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 Topic: Project Management Tips & TechniquesThe new items published under this topic are as follows.
Notice: KaDonk allows anyone to collaborate on Microsoft Project Plans. |
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Published on Friday, May 16, 2008 - 05:33 PM |
San Diego, CA, (May 8, 2008)
KaDonk announces the new LiveProject Project Collaboration "Free Basic Plan," allowing anyone to collaborate on Microsoft Project.
KaDonk, a member of Microsoft's Partner program, now offers a "Free Basic Plan" for its premier application LiveProject Project Collaboration. With the Free Basic Plan, two users can View, Share and Collaborate on Microsoft Project Plans at no cost. The Free Basic Plan has no expiration date and all features are enabled. Additional licenses can be purchased for $9.99 per user per month.
LiveProject Project Collaboration is a stand-alone desktop application for viewing, collaborating and sharing Microsoft Project® files (.mpp). Designed for ease-of-use, LiveProject can get you started on collaboration in less than 10 minutes. New users will have a minimum learning curve and managers will find unique value in collaborating on project plans that their teams can view and understand at a glance. LiveProject Project Collaboration is installed with customers worldwide in hundreds of countries, and have been downloaded more than 50,000 times.
"With this offer, we believe we have opened the opportunity for everyone to collaborate on Microsoft Project plans," Anders Heie, founder of KaDonk said. "It is now possible to sign up for continuous collaboration and try LiveProject with all its features enabled. Additional users can be added or removed when needed, so this offer is completely risk-free."
For companies that require large-scale collaboration, KaDonk will not charge for additional users for the first month of this offer. Invite your entire team. If you are not satisfied, cancel your account within 30 days at no charge.
"By eliminating all risk factors from the decision, we enable companies to try LiveProject on their own terms," Heie said. "Our new monthly-payment option allows customers to pay as they go, and only pay for the licenses they actually use. Adding and removing licenses can be done from our Web site. Any changes are reflected on the following month's payment record. And with recurring billing, everything is automated."
To try LiveProject's innovative collaboration features, sign up at KaDonk for continuous collaboration with the two-license Free Basic Plan.
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Tips: Green Project Management Tips of the Day |
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Published on Thursday, May 01, 2008 - 01:23 PM |
Green Project Management Tip of the day #1
by Steve Blais
Consider staggering work hours for your project team wherever possible so that they are not commuting during rush hours.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #2
by Steve Blais
Consider adding “environmental impact� as an element in your project charters (adapted from an idea by Tom Mochal, PMP).
Green Project Management Tip of the day #3
by Steve Blais
Add a section on “environmental concerns� to your RFPs to potential vendors and subcontractors. While the responses might not be the deciding factor in awarding the contract, what each bidder has to say about their concern for the environment might be a good indication of how they will perform on your contract, and the responses might give you a few good ideas of things you can do.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #4
by Steve Blais
Make an effort to estimate projects and execute them so that everyone on the team works a 40-hour week. Reduce overtime and reduce energy consumption.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #5
by Steve Blais
During project close include a specific analysis of the equipment and supplies that are left over from the project to determine if it can be reused or donated rather than trashed
Green Project Management Tip of the day #6
by Steve Blais
Consider the possibility of letting the project team work from home one day a week on a rotating basis. If that works and there is no negative impact on communication and progress, consider increasing the amount of telecommuting on the team, which will save energy.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #7
by Steve Blais
Try to reduce the number of written authorizations and approvals to get things done. Each one is a potential bottleneck and energy waster.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #8
by Steve Blais
Evaluate all documentation tasks (especially those needing paper) by weighing the cost of creating the documentation and the loss of productive project work with the value that the documentation provides. (from an idea by Ron Jeffries)
Green Project Management Tip of the day #9
by Steve Blais
When determining the cost of project documentation, estimate not only the cost of creating the documentation in the first place, but also the continuing cost of keeping the documentation updated and synchronized with all the other project documentation. The energy cost of documentation maintenance increases with every new document created. (from an idea by Brad Appleton)
Green Project Management Tip of the day #10
by Steve Blais
Include in all project requirements templates or formats an “environmental impact� along with “business impact� and “technical impact� to encourage thinking about ancillary project impacts.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #11
by Steve Blais
Get rid of old reports, papers, manuals, historical documents, etc. They really aren’t going to be used again. Unless there is a regulation requiring document retention put a short fuse on the lifetime of your project documents. If we all got rid of documents and manuals we keep around “just in case� (after all, the day after we throw it away someone will want it), we’d probably create enough space for our whole project team to be co-located, and that would save more in reduced communication energy. (from an idea by Dr. Steven Covey)
Green Project Management Tip of the day #12
by Andrea Krasnoff & Tom Mochal
When creating your Project Charter identify all deliverables, including deliverables related to the environment and/or your organization’s environmental policy.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #13
by Andrea Krasnoff & Tom Mochal
Conduct project audits to confirm a consistent use of your organization’s GreenPM (green project management) processes.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #14
by Andrea Krasnoff & Tom Mochal
Many companies are currently certified within the ISO14000 set of standards. A component of this is an Environment Management System, a holistic approach for a company to achieve its environmental policy. Verify that the overall application of GreenPM (green project management) supports your organization’s Environment Management System.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #15
by Andrea Krasnoff & Tom Mochal
Organizations have more potential projects than they can work on in any given year. The potential projects should be prioritized and authorized based on business value as well as alignment to business goals and strategies. You should be sure that environmental considerations are part of the goals and strategies so that the selected projects are aligned to your environmental policies
Green Project Management Tip of the day #16
by Andrea Krasnoff & Tom Mochal
Business Cases are written for proposing projects for the upcoming year and used as input for prioritizing the work that gets authorized. As a part of your Portfolio Management process, incorporate a section rferent decisions regarding prioritizing and approving proposed projects could be made for a given year, if environmental factors are considered.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #17
by Andrea Krasnoff & Tom Mochal
Add a section on Environmental Impact to your Issues Form. Consider the environmental impacts when identifying alternatives and recommending a resolution to an issue. For example, let’s say you encounter a problem and identify two potential resolutions – one is to have the team work all night, and the second is to delay the project one day. The sponsor might initially opt for working all night. However, if the sponsor understood the extra electricity, heating and other natural resources required to keep the facility open for the night, he might make a different decision.
Green Project Management Tip of the day #18
by Andrea Krasnoff & Tom Mochal
With “greenthink�, you may evaluate your risks and assumptions differently. Something that was an assumption previously may now be considered a risk if we consider environmental factors that had never been applied. For example, you may identify a schedule risk if your project team cannot work overtime in the event that the schedule falls behind. Previously, overtime may have been a viable option. Now, your Sponsor may determine that the project team should not work overtime because aligning with the environmental policy prohibits the use of additional natural resources.
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Tips: Theme of the Month: Motivating your Project Team; Techniques to Build Relationships, Establish Project Loyalty, and Improve teamwork |
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Published on Tuesday, April 01, 2008 - 08:05 PM |
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Theme of the Month: Motivating your project team; techniques to build relationships, establish project loyalty, and improve teamwork
Project managers, as part of the job, must find ways to keep their teams focused on the project. This also means motivating the team, rewarding excellent performance, and recognizing teams and individuals. Many projects do not have the budget to support these essential items and it's up to the project manager to find creative ways that will build a high performing team and motivate the team to strive for even higher levels of performance. This month we will focus on creative methods and techniques for motivating project teams when your team building-budget is limited.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 1
by Steve Blais , PMP
Have the team create the project plan together and recreate it whenever there is a major change in the composition of the team.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 2
by Steve Blais , PMP
Regardless of what the “official� name of the project is, rename it for the team with the goal embedded in the name. Use acronyms, if necessary, making sure all team members know the full name. Refer to it continuously. A unifying name goes a long way to producing team spirit and inspiration.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 3
by Steve Blais , PMP
Give the players nicknames that reflect their role on the team. Be wary of using nicknames that imply a superiority of person or role or a nick name usually bestowed on the winners of a competition. Humorous nicknames are better. Players will tend to live up to the name given them.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 4
by Steve Blais , PMP
When “assigning� team members nicknames, use naturally occurring names if possible. Nicknames that are awarded during forming and storming stages are good ones. If the team has designated a particular nickname for a player, use it continuously and exclusively throughout the project, as long as the player is comfortable with it. .
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 5
by Steve Blais , PMP
Never ignore bad behavior. Any behavior out of the ordinary must be dealt with, positive or negative. The easiest way of losing team motivation is to allow (and thereby apparently condone) bad behavior from one or more members. Address it firmly and immediately in public or private as the case may be. For positive behavior, bestow public acknowledgment immediately. .
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 6
by Steve Blais , PMP
Keep organizational and other team interruptions to a minimum. Let team members know they are protected without details. Telling the team all the interruptions that you have kept from them leads to a negative “us-them� attitude, even if it does make the project manager look better for the moment.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 7
by Steve Blais , PMP
Let team motivation occur naturally; don’t make it a target to obtain. Create instead an environment in which the team can be successful and let the team create its own inspiration within that environment.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 8
by Steve Blais , PMP
Continue to provide individual motivation, being careful not to provide a negative motivational impact on the team. For example, be wary of individual awards or incentives which might prompt competition among the players for the award, or create resentment among the non-winners after the award is given.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 9
by Steve Blais , PMP
Conduct frequent (daily) short (ten minutes) standup (where possible) status meetings. Obtain the following information only: what the player has done since the last meeting, what the player intends to accomplish before the next meeting, and what obstacles or problems have been encountered or are anticipated. The latter issues are then dealt with in a separate meeting with only those who are affected by the problem or can contribute to the solution in attendance. This ensures continual transference of information among the team and increases overall inspiration as each player sees progress being made. This also increases the feeling of co-location where physical co-location is not possible.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 10
by Steve Blais , PMP
Do what you can to increase the feeling of co-location among the team, if physical co-location is not possible. There are technologies that are available to link disparate team members together through conferencing, IM, Wikis, Blogs and the like. Increase the amount of shared information to increase the inspiration of the team.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 11
by Steve Blais , PMP
Be vigilant about reducing if not removing all co-lateral duties from the project teams. It will increase personal morale and inspiration and will have an overall positive effect on the motivation of the entire team, serving as a constant reminder that there is only one product we are interested in delivering from this project.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 12
by Steve Blais , PMP
If you choose to reward a team, do so collectively rather than individually or avoid doing it at all.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 13
by Steve Blais , PMP
Try non-physical awards such as a special name given to a player to commemorate an outstanding job.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 14
by Steve Blais , PMP
Hand out unifying trinkets such as T-shirts or coffee mugs (to have in hand during the stand-up status meeting in the coffee room) that will remind the team that they are a team. This is also a good and somewhat reliable way of gauging the “team-ness� of your group. When you hand out team T-shirts or baseball hats at the beginning of the project, some may wear the shirt or hat and others may not. After a while as the team jells you will notice that more players will start wearing their shirts or hats (or drinking from their mugs). Eventually the shirt or hat may become a team symbol or uniform as the team gets to full inspirational mode.
by Steve Blais , PMP
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 15
by Steve Blais , PMP
Create and/or emphasize team language and stories such as “in jokes� or episodes over the life of the project that are funny or special or laudatory that only the team will understand. Special acronyms or words to describe the project, process, players, or product help to unite the team for the duration of the project and build an inspired team.
by Steve Blais , PMP
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 16
by Steve Blais , PMP
Be careful of an “us-them� situation between the team and anyone else (even the competition). It is an effective short-term motivator and may have some long-term negative side-effects.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 17
by Steve Blais , PMP
Make sure you have clearly, completely and accurately defined the business problem the project is supposed to solve, and the vision the project will achieve. Then display it, start every meeting with the statement of problem and vision, include it in all status reports, put it at the top of the project Wiki or blog, casually mention it in conversation every chance you get. Unify the team around solving the problem and achieving the vision. It’s a shared goal that will inspire the team forward.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 18
by Steve Blais , PMPMake sure you notify people outside the project of all the successes that are achieved by the team (not the individuals). Having that success reflected back to the players from outside the project is a great motivator.
Tip of the Day - Motivating your Project Team # 19
by Steve Blais , PMPMake a public display of the team’s progress showing what has been done and what needs to be done. Use an “information radiator� concept as described by Alistair Cockburn. Make sure that “public� means public and that everyone can see the display. The team will always be conscious that their work is being noticed by the general public and that will inspire them to make sure the display always shows them in a positive light.
by Steve Blais , PMP
Steve Blais, PMP is a consultant and educator living in Sarasota and Key West Florida. He has worked for 40 years in the field of computing. He is currently working with companies to create and improve their business analyst processes. He is the author of the IIL Business Analysis series of courses, and the forthcoming book, "The Beginning and End of Software Engineering: a guide for the Business Analyst."
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Tips: Tip of the Day - Troubled Projects # 9 |
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Published on Friday, December 21, 2007 - 01:20 PM |
Signs of Trouble by George Pitagorsky, PMP
Watch for the tell tale signs of trouble – delivery dates that constantly change for the worse, growing defect lists, lack of status reports, lack of progress for more than two reporting periods, increasing frequency of interpersonal arguments, absenteeism, and depressed team members.
George Pitagorsky, PMP is Senior Enterprise Solutions Advisor for International Institute for Learning (IIL) advising global enterprises on the implementation and improvement of project, program and portfolio management practices. His expertise spans project, quality and organizational change management. He is author of The Zen Approach to Project Management: Working from Your Center to Manage Expectations and Performance. He has written numerous articles on project management, organizational development, conflict resolution and personal development subjects.
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Tips: Tip of the Day - Troubled Projects # 12 |
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Published on Friday, December 21, 2007 - 01:12 PM |
Often troubled projects come from troubled teams. Don’t forget the Team Charter … and keep it up-to-date!
A team charter is a code of conduct developed by the project management team and later adopted or modified by the project team. It defines the mutual expectations of each team member of one another. Project managers must hold themselves and others accountable consistent with this code.
Bob Barnes, PMP has a broad range of practical, front-line experience in project management, e.g., in a general management consulting firm in the rapidly changing electric and gas utility industry and on the Board of Directors for Training for a Fortune 250 automotive parts supplier, and extensive experience working with ***** University.
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Tips: Tip of the Day - Troubled Projects # 11 |
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Published on Thursday, December 20, 2007 - 01:42 PM |
A project life cycle is an essential communication tool. It is especially important with potentially troubled projects, indicating defined expectations and deviations at each step in the project.
A project life cycle has many uses. A key objective is to define the deliverables to be generated in each phase … and how each is to be reviewed, verified, validated; leading to approval to continue the next phase.
Bob Barnes, PMP has a broad range of practical, front-line experience in project management, e.g., in a general management consulting firm in the rapidly changing electric and gas utility industry and on the Board of Directors for Training for a Fortune 250 automotive parts supplier, and extensive experience working with ***** University.
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Tips: Tip of the Day - Troubled Projects # 10 |
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Published on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 03:01 PM |
Organizations do not authorize projects “just for fun�?!!! Projects cost real money and consume real resources, so before going too far make sure the project team and the customer concur on how success is defined and will be measured.
Bob Barnes, PMP has a broad range of practical, front-line experience in project management, e.g., in a general management consulting firm in the rapidly changing electric and gas utility industry and on the Board of Directors for Training for a Fortune 250 automotive parts supplier, and extensive experience working with ***** University.
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Tips: Tip of the Day - Troubled Projects # 8 |
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Published on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 04:26 PM |
Project Reviews by George Pitagorsky, PMP
Schedule and hold internal and external project reviews or audits to periodically assess the health of your projects. Make sure there are objective evaluation criteria and that the reviewers are completely candid. They don’t have to be kind (though it would be nice) just candid.
George Pitagorsky, PMP is Senior Enterprise Solutions Advisor for International Institute for Learning (IIL) advising global enterprises on the implementation and improvement of project, program and portfolio management practices. His expertise spans project, quality and organizational change management. He is author of The Zen Approach to Project Management: Working from Your Center to Manage Expectations and Performance. He has written numerous articles on project management, organizational development, conflict resolution and personal development subjects.
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Tips: Tip of the Day - Troubled Projects # 7 |
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Published on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 04:10 PM |
Knowing When to Ask for Assistance by George Pitagorsky, PMP
Neither cry wolf nor avoid asking for help. Knowing when to ask for help is a sign of maturity and skillfulness. When things are getting beyond your ability to stay in control, send an SOS.
George Pitagorsky, PMP is Senior Enterprise Solutions Advisor for International Institute for Learning (IIL) advising global enterprises on the implementation and improvement of project, program and portfolio management practices. His expertise spans project, quality and organizational change management. He is author of The Zen Approach to Project Management: Working from Your Center to Manage Expectations and Performance. He has written numerous articles on project management, organizational development, conflict resolution and personal development subjects.
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Tips: Tip of the Day - Troubled Projects # 6 |
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Published on Monday, December 10, 2007 - 02:18 PM |
Don't Panic by George Pitagorsky, PMP
Trouble is just another condition to be dealt with. When we try to avoid looking at the true nature of our situation we waste energy and fail to effectively deal with things as they are.
George Pitagorsky, PMP is Senior Enterprise Solutions Advisor for International Institute for Learning (IIL) advising global enterprises on the implementation and improvement of project, program and portfolio management practices. His expertise spans project, quality and organizational change management. He is author of The Zen Approach to Project Management: Working from Your Center to Manage Expectations and Performance. He has written numerous articles on project management, organizational development, conflict resolution and personal development subjects.
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Tip of the day:
Establish an environment where reporting bad news in a timely manner is encouraged rather than an environment where fear prevents the flow of critical information.
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