Horstman's Law of Project Management - Part 1

Awesome!

Mark and Mike,

Thanks for this podcast -- it's extremely well done. I work in a software development and IT support arm of a Research group, and said "Amen" and "Hallelujah!" about twenty times. Thanks for your boldness, directness, and articulate explanation. Where we've been successful in projects, there's good alignment with the principles you outline; and I can see a few helps for us here as well.

With regards to PM tools, our mantra has been that we only need tracking tools that facilitate dialogue and clarity about who is doing what by when.

Estimating

Great insights about what's wrong with estimating.

Here's an elegant, useful, and fun way to estimate, it's called 'Planning Poker' and it comes from Agile.

http://www.planningpoker.com/

Spot On

Mike & Mark,

As always your insight is spot on. I am a project controls manager so those charts and reports are near and dear to me. Recently I've come to realize that it's more about the planning than about the plan. The planning, even if you never get a complete integrated schedule out of it, helps the execution of your project because the people who are doing it know how to react to the obstacles and opportunities when they occur, because it's already been discussed.
I agree completely with your comments on deadlines. I’ve come to call it focus on finishing. It’s created a culture shift so that now in the meeting our folks say “We’ll make it” or “We won’t make it” instead of “We’re doing this, this, and this”.
Recently our organization was recognized with an award for project excellence from a project management software company. We rejected the copy they sent us for the press release because it emphasized the successful use of the software instead of the effort put forth by our people to complete the tasks effectively within the constraints of the program/project.
Thank you so much for your valuable products and contributions to the profession of management.
Sincerely,

Chad Jones

P.S. In the interest of following your advice on managing my online presence is there a way I can change the name displayed the forums?

These are not pipes.

Mark referred to a picture of pipes in this cast. His comment was about it "not being pipes" but just a picture of pipes.

I believe this is the picture he was referring to. Or this is the original from the the picture he was referring to was inspired.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treachery_Of_Images

Just in case anyone wondered.

Managing Outcomes and Managing Risk

Dear Mark and MIke,

I appreciated this cast, and agree that there has been an over emphasis on the process and not the people. I often cringe when I have clients who tell me they are going to improve their project management by implementing MS Project. For most, Excel would do that job well enough, and for larger assignments, the larger tools would probably be more helpful.

You may well cover this in later casts on this topic, but as someone who regularly undertakes Project Risk Assessments and Project Health Checks, I think there is an important step before we focus on the internal project relationships.

What is the objective of the project, how will we measure movement towards it on the way and how will we know we are there.

I have seen too many project that should have not started because of poor definition of the end point, or should have been cancelled on the way but for dishonesty in reporting or manager egos not realising that they are wasting company money on something that will not longer delivery or not delivery the anticipated benefits.

Would be interested in others view on this.

Kind regards
Jason

Yep!

Hi guys - great cast! I'm so glad you decided to do this topic. So many people get managing projects confused with Project Management and make projects a lot more complex than they need to be. Project Managers and more robust project management methodologies are valuable when you're talking about completing complex projects - big dollars, big change, big risk. But the majority of projects in business organizations today don't fit in this category. Solid understanding of "who needs to do what by when (I add in the "why" as well)" along with some basic communication tools for tracking and reporting combined with the M-T feedback model is all that is needed for delivering value.

By the way, I was very flattered to be mentioned in your cast! Thank you! I'm a good example of a successful Project Manager that has transitioned into an operational management position and have solid management skills thanks to Manager Tools!

Happy 2009!

Dina

Help for the audio challenged

Mike and Mark,

These project management podcasts are well timed for my colleagues and me. I've shared this link with all of them...and many have thanked me.

One, however, is unable to participate. She is deaf. You used to include show transcipts as part the podcast material but now I cannot find them.

Can you accommodate the hard of hearing?

Peggy

Thank you

These four casts on Project Management have been more beneficial than all of the other PM podcasts and books I have read combined (sorry Cornelius).

Obviously, what sets you apart from others is actionable items focusing on behavior.

I can not wait until you have additional PM related casts.

Dave Nelson

This Series has Helped Us in Unbelievable Ways!

Mark & Mike,

The way you guys lay out this material cuts right to the heart of effective project management. We at WebsiteBiz have adopted your approach whole heartily. Keep up the great work!

Tom Dressler
Internet Marketing Director
WebsiteBiz

www.websitebiz.com