Journyx Project Management Blog

Today’s workforce faces increasing demands to produce results supporting project efficiency and bottom-line growth. This growing organizational transformation requires learning programs that have a blended approach. Not satisfied with a ‘check the box’ mentality, many organizations seek a learning environment that not only encourages knowledge transfer, but also behavioral changes towards performance improvement as well.

What exactly is a blended learning approach? Blended learning is establishing an environment with multiple knowledge absorption channels. Gone are the days of relying solely on instructor-led training or e-learning — the approach that has proven the most successful is B-Learning (blended learning).

Read more at: http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/95

Accountlink, the Timesheet/QuickBooks integration, now supports the complete range of QuickBooks 2005 applications, including US and Canadian versions of QuickBooks Pro, Premiere, Enterprise. Accountlink allows you to automate the transfer of project billing & payroll data from Timesheet to QuickBooks. You can learn more about Accountlink, request a demo or even buy it directly from our online store via the following link.

Find out more at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/support/quickbooks.html

Recently the Austin Business Journal ran a piece on Journyx and our approach to business. We are, of course, delighted with the coverage -— so much so that we wanted to make sure each and every one of our friends got a chance to take a look at it. And that’s why this is the lead story in this issue of the Journal Journal. You can download a PDF of the story directly from out site at the link below. Please do check it out and, if you’re so inclined, let us know what you think if it.

Download the article at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/pdf/ABJ-SoftwareForFree.pdf

• How can I change the order of the rows on my timesheet?
• How can I view, search for and select projects on my timesheet that are included in a complex hierarchy?

These tips and more at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/support/tips/tiparchive.html

Based on our past research, we’ve found that businesspeople are not taking the amount of vacation they are due. We wanted to find out why. It turns out that the overwhelming majority feel they will not take vacation because of overall work demands, workload and pressing projects. It also has little to do with seeking compensation in place of vacation; only three percent say they prefer compensation to vacation, based on our nationwide survey of senior executives and managers. The reality is that the day-to-day demands of the workplace keep many chained to the office.

Read more at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/darwinvacation.html

In the education profession, the established model for personnel development is called the professional growth model. First, the learner must attain knowledge about a technical or interpersonal concept. This knowledge base is transformed into a skill, which then becomes a competency. Over time, a competency evolves into a mastery of that competency. The growth is progressive — a person’s development begins at the bottom of the stair steps and moves toward the top.

Let’s relate this framework to project management. Knowledge, such as that found in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), is learned by becoming aware of concepts, reading and understanding those concepts, and by memorizing definitions and facts. As this project management ‘knowledge’ is practiced, in a classroom or on the job, it becomes a skill. As the skill becomes a habit and is incorporated into daily life; it then becomes a competency. Finally, individual style is added to the competency and, with repeated experiences, it ultimately evolves into mastery, becoming a “teacher” or mentor to others.

Read more at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/cpo4levels.html

Having users login before accessing your enterprise network is standard practice, but it is no longer enough protection. You may trust the user, but can you trust the computer they are using? Is the user sophisticated enough to understand and vouch for every process running on a computer that may be reaching out to snoop into databases or to overload critical servers? Probably not.

If you don’t authenticate the computer, then you open your networks to an unknown legion of unauthorized users coming in “under the covers,” using computer services that are mistakenly assumed to be authorized.

Read more at: http://www2.darwinmag.com/read/feature/jun05_networkaccess.cfm

For years, the business-software development world has been split largely between Microsoft’s .Net toolset and Java. Get ready for a third option.

The so-called LAMP stack of open-source software - which includes the Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL database and scripting languages PHP, Perl or Python - is pushing its way into mainstream corporate computing.

One of several smaller companies betting on the LAMP stack, start-up ActiveGrid announced on Monday partnerships that, combined with new software, could help expand LAMP’s appeal among big companies. Partners include MySQL, Apache management provider Covalent, Linux company Novell and PHP tool maker Zend Technologies.

Read the whole article at: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5744767.html

Simply put, it’s a good time to be a project manager. According to every survey on the subject, organizations are searching for professionals in the field, and, once hired, these professionals are provided countless developmental opportunities - from project management certificate training programs to international assignments to degree programs of their choice.

By providing such desirable incentives, organizations are not only recruiting the best and the brightest, they’re finding that their project managers are staying put instead of jumping ship in search of bigger salaries. Consequently, we are in the midst of a war for talent. Organizations worldwide are struggling to attract and retain the most skilled project managers. Forget about fighting to win this war, your organization or PMO has to train to win.

Read more at: http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/96

Ask any developer and they will tell you that the heart and soul of the development process is the developer role. Developers are often the huddled masses yearning to create software. They are the workhorses of the whole system creating the code that the other roles only influence. (The exceptions are the development lead and solutions architects who write small amounts of code from time-to-time.)

From a technical perspective the developer is at the most basic level expected to be able to translate algorithms and technical specifications into code that can be executed on a computer system. The language syntax and structures of code must be understood. The language syntax for writing programs is typically the easiest skill for a developer to learn. There are many books, training programs, and tools to teach you the syntax of the language.

Read more at: http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/3511566