Tag Archives: Project Management Office

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

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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!

New PM Articles for the Week of April 22 –28

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of April 22 – 28.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Tom Hammell applies some of Daniel Kahneman’s work on thinking fast and slow to project management decisions.
  • Elizabeth Harrin concludes her interview with Dr. Wilhelm Kross, on risk communication.
  • Kyle Roozen explains the four-step approach his Scrum team uses to estimate timelines.
  • Donna Reed shares a recording of a presentation by Star Dargin, “Coaching Skills for Project Managers.”
  • Samad Aidane answers a common question, “How do I motivate my team?”  His uncommon answer, “Don’t try.  You don’t need to.”
  • Kailash Awati presents a noir satire of the PMO as the methodology police.
  • Patti Gilchrist takes a look at how the PMO is evolving from process policeman to innovation advocate.
  • Andy Jordan notes that, just as every project needs an issues log, so does every PMO.
  • Bruce Benson figures that a manager who insists on a “personal commitment” to achieve a deadline is probably working with an unrealistic schedule.
  • Brad Egeland suggests that we listen to our team members carefully, rather than uncritically.
  • Margaret Meloni wants you to bring your inner child to work.  Why?  Well, because children ask, “Why?”
  • Cyndee Miller reports from the PMI Global Congress 2013 in Istanbul, where keynote speaker Avinash Chandarana noted, “Culture eats process for lunch.”
  • Robert Bell offers a few more reasons to pull team members from around the globe.
  • Glen Alleman responds to a post on TechWell on Agile and the federal government.
  • Chuck Morton begins a new series on project change management (as opposed to organizational change management, or systems change management).
  • Mike Griffiths has a story of fragmented, part-time teams taking an Agile approach, and succeeding.
  • Soma Bhattacharya has some suggestions about making the transition to Agile methods.
  • Kelsey van Haaster learned a lot about making the transition from non-agile to Agile, by visiting a website devoted to mastering housework.
  • Todd Wilms shares a slide deck with ten leadership lessons he wishes he had learned in his twenties.
  • Patrick Gray looks at the recent controversy (and firings) that grew out of the tweeting of tasteless remarks at a Python developer’s conference.
  • Penelope Trunk has been coaching her husband, the farmer.  Big insight: your approach to dealing with mistakes defines your success.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of April 8 – 14

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of April 8 – 14.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Will Kelly explains why the U.S. government is finding it difficult to get the results they expected from their Agile programs.
  • Mike Griffiths looks at the wisdom of (self-organizing) teams, empowerment, and promoting shared leadership.
  • David Taber explains why Agile project management methodologies need controls in order to be successful.
  • Don Kim also looks at Agile governance, which might not really be an oxymoron.
  • Andy Jordan draws real world examples of Accountability and Responsibility from the RACl chart.
  • Johanna Rothman replies to a request for a self-assessment tool for transitioning to Agile.
  • Jesse Fewell looks at the underlying structural factors that can make Agile estimating techniques unreliable.
  • Michael Nir shares a chapter from his new book, “The Agile PMO.”
  • Khaliphani Khumalo moved from a projectized to a weak matrix organization. He shares his adjustment challenges and behaviors critical for success.
  • Kevan Hall looks at managing in a matrixed organization.  This will be more useful for the entry level or “accidental” project manager.
  • Glen Alleman recounts his experience as a coastal sailor as a metaphor for disciplined Agile.
  • Puneet Kuthiala applies “The Art of War” in his new book, “The Project Management Battlefield: Sun Tzu’s Wisdom on Project Management.”
  • Roz Baker talks execution, as in “getting it done.”  Plans are great, but at some point, the team has to deliver!
  • Dick Billows explains how to organize and manage virtual teams.
  • Joel Bancroft-Connors and Hogarth want to cut through the confusion on an endless EMail chain.  So they pick up the phone.
  • Susan Harkins shares some advanced formatting techniques for MS Word.  Definitely worth a look – there is at least one thing here you don’t know!
  • Cyndee Miller argues for synching talent with strategy.  As Jim Collins put it, getting the right people on the bus, in the right seats.
  • Scott Berkun explains how to improve the quality of the feedback you get, by improving how you ask for it.  Excellent post, Scott.  No, really!
  • Toni Bowers reports that more than half of the salary offers for technology jobs are simply accepted, without a counter-offer.  Maybe IT folks need agents?

Enjoy!