Web App of the month - February 2019
Smartsheet - The work collaboration tool for business
Smartsheet is an online project management & task collaboration tool that is redefining how teams work. It has a familiar and easy to use spreadsheet-like interface, coupled with file sharing, Gantt charts, and work automation features.
Web App of the month - November 2018
Wrike - Accelerate your projects
Manage Enterprise projects from creating and delegating tasks, to visualizing plans and organize workflows, and more. Perfect for Marketing, Creative, Operations, IT, Project, and Product teams of 20+ people.
Web App of the month - October 2017
Mavenlink – Turn Every Project Into A Profit Center
Mavenlink gives your team a cloud-based solution for managing the entire project delivery lifecycle. Complete projects, track time, plan resources, and monitor financial performance — all in a single, user-friendly application.
Our recommendation for January 2016
AceProject – Plan with confidence, smarter and faster!
AceProject is a full-featured and easy-to-use project management system that is trusted by thousands of co-located and distributed teams for project planning, tracking and online collaboration. Powerful solution at a competitive price. Visit now!
Web App of the month - September 2014
Comindware Project – Simplify Your Project Planning
New generation project management software designed to drive results. Empowers companies with an innovative technology that dramatically simplifies planning for project managers and effectively enables execution and collaboration for teams.
PM App to Discover - February 2019
Best Reporting App - February 2019
The Asshole Survival Guide – A Book Review
The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt is a book that counsels readers how to effectively handle certain kinds of personalities they work with or involuntarily associate with. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines asshole as a vulgar word that describes a stupid, annoying, or detestable person. Unfortunately, they can be encountered everywhere, whether in the office, on the field, in the classroom, and just about any period in life. This guide helps readers identify which kind of problematic persons they are dealing with, and then provides scientific, evidence-based strategies in dealing with them.
Book Details
This hardcover is about 5.5 inches wide, 0.9 inch thick, and 8.2 inches long. Its shipping weight is about 11.2 ounces. It contains 224 pages divided into 7 chapters. Read the Complete Article
Bob Sutton – Organization and Management Specialist
All startups and small companies aspire to grow bigger. As a company begins to grow, organizational structure becomes important. It provides guidance and clarity on many issues, especially human resource and management issues. Without a formal structure, employees will be confused as who they officially report to in different situations. Without this hierarchy, it becomes unclear as to who has the final responsibility. An organization needs a leader who directs and is in control of all aspects of the operations of the organization. However, today’s organization leader constantly faces changing trends, technologies, customer preference, and competitors. Bob Sutton is an expert that can help these organizations and leaders.
Introducing Bob Sutton, Professor
Professor Robert Sutton received his Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan. As a doctoral student, he taught organizational behavior class to undergraduates at the University of Michigan. Read the Complete Article
Mavenlink Integrates with Two Microsoft Dynamics 365 Apps
Mavenlink recognizes that each organization is unique, with unique business challenges. Therefore, a one-size-fits-all solution is impractical and unrealistic. With its M-Bridge, a purpose-built, open API-based integration platform, services organizations are able to seamlessly connect solutions. They become more dynamic and able to face new challenges as they come. A few weeks ago, the company announced two new integrations with Microsoft Dynamics 365. These will enable customers to save time and cut costs.
Announcing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integration
The new integration is made possible with the use of M-Bridge and Microsoft Azure. Now, Mavenlink can easily connect with Dynamics 365 for Sales, and Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. The integration automates project creation and demand forecasting from the CRM app. At the same time, it synchronizes time, expense, invoicing, and cash information with the ERP system. Read the Complete Article
Project Identification
Introduction
The key feature of this activity is recognizing that identifying candidate projects is something that an organization should do on a regular basis, not just once each year. Further, when examining projects for approval, it is vital to also examine the resource capacities and capabilities available for assignment. It is futile to assign a major new project requiring extensive discovery of business requirements if no business analysts are available.
Project Identification proceeds Project Initiation.
Process Description
Project Identification is a repeatable process for documenting, validating, ranking and approving candidate projects within an organization.
Process Purpose
Due to the changing financial conditions within the total organization, it is necessary to establish a stable process for approving projects for initiation. This process will…
- Validate the business reason for each candidate project.
The Role and Significance of an Interior Design Project Manager in Commercial Construction
Abstract
The question of “what value does an interior design project manager really add to a commercial construction renovation or new construction project,” in addition to the structural responsibility of the architect, has been too long misunderstood. Interior designers who work as project managers seem to get the “short end of the stick”, due to the lack of knowledge by building owners or by the premises of other industry professionals, who do not find any worth in what a certified and practicing professional interior design can provide for the owner’s benefit. After reviewing many sources on interior design and project management, I was unable to locate a “basic‐101” educating document that provides an overview in layman’s terms for owner’s representatives that are perplexed or confused about just what an interior design project manager can provide for their project. Read the Complete Article
Goals of an Enterprise Project Management Office (PMO)
The goals of an Enterprise Project Management Office (PMO) are to:
- Create and maintain a consistent world class project management methodology and process for all project management engagements across the company
- Train, certify if possible, coach, and mentor project managers in not only project management, but also project delivery to ensure skill mastery and consistency in planning and execution
- Manage corporate and project priorities matching business goals with appropriate technology solutions and provide increased resource utilization across the organization matching skills to project needs
- Provide centralized control, coordination, and reporting of scope, change, cost, risk, and quality across all projects
- Increase collaboration across projects
- Provide increased Client Satisfaction with project-related work through increased communications, collaboration, training, and awareness
- Reduce time to market by providing better coordination and the right resources with the right skills for the projects
- Reduce project costs because common tasks and redundant projects could be eliminated or managed at the central level
- Reduce corporate project risk
John F. Read the Complete Article
What Is a Project Office and Why Is It Different From a PMO?
If you’ve been involved in construction or other similar businesses, you’ve no doubt heard the term project office.
If you’ve been reading the business media, you’ve no doubt heard the term PMO or project management office.
So what is a project office and why is it different from a PMO?
In this article, I’m going to explain what each is, how they are related and how they are different.
A project office is typically a trailer or other short-term facility that is used as an office for a project. Normally they are used whenever office facilities are needed near a long-term temporary endeavor. Construction projects such as building a housing tract, or an office building or a bridge often use these offices.
These offices typically are used to house the project manager and any office workers who are needed on site. Read the Complete Article
Six Sigma vs. Total Quality Management
Six Sigma is a relatively new concept as compared to Total Quality Management (TQM). However, when it was conceptualized, it was not intended to be a replacement for TQM. Both Six Sigma and TQM have many similarities and are compatible in varied business environments, including manufacturing and service industries. While TQM has helped many companies in improving the quality of manufactured goods or services rendered, Six Sigma has the potential of delivering even sharper results.
Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management is often associated with the development, deployment, and maintenance of organizational systems that are required for various business processes. It is based on a strategic approach that focuses on maintaining existing quality standards as well as making incremental quality improvements. It can also be described as a cultural initiative as the focus is on establishing a culture of collaboration among various functional departments within an organization for improving overall quality. Read the Complete Article
Project Charter Templates – An Important Early Deliverable
A Project Charter is an essential deliverable in any project. It is one of the first deliverables as prescribed by the PMBOK Guide and other best practice standards. It is a document that provides key information about a project, and also provides approval to start the project. Therefore, it serves as a formal announcement that a new approved project is about to commence. Contained in the Project Charter also is the appointment of the project manager, the person who is overall responsible for the project. Read this if you need a Project Charter Example.
The Need for a Project Charter
The definition of an acceptable or substantial Project Charter varies from organization to organization. However, the main reason every project needs a Project Charter at the very start is because without it, there is no proof or official document that a project has been formally defined, presented, and given approval to proceed by stakeholders of the organization. Read the Complete Article
Steps Involved in Risk Management to Execute the Project Successfully
Forming a powerful and well-thought-out plan doesn’t assure the success, unfortunately. However well you scheduled everything, there is always something that can go wrong. Risk is an inherent part of planning, and once you create a scheme for your project, one of the initial questions to ask yourself is – what can cause a trouble?
This point shouldn’t be taken as a negative attitude towards the future project. Instead, you get an alternative plan in case of emergency. Though, can you find a resolution for the unknown? However strange it sounds, there are some potential risks, learning which you can determine, monitor or prevent the tricky situations.
What is risk management on projects?
Risk management (RM) is a process of defining, examining and then acting against any kind of risk that may occur at any stage of the project execution. Read the Complete Article
