Since this is my 500th post for PM Tips, I thought it might be a good time to look back and think about what I’ve learned and the experiences I’ve had writing in the project management and business technology communities.



It has certainly been a nice creative outlet for me and I’ve enjoyed the writing far more than I thought I would.  500 posts have added up to nearly 400,000 words and more than 750 comments that contain yet another 75,000 words.  That’s a lot of reading for all of us.  The 400,000 words in the articles alone is the equivalent of more than five books.  Considering the fact that I’m writing a book (more on that later) and haven’t finished it yet but I’ve written more than five books worth in the articles says I’m not project managing my book writing process very well.  Oh well.



So, what have I learned so far by expressing my thoughts and experiences online to strangers, peers, and colleagues?



I’ve learned that, as I indicated above, I enjoy writing much more than I thought I would.



I’ve learned that it’s easier to express your opinions, experiences, trials, and tribulations than I thought it would be.  I’ve only experienced writer’s block a couple of times.  And I’ve gained much inspiration for articles just from the reader comments that come in.  Project managers are a very thought-provoking group.



Though I’ve made it sound enjoyable, I have learned that it’s not always easy to squeak out at least 500-1000 words on a topic and sound fresh.  Sometimes I’ve come up short.  Likewise, when I have lots of thoughts on a topic and write a long article, it can be hard to keep the writing flowing and orderly so that the reader can make sense of it.  In other words, sometimes I ramble on.  Like right now.



I’ve learned that there are just about as many ways to manage projects as there are projects to be managed.  And it often depends on the project size, budget and ultimately the customer.  The one common factor is success.  If you don’t manage to project success than you may have chosen the wrong way to manage that particular project.



I’ve learned that it’s just as fun sharing project failure experiences as it is project success experiences.  PM Tips’ mission is to share experiences with project managers as well as mentor new project managers.  Sharing failures, successes, templates, and documents is all part of the game and it’s been great to see how much we’ve all helped each other out.



I’ve learned that the IT industry and the project management industry is taking hard hits just like nearly every other industry.  There are a lot of underemployed, unemployed, and frustrated project managers out there with great resumes that companies need, but are reluctant to spend money on.



I’ve learned that surveys are fun and interesting and analyzing the results stirs that part of me that has always enjoyed analysis, mathematics, and looking for ways to draw meaning out of combining similar, related issues.



I’ve definitely learned that there are so many pieces of software out there that can be used to manage projects that are either cheap, free, in the cloud, or easily downloaded that the corporate world doesn’t just revolve around Microsoft anymore.  And I’ll plug the nice people at Seavus now as their Project Planner and Project Viewer software are great project management solutions for very small monthly fees.  And yes, they work nicely with MS Project files.



I’ve learned that even with so many words put into articles it’s still harder than I thought to put them into some semblance of a book format and get them out to readers.  I do still intend to complete my book in September though – I’ll keep you posted.  The title (so far) is “RealPM: A Hybrid PM Methodology for Real Life IT Project Management” and it will soon be available on the Books link at bradegeland.com.



I’ve learned a lot of things about areas that I was weak in before through research I needed to do in order to sound more knowledgeable in specific articles.  Oddly, that has sometimes led me to be perceived as an expert and interviewed for other articles when all I did was write one piece on a topic.  The world works in strange ways…