Project Management Knowledgebase

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team has become the world's most definitive source on practical information for building teams. The book's impact extends beyond business schools, churches, non-profit organizations, professional sports teams and the military. * When you work with a team it is important to understand the dynamics. When you understand what can hinder the team then it is easier to understand ways to help rebuild/strengthen the team - Vail*

WBS is an acronym for "Work Breakdown Structure". Simply said it is the work required to break PM down . It is true that PMs are usually overburdened with project work they are on the verge of breaking down. However, WBS makes PMs life easy.

I posted this in our class discussion, but it occurred to me that it is really a great project management resource for those people who might feel daunted by difficult conversations. It it a resource that will help improve your EQ. In short, the book talks about how to identify when a crucial conversation needs to take place, how to plan for it and how to execute it. There is also a two day course that you can attend or maybe even lobby to bring into your office for PMs. The website for that is here: http://www.vitalsmarts.com/products-solutions/crucial-conversations/ You'll also find that Vital Smarts, the company that produces this training, has a lot of other EQ related resources.

We have a couple of copies of this book lying around my office. I hadn't connected it to project management. I will have to check it out.

Many people I worked with at the Colorado Department of health use this approach. The state has invested in offering the course to employees. While I never had a chance to take this course, I've heard really great things about it. One thing that has made a difference for people I know who have done this, they did with a staff team. That way everyone is using a common approach. That seems to really support implementing what they learned.

In this internationally acclaimed text, Marshall Rosenberg offers insightful stories, anecdotes, practical exercises and role-plays that will dramatically change your approach to communication for the better. Discover how the language you use can strengthen your relationships, build trust, prevent conflicts and heal pain. Revolutionary, yet simple, Nonviolent Communication offers you the most effective tools to reduce violence and create peace in your life-one interaction at a time.

There is a lot of information on this site! They could use a little help with their web design to make it a little less overwhelming though...

I love this approach to communication! I've used in all aspects of my work and personal communications and when I really implement it has really helped me navigate some high conflict situations. It does take practice and is easier to work with if you have others you can engage with to practice the techniques.

The GoToMeeting platform can be used for meetings for groups in which all teammates are not in the same location.

I have used GoToWebinar and I loved it. It is easy to use and professional looking. I am curious to try GoToMeeting and GoToTraining.

It is interesting to me that so many people like GoToMeeting/Webinar/Training. I've had mixed experiences with it. It lacks some of the functionality of other tools like Adobe Connect (chat features vary depending on which version you have, playing videos is very problematic, relies on screen sharing to share documents and do presentations). We do a lot of webinars, many with very large audiences (300-1000 people). While this is fine for meetings and daily business. I don't recommend this for large groups., It also isn't good if you want to have a virtual room when you can leave your documents, notes etc.

Basecamp has been around for 15 years. It has become the world's #1 project management tool. It is easy to use and reliable. Basecamp is free for 60 days. Here is the website: https://basecamp.com. Basecamp's at home on Safari (Mac, iPhone/iPad), Chrome (Mac, PC, iPhone/iPad, Android), Firefox (Mac, PC), and IE 9+ (PC, Surface). Basecamp also integrates effortlessly with email.

Yes, I think Basecamp is definitely one of the standard bearers for project management software.

I am currently working with BaseCamp sites that two of my vendors use. I really like it! Easy to use, intuitive, you can include both internal and external team members, keep a history of communications, dates, prototypes and resources!

Pros and Cons of each project management method to help one decide which style to use.

Love this info graphic. I am going to forward it out to my team who has been debating how best to approach project management when there so many outside factors and influencers that things need to flexible and the plan updated throughout the project process.

Want to learn more about Daniel Goleman's work? Try following him on linkedIn! He posted many interesting articles and blogs posts that have been very helpful in expanding my thinking about Emotional Intellegence. An interesting one he recently posted is "Be Mindful of the Emotions" you leave behind. Daniel Goleman lectures frequently to business audiences, professional groups and on college campuses. A psychologist who for many years reported on the brain and behavioral sciences for The New York Times, Dr. Goleman previously was a visiting faculty member at Harvard.

The topic of leadership has appeared several times in our class discussions. This book by Daniel Goleman is a wonderful book on leadership based on his work with Emotional Intelligence. I've found it to be one that I return to to read and get grounded when struggling with my own leadership or that of others. Well worth purchasing and adding to your professional library.

This blog post discusses the five key points to consider when trying to increase emotional intelligence.

This paper explores the relationships between project management and instructional design.

Based on a 2013 Survey of UK based project and service based organizations about project management software.

Take free online classes from 80+ top universities and organizations. Coursera is a social entrepreneurship company partnering with Stanford University, Yale University, Princeton University and others around the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. We believe in connecting people to a great education so that anyone around the world can learn without limits.

Another great source. I am eager to learn more about project management and this looks great!

OneNote is a great product from Microsoft, and it's basically a digital series of binders that you can create and customize. You can create and label binders, sections, and individual pages. You can add notes, checklists, links to web pages, embed documents...almost anything you find can be placed there. The two most beneficial features: everything you put there can be made searchable, and your binders are sharable via SkyDrive (Microsoft's cloud) and by emailed link. A project manager could use this for anything from their own simple notes to an official file of collaborative information about a project! View a demo at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote-help/demo-what-is-onenote-HA010168634.aspx.

I use OneNote all the time and wonder how I managed without it! I tried Evernote, but the bugs finally drove me away and then I discovered OneNote. I don't know why Microsoft doesn't promote it better... it's a great tool!

I am also a big fan of OneNote. I use it a lot to share information with other teachers.

A free online project management training course with mini-lessons, PM cartoons and humor, monthly articles written by managers, practical tips, and glossary of project manager terms.

This looks like a good resource for new PMs!

This looks fantastic. I think project management is one of those things that you don't know you need until you realize you really do need it. Then, you can't live without it. Thanks for posting!

Huddle is a simple and powerful way to collaborate on content. Product features include file sharing, team collaboration, social collaboration, task management, and mobile collaboration. There are apps available for desktop and mobile devices. You can try it for free: https://www.huddle.com/huddle-prices/huddle-free-trial/?source=7_cs3.

inmotion by inMotionNow is a software used to make it easy to get control of your projects and deliver critical insight into your productivity. Here is the website: http://inmotionnow.com.