Volume X - Issue II - February 2008
PM Tips and Techniques
How to Drive a Software Product Based Business By Laurence Nicholson Introduction All too often I have joined a start-up organisation that has roots in consulting, only to find the need exists for them to radically change their mindset in order to grow and mature. This article explains some of the issues experienced and the organic model that makes up a product based organisation. Background Large consulting companies often spin off ventures that are based around an idea or a product rather than consulting time, but fail to realise the resultant venture company will not perform when managed using the processes in place within the consulting environment. The needs and drivers are different. The Different Elements Every company needs to identify what it is that is responsible for the revenues generated, which could be time and materials for a consulting firm or ‘widgets’ for a product based company. Of course, it is not as straight forward as that, and often includes a combination of product and services which have very different management models. Product management is driven very much from the root of the product itself, as seen in the Product Organic Model, with the key elements of the business being directed by the progress of the product through its release strategy, whereas Service management is based on the delivery of a set number of days or an agreed deliverable and is managed typically as a T&M project. Read complete paper in English
The To Do List: The Essence of every project management endeavour,
By Azra Duric We all know that the planning phase is an absolutely critical process of every project life-cycle, regardless of its size and complexity. Moreover, every project manger understands that the success of a project depends, in major part, on how well the planning is done. Planning is usually the busiest phase and every good Project Manager knows that his project is at stake if the planning is not taken seriously throughout its lifecycle. The complexity and the scope of the planning process in every project depends on the size, the budget approved, the scope, the three constraints, the organizational maturity and many other factors . In order to do a formal planning process there is a myriad of different tools and techniques, with hundreds of software applications on the market available to project managers, with or without the cost. What is in common with these tools is that they contain a scheduling plan, which will help to determine what activity will be done and when, and who is responsible to carry it out. These tools range from the more sophisticated, such as MS Project to the very simple, such as a good old Excel. Read complete paper in English
The Seven Deadly Project Sins: By Tim Bergmann, PMP, ABCP This document is the seventh and last in a series about the Seven Deadly Project Sins I have been focusing on some of the “soft-elements” of the project, some temptations that the project manager needs to be on the lookout for in order to foster success on the project. The Seven Deadly Project Sins as I have defined them are:
The seventh Deadly Project Sin – Best Practice Sloth can increase risk on the project beyond all of our expectations. Read complete paper in English
What is Not a Project?
By Randall L. Englund Not much, was my answer to this question asked by a participant in a project management workshop. This person got it, that most everything we do, whether launching a space shuttle, developing a new product, introducing a new service, or responding to a request, is a project. More often than not, a project manager has to influence without authority. It’s been said we use only 10-20% of our mental capacity; I posit that we also use only a small portion of our influence capacity, maybe only 10%. If you could double your influence capacity, improving your capabilities by 10%, imagine the impact! More gets accomplished, less stress, partners cooperate instead of resist, work is more fun—these are a few potential benefits. You can tame the naturally occurring chaos, not by making it go away, but by looking for patterns in human behavior and by applying a systematic set of process steps that lead to higher probability of project success. Because you apply this approach to more activities and improve your overall return on investments by treating everything as a project, you find yourself asking the same question, “What is not a project?” Read complete paper in English
The Power of One By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP® How about trying something different this year? Instead of a long list of resolutions that get tucked away in a filing cabinet or eaten by the dog, how about focusing on just one? The one resolution that can make the biggest difference in your life and have the most impact! What is that resolution for you? Think about the one thing that gnaws at you most. Maybe it’s a dream or a goal that you catch yourself thinking about, but then you put off because it would take too much time or effort to complete. Or maybe you don’t know where to begin? Whether it’s going back to school or starting a business, there is no singular goal that you can’t accomplish this year. I like to look at New Year’s resolutions with my Project Management hat on. Think of your one resolution as a project, and treat it like one throughout the year. Here are a few tips to get you started: Make your resolution actionable. Many people make their goals and resolutions too broad. Every good project manager knows that plans need milestones, and they need to be measurable. Break your resolution down into the 12 months of the year, and develop a milestone for each month. When you can see your goal on a monthly basis, it’s much less overwhelming than just looking at the ending. “The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.” Abraham Lincoln
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