrew Makar.
Why Your Team Should Be Culturally Diverse
What your staff really needs: A blend of flavors. Find out why and how teams with people from different cultures tackle problems and accomplish tasks effectively.
2 Leadership Takeaways From The Boehner-Obama Feud
The President and House Speaker exemplified how a competition between two leaders can easily overshadow the team's goal. Find out how to avoid their mistakes.
How to Build Influence as a Project Manager
A big part of succeeding at that is in effectively building influence, often with team members who are not direct employees of the project manager
Top 30 Project Management Tips – How To Really Manage A Project
http://sachsinternational.com/wordpress/?p=361
Lessons learned in the Norming and Performing team development phases
Once you master the first two stages in Bruce Tuckman's team development model, here are tips on effectively completing the Norming and Performing phases.
Lessons Learned In The Forming And Storming Team Development
Phases
Andy Makar shares his simple strategies for effectively manage a project team in the first two phases of Bruce Tuckman's team development model, Forming and Storming.
Project Managers' New Role As Social Facilitators
Rick Freedman explores the project manager's new role in a collaborative environment. Learn about four key success factors for PMs as social facilitators.
5 SIGNS YOUR MEETINGS SUCK
Are you guilty of using and abusing meetings? Five ways to know -- and how to stop.
Agile Thinking – The Project Action Framework
Agility depends on mastering a small set of techniques so well that you can remember them and use them in the heat of the moment when you really need them. As the saying goes, “It’s not what you know, but what you can remember when you need it that counts.” |
posted Feb 27, 2011 2:04 PM by Laer Haider
A new PMI collaboration portal, known as TechMAG OLC (Online Community) is now available.
TechMAG stores Best PMI IT Practices and other documents, allows Community Leaders and Technology Advisors to communicate with TechMAG, and provides a discussion area for authorized individuals.
Please have a look, and the TechMAG welcome any feedback you may have.
Listening to PMI Components | Delivering Solutions that Work
Community Leadership: http://leadership.vc.pmi.org/
TechMAG: https://my.epmlive.com/pmitechmag
|
posted Aug 27, 2010 2:51 PM by Jack Doyle
[
updated Aug 27, 2010 3:33 PM
]
"So I was having just a teeny tiny pity party for myself when I found this article. It made me laugh at myself (always a good thing) and remember not to take things so seriously. There are nuggets of wisdom included with the humor – always a good recipe so I hope you enjoy it."Barb Conway, IS Project Manager Click here to read "Why project managers get no respect." |
|
