New project management articles published on the web during the week of March 24 – 30. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

PM Best Practices

• Glen Alleman takes aim once again at poor estimating practices.
• Anna Erdmanska asked her network for ideas on how to create positive energy on a project. She distills it all down to twelve points.
• Michael Shaye warns of the “secret stakeholder,” perhaps the boss of the person you thought would be the approver.
• Michel Dion notes that getting support for your project requires leadership.
• Neil Pragnell tells why he carries a message from a fortune cookie in his wallet. “You are far more influential than you think.”
• Daniel Burrus explains what it means to lead by anticipating.
• John Goodpasture notes the impact of “prospect theory” on self-esteem and drives different performance in different groups.
• Gina Abudi advocates the importance of effective communications in keeping control of our projects. Part two looks at reporting status.
• Bart Gerardi shoots down the value of the “stoplight” status with the Watermelon Project: green on the outside, oh-so-red on the inside.
• Allen Ruddock looks at cost overruns in small to medium-sized projects, and finds a few simple preventive steps we can take.
• Shim Marom concludes his series on the business case with a summary of a research paper, “Building Better Business Cases for IT Investments.”

Managing Within Our Neuroses

• Kerry Wills extols the virtues of the neurotic project manager.
• Ian Whittingham explores the virtues of channeling our anxieties, when sorting out a complex project.
• Martin Webster has a checklist of activities for avoiding stress at work.
• Michael Lopp offers some practical advice for business travelers with OCD. Ah, it’s good to be a migrant computer worker …
• Elizabeth Harrin pauses from her project manager and mother-of-two duties to note that we have to prioritize, accept our limitations, and adjust our expectations in order to prevail.
• Kevin Korterud recounts the warning signs that the risk level has exceed our tolerance level.

Agile Methods

• Steven Crago has some thoughts on integrating work products from a mix of Scrum and Waterfall teams.
• Pawel Brodzinski: “Let me make a bold observation: neither Agile nor Lean seem to be making a difference… adopting practices and tools is simply a cargo cult.” Wow!
• Dave Prior interviews Peter Saddington, who tells what he learned while pursuing the SAFe framework credential. Just 19 minutes, safe for work (if not SAFe).
• Mukesh Rao recalls his experience spinning up a new Scrum team, estimating work using the “Ideal Days” method described by Mike Cohn in “Agile Estimating and Planning.”
• Mike Cohn notes that three roles must be participating in planning poker, even if two of them aren’t asked to share their estimates.
• Adrian Fittolani shares his list of favorite “non-Agile” books for those who want to practice Agility. If you haven’t read at least one of these, shame on you!

Enjoy!