New project management articles published on the web during the week of December 22 – 28. We give you a high-level view so you can read what interests you. Recommended:
PM Best Practices
- Moira Alexander tells how to align project management with business strategy.
- Aaron Kumove lists the characteristics of effective project governance.
- Glen Alleman explains the difference between business governance and program and project governance.
- Bruce Harpham has curated links to 52 resources for growing your skills and career as a project manager.
- Joe Wynne reminds us that retention is part of our job as managers, even when the workers don’t report to us.
- Gina Abudi shares two brief, alternative conversations that demonstrate how we support or inhibit the adoption of a process change.
- Ian Whittingham examines the biases that impact our planning, and what we can do to limit the negative effects of what we think we know.
- Bob Tarne gives us the early take on “Decisive,” by Chip and Dan Heath. I still need to read “Switch,” but this sounds even more interesting.
- Phil Johnson summarizes the key findings related to risk management on software development projects, from a recent study that analyzed 3,000 research papers.
- Sara Tabor gives us a testing practitioner’s view of how to write a test ticket.
- Mark Woeppel outlines best practices for improving the quality of our collaborative communications.
- William Guinan shares an infographic on using Sharepoint for collaboration. Yes, that’s what it’s for, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be successful at collaborating.
- Michel Dion shares a similar infographic, but on Basecamp. This one is a bit more like a job aid, but still interesting.
Agile Methods
- Gene Gendel describes an estimation technique for the scenario where an epic is too large to finish in a single sprint.
- John Goodpasture shares a change management plan for the transition to Agile, presented by one of his students.
Podcasts and Videos
- Stephen Coty of Alert Logic webcasts on the major security breaches of 2014, and what we should anticipate for 2015. Just 63 minutes, safe for work.
- Cornelius Fichtner interviews Jim DePiante, who argues that project portfolio managers have the same responsibilities for investment rigor as securities dealers. Just 18 minutes, safe for work.
Enjoy!