Tag Archives: PMO

New PM Articles for the Week of July 11 – 17

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of July 11 – 17. And this week’s video: John Kotter explains how an organization that starts out entrepreneurial and agile becomes a bureaucracy, and why it’s hard to reverse the process. Just six minutes, safe for work.

Must read!

  • Ben Tarnoff recounts the story of how the first internet connection was demonstrated forty years ago this summer, at a beer garden in Portola Valley, a suburb of Palo Alto.
  • Bruce Harpham reflects on the phenomenon of ego depletion – the gradual loss of self-control after multiple challenges – and other sources of energy depletion.
  • Paul Reubens reports on how global engineering firm Atkins made the decision to migrate to Office 365, and what they learned along the way.

Established Methods

  • Paul Culmsee and Kailash Awati have published a new book, “The Heretic’s Guide to Management.” They say it’s about ambiguity, teddy bears, and fetishes – OK!
  • Harry Hall shows how to create and use a stakeholder register. Just 4 minutes, safe for work.
  • Laura Barnard shares her thoughts on the business case for the PMO as value creator.
  • Elizabeth Harrin interviews Traci Duez, who explains how she got into project management and then into speaking about project management.
  • Seth Godin reminds us that decisions about the future should not be about the past.
  • John Goodpasture ruminates on Matthew Squair’s representation of the risk spectrum, from known to unknown to unknowable.
  • Adam Shostack challenges information security professionals to hold themselves to the same standards as those who build bridges.
  • Paramita Ghosh details the skills required to be a data scientist. You start with business skills …

Agile Methods

  • Johanna Rothman defines swarming, mobbing, and pairing, in great detail.
  • The Clever PM identifies three primary skills of great product managers.
  • Michael Kogan shares some procedural lessons learned from conducting retrospectives.
  • Angela Wick contrasts feature thinking and value thinking.
  • Ryan Ripley chairs a round table of sorts on the GROWS method, with Andy Hunt, Jared Richardson, and Don Gray. Just 55 minutes, safe for work.

Applied Leadership

  • Art Petty recommends that we think and act “in the moment.” The past matters and so does the future, but what we do right now matters far more.
  • Walt Grassl shares a parable about establishing a culture of trust, which he turns into a sort of checklist.
  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Niraj Kumar on developing project leadership skills. Just 34 minutes, safe for work.
  • Elise Stevens interviews Gillian Klette on how to incorporate feedback into your leadership plan, including positive comments. Just 18 minutes, safe for work.
  • Liane Davey describes the constructive mindset, as a prerequisite for giving feedback.

Working and the Workplace

  • Lisette Sutherland shares some of the best productivity she tips she collected over many years and interviews. Just 14 minutes, safe for work.
  • Hambrick and Ullén summarize recent research into whether genes or deliberate practice drive excellence and expertise. The twins research is very interesting.
  • Keith Rollag answers questions posed in the webinar, “What to do when you’re new: how to be comfortable, confident, and successful in new situations.”

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 January 4 – 10

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of January 4 – 10. Recommended:

Must read!

  • Bruce Harpham shares part of his reading list from the last year, and urges us to make reading a key part of our professional development program in 2016.
  • Bob Tarne has been reading “Change by Design,” by Tim Brown. He’s found some interesting insights on the nature of constraints: feasibility, viability, and desirability.
  • Gurjeet Singh gives us some background on machine learning: what it is, what it can do, and what we should expect for the next few years.

Established Methods

  • Michel Dion notes that not every project is an IT project, even when they involve software.
  • Deb Schaffer starts every project with the same question: “What does project success look like?”
  • Johanna Rothman questions the value of certifications and credentials in hiring.
  • Steve Olson extracts project management insights from his long experience in contract management.
  • Brad Rach points out a source of risk we might not have considered: the project manager.
  • Nancy Settle-Murphy shares some techniques for establishing a compelling presence in conference calls, where they can’t see your body language.
  • Mario Trentim has prepared a list of questions to ask for those organizations that want to start a PMO.
  • Tim Wasserman looks into the causes and effects of the gap between organizational strategy and executing on that strategy.
  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Peter Monkhouse on preventing failure by communicating based on how the project fits into the organization strategy. Just 16 minutes, safe for work.

Agile Methods

  • The Clever PM reviews the twelve guiding principles listed in the Agile Manifesto.
  • Jonathan Schneider presents two scenarios for Agile transformation: one based on compliance, and one based on empowering teams in a pilot.
  • John Gilroy interviews Jesse Fewell on how Agile methods are being adopted by U.S. federal government agencies. Just 42 minutes, safe for work.
  • Tom McFarlin recommends a pragmatic approach: don’t over-engineer your solutions.
  • Angela Wick brings a business analyst’s eye to Agile methods.

Applied Leadership

  • Gurpreet Singh presents an interesting metaphor for leadership: The Listening Tree.
  • Mike Clayton tutors us on influence and persuasion, including a list of persuasion tactics from his book, “How to Influence in Any Situation.”
  • Art Petty suggests we start a business revolution – by fighting corporate bureaucracy to eliminate obstacles.
  • Susanne Madsen coaches us on how to handle a demanding workload, by sharing it.
  • Lynda Bourne points out the signs that a project manager is on the path to becoming a great team leader.

Trends and the New Year

Enjoy!