New PM Articles for the Week of September 5 – 11

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of September 5 – 11. And this week’s video: Alison Krauss and Union Station performing “Gravity” on Austin City Limits. I’m writing this in the kitchen of the house I left at 17, and this song just seemed to fit the mood.

Must read!

  • Pawel Brodzinski presents the case for empathy and respect as the core competencies for successful teams.
  • Michael Lopp provides a detailed tutorial on how to recruit the best people for your team. You just have to be willing to spend up to 50% of your time on it.
  • Mike Cohn asks (and explores a complex answer to): What is a product?

Established Methods

  • Olivier Cothenet lists ten “lies” common to failing projects reporting a green status.
  • Kerry Wills makes a point about reporting project status in the context of the associated milestones.
  • Mike Griffiths notes that the output of the certification process includes more than simply a certification.
  • Laura Barnard advocates taking an hour each day to reflect, plan, manage, and make progress on improving your productivity.

Agile Methods

  • Stefan Wolpers shares his weekly Food for Thought Agile content round-up.
  • Dave Prior interviews Lyssa Adkins on the role of Agilists as agents of social revolution. Just 17 minutes, safe for work.
  • Johanna Rothman describes three ways to size defect fixes.
  • Alex DiPasquale explains how the definition of done is the right place document compliance with the corporate software development life cycle.

Applied Leadership

  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Bruce Harpham, who describes ways to make virtual work more productive. Just 34 minutes, safe for work.
  • Lisette Sutherland tells us how to “take the temperature” of our virtual team. Just 8 minutes, safe for work.
  • Nancy Settle-Murphy and Lynette Van Steinburg help us self-diagnose: am I the weakest link in my virtual team?
  • Ravindra Wankar shares some techniques for brainstorming with a remote team.
  • Art Petty points out a “pure” leadership model, practiced by those who lead in dangerous situations: first responders and warriors.
  • Suzanne Lucas explains why Millenials struggle as managers (because they’re young) and how they might become the best managers ever.

Technology and Techniques

  • Jon Pilkington explains the use case for combining self-service with self-service data preparation.
  • Adam Shostack contemplates the use of diagrams in software analysis for threat modeling.
  • Ryan Hewitt describes the “How Might We” technique for group brainstorming.
  • Mike Clayton tutors us on the Perceptual Positions technique for understanding other points of view, as originated by John Grinder and Judith DeLozier.

Working and the Workplace

  • The Clever PM describes a strategy for how to spend your first 90 days as a product manager (or in any other role).
  • Soma Bhattacharya interviews The Lazy Project Manager, Peter Taylor, for her “This Is How I Work” series.
  • Elizabeth Harrin tutors us on meeting management techniques.
  • Brendan Toner follows up his review of Todoist for Windows with a review of the $29 / year Android version.

Enjoy!