New project management articles published on the web during the week of January 16 – 22. And this week’s video: neuroscientist Daniel Levitin explains how to stay calm, even when you know you’ll be stressed, and minimize the downside.

Must read (or hear)!

• Ryan Ripley interviews Steve McConnell on software estimation in an Agile context and strategies to avoid bad estimation practices. Just over an hour, safe for work.
• Tiago Palhoto explains the use of relative and absolute estimates in Agile projects.
• Farhad Manjoo reports on the growing call for massive government investment in the US robotics industry.

Established Methods

• John Goodpasture reflects on the way we perceive risks and those who identify them.
• Cornelius Fichtner interviews Kristy Tan Neckowicz and Connie Inman on identifying and rescuing troubled projects. Just 30 minutes, safe for work.
• Dmitriy Nizhebetskiy goes into detail on the Project Charter: why it’s needed, what it should contain, and the benefits derived from having a good one.
• Kerry Wills wants our input for his new book on an evolved competency model for project managers. A simple survey, less than five minutes.
• Mike Clayton gives us an overview of PRINCE2 2017 – from what it is to what’s changed.
• Atif Qureshi provides a beginner’s overview of the most common project management and product development methodologies.
• Michel Dion offers criteria for judging whether a project is, indeed, a project.

Agile Methods

• Stefan Wolpers curates his weekly roundup of all things Agile, from Zombie Scrum to feature flags and Product Owner assessment.
• Mike Griffiths follows up on his Agile DNA webinar and provides a link to the recording.
• Natalie Warnert distinguishes between capacity and velocity and explains why the difference matters.
• Andy Makar reflects on five lessons learned from teams new to Agile methods.
• The Clever PM explains how to work with Service teams – the folks who spend the most face time with your customers – to gather information and drive acceptance.

Applied Leadership

• Lolly Daskal suggests few things you can do to be perceived as a leader.
• Ed Harrington explains how to get your team, your stakeholders, and yourself past negativity bias.
• Nick Pisano offers an impassioned defense of empiricism and objective truth.
• Coert Visser argues for a revival in the belief of the relevance of evidence.

Technology and Techniques

• Evans Walsh points out the key steps to take when migrating databases.
• Bertrand Duperrin contrasts the business cases for Slack and Microsoft’s Slack-clone, Teams.
• James Clear offers the beginner’s guide to deliberate practice.

Working and the Workplace

• Matt Kapko reports on LinkedIn’s ranking of the ten most promising jobs for 2017.
• Johanna Rothman asks: do you hire for confidence, comfort, or capability?
• Yan Lhert posts his remote worker manifesto: no more open offices for this night owl.

Enjoy!