Tag Archives: Customer Communications

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

New PM Articles for the Week of May 12– 18

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Cartoon NewsboyNew project management articles published on the web during the week of May 12 – 18. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

Portfolio Management

  • Francis Hooke explains how to use a weighted prioritization matrix to select the right alternatives.
  • Luis Seabra Coelho shows how applying the wrong weightings to evaluation attributes can lead you to select the wrong alternatives for your project portfolio.
  • Chi-Pong Wong reminds us that, as our projects progress toward completion, we need to update the priorities in our portfolio.
  • Rob Saxon tells us how to give our PMO a check-up.

PM Best Practices

  • Glen Alleman says that project success is built on four pillars: schedule, cost, risk, and uncertainty.
  • Ron Rosenhead wonders if maybe a lot of projects get off the rails because people like the adrenaline rush of putting them right?
  • Bill Flury shares a case study in getting everyone to use the same process, by collaborating on a standard and making it more visible.
  • Kerry Wills wants to share the MS OneNote Kool-Aid with us. I’m also a recent convert, and I agree – it’s excellent.
  • Michel Dion starts a two part series on risk management, the PMBOK way.
  • Susanne Madsen tells how to get through to skeptical stakeholders.
  • Chuck Morton continues his series on reconstructing project management, with a look at how projects get approved.
  • Steven Levy tells us a few reassuring things about what we don’t know, and applies a practical approach to making estimates.
  • John Carroll notes that projects have a beginning, middle, and end, and project teams require different things of their project manager in each stage.
  • Aaron Smith summarizes recent news that the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge, Version 3, is coming soon.

Agile Methods

  • Johanna Rothman continues her series on designing your Agile project, with a look at Agile programs.
  • Pawel Brodzinski questions whether those who have trouble getting value from Kanban and other Agile approaches understand the underlying principles.
  • John Goodpasture notes the historical disconnect between excellent design and maintainability.

Professional Development

  • Bruce McGraw tells how to succeed at office politics.
  • Alina Vrabie explores the connection between dynamic leaders and addictive personalities.
  • Martin Webster continues his series on leadership models with a look at Daniel Goleman’s “six golf clubs” approach.
  • Dave Wakeman tells us how to make leadership part of our daily routine.
  • Elizabeth Harrin interviews Will Kintish, author of Business Networking – The Survival Guide.
  • Karen Lopez lets us in on a secret: why women aren’t speaking at conferences.

Podcasts and Videos

  • Dave Prior interviews Luke Hohmann on improving collaboration among distributed teams. Just 18 minutes, safe for work.
  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Dr. David Hillson on adding two steps to the risk management process: implementing risk responses, and post-project review. Just 28 minutes, safe for work.
  • Cesar Abeid interviews Dr. Noel Radley about her study of project management job listings, and recent graduate Katy Brouwer on her strategy for finding her first project management job. Just 36 minutes, safe for work.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of April 14 – 20

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NewsNew project management articles published on the web during the week of April 14 – 20. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

Disaster and Recovery

  • Steven Levy finds project management lessons in the heartbreaking Korean ferry disaster.
  • John Goodpasture examines the way small teams deal with sudden disasters.
  • Nick Pisano points out that much of the criticism of the Obamacare website misses the real lessons.

PM Best Practices

  • Duncan Haughey tells us how to be effective coaches for our project teams.
  • Martin Webster argues that “winning” is great for sports, but lousy for teams at work. A cooperative style gets more done.
  • Andrew Filev presents some strategies for establishing good habits in your teams’s group behavior.
  • Alina Vrabie tells how to facilitate creativity within your team, using those soft skills we all like to talk about.
  • Luis Seaba Coelho shares some amazing data on the affect the “default” has on the decisions we make.
  • Philip Smith notes that many projects get off on the wrong foot, failing in requirements gathering and engaging senior executives.
  • Kerry Wills explains why it’s so important for your project team to establish the right pace.
  • Mike Clayton finds some great insights in the origins and evolution of the term “stakeholder.”

Agile Methods

  • Roman Pichler elegantly describes how we build a product that the users will actually want, using a Vision Board. Highly recommended!
  • Rich Karlgaard gives twelve reasons why your project team should be small enough to feed with two pizzas, and twelve tips for creating two-pizza teams.
  • Kevin Aguanno shares case studies of three Canadian banks that took different approaches to adopting Agile methods. Highly recommended!
  • Pawel Brodzinski says that if you want higher productivity metrics, just throw out the low numbers in your planning poker deck. I think that was humor …
  • Vijaya Kumar Bandaru has put together a great Scrum Master resource, for those who want to take servant leadership up a notch.

Governance

  • Glen Alleman finds himself explaining that yes, we can know the (approximate) value of what we’re building. Egad …
  • Kailash Awati tells a Holmes and Watson story of the PMO manager who was faced with a horrible truth – the dysfunctions of his organization.
  • Mike Donoghue proclaims the power of the user in guiding the evolution of technology.

Podcasts and Videos

  • Dave Prior interviews Kanban coach Frank Vega, who advocates for using workflow management for a variety of activities. Just 11 minutes, safe for work.
  • Cesar Abeid explains how to leverage the web to gain exposure and build your reputation. Just 50 minutes, safe for work.
  • Margaret Meloni tells us how project portfolio management fits into our working lives. Just 12 minutes, safe for work.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of March 3 – 9

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NewsboyNew project management articles published on the web during the week of March 3 – 9. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

Evolution

  • Cheri Baker explains why most of her consulting customers are social enterprises (and why that’s really cool).
  • Linky van der Merwe examines PMI’s recent survey on the global growth of project management to understand what it means to us practitioners.
  • Peter Taylor expands on a statement by J. LeRoy Ward regarding the ever-evolving practice of project management.
  • Susanne Madsen exhorts us to become project champions.

Risk Management

  • Steven Levy follows up on his series on risk management, with recommendations on how to apply the principles he described to a legal practice.
  • Andy Jordan continues his series on managing risks across the organization, through collaboration and common processes.

PM Best Practices

  • Glen Alleman takes the point of view of the people who pay for a software development project to explain why estimates are needed.
  • Henny Portman summarizes the Management of Value approach.
  • Elizabeth Harrin reviews Ann Pilkington’s new book, “Communicating Projects.”
  • Dave Wakeman tells why integrity, adaptability, and judgment are absolutely required by all project managers.
  • Martin Webster tells us how to create a shared vision across the project team.
  • Allen Ruddock explores a tough scenario on managing up.
  • Michael Nir exposes the basics of stakeholder management, as told in a children’s book.
  • Brett Beaubouef shares a technique for conducting an organizations fit/gap.
  • Jennifer Lonoff Schiff collects twelve suggestions from data management and disaster recovery experts on how to design for data survival.

Complexity

  • Shim Marom describes the Cynefin model for problem domains, and finds a domain where #NoEstimates actually seems appropriate.
  • John Goodpasture considers alternatives to complexity.
  • Kailash Awati tells the fable of an architect and the conscience he argues with, to tell why you can’t just gather your requirements at headquarters.
  • Matthew Squair explores the evolution of initial designs, from obvious to plainly unworkable.

Agile Methods

  • Kelsey van Haaster unpacks her thoughts about whether making an exception to the team’s Scrum timeline is Agile.
  • Soma Bhattacharya asks whether managers are a benefit or a hindrance to Agile, and explains why a Scrum Master should not be a decision maker.
  • Francesco Attanasio describes what he calls “Scrum Master 2.0.”
  • Adam Zuzanski explores different ways to present information as a burn-down chart.

Podcasts and Videos

  • Mark Phillipy hosts a Google Hangout to follow up on the second PM FlashBlog, Project Management Around the World. Just 54 minutes, safe for work.
  • Peter Saddington shares a recent TED talk by Rosalinde Torres on the three questions that great leaders contemplate in the 21st century. Just nine minutes, safe for work.

Enjoy!