After some time thinking about it, I’m changing the look and feel of the front page of the blog. Originally I’d envisaged a website where the blog would be a less prominent aspect of the entire site but as time moves forward, I can see that in fact searching for information on the blog will be easier if I just get on the horse in the direction it’s heading and that’s with the blog as…
You’d think that project management professionals within an organization would be the biggest asset in an enterprise project management deployment. Surprisingly, it’s not always so. Sometimes knowing how it used to work is a barrier to seeing the latest in methodology, technology and best practices.
I’ve been in a lot of corporate meetings lately discussing various aspects of delivering an “integrated” project management environment. Don’t get me wrong, a corporate-wide integrated system is a wonderful thing to desire. There’s no doubt that the idea of pushing a button on a screen and finding that every element of data across the company is tied to every other element in just such a way that the answers I desire are immediately available…
Are you baselining? I know, it sounds like some drug-related crime, doesn’t it? It’s actually one of the most fundamental aspects of modern project management and a stunning percentage of project managers don’t do it. So this month I thought I’d dedicate the column to the elusive art of baselining. So, what’s a baseline? First of all, what is a baseline? Everyone agrees it’s a snapshot of your project which is frozen now for use…
I’ve written at different times in this column about the impact of the web on enterprise project management systems. Until now, most of that talk has been about how the availability of a web interface would attract additional users through an easier and more accessible interface. There is an emerging movement in this regard however, which is starting to revolutionize how we think of project management data and project systems usage. It has come about…
For those looking for the latest news on Microsoft Project and Project Server, there’s probably no better place than the Project Conference. Microsoft will hold the next Microsoft Project Conference in Phoenix Arizona on Sept 14-17. Microsoft has promised a preview of what’s coming in Project 2010. This is a good opportunity to connect not only with Microsoft but, perhaps more interstingly with others who are users of Microsoft Project and Project Server as well…
I’ve had a few wonderful opportunities lately to talk to high-tech CIOs about what costs them the most time. I had thought I’d hear about project management and resource management issues. ‘We need a better scheduling algorithm’ or ‘We need a better resource-leveling engine,’ I figured I’d hear. Not so. The CIOs I’ve met this month in my rather non-scientific survey talked about the simple things. “I’d just like to know if my people are…
More and more these days as I visit project management offices across the country, I end up talking about scorecarding and balanced scorecarding. These terms are part of a popular trend in management at the moment which is based on the simplest of management principles. Scorecarding refers to simply setting goals for certain results in the business and then tracking those results on a regular basis. (See? I told you it was simple). The notion…
Commercial tools are not the only ones available for managing projects but do you have all the facts when you choose an open source tool for project management? Both commerical and open source tools may be a part of your pm environment but make sure you understand the total cost of ownership either way.
We tend to talk about project management systems as an end unto themselves but what help is there for automating or improving project manager’s soft skills? There’s lots. From training to aids and enablement systems, project managers should be aware of what can help them be a good leader, a good negotiator, a good collaborator and a good communicator.