Tag Archives: Project Budgeting

New PM Articles for the Week of April 1 –7

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of April 1 – 7.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Chuck Inman explains how to get through the three phases of change.
  • Elizabeth Harrin reviews “Leading Successful Change: 8 Keys to Making Change Work,” by Gregory Shea and Cassie Solomon.
  • Kailash Awati explains that the changes being driven by commoditization and the cloud won’t be easily managed.
  • Daniel Burrus says the problem isn’t our legacy technology; it’s our legacy thinking that keeps us from transforming our businesses.
  • Cheri Baker is taking on a change management project – she’s changing herself into a morning person.  Run away!  Run away!
  • Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, schedules 90 minutes to two hours of “nothing” every day, so he’ll have time to do his job.
  • Donna Reed is scheduling a series of “Business and Agile” webinars. “How does one adopt Agile in a way that makes sense for their organization?”
  • Jesse Fewell had a quandary – four teams, all using different Agile estimation methods.  How to combine them into a single budget for executive approval?
  • Mike Griffiths notes that obsession with velocity is causing … well, a racing mentality.
  • Wayne Grant gives us a peek into his “Agile Kit,” sort of a survival kit for traveling Scrum Masters.  Electrical tape and masking tape, but no duct tape?
  • Glen Alleman and Shim Marom are each writing reviews of John Goodpasture’s new book, “Maximizing Project Value.”
  • Alison Smith had planned for the possibility, but the impact was greater than expected.  Is there a snow storm in your risk register?
  • Kenneth Darter explores the process of handling issues (which is different from managing risks, because the event has actually occurred).
  • Marian Woods has some tips for managing distributed project teams.
  • Margaret Meloni shares some tips for conducting virtual meetings. She even presents a virtual lesson, via YouTube!
  • Mark Norman gives us 7 questions to ask when defining project scope during the initiation phase. The quality of your questions determines your result and I think Mark provides some good ones.
  • Steve Hart brings us back to the basics of planning and conducting effective meetings.
  • Conrado Morlan shares his ten commandments of EMail communications.  On stone tablets?  I hope not … My inbox is already pretty full.
  • Chip Camden responds to a question about the pros and cons of leaving consulting for a full-time job.
  • Nathan Daniels is looking for a job, and he’s largely unimpressed with Fortune 500 job portals.
  • Patti Gilchrist looks at how effective IT Governance replaces the heroic “Superman” culture and provides samples of proven planning techniques to assist in informed prioritization.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of March 25 –31

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of March 25 – 31.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Abhay Padgaonkar examines the value of selectively applying a negative filter to our projects.  And I forgive him for the Spiro Agnew quote.
  • Gartner Group has released their annual projections on worldwide IT spending, and the trends the project are fascinating.
  • Daniel Burrus has identified twelve trends that he argues will drive how we work in the future.  Did I mention that he’s a futurist?
  • Srinivasa Rao has been watching how Generation Y works, and figures they’re going to change how we manage projects.
  • Will Kelly has some tips for you, if you’re contemplating a move from MS Project to a SaaS project management application.
  • LeRoy Ward compares Excel to duct tape.  Confession: I keep a small packet of folded duct tape in my computer bag.  But no WD-40.
  • Toby Wolpe cites a study in Europe that found employees who use social media at work demonstrated higher productivity.
  • Michael Kassner has been reading Jaron Lanier’s new book, and is uncomfortable with the ethics of digital security researchers publishing their findings.
  • Roz Baker learned about teams and customer service from waiting tables.  Here are some pizza and beer lessons that readily apply to project management.
  • Lynda Bourne introduces the “story spine” as a framework for creating a narrative for your stakeholders.
  • Merv Wyeth relates being asked to make a presentation using the TED talk format.  In other words: he had to tell a story.
  • Patrick Richard reviews a recording of the PMI Agile CoP webinar, “Lean Startup in the Enterprise.”
  • Dick Billows notes that your organization’s project management methodology has to scale to every size project you might conduct.
  • Chuck Morton continues his series on the basics of scheduling with an explanation of confidence buffers, risk buffers, and management reserve.
  • John Reiling summarizes the five key project financial management activities.
  • Brien Posey shares five utilities for managing your passwords.
  • Tristan Wember notes the underlying truth in that cute EDS commercial about the cat herders.  It’s the destination that matters.
  • Mike Griffiths addresses an important question about professional credentials: how do you use them in your signature?
  • Glen Alleman quotes Winnie-the-Pooh as an entre to dealing with the certainty of change, and planning to respond to it.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of November 26 – December 2

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of November 26 – December 2, 2012.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Fraser Marlow explores  ways to establish and maintain engagement of project team members.
  • Elizabeth Harrin interviews Helen Hitchmough on how she moved from engineering to project management.
  • Joel Bancroft-Connors doesn’t quite review Michael Abrashoff’s book on management, “It’s Your Ship.”  It’s about changing the world – seriously!
  • Cheri Baker sees the holidays coming, and wants to make those little adjustments that keep the team content, without impacting productivity.
  • Will Kelly explains how to use Evernote Business to collaboratively document information-intensive projects.  I use Evernote on my iPad – highly recommended!
  • Anita Potegiter identifies the paradox of agile project management: it takes immense control for it to be successful.
  • Yvette Francino recaps the high points of Markus Gärtner’s new book on acceptance test-driven development.
  • Craig Brown produces a couple of examples of four-quadrant models, to illustrate how they can be used to influence stakeholder thinking.
  • Shoaib Ahmed compares Proof of Concept, Prototype, Pilot, Agile development and Production.
  • Brett Beaubouef explains the concept of “a business-aware cloud solution,” and how to build one.
  • Shim Marom gives us his take on a recent podcast from Freakonomics radio on the value of consultants.
  • Mary Shacklett reports that the trend toward outsourcing IT seems to be reversing itself, as companies find the cost savings didn’t justify what they gave up.
  • Christina Torode interviews Andrew Horne, managing director at research firm CEB, on trends in IT spending and project management approaches.
  • Michelle McNickle reports that several U.S. federal government agencies have been singled out for criticism, for inadequate oversight of their projects in flight.
  • Tom Mochal looks at improving the accuracy of cost estimates in Agile projects, as velocity is established.
  • Chuck Morton explains how you get to a well-formed project schedule, step by step.
  • Roger Kastner tells us that one of the key reasons that projects succeed is the proper application of Corrective Actions.
  • John Reiling applies the 80 / 20 rule to managing stakeholder expectations, when they want to use this project to fix everything.
  • Dick Billows coaches us on how to give feedback that actually changes behavior.
  • Lynda Bourne reminds us to motivate the stakeholders on the project team.
  • Bruce McGraw writes some timely advise on “What to Do When Everyone Leaves Town for the Holiday”
  • Amy Rees Anderson observes, “Success will come and go, but integrity is forever.”
  • Geoffrey James lists seven traits of extraordinary bosses.
  • Kerry Wills expounds on the positive effect camaraderie has on project teams.

Enjoy!