Journyx Project Management Blog

Sure, the rest of the civilized world celebrates Labor Day on May 1. But here in the US we celebrate our Labor Day on the first Monday in September. A lot of people - though hardly anyone in the service industry - get the day off. It makes for a nice 3-day weekend that serves as a symbolic end of summer. But don’t let that symbolism fool you. In Texas, at least, it’ll continue to be hot for weeks to come.

So while the rest of the world (and a number of our own citizens) toil, your pals at Journyx will be firing up the grill at backyard cookouts, taking a cooling dip in Barton Springs Pool, cheering for the ‘Horns at the first UT Football game of the season, or just generally taking an extra day off. But don’t worry, we’ll be back in the office tomorrow, ready to take on whatever you care to bring us.

We’ll just be wearing our felt Stetsons instead of our straw ones.

Over the years, the term project manager has been defined in many ways that does not give a single description of the roles and responsibilities. Organizations have, without consideration for a standard definition, labeled individuals with the title of project manager whether they were responsible for a schedule, schedule and cost, or schedule, cost and product, or service performance.

Rightfully so, organizations tailored the roles and responsibilities to meet their business needs. This does, however, cause some confusion as to what are the full roles and responsibilities of a project manager. The USA National Competence Baseline (NCB) lists 49 elements (Editor’s note: there will be 49 with the addition of Business Development) of competence that are suggested areas of competence that a project manager should possess to fully meet the qualifications for managing a large, complex project. A person managing smaller and less complex projects would perhaps need less competence
in some of the areas, but more detailed depth in some of the technical competences. Organizations may selectively use the 49 competence elements to tailor the required qualifications of their project managers.

Competence Growth for Project Managers
The evolution of modern project management as a discipline, and the various roles for project managers have expanded. Where formerly the focus was relatively technical aspects for guiding projects through their life cycle to a realization, increasingly the context in which projects are implemented and the behavioral aspects of the project staff are also important for success. The three categories of project management elements, Technical, Contextual, and Behavioral, continue to evolve through better definitions and added competence elements.

Download the entire PDF at asapm.

Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s the humidity. Maybe it’s just that we love you this much.

In any case, we’re here to tell you that between now and August 15th, 2008, we’re having what some people might call “a sale.” But this isn’t some sort of lame “10% off your next order” thing. No siree. This is a bona fide “we give you something for free” kind of thing.

But enough hype. You need details. So here they are:

• Buy at least 10 Timesheet Online (AKA hosted, SaaS) license seats and we’ll give you 10 more completely free.
• Switch your existing local Timesheet license to Timesheet Online (AKA hosted, SaaS) and we’ll throw in an additional 10 license seats on the house.
• Purchase at least 10 local Timesheet license seats and we’ll give you 5 more gratis.

That’s it. No gimmicks. No convoluted schemes. No need to send in box tops from your favorite breakfast grain or cereal. Just a simple, “you buy, we throw in a little extra” deal for old and new customers alike.

To take advantage of this offer - which really is only good through August 15th - just contact your Journyx Sales Rep and let them know you’d like to order from the newsletter menu.

The Obligatory Fine Print: Offer applies to new business initiated after receipt of this offer. Previous sales agreements, quotes and verbal agreements are not eligible for this offer. Tax, title and license not included. Do not use discount while showering, sleeping or operating heavy machinery.

“This is what we need. You can use these resources. And you must deliver it by that date.

Does this sound familiar? If so, you are not alone. Many project managers find themselves in just such a situation. There are lots of dictates, no flexibility, and more often than not little realism in the demands.

What value is there in estimation when your sponsor seems to have no interest in finding out what it will really take to do the project? The constraints have been chiseled in stone and we can’t change them. End of story. Our job boils down to trying to keep the project from being too much of a disaster.

Although it may not seem to be true, we can negotiate unrealistic project expectations. And the key is to do a good job of estimating what it really will take to do the project…

Read more at:
http://journyx.com/rss/redir/pcon-negotiate.html

Journyx has partnered with AimSourcing to give our customers the support of honest-to-goodness QuickBooks blackbelts.

AimSourcing is a leader in outsourced accounting and information management services. They provide innovative business solutions which enable a company to grow its business without the time, energy, and cost required to create and manage internal systems and staff.

• Does your current accounting system fail to give you up-to-date, accurate and meaningful data to make good business decisions?
• Are you having trouble meeting all the tax and regulatory requirements for your industry and location?
• Do you need a forecasting system that helps you determine future cash requirements?
• Would you benefit from senior level oversight of your accounting operation, including a month-end financial review and business advice?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then AimSourcing is definitely a team you need on your side.

And just so you can see how amazing they really are, AimSourcing is offering a free 30-min consultation with one of their experts.

Sign up now!

• How are the pre-filled dates determined for reports that prompt for date ranges?
• How can I see who hasn’t entered any time for a selected period?

Get these and other useful tidbits at:
http://journyx.com/rss/support/tips/

Fair warning: Journyx is based in Texas, the 4th hottest place on earth. Also, it’s the middle of July. And yet I am about to complain about the heat. If I were to read a piece written by someone in upstate New York that complained about the cold in the winter time I’d feel pretty comfortable telling the whiner to shut up and live with it. But I’m asking you to stick with me because despite the whining, I really do have a point that’s germane to projects. Trust me. Would a marketing guy lie to you? Don’t answer that. Just keep reading.

It’s been a very hot summer. Incredibly, painfully hot, even for Texas. It was the hottest June on record, with 20 days at 100° F or higher. It’s also been very dry - like 3 inches below average dry. Why am I going on about this? To make the point clear that, unlike last year’s temperate and waterlogged June, this season hasn’t been very good - or very inspiring - for gardening. You remember my bit about gardening (oh, and time boxing) from back in February, don’t you?

Anyway, the garden has fared rather poorly. Almost entirely due to the heat. Well, that freak hailstorm back in May that utterly destroyed the tomatoes and demolished our bean pole tripod (lovingly lashed together by yours truly - thanks knot-tying merit badge!) didn’t help. But really, it’s the heat. If you have to work the land to survive, it’s one thing. But if it’s really just a hobby, well, there are indoor hobbies that keep you safe from the raging anger of the sun. And that means that the garden suffers alone.

Right, so here’s where we get to the point. Said green brown patch is part of a community garden, and that means that other people care about the state of the plot almost as much as we do. They care because it can affect their plots - if it gets too weedy, say, or if it gets overgrown and blocks out the sun (normally bad, though possibly a good thing this year). You get the idea. So, last weekend an email went out to the gardener list barking at everyone to clean up their plots by the end of Sunday or have their ownership of said plots revoked. Apparently, we’re not the only ones hiding from the intense ball of fusion in the sky.

Now, I’m all for keeping the garden looking nice and going strong, but to threaten to revoke ownership in July - after membership fees have been paid for the entire year, no less - is a bit, well, unreasonable. I suppose the tone was taken to try to spur action, but instead it really just sounded petulant and overly-demanding. Kind of like the way upper management sounds when they demand completion of a project without any effort at understanding the situation on the ground. You see, it’s easy to look at a situation, see something you don’t like and decree that changes be enacted. Heck, it’s probably human nature to do so. But we’re out to change that - in project land, if not in community gardens across the country.

How does a Timesheet company aim to help management get a better idea of what the lay of the land looks like, you ask? Sssssh. It’s a secret.

- Andrew Trent, Journyx Director of Web Content

I have spent most of the last twenty years researching, studying, writing and speaking about Time Management and Personal Productivity. I have learned a whole lot and my full-time mission now is to share that knowledge through my writings, seminars, consulting and keynotes with people who want to get more done in less time in their business and personal lives.

One important lesson I learned is that there are three simple, yet powerful Time Management Secrets. Knowing these will go a long way to helping you to better manage your time each and every day and get more done in less time and with less stress.

We all have too much to do. Almost everyone I speak with tells me they have more to do than time permits. This says a lot of good things about you. That you have too much to do means many have entrusted a lot to you. People who seldom have enough to keep them busy and are always looking for things to do may not have earned this level of confidence from others.

There is never enough time for everything. If you have too much to do, by definition, you will not have enough time for everything. In fact you will only accomplish but a tiny fraction of what you will want to accomplish in your lifetime. You will leave undone far more than you ever get done in this world. Your life is going to be like a sandy beach. Take one grain of sand and let that represent all that you accomplish in your lifetime. The other billions of grains of sand will represent all of the other things you might have done.

While there’s never enough time for everything, there’s always enough time for the important things.

Read the rest at PROJECTmagazine.

Journyx customer ACS Dataline, LP has some nice things to say about Journyx - and we didn’t even have to bribe them!

If you’re someone who hasn’t yet joined the Journyx family, take a look at ACS Dataline’s review of Timesheet at DMReview.com. It just might tell you - from an independent point of view - what you need to make your decision.

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

Before we talk about team building, we must have a fair idea of the word “Team”. Team is a collection of people, often from diverse but related groups, assigned to perform a well-defined function for an organization or a project.

From the word, team comes “Team building”. Team building as the name so evidently suggests is the process of building an effective team. A team building exercise helps in making for a strong cohesive unit that has a common goal and purpose. It also involves coordinating the dynamics of the group to improve its efficiency. When you build a team, it is important to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each and every team member. This will enable you to assign tasks that they will be good at.

Read more at at: http://journyx.com/rss/redir/projmag-teambuild.html