Journyx Project Management Blog

Journyx is proud to announce general availability of Timesheet 7.5, the
latest and greatest version of our flagship application and, likely, the
main reason you know about us.

Among the key features in Timesheet 7.5 are:

• A “password reset” link on the login page that allows users to
  reset their own passwords.
• An option to limit leave request notifications to an employee’s
  designated time approver(s) and to require approval
• An advanced search and select option for entry screens that allows
  employees to quickly and easily locate and choose time and expense
  entry details from large and/or complex lists
• Options to define user status as active or inactive based on
  employee start and end dates (includes new inactive status that
  maintains reporting access to employee data after employee accounts
  have been deactivated)
• The ability to automatically pull time entries from the previous
  timesheet into the current period for ongoing project work that
  spans multiple weeks

So whether you’re an existing customer who’s still riding along on an
older version of Timesheet or are someone who hasn’t yet taken the
Timesheet plunge, now makes a great time to look at what Journyx has to
offer.

Find out more about Timesheet 7.5 at:
http://journyx.com/rss/products/timesheet/75features.html

Usually, when an IT project fails, management is the last to know. But eventually, like a fish left too long in the refrigerator, the failure becomes all too obvious. When the situation reaches that point, your only option is the IT equivalent of pulling everything out of the refrigerator and scrubbing it out with baking soda.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Conventional wisdom to the contrary, project management is getting better. More projects are succeeding, fewer projects are failing outright, and projects are returning more of the IT dollar invested.

Still, only about one-third of all projects are complete successes. Often, the difference between success and failure is spotting the critical early warning signs that a project is in trouble. Here’s a quick look at some of the earliest symptoms that all is not right with your “fish”–and what you can do about it before you have to break out the baking soda…

Learn to tell if your ratios are in trouble (and other problems) at:
http://journyx.com/rss/redir/cio-spotfail.html

Accountlink, the Timesheet/QuickBooks integration, has been updated
recently. This new version, v6.0, features the following enhancements:

• Expense summarization options by expense source only or by
  employee and expense source
• Transfer of employee and customer job field information to
  Timesheet user and project custom fields
• Option to automatically update Timesheet project status with
  current QuickBooks customer job status during synchronization
• Automatic exclusion of “owner” type employees from transfer to
  Timesheet
• New handling of Accountlink in the Windows taskbar

Existing Accountlink users in need of the latest version can contact
Support at: support@journyx.com

Not using Accountlink and would like to? Contact the Journyx Sales Team
at: sales@journyx.com

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

More than half the year has gone by, and some of those promising New Year’s resolutions made at the start of 2007 have probably been forgotten or abandoned. Good intentions are easily lost in the constant competition between project deadlines, operational requirements, and the occasional need to sleep.

A while back, Shannon Kalvar put together 10 resolutions he said would help IT managers stay on top of their shifting priorities and keep the chaos under control. Here’s a recap of his goals to help guide your progress for the rest of 2007…

Resolve to stop making pigs fly (and other silly things) at:
http://journyx.com/rss/redir/techrepublic-10resolutions.html

• How can my employees capture the exact start and stop times for
  the work they’re doing?
• How can I update Project status in Timesheet to reflect the
  Customer Job status in QuickBooks?

Get these great tips and more at:
http://journyx.com/rss/support/tips/

Innovation may be the obvious business mandate, but plenty of companies are guilty of creating a culture where a good idea has as much opportunity to take root as most of us have of winning the lottery. What gives?

For starters, the creative process can be fragile and requires support and nurturing. That can be tough in today’s fear-inducing environment of rapid technological change and marketplace competition—but it also makes innovation essential. So take a journey through our list of innovation killers, and find out if your company is crushing good ideas or allowing growth and change to flourish.

Innovation killer #1: Believe that innovation will “just happen.”

Trusting that innovation will take care of itself is like believing a vegetable garden will just happen to appear in your yard one day. Innovation requires the investment of time and money, and it requires a process to support it, according to Thomas Koulopoulos, founder of the innovation consultancy Delphi Group. Like a garden—a fragile and time-consuming endeavor—the innovation process requires a place for seeds (or ideas) to root. It also requires weeding, protection against predators, and consistent nurturing and care.

Attention to innovation is a requirement in today’s world, says Koulopoulos. Even in industries where the margins are slim—such as manufacturing and sourcing—innovation is a must. “Here’s the irony,” he says. “Even though I might find that I cannot afford to take a big risk, that doesn’t mean that somewhere on the globe I won’t be challenged.” As an example of how vulnerable standing still makes you, he points to the American auto industry, now failing in its battle against foreign carmakers; the competitors did think it was important to innovate.

Innovation tip: Lobby for the importance of innovation, and the dollars and owners to support it.

Read more at CIO.com.

Project management is hot! It seems to be one of the hottest topics, and one of the hottest career tracks, in business today. Memberships in project management professional societies, and especially in components of the Project Management Institute (PMI®), continue to grow? Project management certifications and qualifications are in high demand. Project management jobs are plentiful and growing in number. More organizations are seeking qualified project managers and project management professionals than ever before. There are more project management software books, products, services and tools entering the market, and the trend seems to be gaining speed.

So where is this demand coming from? Why is project management so “white hot” popular, or in my dated terminology, why is project management so “cool”?

In my opinion, project management is one of those unique professions, or professional methodology, where organizational and market needs coincide with personal and professional needs to create the perfect career path for many individuals today, both male and female. The reasons include business, economic, political, social and, most of all, personal. Here are some of the reasons that I think this is happening.

Read the rest at PM World Today.

Businesspeople understandably are having a tough time avoiding the many distractions at work. They deal with phone calls, unexpected meetings, unorganized workspaces, changing priorities and annoying cell phones. But senior executives and managers say the biggest distractions are e-mail and the crisis of the day.

To avoid distractions at work, workers are getting to work early, trying to focus and closing their doors more, based on a global survey of executives and managers we conducted.

And the e-mail overload can come from both outside the organization from customers or from inside, such as from colleagues or superiors. “Email is a big distraction,” said one survey respondent. “Checking e-mails and voicemails frequently is a major disruption to planning time. It is often difficult to gauge which customers to respond to quickly and which to wait on.”

“I refuse to read e-mails that I am cc’d on,” said another. “There are too many e-mails. My staff knows that if it is important, they should either call or come see me.”

Issues around meetings also cause distractions to almost a third of business leaders. “Without a doubt, it is senior executives who feel that they must prove their involvement by requiring unnecessary meetings and updates on every aspect of a project,” said one manager. “Communication with a project sponsor is important, but updates to a half dozen uninvolved execs results in considerable wasteful and redundant activity.”

Said another: “The biggest distractions are internal meetings and doorway/water cooler conversations about organizational issues.”

Read the rest at CIO.com.

Far too many organizations fail on the majority of their projects. The inability to deliver on projects weakens market position, lowers customer service, impedes cost-containment and much more. Sometimes people think the problem lies entirely with the project managers. Let’s look at how organizations impede their ability to deliver business value on time and on budget from their projects. We’ll see they need solid performance from project managers, sponsors, team members and portfolio managers to be successful.

In the Executive Suite

An executive is meeting with two subordinate managers and says to them, “Now this project has to be priority number one. Drop everything else because our very survival may depend on doing this project right!”

The other manager says, “You’re right. In fact we’ve done this 3 times since I’ve been here.”

The executive snaps, “Yes, and each previous attempt failed.”

The two managers exchange a pained look as the executive goes on, “Now, I have two other ideas for projects that I think will gain us a significant competitive advantage. So here is what…”

The first manager interrupts with a groan, “You always have great ideas, boss, but our plates are full. Our line managers and professional staff are working half time or more on projects and their real jobs are suffering.”

The executive frowns and says, “I know what’s going on down there and there’s plenty of time to squeeze in a few more projects. Your people just have to work smarter not harder!”

Download the PDF at http://www.4pm.com/articles/PMTalk01-3-06.pdf.

Formal chartering may be the step most frequently overlooked by organizations when beginning projects. Root cause analysis of project failures often identifies “poor vision” or “lack of a charter” as a key reason projects go awry or are cancelled.

Knowing this, why is developing a good project charter apparently so difficult? It is certainly not due to any complex technical reason, like not being able to find a word processor advanced enough to document the information. There are a few reasons so many projects have ineffective charters.

Business managers that sponsor projects are not experts in project management. The care and nurturing of projects are merely a fraction of their job duties. Business managers simply need results. Many times they feel their responsibilities are complete if they simply identify the problem to someone (like a project manager) that is assigned to correct it. If it is the role of the project sponsor to create the charter, they may need some training or assistance in order to develop a charter that serves as a foundation for future project work.

It is often not clear which role in an organization is responsible for developing a charter. Since the business manager has clearly identified the problem to someone assigned to help (the PM again), they will often revert back to other duties, leaving the task to the PM. The 5% rule now comes into play: If a single task is assigned to 2 people equally, each will take 5% ownership of its completion. It should be clearly documented in an organizations project methodology which role is responsible for developing the charter.

If it is clearly the responsibility of the project manager, project charters are often only developed half-heartedly, leading to unclear vision from the beginning of the effort. Many times the project manager has not been a party to the business discussions leading to the birth of the project. Once assigned, it is often seen as a sign of weakness for a PM to go back over territory already covered. What PM wants to acquire the reputation of not being able to jump in with both feet and get the project moving? Revisiting lofty ideas such as business objectives, goals, and critical success factors can come across as being excessively process-oriented and not focused on achieving results. As a result, many PM’s will move forward with the uneasy feeling that they are missing something.

As a project manager, what is your role and responsibility when it comes to chartering projects? Well, since you probably do not control the funds needed to sponsor a project, it is unlikely that you will have the gravitas (my favorite word from a previous election cycle) to charter them yourself. Basically, it comes down to this.

The business managers will often put together an unsuitable charter. However, this does not mean that you should accept this shortcoming and move forward anyway. Remember, you are ultimately responsible for the success of the project, so it is in your best interest—in fact your responsibility, especially if you are a PMP—to insure an appropriate charter is in place before investing additional effort/hours/cost.

Here are some items you should make certain are addressed through whatever chartering process your organization employs. If your company doesn’t even recognize the concept of chartering, you may need to introduce these concepts a little at a time and walk them through the process without using any official sounding terms like charter, mission statement or vision document.

Read more at ProjectConnections.