Tag Archives: SaaS

New PM Articles for the Week of March 17 – 23

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NewspapersNew project management articles published on the web during the week of March 17 – 23. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

Innovation

  • John Bauer provides a history lesson and some predictions on the evolution of corporate IT, their relationship with the business, and everything-as-a-service.
  • Peter Bruzzese sees the end of on-premises IT, as we move everything to the Cloud.
  • Ammar Mango examines the intersection of innovation and project management.
  • John Goodpasture suggests that when the evidence doesn’t indicate a clear course of action, you should make an informed judgment.
  • Bruce Benson observes one key project management lesson from ObamaCare is “Try something new.” Just providing an alternative can sometimes drive innovation.
  • Elizabeth Harrin provides her round up of project management news for this month.
  • Lyndsey Gilpin shares photos and stories of the women who created the technology industry: Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Hedy Lamarr, and more!

PM Best Practices

  •  Vicki Wrona shares best practices for effective brainstorming, including a technique called Reverse Brainstorming.
  • Brad Egeland presents his approach to planning and conducting meetings that are productive, organized, and effective.
  • Graham Oakes examines risk management from the perspective of the trigger point, e.g. when the probabilistic risk event actually occurs.
  • Martin Webster presents a slightly facetious case for avoiding blame by avoiding risk.
  • Coert Visser explains why it seems like other people succeed so easily, when we have to work so hard. Short answer: we’re mistaken about how much it takes.
  • Cheri Baker models three short examples of pushing back.
  • Cesar Abeid interviews Dave Stachowiak on how to manage, lead, and influence without authority. Just 57 minutes, safe for work.
  • Srinath Ramakrishnan summarizes five change management models.
  • Glen Alleman extracts key points from James Dewar’s “Assumption-Based Planning.”
  • Andy Jordan recommends that we partner with the customer to select the right project execution approach (Agile vs. Waterfall).
  • Anne-Marie Charrett refutes the “waterfall is never the right approach mindset,” by debunking the most common memes.

Agile Methods

  • David Clarke explains why SaaS provider Workday has moved to a single codeline model for continuous development and release. Read this one twice!
  • Dave Prior interviews Dr. Sallyann Freudenberg on the psychological basis for the effectiveness of pair programming. Just 15 minutes, safe for work.
  • Mike Cohn explores the subtle differences in two definitions of velocity.
  • Clinton Ages explains how his business analyst skill set best fits in with a Scrum team.

Governance

  • Shim Marom begins a series on IT investment, with the need for a business case.
  • Emanuele Passera begins a series on portfolio management, using rigorous financial analysis.
  • Henny Portman provides a bullet list of questions to ask about the actions of the project owner before replacing the manager of a troubled project.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of November 18 – 24

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NewsboyNew project management articles published on the web during the week of November 18 – 24. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

Must read

  • Scott Berkun shares the notes from his data analysis presentation at the Warm Gun 2013 conference on measurable design. The model matters more than the data!
  • Michael Greer tells a story, illustrating how simply requesting sign-off in order to proceed can be a powerful tool for getting decisions finalized.

Leadership

  • Terry Bunio lists four critical qualities for a good manager.
  • Michael Lopp catalogs three basic roles for leaders. “In order to build epic shit at scale, a colorful tapestry of talent and degrees of experience is essential.”
  • Martin Webster asks if your leadership is actually slowing progress.
  • Peter de Jager shares his thoughts on helping a team form by creating opportunities for them to collaborate.
  • Cheri Baker recaps a few good communications habits that can make our colleagues feel more at ease.
  • Kenneth Darter takes a moment to help us develop our face-to-face social skills.
  • Cyndee Miller offers one final observation from PMO Symposium 2013: PMO Directors need to think like executives.

PM Best Practices

  • Elizabeth Harrin interviews Angel Berniz, who explains how the new project management standard, ISO 21500, will impact us.
  • Vincent McGevna defends the application of processes to the execution of projects.
  • Todd Williams breaks down the roles and responsibilities of the folks charged with rescuing a failed project.
  • David Hillson suggests a framework for identifying project risks, based on Edward de Bono’s Six Value Medals. You might remember de Bono for the Six Thinking Hats.
  • Luis Seabra Coelho examines the cognitive bias known as functional fixedness, and how it might apply to motivation.
  • Anya Faingersh recounts an old story that illustrates why an expensive solution delivered now beats a cost-effective solution, delivered too late.

Podcasts and Videos

  • Samad Aidane interviews Naomi Caietti, who explains how women in project management roles can achieve the right degree of assertiveness. Just 44 minutes, safe for work.
  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Ricardo Vargas, who explains his approach to quantifying a qualitative risk analysis. Nerdy, but interesting ; 23 minutes, safe for work.
  • Cesar Abeid interviews Francis Wade on his consulting practice and book on time management. Just 48 minutes, safe for work.

Agile Methods

  • Glen Alleman critiques NPR journalista Elise Hu’s article on why Heatlthcare.gov was doomed from the start.
  • Jesse Fewell came from the Washington, D.C. Scrum User’s Groups with new insights into why the roll-out of Healthcare.gov failed so badly.
  • Shim Marom articulates the difference between doing Agile and being Agile.
  • Derek Huether covers the key barriers to Agile adoption, as found by VersionOne in their annual survey.

Pot Pouri

  • Harold Kerzner describes a family Thanksgiving, from a project manager’s point of view. But the PM is not the person actually in charge …
  • Karina Keith rounds up three blog articles on how to maintain your productivity over the holidays.  Makes me wonder if someone is missing the point.
  • Belle Beth Cooper has collected ten statistics on social media that should inform your company’s strategy for marketing and communication.

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of October 14 – 20

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of October 14 – 20.  We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

Must read

  • Harvard Business School Professor Michael Wheeler shares some lessons in negotiation, based on the recent U.S. government financial cliffhanger.  Parts one and two.
  • Elizabeth Harrin reports on Andrew Hubbard’s presentation at Conference: Zero.  Andrew is the editor of the APM’s Project Magazine.

The Strategic View

  • Johanna Rothman reflects on how Sony lost their mojo (and market share), and what project portfolio managers can learn from their sad experience.
  • Peter High reports on the top ten strategic technology trends for 2014, as envisioned by the Gartner Group at their recent ITxpo in Orlando.
  • Ron Rosenhead recounts a conversation with a retiring Director, who admitted that their perceived success in project delivery wasn’t accurate.  And what he should have done about it.
  • Daniel Burrus recommends a consultative approach, using knowledge and wisdom to add value.

PM Best Practices

  • John Goodpasture points out that, due to limited historical data, most projects live in a One-Sigma range, where RMS is the analytical tool of choice.
  • Andy Jordan explains the right way to use historical data.
  • Cesar Abeid interviews Erik Fisher, podcaster and author of “Beyond the To-Do List.”  Just 48 minutes, safe for work.
  • Bernardine Douglas lists some steps to take to get your project out of the ditch.
  • Nate Crews gets us up to speed on stakeholder management, as described in the PMBOK, Fifth Edition.
  • Allen Ruddock looks at the mix of methodologies, tools, and procedures we’ve adopted to manage projects, and decides the silver bullet is the people.
  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Lindsay Scott on three chapters of her new book, “The Handbook of People in Project Management.”  Just 30 minutes, safe for work.
  • Kerry Wills shares the eight principles described in his second book, “Applying Guiding Principles of Effective Program Delivery.”

Agile Methods

  • Glen Alleman explains what risk management is, and why Agile and #NoEstimates are not risk management.  Not that there’s anything wrong with Agile!
  • Peter Saddington provides the Agile Coach’s take on making effective decisions.
  • John Reiling wonders if the problems in the initial roll-out of www.healthcare.gov will renew federal government interest in Agile project management.

Pot Pouri

  • Tatiana Czuchnowsky sings the praises of mobile apps Genius Scan, Evernote, and Dropbox.
  • Will Kelly has lined up six SaaS tools for distributed teams.
  • Brian Tullis tells of his experience so far in a graduate-level course in personal learning networks.
  • Kailash Awati shares a satirical parable of ABSERD customer service.
  • Shim Marom offers some well-known examples of brevity, and obscure verbosity.

Enjoy!