#500 – What I’ve Learned So Far
Posted by Brad Egeland
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.
Carnival of Project Management #33
Posted by Elizabeth
Welcome to the August/September 2010 edition of the Carnival of Project Management, our 33rd Carnival.
To start, Rich Maltzman, PMP presents Zero is the new Infinity posted at Earth PM, saying, “Green is the new black, and zero is the new infinity…” He also writes his own blog and posted We just ain’t that good at risk from Scope crêpe, saying, “Really – we aren’t.”
Valery Zelixon presents Supplier selection process part 1 – - how to select global supplier for your business posted at Supply Chain Notebook.
Stuart Corrigan presents How To Map A Process posted at Vanguard Scotland, which also includes some links to free tools for process mapping.
Guru presents 25 things that you need to know to host successful events posted at Eventzilla Blog. This is on the boundaries of project management, but if you are hosting lunch-and-learn sessions for teams of project managers, courses or simply workshops for your projects, review this list.
Wise Bread presents How to Get Your Boss to Let You Work From Home posted at Wisebread.
Bruce Loflland presents Hidden reasons why things don’t get done posted at PM Technix.
And here’s another from Rich Maltzman, PMP presents Green Project Management and the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill posted at Earth PM. “Pertinent!” he says.
Chris Solomon presents Project Management Tools Part – 1 Critical Path Method(CPM) posted at Jazz Presentation, saying, “Critical Path Method is A very effective Method used in Project Management to Segregate the most important parts of the projects for the rest.” This is a basic article on critical path method.
And finally, here is a new project management blog: IT Project Blog. Not very adventurously named, but it looks like it could build into a good resource.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of project management using our carnival submission form. The next edition of the Carnival will be hosted at A Girl’s Guide to Project Management.
Project Managem-ANTS!
Posted by ElizabethAnts are being used to advertise the project management courses at City University of Seattle! As part of a creative campaign, called ‘Citywise’ for the City University of Seattle, an Ant Habitat has been installed in Tacoma International Airport. It’s part of a blended advertising campaign which is designed to show the blend of experience you get as a City student, both in and out of the classroom.
The ants are supposed to represent a case study in organisational structure. It’s an interesting idea, and I suppose it might get a few more people along to City to find out about their graduate degrees in project management! Has anyone passing through Tacoma actually seen it?
August 2010 PM Survey – Where are You Now?
Posted by Brad Egeland
Given the economy, I thought now would be a good time to gauge where we are in our employment status. Some of us are employed, some not employed. Some are consultants, some want to be consultants. Some are happy where they are and some are searching frantically for a better position.
I’ll admit, I was having trouble coming up with good questions and response options for this one, but I did my best. If you have suggestions, let me know and I’ll create a part 2 to this survey.
The survey is up now and available for you to take at www.bradegeland.com. As always, it’s completely anonymous so please take the survey – the more responses we get the more meaningful the data will be for all of us.
As always, there are five questions so it won’t take you long to complete. Question #1 focuses on your current employment situation (W2, consulting, working in a non-PM role, unemployed, etc.).
Question #2 focuses on those who are actually actively looking for work now. Are you a W2 employee who is searching, a consultant looking for W2 work, unemployed and searching, or content with what you’re doing now?
Question #3 is asking what your favorite job site is. Dice, Careerbuilder, Monster, Craigslist …. something else? If you use something other than the first four, please feel free to give us details in the comments. We’ve probably all used them all at some point, but which one is your favorite or where have you found your best success so far?
July 2010 PM Survey Results – The Project Schedule
Posted by Brad Egeland
The July PM survey on the tools we use to manage the project schedule and how we go about using those tools is now complete. The results aren’t too surprising – at least not to me. As always, the detailed results will be posted on my site (www.bradegeland.com) under Past Survey Results. For some spin analysis on the results, read on….
What tool are we using?
The results in this category didn’t surprise me too much – except maybe for the overall domination of the clear winner. A far majority of survey responders indicated that they use MS Project in some form (2003, 2007, 2010, Project Server, etc.) to put together and manage their project schedule. In all, 85% indicated that MS Project is either theirs or their company’s tool of choice. 9% indicated they use some version of Primavera. 2% actually indicated that they use Excel to manage the project schedule.
Do we allow our teams to update the schedule?
This is another category that didn’t surprise me – at least not according to my own practices. Do you allow your team members update access to the project schedule? 74% indicated that they do not. 13% do allow team members to revise the project schedule and another 13% indicated that it they allow it on some projects.
Do we allow our customers to update the schedule?
A full 87% of survey responders said that they never allow customers update access to the project schedule – which I personally feel is a wise decision. Only 4% indicated that they do allow customers update access and 9% said that it depended on the project.
