New Project Management Articles from May 13 – 19

New project management articles published on the web during the week of May 13 – 19.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Samad Aidane presents the coolest infographic of the week! “The Brain: A Project Manager’s Guide to Emotions.”
  • Elizabeth Harrin mines Eskerod and Jepson’s “Project Stakeholder Management” for insights on why stakeholders contribute.  Or, not.
  • Tristan Wember goes into detail on the three primary colors – red, amber, and green.  Well, they’re the primary colors on status reports.
  • Ian Webster analyzes a speech by George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, and finds a status report!
  • Wayne Grant details three techniques for conducting retrospectives – The Cool Wall, Lean Coffee, and the Questions Retrospective.
  • Shim Marom asks some hard questions about what the Agile Manifesto actually means.
  • Glen Alleman is appalled at the notion, expressed in Neil Killock’s blog, that there are alternatives to estimates of cost and schedule.
  • Vincent McGevna uses a case study to show us how to use a decision tree to find the “best” alternative.  Truly excellent!
  • Kenneth Darter has some thoughts on keeping your project schedule on track.
  • Paul Bruno tells the story of the Battle of Saratoga, and points out some critical lessons learned for project managers.
  • Robert Bell took his daughter to the circus and somehow learned something about project management.  Hopefully, not from the clowns?
  • Kevin Korterud says that we need to add value to our earned value metrics.  Like focus, and communication.
  • Kimberly Gerber gives us some strategies for improving communication with our virtual teams.
  • Cheri Baker has decided to stop giving her most precious commodity away to anyone who asks.  Which means more time for herself.
  • Penelope Trunk: “One of the biggest changes in the workforce in the new millennium is that we have to be information synthesizers instead of information producers.”
  • Daniel Goleman offers some ideas on how to salvage a negotiation that seems to be going badly.
  • Barb at Vyrtunet has some interesting thoughts on portfolio management and the “strategy to action life cycle.”
  • Ron Rosenhead looks at succession planning, transitions, and managing changes in the project team.
  • Paul Culmsee is excited to announce that the Melbourne Sharepoint conference will be keynoted by an organizational psychologist.  It’s a collaboration tool, right?

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of May 6 – 12

New project management articles published on the web during the week of May 6 – 12.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Tres Roeder explains how to prioritize your stakeholders.
  • Brett Beaubouef explores aligning IT with business objectives.
  • Margaret Meloni reviews a simple and powerful process for conducting lessons learned.
  • Guillermo Solis gets back to the basics, with some pointers on how to manage successful meetings.
  • Esther Derby fills in the blank, “When I feel empowered, I can …”
  • Bruce Benson notes that project management consists primarily of team building.
  • Toby Wolpe explains that failure is acceptable.  In fact, to get good at it, you need to fail more often.
  • Cheri Baker has been talking to a few departing managers who just wanted to be allowed to do the right thing.
  • Toni Bowers, a fellow stickler for good grammar, points out some more mistakes in your resume.  And she didn’t even have to read it!
  • Harrison Smith asserts that, even while LinkedIn and Big Data are great “pull” solutions for recruiters, the resume will never die.
  • Soma Bhattacharya interviews Derek Huether, agile coach and blogger.
  • Paul Culmsee continues his series on powerful questions, with the key focus are question.  Just 23 minutes, safe for work.
  • Roman Pichler builds on user stories to form scenarios and storyboards.
  • Peter Dinham reports that a new survey conducted in Australia blames poor governance for a large number of failed major projects.
  • Mario Trentim argues that the key to maximizing the business benefits of your project portfolio lies in effective sponsorship.
  • Roger Grimes lists eleven signs your IT project is doomed.  Be sure to share this list with your project sponsor!
  • Dave Vellente interviews Kate Parsons of EMC on the success drivers of their SAP implementation, Project Propel.  Ten minutes, safe for work.
  • Michael Wood explains the difference between a framework and a methodology.
  • Kerry Wills was sitting at the airport, so he decided to share some random thoughts on business travel.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of April 29 – May 5

New project management articles published on the web during the week of April 29 – May 5.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Avinoam Nowogrodski sees us entering a new era in project management – social, personalized, and empowering – reflecting the future of work.
  • Speaking of the future of work, Chess Media is conducting a survey on how social media, BYOB, and flexible work arrangements are being adopted, today.
  • Elizabeth Harrin summarizes Pernille Eskerod and Anna Lund Jepsen’s book, Project Stakeholder Management.
  • Andy Jordan notes that one of the most surprising failures of governance seems to happen in the project management office.
  • Jeff Furman poses an ethics case study, from real life.
  • Paul Culmsee demonstrates dialog mapping, using Compendium, and introduces the concept of powerful questions.  Fifteen minutes, safe for work.
  • Ted Hardy says that if your stakeholders won’t give you an answer, offer a really bad suggestion.  Like lunch at McDonald’s.
  • Donna Reed shares a recorded presentation by Vicky Haney, “Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers and Business Analysts.”  One hour, safe for work.
  • Roz Baker explains the difference between a project management framework and a software development life cycle model.  And potatoes and tomatoes.
  • Chuck Morton continues his series on project change management, with the observation that change cuts across all PMBOK knowledge areas.
  • Glen Alleman offers “hard” definitions and principles of risk management, his favorite risk management process diagram, and sources of failure.
  • Patrick Richard shares his comments on a post by Glen Alleman on cost and schedule estimating, with an observation about story points.
  • Samad Aidane warns that a project manager should never, EVER agree to be the project sponsor and project manager at the same time.
  • Abid Mustafa shares his perspective as an IT executive on the best way to utilize an executive as a project sponsor.
  • Lou Adler, recruiter extraordinaire, says there are only four jobs – thinkers, builders, improvers, and producers.
  • Penelope Trunk offers her take on why Jason Collins should be a positive career example for everyone.
  • Will Kelly explains how MS Project 2013 integrates with the SaaS solution called Mavelink to form a comprehensive project team solution.
  • Jerry Manas extracts the key takeaways from the recent “Resource Management and Capacity Planning Benchmark Study.”

Enjoy!