Tag Archives: Kanban

New PM Articles for the Week of June 3 – 9

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New PM articles published on the web during the week of June 3 – 9.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • John Ager looks at the human capital management of projects: planning staffing to get the work done on schedule.
  • Elizabeth Harrin gets some advice from coach Janice Haddon on returning to work after maternity leave.  Or any other extended absence.
  • Dave West wants to apply the principles described in “The Lean Startup” with application life cycle management.
  • Don Kim calls our attention to an article on the Scrum Alliance site that advocates Kanban as a better alternative, under certain circumstances.
  • Carmen Nobel reports on a research project at Harvard Business School that looked at the effects of rituals.  Like, the Scrum daily stand-up?
  • Bertrand Duperrin reviews Paul Miller’s book, “The Digital Workplace: How Technology is Liberating Work.”
  • Mary Shacklett lists ten highly valued “soft” skills for IT professionals.  Time for a self-assessment!
  • Michael Wood reports on what’s changed in the new COBIT 5 IT governance framework.
  • Roz Baker focuses in on the five most important artifacts for managing a project.
  • Chuck Morton begins a series on the process of (project, not organizational) change management.
  • J. LeRoy Ward extols the virtues and value of the business analyst.
  • Tristan Wember explains how to manage project issues.
  • Brad Egeland looks at the process needed to deal with the “problem” team member.
  • Patrick Richard keeps seeing the same recruitment ads, and wonders how many projects are being delayed, waiting for the perfect candidate?
  • Daniel Burrus warns us that we should never let our business become a commodity.  Good career advice, too!
  • Bob Lewis presents a slide show listing tips for sure fire IT project success, adapted from his book, “Bare Bones Project Management.”
  • Glen Alleman explains his dislike of the “triple constraint” notion of project management.
  • Ian Webster takes on the notion of “percent complete.”  And broken clocks.
  • Dave Gordon uses a long-ago blizzard to explain the difference between conditions and risks.  Thanks for letting me share a guest post, Tristan!
  • Bob Tarne reports from the PMI Leadership Meeting for the communities, where the Agile Community held a retrospective.  Of course!
  • Joel Bancroft-Connors and Hogarth celebrate one hundred imaginary conversations.
  • Shim Marom has found a possible replacement for the soon-to-be-departed Google Reader.  It’s called “The Old Reader.”
  • Kerry Wills anticipated that you would ask that question, and he has an answer ready.  So, Kerry, why is abbreviation such a long word?

Remember: Beginning on July 31, 2013, the PMP exam will be based on the Fifth Edition of the PMBOK.  Schedule accordingly, and don’t wait until the last minute!

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of March 18 –24

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of March 18 – 24.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  •  Vincent McGevna think that project managers shouldn’t make all of the decisions.  Instead, they should champion the team’s decision making process.
  •  Elizabeth Harrin interviews Kevin Baker, head of project and programme management at Airbus, and reviews Emily Bennington’s new book, “Who Says it’s a Man’s World?”
  • Toni Bowers reports that the compensation gender gap has essentially disappeared in technology jobs, according to a Dice survey.
  • Derek Huether thinks Marissa Mayer may have a point with her edict against working from home.
  • Cheri Baker is at the other end of the work spectrum – she’s a “slasher.”  Meaning consultant/professor/writer, and she’s trying to stay organized.  Enter Kanban!
  • Roz Baker doesn’t just manage projects – she manages stress, and so can you.
  • Shim Marom adds to his recent thoughts on “Should you attend that meeting?”
  • Scott Berkun interviews Phil Simon on his new book, “Too Big to Ignore: The Business Case for Big Data.”
  • Peter Saddington presents a graphical depiction of what Agile looks like, from a UK government website.  Astounded?  Peter certainly was …
  • Craig Brown presents an interesting dialectic: does a Scrum team need a product manager?  The answer is not the immediately obvious one.
  • Johanna Rothman deflates Management Myth #15: “I need people to work overtime.”
  • Michiko Diby gives the developers on her project team the things they need – appreciation, communication, and trust.
  • Dr. Bruce Piasecki summarizes eight key points from his new book, “Doing More with Teams: The New Way to Winning.”
  • Glenn Alleman argues that learning from your mistakes isn’t as fruitful as learning from successes – your own, and others.
  • Chuck Morton explains where to look for risks – from risk taxonomies, to the WBS, to your assumptions.
  • Alison Smith recently took a first aid course, and found something she can apply to project management – the “Primary Survey.”
  • Andy Jordan debunks the idea that a PMO has an easy time of annual planning.  It’s a business process, and not an easy one.
  • Brian Moran thinks annual planning is the wrong approach.  We need to set goals and make plans twelve weeks at a time.
  • Mary Shacklett lists ten common “sand traps” that IT departments face every day.  And you don’t need a wedge to get out of them!
  • Mark Norman breaks down the project brief. This list will also work for a basic Project Charter.
  • Anna Schäfer provides a Project Charter checklist. There may be some surprises.
  • Mandy McGill shares the deliverables and work required before a project launch and makes a very good case for formalizing the project launch.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of March 11 –17

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of March 11 – 17.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Andy Jordan reminds us that the way we deal with stressful situations is what defines us as leaders.
  • Elizabeth Harrin and Phil Peplow identify six barriers to customer centricity.  Extracted from their book, “Customer-centric Project Management.”
  • Peter Tarhanidis asserts that the customer mindset is always right.
  • Shim Marom presents a decision tree on “Should you attend that meeting?” courtesy of Elizabeth Grace Saunders.
  • Gary Laverty reviews Charles Tryon’s third edition of “Managing Organizational Knowledge.”
  • Frank Saladis has a new book out, “Positive Leadership in Project Management.”
  • Samad Aidane interviews Lina Echeverria, author of “Idea Agent,” 63 minutes.  Also  Geoff Trickey on risk personality types, 45 minutes.  Both safe for work.
  • John Simko shares specific criteria when doing nothing is the appropriate action.
  • Dave Prior continues his interview with Personal Kanban author Jim Prior.  Just 25 minutes, safe for work.
  • LeRoy Ward notes that, if your organization isn’t good at project management, Agile practices will like make a bad situation worse.
  • Ben Ferris shares five tips for making better decisions.
  • Bruce Benson notes that finding the root cause of your current problems is the first step; looking at alternatives comes later.
  • Chuck Morton explains risk buffers, using the example of a daily commute.
  • APQC has released a best-practices study called “Effective Project Management Offices.”
  • Roz Baker lists the bare minimum fields required in a defect log.  Her definition of “PICNIC” is at the bottom, next to the smiley face.
  • Andrew Makar presents a great tutorial on how to create a custom status report within Project 2010.
  • Sue Cochran creates a Project Charter primer by defining the core charter
    requirements.
  • Whitson Gordon sings the praises of Evernote.  (And so do I!)
  • Brett Beaubouef explains the basic equation of requirements management: What + Why = How.
  • Patrick Richard shares insights from a Harvard Business Review blog post, on why employers aren’t filling their open jobs.
  • Toni Bowers has a short list of meaningless phrases you should remove from your resume.  Like “responsible for …”
  • Chip Camden addresses the question of whether age-ism is a factor for us IT consultants.  And then he shaves off his beard!
  • Amanda Augustine has some pointers for IT types who need to perfect their pitch.  Elevator pitch, that is.
  • Srinivasa Rao has been observing the behavior of his Generation Y colleagues, and thinks they will change the way projects are managed.
  • Venkat Rao addresses the biological aspects of curiosity, and ranges from boredom to the destruction of the universe.  Long, but a worthwhile read.

Enjoy!