New project management articles published on the web during the week of November 24 – 30. We give you a high-level view so you can read what interests you. Recommended:
PM Best Practices
- Patti Gilchrist has prepared a checklist of essential skills required in order to manage a Big Data project.
- Kailash Awati tutors us on the Issue-Based Information System; how it has evolved, and how Glyma implements IBIS.
- Glen Alleman lists the critical success factors from a 2010 IBM report on managing complex projects and programs.
- Elizabeth Harrin summarizes James Brown’s presentation on organizational change management at Synergy 2014.
- Ryan Ogilvie explains the numbers used to express availability and uptime.
- James Clifton does a quick overview, including pros and cons, of four digital project management apps: Wrike, Mavenlink, Clarizen, and ProWorkflow.
- Mario Trentim points out that the key to stakeholder management is managing for the benefit of the stakeholders.
- Henny Portman shares his updated stakeholder register.
- Bruce Harpham publishes another one of his resource lists: 33 conflict management resources for project managers.
- Allen Ruddock recommends that the PMO start with governance and work backwards from there.
- Emanuele Passera applies the law of diminishing returns to explain why no solution is infinitely scalable.
- Harry Hall reduces the “lessons learned” session down to three key questions.
Agile Methods
- Johanna Rothman shares some recommendations for tackling complex, “wicked” problems.
- Esther Derby considers the question: Has Agile crossed the chasm?
- John Goodpasture summarizes key points from Scott Ambler’s presentation at a PMI event in Orlando. Not a receptive audience for this message, I’d guess.
- Pawel Brodzinski relates the “happiness metric” used to gauge team morale with blood pressure, as a metric for impending damage to the organism.
- Derek Huether reports that a patent for sale by Penn State might be the basis for future infringement suits, if you happen to be using certain common collaboration tools. Like a whiteboard and Post-it Notes.
Podcasts and Videos
- Cornelius Fichtner interviews Elizabeth Larson on using time management approach to improve our ability to manage project requirements. Just 17 minutes, safe for work.
- Craig Smith interviews Gojko Adzic on Agile methods ranging from XP to impact mapping to hamburger slicing. Just 45 minutes, safe for work.
Becoming More Effective
- Seth Godin contrasts the last minute with the deadline, and notes that they are two different things.
- Mike Girdler lists five keys to achieving a rhythm of continuous improvement.
- Soma Bhattacharya won’t tell us her New Year’s resolution, but she does share her strategy for keeping it.
- Tony Adams channels Nathaniel Hawthorne, on the difficulty of getting the message just right, for the intended audience.
- Kerry Wills invokes Stephen Covey and Bruce Willis with the admonition, “SFTU or STFU.”
Enjoy!