Reforming Project Management » tools

Friction-Free Collaboration

Hal — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:34:03 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

I've just arrived at the PMI Global Congress 2009 in Orlando, FL. Tomorrow AM a number of us who are members of the PMI New Media Council will be speaking in a panel on social media and its impacts on the discipline of project management. Among other things, I'll be talking about my company's experience using Yammer. Our experience has been good. More on that later.

It's great seeing a smiling colleague's faceOur company works with architects, engineers and construction firms along with the clients of those firms. We're a small consultancy…just 12 people all working out of their homes in all 4 US continental timezones or at our clients' work sites. We can get isolated from one another. Many of us have become way too self-reliant going so far that some people reinvent materials because it appears easier than collaborating with peers. While we take great measures to make the company's materials widely available using Windows Live Sync, still we weren't collaborating like we wanted to.

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Do Checklists Make Architecture and Design Projects Better?

Hal — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:17:17 +0000

Image by Dan O'Leary via Flickr

Web 2.0 is synonymous with the software solutions 37signals creates. You know the names, Backpack, Basecamp, Highrise, Campfire, Ta-da List and Whiteboard. These are the same people behind Ruby on Rails. How do they do such great work?

They call it Getting Real. It's an approach — a philosophy really — that guides how they do what they do to build software solutions. Oh, you don't do that! There's a lot to learn for everyone who does design and development projects.

"Avoid (Getting Real) at your peril."

That includes building architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, new product development team, etc. Seth Godin had this to say about the book, "Avoid it at your peril."(...)
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Mind Map Your Way to Project Success

Hal — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:41:45 +0000

Istarted mind mapping in the mid '80s. It was part of a program at my company to accelerate our learning. It was coupled with a speed reading program and rapid recall training. For the most part, all three stuck. But it's mind mapping that has been most useful over 20 years later.

Tony Buzan introduced the world to mind mapping. Essentially, it's an association technique for taking notes or collecting thoughts in a word-art fashion. Ideas are linked one-to-the-other making associations. According to Buzan, and in my experience, mind mapping increases your recall and helps make surprising connections of otherwise seemingly unrelated ideas. It is a great approach to use for planning, in preparation for innovation, and when in the midst of doing something creative.

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Get Help Mind Mapping for Projects

Hal — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 16:26:31 +0000

Last year I suggested mind mapping could be a useful alternative to traditional project planning tools in Tired of MS Project? Try Mind Mapping. Chuck Frey has a new ebook to get you started: Power Tips & Strategies for Mind Mapping Software. The book covers numerous project uses of mind-mapping including: managing task lists, planning a project, managing a meeting, and organizing complex information. Chuck also offers tips for taking advantage of what mind-mapping software has to offer.

I've been mind mapping for more than 20 years. I learned from a Tony Buzan memory technique program. Chuck does a great job of concisely presenting how to take advantage of mind-mapping outside of the usual brainstorming and organizing information. One of the best uses of mind maps I've seen on projects is for building a shared context for the project team, client, and constituents. A mind map is also a great way to capture and convey complicated information. Chuck covers all of that in his book. Give it a try! Also check out Chuck's article How to Use Mind Mapping Software for Project Management for an introduction. Or, try this Mind Map software.

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ConceptDraw MINDMAP Pro 3 product review – InnovationTools

Hal — Sat, 07 Aug 2004 01:47:36 +0000

I promised to give you my feedback on my mind-mapping trial. Well, Chuck Frey of Innovation Tools beat me to it. He just did a review of the software I've been trying. I don't have any point for comparison, but Chuck does. See ConceptDraw MINDMAP Pro 3 Product Review – InnovationTools: "ConceptDraw MINDMAP Pro version 3 offers valuable enhancements to polished program". Chuck gives the program 5 stars (out of 5).

My posting earlier this week on using mind-mapping for project planning and management hit a sweet spot. Almost 600 people clicked through to the Innovation Tools site. You'll see more from me on this topic.

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Tired of MS Project? Try Mind Mapping

Hal — Wed, 04 Aug 2004 04:23:04 +0000

I'm tired of traditional project management software. For so many projects MS Project, Suretrak, and P3 are overkill. Want something to handle those projects done by a small project team? Try mind mapping. That's right, the memory technique created by Tony Buzan is being used quite successfully for managing projects. Chuck Frey has a short article in Innovation Tools,
How to Use Mind Mapping Software for Project Management. He describes applications and strategies for their use.

The Innovation Tools site includes a Mind Mapping Resource Center where you'll find reviews, articles, and my favorite Mind Mapping in Eight Easy Steps from the Innovation Network. I've been mind mapping for almost 17 years. This 10 minute tutorial is outstanding!

I'm not managing a project with a mind map just yet. I'm playing with ConceptDraw MINDMAP to see how easy it is to use the tools. But whether or not I find software helpful, I will try the approach on a project that I'm starting later this month. I'll let you know how it goes.

Interested in innovation? Chuck Frey also writes the Innovation Tools Weblog. Add it to your feed reader.

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PPC Macro Available for MS Project

Hal — Wed, 14 Jul 2004 20:13:36 +0000

Kudos to Brian ~~Michael~~ Kennemer!! He just published in Projectified an add-in macro for MS Project that calculates Percent of Plan (Promises) Complete (PPC). This is the key measure of planning reliability. Projects done on a lean basis have PPCs that are above 85%. Usual projects are under 50%. Due to the phenomenon of dependence and variation low PPC leads to projects that are late and over budget.

Get Brian's PPC Macro. It's a quick add-in to your MS Project schedules. Now the important question? How do you improve PPC? Start by reviewing these three Project e-Tips:

Then put a process in place for making work ready. That process must address and resolve the constraints that keep people from completing a task. Adopt a process that allows people to only start work that is in a condition to be finished. Finally, get project performers to promise completion.

You now know have a measurement tool and a practice for improving planning reliability. Get on with it!

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