Project Management Knowledgebase

One reason PMs fail is their desire to get the product right the first time. This site says that this is an unrealistic expectation and that we should expect to get it wrong the first time and communicate this to our team. The dynamics will change making them more open and less pressured to "make the wrong step". This approach is modeled by Microsoft which generally takes about 3 times before they get a product right. Other useful tips and lessons follow such as Less is More. An uplifting site that reminds us that it is okay to make mistakes as long as we learn from them.

Very insightful article. The point the article made that I felt was interesting was the part about how it can be hard early on to not test what they are making. Easy to go down the wrong direction.

This is a web application tool for resourcing a project and better understanding company-wide resource allocation. From a user testimonial: "The only downside is that it is Flash based and it has been known to crash within certain browsers and especially on a Mac. In saying that, the company that developed this is constantly pushing out bug fixes and new feature sets." o Report Feature.

This is very similar to Trello and is a web app. It allows a PM or project staff to track requirements, meetings, commitments, new ideas, etc. Acceptable for the Agile methodology and also has reporting features.

This is a task management web application based on agile methodology. It has a great visual and clean user interface which makes it easy for anyone to understand and use. The features of Trello are easy to use, such as the drag and drop of tasks/cards. This can be easily used for agile requirements gathering as well.

And it's Free! I like the clean look of the software. I might give this a go for my upcoming move. Thanks for posting.

The cards really remind me of the Scrum model.

Free templates for all stages of Project Management. Great simple explanations of terminology and descriptions of what should go in each section of templates that are available. Not only are there documents you would expect such as Project Initiation Documents and Work Breakdown Schedule documents, but also Project Meeting Agenda and Minute templates. When you don't know where to start with compiling PM documents, this site offers some easy to use options.

Great resource! I appreciated that not only templates were included, but also lots of related information about "why and how would I use this."

Giselle, this is a great find! I can't believe these templates are free.

This is another article that explores the potential of leveraging the Agile PM methodology in the ID world.

I like the prictorial way they represent this design modle. This looks like a nice way of organizing the PM role.

D-cube! Design, Develop, Deploy. I like this simplified version of ADDIE. It fits with rapid design and since the only way we know if a product works is to test it, then you might as well get it out the door and get some feedback which you can then feed into the iterative process of making it better.

Assumptions of project management-oriented ID models are challenged.

Interesting discussion about how Agile and traditional ID roles can be integrated. Thanks for sharing. I often wonder about how ID work can be done at a faster more "agile" pace.

This article gives project managers some tips for managing stress.

Jaime- I am on day 2 of no caffeine and I already feel SO much calmer. I'm craving it really badly, but I was so jittery lately and I know it was stressing me out more. A good reminder on keeping stress under control. Thanks Allan!

I like the recommendations for stress reduction. A few people at my work actually requested that the company create a quiet relaxation room. Not sure if they'll do it, but I hope so. I got into breathing meditation years ago and it pretty much cured me of anxiety attacks that had persisted from my late 20's to early 30's. A couple years of daily practice and they haven't returned for almost 10 years. I don't keep up with the meditation anymore, but I'd say any amount of practice can affect long-term benefits.

A video chat with Michael Allen about "leaving ADDIE for SAM" (also the subject of his latest book). The gist of this is about adopting an agile-like development methodology in instructional design.

A review of one of the latest PM tools available, Todoist. Recommended by the author as an effective tool for managing tasks and projects. May not necessarily be great for teams though, it seems to be more of a personal task manager.

While this collection of tools and tips is geared toward the novice project manager, it also includes a wealth of information and resources for even the most seasoned project manager. Browse this comprehensive library for advice, forms, templates and so much more that you can use today.

Thanks. I posted some stuff from brighthubpm.com too - I found it useful earlier in the course to learn more about resource management and get an overview on PMBOK. Nice resource.

Perhaps this is an obvious post, but I still run across people who don't have a searchable, organized or unorganized online notebook, notepad, or repository of anything and all things you want to remember or keep track of. I've used it for smaller projects, to contain all of the lengthy articulations that are then hyperlinked to more formal Word documents or Excel charts. It's a phenomenally useful tool.

I love Evernote because it's accessible from several mobile devices. I especially like their app (I'm using Android), because it's easy to use and fast. You could add multiple people to the account and share checklists, wiki-like notes pages, and calendar items. I'm not sure it would be ideal for huge projects with many parts, but it would be perfect for organizing a small collaboration or just for organizing your own work.

Michael, Thanks for sharing this app and your experience with it. This tool sounds just like the tool I need to track and remember all my pending tasks.

As our list of tools, programs and sites keeps growing, so does our list of passwords. KeePass is an open-source password manager that allows you to safely store all of your passwords so you can free up mental space for more interesting work! You can keep the file in the cloud if you wish, so it is available on all of your devices.

This is great! Being able to access on all devices is key, I am totally using this, thank you!