Project management and other news from your pals at Journyx
{ Monthly Archives }
Is your project headed for trouble? Gopal Kapur, president of the Center for Project Management, identifies 10 warning signs.
- Success is expected.
- No conditions for shutdown are defined.
- Senior managers are uninvolved and unaware of the problems.
- Project managers are afraid to communicate bad news.
Read more at: Computerworld
Get these great tips and more at: http://journyx.com/rss/support/tips/
Projectlink - the Timesheet/Microsoft Project integration - has been updated recently and is now available to Journyx customers. So if you’re with one of the many organizations that’s making good time on the road to profitability by using Timesheet to feed your critical business infrastructure, be sure to get in touch with Journyx to get your hands on the latest versions of this powerful tool.
New Projectlink features include the ability to:
Existing Projectlink users in need of the latest patch can contact Support at: support@journyx.com
Not using Projectlink and would like to? Contact the Journyx Sales Team at: sales@journyx.com
You can also find out more about Projectlink at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/support/msproject.html
Project management in some form has existed for centuries as evidenced by the number of artifacts around the world. The Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, the Trans-Siberia Railroad, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike to mention some better-known projects that have constructed well-known products.
There are thousands of lesser-known products that have been constructed over 5000 years such as the Cathedrals of Europe and the Grand Canal of China. Each had one or more ‘project managers’ to lead the effort.
In view of the number of projects, some of their products recognized by grade school children, there has been few project managers identified as role models…
Read more at: http://journyx.com/rss/redir/asapm-pmrolemodels.html
Join Journyx CEO Curt Finch at 12:45 PM on Thursday, September 28th in Arlington, VA as he presents Driving Organizational Value and Process Improvement through Effective PPM Strategic Planning. The presentation will address the following topics:
Learn more or register online at: http://journyx.com/rss/redir/ppmsinfo.html
A superhero is a fictional character who is noted for feats of courage and nobility, who usually has a colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings…
Stan Lee, Chairman Emeritus of Marvel Comics, summed up the connection between Superheroes and Professional Project Managers best “While no one is expected to leap tall buildings in a single bound, our aspiring heroes will be tested on their courage, integrity, self-sacrifice, compassion and resourcefulness - the stuff of all true superheroes… When you work with people whom you respect and whom you like and you admire because they’re so good at what they do, it doesn’t feel like work… It’s like you’re playing.”
Discover your super powers at: http://journyx.com/rss/redir/projmag-pmpsuper.html
Journyx has identified a potentially serious issue with versions of Timesheet prior to the current releases (7.1 and 5.6m3). The issue is related to scheduled emails & reports in Timesheet and clock resetting related to the switch from Daylight Savings Time back to Standard Time.
But, like the good soldiers that we are, we’ve got a fix for you long before you’d be affected by this. So follow the link to learn exactly what you need to do to make sure your Timesheet installation keeps on ticking without burying you under a pile of approvals emails and scheduled reports.
Check the time at: http://journyx.com/rss/support/tsdst.html
People new to the idea of agile software development think that you can only be agile with small, co-located teams where you have no political constraints. Yes, that’s ideal, but most teams aren’t lucky enough to be in that situation. Does that mean they should give up on agile techniques? No! It means that they need to be smart about how they apply agile concepts and be as agile as possible given their current situation. This month, I explore strategies that people have used when they found themselves in not-so-ideal situations.
Dispersed Agile Development
In June I participated in the Perspectives on Systems Informatics at Akademgorodok, Siberia where I ran a tutorial on agile software development. After the tutorial, a couple of people came up to me and said this agile stuff was great in theory, but that it wouldn’t work for them. One person worked in an outsourcing company where their clients were in Europe, and another worked for a company where the development team was split between Copenhagen and Moscow. Both were convinced that because their team wasn’t co-located that they couldn’t be agile. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Ideally, you want to co-locate your developers and stakeholders to improve their ability to collaborate and communicate, thereby reducing cost (they don’t need to document as much) and risk (you increase the chance that they understand each other) on your project. In practice, many teams find themselves in a dispersed, multilocation environment and must find ways to overcome the inherent communication barriers. In “Bridging the Distance” (www.ddj.com/dept/architect/184414899), I describe strategies for doing exactly that. Dispersed agile teams will begin a project together so as to build a common vision, will get together occasionally to fortify that vision, and will have people traveling back and forth between locations as needed. They’ll also adopt collaborative tools such as chat software, desktop sharing software, and Wikis. They’ll communicate with each other via e-mail, telephone/video conferencing, and (egads!) even some written documentation.
Read more at: Dr. Dobb’s Portal
End users aren’t the only ones whose misguided actions can bring a smooth-running network to a screeching halt. IT pros make their share of mistakes, too–from sliding on DR planning to stalling on repairs to ignoring the need for logs and documentation.
IT pro Deb Shinder has targeted a number of the most common oversights, subpar practices, and bad habits that can land techs in trouble.This download is also available as an article.
Read more at: TechRepublic
I sometimes learn more from failure than success. When I succeed, it just confirms what I already know — I’m a genius. When I fail, I have an opportunity to learn, if I can bring myself to take an objective look at what happened. This is hard, but then making the same mistakes over again is even harder. So failure can be a great opportunity to learn.
One of the greatest learning experiences in my career so far happened about 10 years ago. I was a team leader on a systems development project that turned into a multimillion-dollar debacle. It drove home some lessons I hope I never forget. Here’s what happened (and what I learned from my experiences on that project).
The project started out with great fanfare and high expectations. There were no clearly defined goals or performance objectives, but the system was basically supposed to empower the company’s sales force to grow revenue by another billion dollars or so. (Be wary of wild enthusiasm and vaguely stated goals. The bandwagon effect can make otherwise sane people do goofy things.)
We spent six months investigating technology and dreaming up all sorts of ideas. Then we put together a slide show and a small demonstration of some of the technology. Senior management liked it and approved major funding into the project. (Coming up with lots of ideas and getting lots of money commits you to meeting unrealistic expectations. You should manage expectations by focusing on only a few ideas and asking for less money.)
Read more at: Computerworld