Health care costs can be radically reduced by using project management software.
The central mission of a health care organization is to deliver medical or health related services to a patient population. Non-medical projects and administrative processes compete with health care delivery for scare resources in a hospital’s budget. Many of these projects and processes are necessary. Medical records need to be kept. Supplies must be tracked and operating rooms stocked. Medical devices and software must be monitored and maintained.
On the personnel side, medical staff must be managed, meetings scheduled, problems resolved. And the list could continue.
Read the rest of this post »
Cigarettes have a way of bonding people together. In offices, in schools, in public places smokers hang-out together. They form connections bumming cigarettes, getting a light and sharing stories of being an outsider, a smoker, with fellow travelers.
As there are smokers and non-smokers, smoking sections and the rest of the world, it seems that cell phone users are becoming the new smokers and cell phones the new cigarettes. Not to be too Carrie Bradshaw but recent stories report authorities in offices, schools and public places are restricting the use of cell phones. They are designating the times, places and how cell phones can be used.
Take this story from The Current (a news show on CBC Radio One) where school boards are taking steps to control cell phone use in public schools. Will there soon be groups of ‘phoners congregating behind bleachers or darkened corners to sneak a call or quick txt msg between class?
Read the rest of this post »
Few things can create more tension in a project than pushing back a deadline.
It can create instant anger between a project sponsor and the project manager. It can even filter down to the people working on a project. Resources end-up choosing a bad-guy: the project sponsor (”she doesn’t get it”) or the project manager (”doesn’t know what he’s doing”) -while all the while risking being cast as lazy or incompetent because the deadline is being blown.
Often, the source of the anger can be traced to differing expectations on how the project should unfold over time.
Read the rest of this post »
Came across this post bemoaning the state of collaboration features available in enterprise content management solutions.
Our approach in Vertabase Pro is to offer collaboration and content management within the framework of doing projects (and using project management tools to accomplish and manage the projects).
What do you think of this approach?
After taking a look at the software, what recommendations or suggestions would you have for the content management component of the software?
Note: you can check out the software by clicking here. The content management features are in the Document section of Projects.
Here’s a review of MS Project 2007 project management software from one of our Vertabase Pro users. The review focuses on the interface of the software.
To attempt to contain complexity, MS Project 2007 introduced Ribbons — a pane that contains controls (such as buttons and icons) that are organized into a set of tabs, each one containing a grouping of relevant commands. This type of interface replaces traditional menus and toolbars.
The Ribbon is “all about making the software do what you want to do,” as they state in their literature. This Ribbon will also be incorporated into Microsoft Office 2007 as a main new feature “Replacing the menus and toolbars that have been the cornerstone of Office since its inception.”
While Ribbons consolidate related functionality in one place and can improve usability, they do not solve the problem of complexity. Microsoft Project will still be very complex and time consuming to learn.
It comes down to design. They are not working from a clean apriori design. It is not targeted to a manager using a system with a team requiring a robust solution that is scalable to multiple projects and tasks but without the complexity and nuance that a professional project manager would require (and feel comfortable with).
No matter what, how the controls of a jumbo jet get automated or are easy to access it is not the right vehicle to travel from the suburbs to downtown. You will still need advanced project management expertise to create, manage and communicate projects plans in Microsoft project – even with Ribbons.
Project management built for an enterprise is generally more robust than mass market project management software. Almost by definition, enterprise project management software includes two aspects that separate it from general project management software.
- The first is the robustness of feature set.
- The second is the number of users that touch the system.
Features that you’ll generally find in enterprise project management software include resource allocation, project portfolio view, cross project gantt charts, budgeting and potentially a host of advance project management performance metrics.
Read the rest of this post »
Happy 2007 from Vertabase Pro, project management software. Thank you for a great 2006! Looking forward to a wonderful 2007.
Congratulations to the Central Michigan University Chippewas! Fire up Chips!
The Chippewas beat the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in the 2006 Motor City Bowl to claim the first Division I-A bowl victory in school history.
From the Chippewa side, the game was a pleasure to behold. Quarterback Dan LeFevour was in total sync with his receivers and had a great read of the field.
When Bryan Anderson was open, LeFevour sent him the ball.
When it was Justin Gardner with a shot at a run, the ball was there.
When the deep field was clogged, he’d see a path clear ahead and he’d go for it. He wouldn’t hesitate -he’d go for the run. And swiftly weave his was for yardage and a touchdown. He and the team were tight and the scoreboard showed it.
And the fans were tight. If you read the local Detroit papers, that made all the difference.
Sure, having a Michigan team helped break attendance records at the Motor City Bowl. And yeah, it was great to have a Michigan team to root for. But it was the energy of a charged team, the whole CMU team: from players to fans to friends, that made the game great.
In a stadium and city not always used to that kind of teamwork -it was indeed a beautiful thing to behold.
Speaking of teamwork, a special thank you to the players who gave their energy and time working hard on December 25th to feed those in need at the Salvation Army in Detroit.
Here’s Alan Mulally, the new CEO of Ford Motor Company, highlighting the value of visibility and consistent data in managing an enterprise, the quotes are excerpted from The Wall Street Journal of December 22, 2006.
To set the scene: Mr. Mulally recently took over as CEO of Ford and began implementing weekly Thursday meetings for senior management to get everyone focused on the same goals, track progress, reward success and to keep people accountable.
Visibility Brings Consistency
His first Thursday gathering at Ford went badly, underscoring the challenges he would face. After Mr. Mulally asked each business head to present his results and forecasts, he complained that the numbers didn’t make sense. “Why don’t all the pieces add up for the total corporate financials?” he recalls asking.
“We don’t share everything,” he says one manager replied, explaining that Ford executives ran their units without meshing with other divisions, occasionally holding back some information. Mr. Mulally was floored. The next week, executives came back with complete figures.
Read the rest of this post »
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.”
Read the rest of this post »
