This page contains blog feeds from Jerry
and his colleagues at PMThink! ,
as well asperiodic podcasts from Jerry.
January Podcast - The
3 Ps of Project Success
February Podcast - Economy
of Force
March Podcast - Exactitude
April Podcast - Speed
May Podcast - Flexibility
June Podcast - Simplicity
July Podcast - Character
August/September Podcast - Moral
Force
December Podcast - Napoleon's
Downfall (Part 1 of 3)
- Podcast:
The 3Ps of Project Success
1/22/2006
In the first of what will be
a monthly podcast, Jerry Manas, author of Napoleon
on Project Management and co-founder of PMThink!,
speaks about the 3Ps of Project Success: Principles,
the Past, and People.
- Microsoft
Poised to Take the IT EPM Market
1/22/2006
It's like the tortoise
and the hare. For years, Microsoft has been
evolving its low-cost MS/Project suite and
capturing the IT market, while mega-EPM providers
such as Mercury, Niku, and Planview focused
on meeting enterprise portfolio needs. Now
things are about to change. As we reported
a few weeks ago,…
- Risk
analysis for portfolio management
1/22/2006
"CIOs who are serious
about portfolio management need to be serious
about statistical risk management". This
sentence is tucked away soemwhere in the second
section of this article, but it summarises
the message. An interesting insight is that
many organisations can't or won't quantify
project risks. Because there are no…
- Risk
Analysis
1/22/2006
Oil exploration is a notoriously
risky business. Add in the physical risk of deep
water drilling and you can easily understand
why risk analysis and management takes on a really
high profile in the off shore drilling industry.
DNV is a long established maritime certification
organisation and, with the North…
Download
Podcast
- Project
Benefits; Easy to Forget
1/19/2006
There's a good article
in Computerworld about how frequently projects
begin with a certain ROI expectation, only
to have it forgotten by the time the project
ends. Everyone's so busy trying to complete
the project on time and on budget, that nobody
remembers to track the benefits the project
was…
- Scrum
Project Management - A Definition
1/19/2006
In a previous post, I
mentioned that Scrum is not an acronym, it's
just a word. Well, here's what it means. 1.
Sports a) A play in Rugby in which the two
sets of forwards mass together around the ball
and, with their heads down, struggle to gain
possession of…
- Agile
Project Management with Scrum
1/19/2006
I have been wondering lately,
what does agile really mean here? This article
says, Agile means responding to change - both
technological change and changes in requirements
perhaps due to customer demand and market opportunities.
It makes sense to me that this would be needed.
The world is spinning much…
- Research
Project: The Mobile Always-On Generation ...
1/19/2006
Martin Raymond shares his observations
on the emerging generation of mobile technology
enthusiasts, who use technology routinely to
enable their lifestyles. Data shows that teens
are well equipped with devices that enable an
online experience throughout a typical day. ...
... "In various research projects designed
to asses the impact…
Download
Podcast
- Agile
Software Development: New Project Management
Paradigm ...
1/18/2006
According to article,
traditional project management methods must
be transformed to enable agile software development
and service-oriented architectures. This new
paradigm requires an organization that shares
knowledge freely and quickly. An organization's
readiness to work in the new paradigm of open
collaboration is an indicator of success with
agile software…
- IT
Governance: Active Business Engagement ...
1/17/2006
Great interview of ExxonMobil
CIO Patricia C. Hewlett, who prides herself on
a business-engaged form of IT governance. ...
... "We pride ourselves on our approach
to I.T. governance, with active business and
corporate management engagement in I.T. strategies,
priorities, and funding levels. We accomplish
a competitive cost structure through…
- Scrum
Project Management - 3 Basic Questions
1/16/2006
Scrum employs the dreaded daily
meeting. The purpose is to keep everyone focused
on the RIGHT work. A daily focus helps to manage
the "overwhelm" factor. Scrum asks
3 basic questions: What have you done during
the last 24 hours? (Progress, work completed
to date) What do you plan to…
- Alan
Calder Hosts SOX Webinar
1/16/2006
Alan Calder, the leading IT
Security and Governance guru, will be hosting
a webinar on January 25th to talk about ISO 27001
(the new security standard) and how it creates
a full-range solution for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance,
drawing from CobiT, ITIL and ISO 17799. For more,
here's the info... Alan Calder…
- Project
Management Rules vs Common Sense: A Lesson From
a Taxi Driver
2/9/2006
Are You Talkin' to Me?
I was riding in a taxi today, and the driver
told me a funny story. He said that when they
went to Taxi Driver Courtesy Class, it was
conducted by a police officer. The officer
discussed the need to pick up every potential
rider…
- Dilbert
on Project Management
2/9/2006
What do certified project
managers and zombies have in common? See today's
Dilbert. It's a classic... Link
- Business
Value of the IT Application Portfolio ...
2/8/2006
-
Under constant
pressure to cut costs? Managing a portfolio of
existing applications? Enhancing, upgrading,
or sustaining these applications? Struggling
to describe the value of applications that run-the-business?
The Application Investment Management (AIM) framework
looks interesting. Sheldon Monteiro, Sapient,
discusses the AIM Framework which is used to
understand, leverage and rationalize…
- Bulding
a Team? Make Weaknesses Irrelevant
2/8/2006
We've been blogging recently
about the importance of praise and positive
reinforcement. When building a project team
or organization, the ideal is to make weaknesses
completely irrelevant and focus instead on
people's strengths. So says Peter Drucker in
The Effective Executive in Action. Here's an
example, according to Drucker: "A…
- Microsoft
on Scrum & Extreme Programming
2/8/2006
One way Microsoft's development
teams intend to deliver products to market
faster is through the use of agile development
methodologies, such as extreme programming
and Scrum. You may have seen some of our many
other blogs on Scrum. David Treadwell, corporate
vice president of the .Net Developer Platform
group at…
- Jerry
Manas February Podcast: Economy of Force and
Project Management
2/8/2006
This month's podcast
talks about the concept of Economy of Force
and how it applies to project management ,
both at an organizational level and an individual
project level.
- Process
vs. Freedom; Finding the Right Balance
2/7/2006
There's a great article
in Computerworld about finding the balance
between having well-defined, repeatable processes
and allowing businesses (and project managers)
the freedom to innovate. A flexible approach
is key. Here's an excerpt from the article:
Studies have shown that the consistent use
of processes increases repeatability, productivity
and quality…
- Project
Management Tip - The Postive Project Executive
Factoid
2/7/2006
How often do you see
executives who care about your project in the
hallway, elevator, etc.? Once a month, several
times a week, several times per day? What do
you say to them? "Hello, how are you?" Is
that all? If it is, consider preparing your "recent
positive project factoid"…
- IT
Governance Quality Management: Part of Outsourcing
Arrangement ...
2/7/2006
Hospital's IT outsourcing
arrangement includes services for IT governance
and quality management ... ... "Consistent
with Lake Forest Hospital’s priorities, Eclipsys
will provide support for major financial and
clinical information systems projects involving
non-Eclipsys information products, while implementing
strategies to promote the integration and interoperability
among Eclipsys software and the…
- IT
Strategy Dream Job ...
2/6/2006
Finally found my dream job
... SAP IT Strategy, Beer ... Only problem, it's
complete. ... Andrea Stercken writes about the
ERP modernization program at Krombacher Brewery,
where the SAP suite was implemented to centralize
systems and serve a broad set of standard business
processes with transaction processing and business…
- Microsoft
Project P12
2/5/2006
More news from Redmond.
Thanks to Dieter for being the man on the inside
who's prepared to publish information about
the new features of the new version of Microsoft
Project due for release later this year. The
last couple of posts in his blog give more
detail about some of…
- Business
Process Governance: Setting Priorities ...
2/5/2006
The convergence of benefits
realization from ERP implementations and the
drive towards operational excellence have placed
IT at the epicenter of business process transformation.
Good governance can ensure the leadership committment
and focus necessary to achieve real change. Andrew
Rowsell-Jones, Gartner, extends the approach
for IT governance to the enterprise…
- IT
Governance Framework Announced
3/18/2006
IT Governance Limited
has announced a new IT governance framework
(titled the Calder-Moir IT Governance Framework)
that brings together multiple disciplines,
including information technology, risk management,
project management, strategy, intellectual
property, business design and compliance. "Until
today, no single tool has provided a full picture
of IT governance”, says Alan…
- Project
Management Goes to the Movies; Or Vice-Versa
3/17/2006
OK, I think I just died
and went to heaven. Here is an organization
that is near and dear to my heart. As a movie
fanatic and home theater buff, not to mention
somewhat involved in the project management
field, I've always felt that the best lessons
come from movies.…
- Enable
Creativity to Generate Ideas ...
3/16/2006
Need to increase the
flow of ideas in your enterprise, department,
or work-group. Build a creative environment
and innovative mindset through fun meetings.
Bill Repp provides insight on enabling creative
meeting practices - all simple, yet effective.
... ... "Ask one or two people in the
group who can draw…
- Project
Management Checklists; Expand Your Toolbox
3/16/2006
AllPM is one of the more
content-rich project management sites. And
best of all, the tools are all free. One of
the many useful areas on their site is their
checklists section. I particularly liked the
Consultants Methodology checklist, which I
think is valuable for any project manager.
It's concise,…
- CIO
Role: Innovate or Perish ...
3/15/2006
Much of the information
technology (IT) organization is becoming a
commodity, and, like many in the IT profession,
CIO's know that they must innovate or perish
in the capabilities and services that they
as leaders deliver to an enterprise. The CIO
role is evolving and there is a trend underway…
- Has
Agile Development Lost its Way?
3/14/2006
According to Steve McConnell,
chief software engineer at Contrux and a pioneer
in the "rapid development" movement,
Agile development has fallen short in several
areas, straying from its original focus and
becoming overly process and tool centric. I
know the original intent behind Agile was to
focus on rapid iterations…
- IT
Strategy: Corporate Interests Can Influence Architecture
and Career Path ...
3/13/2006
Ancedotal evidence illustrates
the impact of external forces when enterprise
architecture transformation is being considered.
Those forces can impact the architecture and
the career path of those involved. Who said
enterprise architecture wasn't risky business?
Ethan Butterfield reports on the status of
Massachusetts' Enterprise Technical Reference
Model. ... ... "Without…
- ERP
Project: Keep Eye on Details ...
3/12/2006
Firm publishes report on approach
to challenging ERP business transformation projects.
Current marketplace conditions are impacting
the quality of ERP implementation talent even
in the context of a strong methodology. This
requires the client company to pay close attention
to the project details. Be on the look-out for:
Lack of…
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