Tag Archives: Customer Communications

Articles related to communications with management, stakeholders, and project teams

New PM Articles for the Week of June 6 – 12

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of June 6 – 12. And this week’s video: Ed Deci’s TED Talk on controlled motivation and autonomous motivation. Ed is the co-developer of the self-determination theory, which suggests that we should create conditions under which people can motivate themselves. Just 14 minutes, safe for work.

Must read!

  • Johanna Rothman presents the case for and against estimates, in parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This series should be sufficient justification for you to follow her blogs.
  • Nick Statt reports on Microsoft’s new project management app for Office 365, called Planner. Not a replacement for Project, but a collaboration and planning tool.
  • Brad Egeland provides one-page summaries for twelve project management, collaboration, and portfolio management software products.

Established Methods

  • Elizabeth Harrin collected insights from six PM’s on how they manage multiple simultaneous projects.
  • Pat Weaver looks into those cases where the critical path includes task dependencies other than Finish-to-Start links.
  • Clark Wimberly notes that proper preparation is required for a kick-off meeting which will pay dividends throughout the project.
  • Henny Portman reviews “PPM! Manage Your Organization Masterfully with Project portfolio Management.”
  • Cameron Conaway interviews Robin Kwong, Special Projects Editor at the Financial Times, who find clarity by beginning each project with the same question: What’s it for?
  • Kenneth Ashe explains how to create and use an Issues Log.
  • Rob England proposed two deliberately conflicting principles to guide a DevOps transformation, in order to create a dynamic tension. Which is how the world works, right?

Agile Methods

  • Dave Prior notes the untimely passing of Agile leading light Jean Tabaka by pulling two interviews from his archives. A total of 42 minutes, safe for work. She will be sorely missed.
  • Saumya Nigam explains estimation using story points.
  • Faisal Ansari uses the INVEST model to determine whether backlog items are well written, as the first step in splitting them into smaller stories.
  • Emanuele Passera continues his introduction to Kanban series with part 2.
  • Tom McFarlin considers Reid Hoffman’s quote, “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, then you’ve launched too late.”
  • Tami Flowers describes using Lean/ Agile methods to establish a data governance organization framework.
  • Bob Tarne explains the concept of “ready ready.” It’s where you need to begin in order to get to “done done.” You can say that again …

Applied Leadership

  • Suresh MK uses events from the life of Nelson Mandela to illustrate John Kotter’s eight-stage process of creating major change.
  • Kathleen O’Connor interviews Bart Engal on his book, “Leading Through Language: choosing Words that Influence and Inspire.”
  • Lysette Sutherland interviews Dave Hecker on effectively managing geographically distributed software development teams. Just 35 minutes, safe for work.
  • Elise Stevens interviews Gillian Klette on what to do when your project team hates each other. Just 18 minutes, safe for work.

Pot Pouri

  • David Manheim looks at complexity, reification, Goodhart’s Law, and why measurement is hard. So is spelling reification.
  • Travis Bradberry explains why you should work for 52 minutes, then take a break for 17 minutes. Got your timer ready?
  • Abby Wolfe shares an infographic on the high-impact LinkedIn profile updates you should make when job-hunting.
  • Seth Godin suggests we talk slowly, because “um” doesn’t add as much value as silence.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of April 25 – May 1

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of April 25 – May 1. And this week’s video: Nixie Pixel explains how to install and use KeePass, my favorite every-platform password manager. Just over six minutes, safe for work.

Must read!

  • Lynda Bourne expounds on the nature and sources of reputational risk and dealing with reputational risk events.
  • Cade Metz reports on the founding of OpenAI, the new firm founded by Elon musk and Sam Altman which will create transformative technology and then give it away.
  • Bertrand Duperrin shares his analysis of PWC’s 2016 Global CEO Survey. Key takeaway: business has to redefine success in order to be successful.

Established Methods

  • John Goodpasture: “Risk management does not set policy for the project office; it only sets the left and right-hand boundaries for the vision, or for the project policies.”
  • Laura Barnard explains why PMO success is driven more by building trust than by establishing repeatable processes.
  • Ryan Ogilvie lays out some strategies for what to do when your IT service improvement program stops improving – there are paths past the plateau.
  • Rich Maltzman notes project portfolio management lessons in Ken Burn’s documentary, “National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” and E.O. Wilson’s “Half Earth.”
  • Danie van den Berg makes the case for diagrams and visuals, and just drawing things during meetings.

Agile Methods

  • Lisette Sutherland interviews Johanna Rothman on organizing geographically distributed teams. Just 33 minutes, safe for work.
  • Bart Gerardi shows how and when to use a story point value of zero.
  • Vyom Bharagwaj describes two common estimating techniques: Wideband Delphi and Planning Poker.
  • The Clever PM begins a series on Product Management Fundamentals: Working with designers.
  • Alex DiPasquale outlines the importance of properly written acceptance criteria.
  • Dave Duggal notes that the proliferation of API’s, whether SOAP /WSDL or REST, is making every software app a collection of integration experiments.

Applied Leadership

  • Harry Hall tells how to manage that project team member who isn’t performing.
  • Art Petty speaks out on the “inner game of leading,” meaning the mental attitude that drives our behavior.
  • Tony, Renee, Craig, and Tyson interview David Marquet, author of “Turn the Ship Around!” Just 40 minutes, safe for work.
  • Elise Stevens interviews occupational psychologist Sharon De Mascia on developing a coaching approach in project management. Just 19 minutes, safe for work.
  • Shawn Quigley and Jon Quigley note the critical contribution of project management to the Learning Organization.
  • Bruce Harpham interviews Steve Ressler, founder of GovLoop, on becoming an effective leader.

Pot Pouri

  • Elizabeth Harrin reveals her recent reading, from the inspirational “Personal Best” to “The Social Project Manager,” to a travel guide and more.
  • Penelope Trunk notes that Generation Y is starting new businesses at a slower rate than Gen X. Entrepreneurship is being replaced with free-lancing.
  • Jeff Collins lists five skills that project managers should include in their resumes, preferably in describing their accomplishments.
  • Sara McCord identifies four behaviors that can derail your job search – even when you’re a perfect fit.
  • Alyse Kalish posts an infographic on various ways to make yourself fall asleep faster. Not listed, but my favorite technique: three-suit Spider Solitaire [yawn] …

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of March 14 – 20

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of March 14 – 20. And this week’s video: How to peel a sticky note. Yes, we’ve been doing it wrong all these years.

Must read!

Established Methods

  • Elizabeth Harrin reviews “Participative Transformation,” by Roger Klev and Morten Levin. Change your thinking about changing people’s thinking (and behavior).
  • Soma Bhattacharya reviews Harold Kerzner’s new book, “Project Management 2.0.”
  • Bart Gerardi decomposes three root causes of indecision.
  • Brad Egeland makes the case for developing a project glossary, defining technical terms. And maybe business terms, too. You guys know about garnishments, right?
  • Kailash Awati defines sensemaking, in the context of identifying the problem to be solved in the presented situation.
  • Harry Hall shares a short video and article on improving your quantitative risk analysis, using common tools and techniques.
  • Elise Stevens interviews Karl Pritchard on risk management for real project managers. Just 21 minutes, safe for work.
  • Dmitriy Nizhebetskiy recaps the basic principles of project planning.
  • Ken Martin reviews the basics of stakeholder management.
  • Kerry Wills invokes Dr. Phil (seriously?) on making our stakeholders aware of the consequences of key actions.

Agile Methods

  • Dave Prior interviews Johanna Rothman on key Agile leadership skills. Just 45 minutes, safe for work.
  • Kaushik Saha explains Disciplined Agile Delivery, and why he thinks it is superior to Scrum.
  • The Clever PM points out the potential pitfalls of a bias toward action, absent an understanding of the risks.
  • Brendan Toner provides an advance view of the Kanban plugin available for AbstractSpoon’s ToDoList.

Applied Leadership

  • David Manheim reflects on the inexorable trend toward inflexible corporate bureaucracies, and what it means to the future of work.
  • Aaron Whittenberger explains how to become a trusted advisor.
  • Mark Nichols explains why we suck at work-life balance. Be prepared for extreme depression.

Pot Pouri

  • Laura Barnard shares her PMO-manager opinion on resumes. After I finished reading this, I touched up my resume – highly recommended.
  • Bruce Harpham reviews Cynthia Shapiro’s book on developing your career, “Corporate Confidential.”
  • Katharine Noyes details HP’s new offering, machine-learning API’s for Microsoft Azure. So, MLaaS is now a thing?
  • Paul Sawers reports on Shutterstock’s application of machine learning to search: upload a photo, and they’ll show you similar images.
  • Peter Saddington adds two 21st century levels to Maslow’s hierarchy of basic human needs. I listed this last because you’ll be laughing too hard to read anything else.

Enjoy!