The current space shuttle mission STS-116 is a great window on project management in action. On NASA TV you can hear the live management of an ongoing process –managing in real-time, on the fly, a complex operation that’s rife with opportunities to deviate from a sophisticated project plan.
While the scale might be different, it parallels, in a lot of ways, the activities that go on in any creative, engineering or scientific project. It provides a view on the types of information, visibility and project communication that make any project a success.
Here are some of the random clips we heard on NASA TV:
“Thanks for the great big picture words.”
“1:51 Central Time power down expected.”
“Good insight into the system.”
“I have the steps here.”
“Trouble shooting task procedures.”
“Blocks of activity.”
“Ready to proceed to step three – it is good to talk to you.”
“OK I’ll stand by, appreciate the help.”
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The Corporate edition of Copper 2006 (version 3.0) seems to be geared towards improving visibility of to-do lists. It is light on features that can help task management, manage schedules or give deeper visibility of projects.
A good example is the process of adding or editing tasks on a project. This is a fundamental activity not only in task management but also in planning projects, setting up schedules and managing on-going project activity.
Tasks can be added in two ways. One is through a single web page form which means that adding many tasks means going through many individual forms. The second is via an Adobe Flash based Gantt chart.
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Educational institutions, e-learning companies and providers of educational curriculum face specialized challenges in project management. A coherent project management strategy can increase the efficiency of developing educational product and educational programs. Project management software can be the foundation for this strategy.
Product development groups in these companies can work on upwards of 120 new projects at any given time. These projects are generally the development of new educational programs that will be offered to hundreds of thousands of students overtime –programs that are crucial in those students’ academic or professional development. The programs can range from vocational or technical programs to graduate and undergraduate courses.
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There are two general approaches in project management software to planning and managing tasks and projects.
- One is a calendar based approach.
- The second is a task based approach.
As a quick rule-of-thumb, a calendar based approach is best suited to planning and managing small projects with a relatively few number of resources. Web based calendars and software offer a quick and intuitive way to see tasks over a period of time in a familiar format. Calendars themselves are so common that people generally have an easy time in using web based calendars to schedule projects, tasks and resources. Think of programs like Microsoft Outlook or BaseCamp.
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Are you comparing or evaluating project management software? Are you looking for an alternative to Microsoft Project or software like Microsoft Project?
Are you thinking about waiting for Microsoft Project 2007 to be released before making a decision?
Based on initial ”sneak-peak” reviews of Microsoft Project 2007 project management software, doesn’t seem like much has changed.
In other words, if you like Microsoft Project project management software in general, and you’re using MS Project 1998 or 2000, this upgrade may be right for you. But if you’re waiting for some radical innovation in project management software or a reincarnation of MS Project in an easier to use, more web 2.0 type format, this misses the mark.
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Project management software generally falls into three categories. This article provides an overview of these categories and a broad review of some of the leading project management software in these categories.
For the PM Specialist
There are a ton of project management software tools designed to assist the theoretician or to adhere to project management theory or to a particular project management body of knowledge or approach. Project management software solutions in this realm can measure risk factors against difference risk tolerances on a project, they can provide multiple baselines on different factors on a project, they can calculate the impact of deviations or variances, or earned value at different points of a schedule. They offer a ton of hard-core project management metrics and functionality. They are often used for large capital projects (like construction of a bridge, building a space shuttle or power-plant).
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Project planning and project scheduling can be valuable tools in business intelligence (BI) or business performance management (BPM).
On the solutions side, project management software, particularly easier to use online project management software tools can generate powerful business intelligence and process optimization conclusions.
A previous post discussed the three key variables used to set a realistic due-date.
1) A defined process
2) Defined task durations
3) Resource availability/performance
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Jeff Peters has a nice article in ColdFusion Developer’s Journal giving an overview on some of the basics that can be accomplished when using an organized project management process for development using project management software available from www.GrokFusebox.com.
There are an additional set of project management software tools that can surround the software development process as a whole, providing a framework in which the development work takes place. Functionality in this framework includes tracking tasks, priorities, resource allocation across projects or a department and budgetary tracking and reporting.
These features create a more positive environment for software development or for a software development project.
Essentially, with minimal data input from a developer, management can get all the data they need to monitor the project or portfolio of projects (which they’re going to do anyway), without having to interrupt the developers or waste people’s time in meetings.
Vertabase Pro is a ColdFusion based project management software tool that does just this. You can get a look at it by checking out a screenshot tour or requesting a test drive.
Nothing is going to be easier than just being left alone to do your work. But these kind of project management tools can make a big impact on the overall long-term success of a software development project or IT department within a company or in a client/developer relationship.
Major sporting events can get in the way of even the best managed projects, particularly a best of 7 type event like the World Series of Major League Baseball that can go on for a week.
Take this year’s series between the Cinderella story Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. It can definitely take its toll on the productivity (measured in sleep deprivation) and morale of fans involved in the whole event.
For those inclined, coffee or Diet Coke can make-up for the sleep.
The morale component, though, is harder.
There is no magic pill. It is not something easily assuaged by project managers, project management software or a therapeutic cursing-out and finger point on play by error-filled painful play by the water-cooler or coffee machine.
While the kind of visibility and replay that project management software or reports offer can sometimes be valuable to a project (and certainly to know who to hold accountable -like a young pitcher or two, perhaps) when your team is down -and there’s no reason it should be, it doesn’t seem to help.
Sometimes, it just takes time and the commitment to keep putting one foot in front of the other, moving along the path to get the project or deliverable done.
Communication is one of the biggest challenges in project management.
Its bad enough when a project manager has trouble communicating with the team that will be doing the project. But it can be down-right dangerous for a manager when there is a lack of clear communication with the project sponsor the person who navigated corporate politics to get the project approved.
The problem stems from not understanding what each person is looking for or unrealistically expecting the other party to speak your language. This can be aggravated by the project manager’s insistence on using only the project management tools which suite their needs, regardless of whether the project management solutions generate the kind of information the political sponsors of the project are looking for.
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