New PM Articles for the Week of September 24 – 30

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of September 24 – 30, 2012.  We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Susan Martin likens the relationship between the project manager and business analyst to the relationship between the main characters in “The Hunger Games.”
  • Matthew Weigelt reports that NASA’s inspector general has released a report critical of their risk assessment capabilities.  Risk management isn’t rocket science, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
  • Elizabeth Harrin has another roundup of software news, including updates from TeamLab, Resource Guru, Journyx, Podio’s new iPad app, and Skillsharks.
  • Andrew Makar shares a tutorial on adding a calculated status indicator to your MS Project Gantt chart.  Very cool, and very useful!
  • Kenny Rubin’s new book, “Essential Scrum,” seems to be getting a lot of positive feedback.
  • Craig Smith interviews Peter Saddington at Agile 2012.  During the interview, they agreed on a new name for Agile: Raccoon.  Just 13 minutes, safe for work and wildlife.
  • Joel Bancroft-Connors and Hogarth explain that communications is what the listener does, and present the DISC profile to help to target your listener.
  • Judy Feldman on leadership:  “A good manager knows how to hold authority lightly, leaving room for others to participate in the design of solutions.”  And much more!
  • Glenn Briskin relates a story of two project managers who get positive outcomes because they care, and it impacts the project team.
  • Kevin Koterud lists the five statements you never want to hear on a project.
  • Bob Lewis says there are only two outcomes for a project governance review: “when” and “no.”
  • Jennifer Lonoff Schiff recaps the twelve common project management mistakes that CIO.com uncovered in their recent survey.
  • Glen Alleman gives some thought to a definition of wicked problems, and along the way leads us to understand why there are no easy solutions for them
  • Shim Marom says that “stakeholder management” as described in the PMBOK isn’t valid in the real world, and the skills required aren’t project management skills.
  • Chris Wright highlights some of the new features coming in Sharepoint and Project Server 2013.
  • Mike Griffiths makes the economic case for talking to your stakeholders about risks and issues, if it will prevent just 5% of failing projects.
  • Gary Nelson describes “good” pain and “bad” pain, and applies it what stakeholders experience during a project – as change management.
  • Lynda Bourne thinks we should appeal to the amygdala in order to get the attention of senior decision makers.  Give them the answer to, “What’s in it for me?”
  • Judi Neal and Alan Harpham have a new book, “The Spirit of Project Management,” which examines the role of spirituality in project management.

Enjoy!