97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts

Tips by Topic......Page 17
Preface......Page 25
Get Users Involved As Early As Possible......Page 28
Avoid Whack-a-Mole Development......Page 30
A Word Can Make You Miss Your Deadline......Page 32
Make Project Sponsors Write Their Own Requirements......Page 34
Favor the Simple Over the Complex......Page 36
Pay Your Debts......Page 38
Add Talents, Not Skills, to Your Team......Page 40
Keep It Simple, Simon......Page 42
You Aren’t Special......Page 44
Scrolling Through Time......Page 46
Save Money on Your Issues......Page 48
How to Spot a Good IT Developer......Page 50
Developer Productivity: Skilled Versus Average......Page 52
Size Matters......Page 54
Document Your Process, Then Make Sure It Is Followed......Page 56
Go Ahead, Throw That Practice Out......Page 58
Requirement Specifications: An Oxymoron......Page 60
Success Is Always Measured in Business Value......Page 62
Don’t Skip Vacations for the Project......Page 64
Provide Regular Time to Focus......Page 66
Project Management Is Problem Management......Page 68
Empowering Developers: \nA Man Named Tim......Page 70
Clever Code Is Hard to Maintain......Page 72
Managing Human Factors in IT Project Management......Page 74
Use a Wiki......Page 76
The Missing Link......Page 78
Estimate, Estimate, Estimate......Page 80
Developers Unite—PMOs Are Advancing......Page 82
Value Results, Not Just Effort......Page 84
Software Failure Is Organizational Failure......Page 86
A Voice from the Other Side......Page 88
Keep Your Perspective......Page 90
How Do You Define “Finished”?......Page 92
The 60/60 Rule......Page 94
We Have Met the Enemy…and He Is Us......Page 96
Work in Cycles......Page 98
To Thine Own Self Be True......Page 100
Meetings Don’t Write Code......Page 102
Chart a Course for Change......Page 104
IT Program Management: Shared Vision......Page 106
Planning for Reality......Page 108
The Fallacy of Perfect Execution......Page 110
Introduce a More Agile Communication System......Page 112
Don’t Worship a Methodology......Page 114
Don’t Throw Spreadsheets at People Issues......Page 116
One Deliverable, One Person......Page 118
The Fallacy of Perfect Knowledge......Page 120
Build Teams to Run Marathons, Not Sprints......Page 122
The Holy Trinity of Project Management......Page 124
Roadmaps: What Have We Done for You Lately?......Page 126
The Importance of the Project Scope Statement......Page 128
Align Vision and Expected Outcome......Page 130
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore......Page 132
Avoiding Contract Disputes......Page 134
You Get What You Measure......Page 136
Don’t Fall into the “Not Invented Here” Syndrome......Page 138
Favor the Now Over the Soon......Page 140
Speed Is Life; More Is Better......Page 142
Building the Morale on Your Team......Page 144
A Project Depends on Teamwork......Page 146
Serve Your Team......Page 148
The Fallacy of the Big Round Ball......Page 150
Responding to a Crisis......Page 152
Know Your Integration Points......Page 154
Aggressively Promote Communication in Distributed Projects......Page 156
Start with the End in Mind......Page 158
Clear Terms, Long Friendship!......Page 160
The Best Estimators: Those Who Do the Work......Page 162
Communicating Is Key......Page 164
A Project Is the Pursuit of a \nSolution......Page 166
It’s the People, Stupid......Page 168
Documents Are a Means, Not an End......Page 170
Can Earned Value and Velocity Coexist on Reports?......Page 172
Scope Change Happens; Get Used to It......Page 174
Buying \nReady-Made Software......Page 176
Project Sponsors—Good, Bad, and \nUgly......Page 178
Should You Under-Promise, or Over-Deliver?......Page 180
Every Project Manager Is a Contract Administrator......Page 182
Important, but Not Urgent......Page 184
Teach the Process......Page 186
The Fallacy of Status......Page 188
What Do They Want to Hear, Anyway?......Page 190
Recognize the Value of Team Morale......Page 192
Engage Stakeholders All Through Project Life......Page 194
The Value of Planning......Page 196
Don’t Always Be “The Messenger”......Page 198
Effectively Manage the Deliverables......Page 200
We Are Project Managers, Not Superheroes......Page 202
Increase Communication: Hold Frequent, Instant Meetings......Page 204
Flexibility Simplifies Project Management......Page 206
The Web Points the Way, for Now......Page 208
Developers Hate Status Reports, Managers Love Them......Page 210
You Are Not in Control......Page 212
Share the Vision......Page 214
True Success Comes with a Supporting Organization......Page 216
Establish Project Management Governance......Page 218
9.7 Reasons I Hate Your Website......Page 220
Contributors......Page 222
Index......Page 244