Journyx Project Management Blog

Why doesn’t Moore’s Law apply to software development? If it did, every 18 months or so applications would be twice as fast and/or be built in half the time. The reason Moore’s Law or any ordered progression of improvement doesn’t apply to software development is very few people are working on intellectually improving it and almost no one is applying the results of intellectual studies to it.

For instance, Steve McConnell’s Code Complete, Second Edition presents some very reasonable principles. But as I go through it now, I wonder if any manager has read it, and if so, why none of its ideas are being applied.

Discover more at: http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/3552736

As an executive level manager accountable for a portfolio of projects, you may be at an arms length from the tactical management of your key initiatives. You are trusting the Project Manager to ensure the project is delivered on time, on budget, and with all the requirements fully met. Your PM may be a certified PMP, but passing the test doesn’t automatically translate into successful leadership. In watching the PM work with the team, you should get a comfort level if you hear the following statements.

10. “Bad news does not get better with time”
Early warning on projects drives successful projects. By raising the awareness of a problem early, the team has an opportunity to methodically address the issue, before it forces them into crisis mode. Not raising the issue early causes a double whammy: 1) The problem usually gets worse with time, and 2) the team has less time in the project schedule to recover.

9. “Let me check the project plan to understand the ripple effect of this issue”
A good PM does not just create a detailed project plan, but uses it as his guide. I am continually amazed at the number of PM’s who use the project plan more as a checklist, rather than a planning tool. As changes or issues arise, a good PM will use the plan to identify areas of concern down the line, and then consult appropriate team members for mitigation steps.

Learn the other eight at: http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/129

If you’ve been a regular reader of the Journyx Journal for any length of time you might have noticed the information down at the bottom of previous editions that talked about the Journyx RSS feed. Well, the feed itself and the “blog” that it comes from have been so successful that we’re breaking them out on their own, kind of like a tv spinoff.

That means that from this moment on you can see the contents of this newsletter, as well as more frequent updates and information, at the new and improved Journyx Project Management Blog. At least three times a week we update you with news about Journyx, interesting developments in the world of project management and links to articles and opinion pieces on business in the 21st Century. So if you’d like to keep tabs on what we’re up to and what’s going on in the world, check out the new site and see what’s happening.

Tune in to the “new” blog and RSS feed at: http://project-management-blog.com

And if you’re unsure on what this RSS stuff is all about, take a look at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/nytrss.html

This article is about the under-discussed use and misuse of security technology, use and misuse of statistics software, and use and misuse of people in projects that use project management applications. These matters can be at the heart of why some projects fail, just as easily as those other matters more commonly examined in palimpsests on the art of project management.

Today, relatively low-cost, trusted, security technology is readily available and easy to use. At the same time, powerful statistical tools that can be used to analyze situations under risk - often very effectively - by individuals with little or no understanding of the advanced statistics or decision theory upon which these tools are based are available. And, with business globalization, people (distributed project-team members) have become, to a much greater extent, a fungible resource.

More for your consideration at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/developer-pmissues.html

The BusinessEdge has published the third in Journyx CEO Curt Finch’s three-part series, “How Corporate IT Departments are Doing More with Less.” See what Curt has to say on how you can fix problems with profitability leaks and cost overruns before it’s too late.

Get ahead of the game at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/bedge-finch3.html

Work today is more demanding than ever before. The world of work is forever changed, with no signs that it will ever go back to the way it was.

The bottom-line orientation required for budget-constrained organizations is the new way of life. The forever increasing need for output without a proportionate increase in manpower is driving shareholders, executives, and managers to demand more, both from those who work for them as well as from themselves.

Everyone is affected, as the burden falls on you, the people you manage, the people who manage you, your customers, their customers, and the employees and managers at all those places. Everyone is in the same situation with the work mantra of today: Do More With Less. People throughout the ranks are getting worn down and it involves everyone.

Add ‘em up at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/darwinmag-sevenrules.html

• How can I automate leave requests and scheduled time off?
• How can I view my dropdown selection menus when entering time for a long period (i.e., Monthly Timesheet)?

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

Convene the elite of your company for a world-changing project, and you have a virtuoso team. Talent, energy, ambition, intensity, ego, risk—these teams have it all in spades. And they play by a different set of rules. In this month’s Harvard Business Review, co-authors Bill Fischer and Andy Boynton discuss their study of virtuoso teams in 20 top companies. Boynton, the dean of Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, told Computerworld’s Kathleen Melymuka that at this level, there’s no room for nice.

Check out the Q&A with study co-author Boynton at:
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/project/story/0,10801,103697,00.html

The BusinessEdge has published the third in Journyx CEO Curt Finch’s three-part series, How Corporate IT Departments are Doing More with Less. Check out How to spot profitability leaks and cost overruns in IT projects before your peers – and then fix them.

You have probably heard the statistic that 70 percent of IT projects are out of control, over budget or broken. Our surveys disagree. Now, I know I’ve seen this statistic show up in several articles. Intuitively, that number doesn’t sound unrealistic to me, even though it is a frustratingly bad number.

If you have 1,000 people doing hundreds of projects with a $100 million budget, and 12 percent of their work is a waste of time, that’s $12 million a year wasted, right? That’s bad. It’s not nearly as bad, however, as the 70 percent failure rate other companies are experiencing based on the above statistic. Somewhere between 12 and 70 percent of IT workers are wasting money, time – even their life’s work. Life is short enough. Let’s not waste it, right?

Read more at: http://businessedge.michcpa.org/issue/article.aspx?i=v2n21&a=142&s=MI

Many organizations are starting to look at their entire suite of projects as one or more large portfolios of work. Managing work as a portfolio allows managers to see how all projects past and present are related. In other words, managers can see how changes in schedule and budget in one project have a corresponding impact on other projects being executed today, as well as projects that are scheduled to be executed in the future.

When your organization decides to take a look at portfolio management, a fundamental question arises as to whether you have enough expertise in-house or whether you will need to find some outside help to assist. Many companies chose to go it alone, with varying degrees of success. Many companies chose to bring in one or more consultants to help – again with varying degrees of success. There is no absolute right or wrong way to go. However, if your own organization does not have the know-how to establish portfolios on your own, it makes sense that a more knowledgeable party can put you on the right track.

Read more at: http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/116