Blog Archives

Project Hoarding - 4 Strategies for Getting an IT Project Out of Limbo

6/30/2015

Projects are meant to be executed on. Yet, for some reason, many projects remain in limbo - never executed on even with all resources and funding in place just because someone can't pull the trigger.

I can be a hoarder at times. I have collectible items that I’ve moved from house to house and they are taking up valuable storage space right now. In fact, our family had accumulated so much “stuff” over the years that it took me three full months after we had moved into our current house to actually end our tenure in our previous house…it took that long to finish on off the throw away and packing process and be done with it...

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A Project is a Project is a Project

6/29/2015

Are all projects basically the same? Do best practices translate from project to project and industry to industry? What’s your take? I’m going to discuss my take on this and then I’d like to hear from you on your thoughts.

Every project – in its details – is different, I know. Even two projects implementing the same technology – maybe even with the same PM and technical team involved – will be different to some degree. But my real question is this – are all projects basically and fundamentally the same? From a project manager standpoint, do we really run project A different than project B? Do we do the same things – just in different detail – on each project (or at least the things we know are helpful and successful and aren’t contributing to ongoing project failures once we learn our lessons)?...

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5 Project Management Hacks for a Better Customer Experience

6/29/2015

Your managing a project but it doesn’t seem like your customer is that excited about the process. You can’t put your finger on it, but they just don’t seem to be extremely satisfied with how things are going. That doesn’t mean the project is going poorly. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing anything wrong or that your team is underperforming.

Some customers are harder to please than others. Some seem excited with everything thing you do – others not so much. Either way, you have a “customer issue” and you need to do something about it. Maybe not a direct hit, but you need to alter something or inject a new process or behavior in order to change whatever is making the customer experience less than ideal for the project customer...

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What Does it Mean to Collaborate? 3 Tips for Project Collaboration

6/24/2015

Everyone talks about the importance of collaboration in our projects. Collaboration is defined as “the action of working with someone to produce or create something,” but it is also defined as “traitorous cooperation with an enemy.” Oops. What are we talking about here? We all know it is the former, not the latter! But seriously, haven’t we been collaborating on projects for decades? Well, yes and no. We have been “collaborating,” but we can and should be doing a better job at it, with the tools we have now that weren’t really available before. A file drawer in the project manager’s office or cubicle is not a real collaborative tool – especially if it’s a locked cabinet and only the PM has the key and he/she is traveling or on vacation. So the PM of the ’80s and even ’90s was not truly collaborative and desired ‘collaboration’ wasn’t really feasible. Now it is – on the cheap… and sometimes even for free...

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The Case of the Over-Communicative Creative Project Manager

6/23/2015

I have always contended that communication – good, efficient, effective communication – is Job #1 for the successful project manager. That said, how much is necessary? Who needs to see what? And when do you reach information overload?

Who needs to hear from you?

You’re the prime communicator and there are many things your creative team needs to know. They need to know what to do and when. They need to know what tasks are theirs, what affects their tasks and what deadlines they need to worry about...

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Creating a Project Budget that Works

6/22/2015

No question, the project budget is critical. Customer funding is based on it, project success is derived from how closely you manage to it, and without it you can’t perform any work on the engagement.

Properly pricing the project – properly estimating the costs that go into the project – is critical for any size engagement. Therefore, it’s always a good time to examine and discuss the elements that go into the overall project budget because as a project manager, you may – if you’re lucky – have some influence of the inputs to the project costs and budget. And it’s a certainty that you’ll be responsible for it – even if you had no input at the beginning of the engagement...

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5 Reasons Why Axosoft Should be Your Tool of Choice for Software Development Project Management

6/22/2015

In this next “5 Reasons Why…” installment, let’s look at Axosoft’s agile project management tool for software development. It’s awesome because you can bring your whole team together in one easy-to-use tool where managers, developers and customer support can collaborate to get things done. It’s a nightmare when you have to use multiple tools to manage projects, track defects, respond to support tickets and document everything—with Axosoft it’s all in one place!

As a project manager, you can derive meaningful data from Axosoft. I love that in one screen you can filter down the information you need without having to navigate all over the place or build out custom reports. You can even save and share the filtered views you use most often. With such a visual interface—think sleek dashboards with burndown charts, projections, and velocities—you can plan much more accurate software releases because it’s clear who’s working on what and when you’re projected to ship.

Here are a few more reasons why I would recommend Axosoft as the tool of choice for software development teams:

Ease of use and implementation. Having now compared tons of agile project management solutions, I was able to quickly recognize that Axosoft is much more intuitive. It’s easy for any user to customize and use, which makes it less of a struggle to get your team to not only adopt the product but get up and running in it too. Not to mention, the Sales and Success experts at Axosoft dedicate a lot of their time to answering your questions and ensuring your success with the product.

Visualization of key metrics. Axosoft’s custom dashboard displays vital metrics at a glance, and you have the flexibility to make them as simple or complex as you like just by dragging and dropping in different widgets. To give your executives, managers, or customers access to essential project data, you can make any dashboard public and share the URL with them. This is great for stakeholders who don’t need to work in the system but need access to key metrics and status reports.

Customized workflows. Axosoft is designed for use in Agile software development so it has predefined workflows for Scrum and Kanban, but it’s flexible enough to adapt to any process. You can modify an existing workflow or create your own from scratch. You can toggle from the list view to the Kanban card view, which makes it easy to visualize progress as items move through the workflow steps.

Customer engagement. Axosoft’s branded Customer Portal offers a way to publicize specific projects, releases, wiki pages, and other development information. Just like the rest of the system, you can use security roles to decide what information the customer can access. Customers can report bugs, submit support tickets, view wiki pages or check on the status of something previously submitted.

Installed or hosted options. A hosted solution is not for everybody; Axosoft offers both a hosted and installed option with comparable pricing. This gives you flexibility in terms of deciding what works best for your unique environment and security needs.

Ready to see for yourself?

Watch this great video to learn more about Axosoft. Then sign up for a free trial to test it out and see how Axosoft can improve your software development processes.

5 Tips for Getting that Project Management Job You Really Want

6/18/2015

Use these 5 cover letter, resume and job search tips to help you go to the top of heap and get noticed when you're searching for your next PM job.

Looking for that next project management gig? Is it something you're fishing for -- something you'll pursue if you happen to catch their eye with your resume, but in reality applying for it was just one of those late-night job search afterthoughts as you were throwing your resume out in bulk to a bunch of loosely matched job openings?

Or is it a job opening that you really want? Is it an opportunity that seems likely you'll be called about because you truly are a great match and you think that this might be your next, best career move?...

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What Advice Would You Give an Aspiring Project Manager?

6/16/2015

Questions from an aspiring project manager and answers to hopefully help guide his path and decisions. He's listening, what would you add?

Today I received an inquiry from an aspiring project manager. He was in his mid-20’s, thinking about getting a bachelor’s degree in project management and was asking questions about getting into the field and what to expect. I have no idea what the rest of his work background looks like. He had just read one of my articles and liked it and decided to start asking questions...

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Q&A with "Real Project Management" Author Peter Taylor

6/15/2015

In a recent article, I reviewed Peter Taylor's most recent book, "Real Project Management." The book is a great read that I highly recommend for new project managers, experienced project managers, accidental project managers, intentional project managers and any business professional who can benefit from the science of project management - which, in my opinion, is just about everyone else...

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<<Previous

Project Hoarding - 4 Strategies for Getting an IT Project Out of Limbo

A Project is a Project is a Project

5 Project Management Hacks for a Better Customer Experience

What Does it Mean to Collaborate? 3 Tips for Project Collaboration

The Case of the Over-Communicative Creative Project Manager

Creating a Project Budget that Works

5 Reasons Why Axosoft Should be Your Tool of Choice for Software Development Project Management

5 Tips for Getting that Project Management Job You Really Want

What Advice Would You Give an Aspiring Project Manager?

Q&A with "Real Project Management" Author Peter Taylor

Author:

Brad Egeland

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