Archive for May, 2009
What Makes Social Media Social?
29 May 2009Why isn’t a document on a shared workspace “social media”?
Social media is all about having a “conversation”. An exchange of information between persons.
You can write your question in a word document. Upload it. Send me a mail. I check the mail. Download the document. Answer the question. Well, you get the idea.
Yes, it’s a hassle. But that is not why this conversation isn’t “social media”.
Photography by From A Second Story.
Social media puts the emphasis on the person in the conversation.
It is not only about the message itself, but also about the persona’s of the people involved in the exchange.
That is why we love big photos of REAL people next to the conversation. That is why it’s important to have an prominent “about” page on your blog.
When we have a conversation the actual content of the message is only a small part of the story. Based upon our perception of the other person we fill in blanks, we create assumptions, we draw conclusions and color the message to a more “detailed” image.
Social media supports multiple mechanisms to help us fill in the blanks.
LinkedIn displays the badges of the groups you are a member of. People see the groups you are associating yourself with and create assumptions based on that. I am a member of the Triiibes group; so I must be cool.
The mechanism works the same as the “I am a PC, I am a Mac” campaign. If you have a PC, people think you are a nerd, if you have a Mac, people think you are cool and creative.
LinkedIn provides recommendations. People write recommendations for other people. Building a reputation. If I need a plumber, I ask my neighbour. I trust my neighbour, so I trust the plumber he recommends. The reputation that is build up and propagated is used by me to build up a mental construct of the persona.
Social media puts the person back into online conversations. That is what makes it “social”.
It’s time for a reader suggestion thread and, yes, you can win something
Today’s question is…
Download my Free Project Management E-book Project Shrink Linear Edition.
What Makes Social Media Social?
Popularity: unranked [?]
Pcubed post a great new MICROSOFT SPONSORED case study
29 May 2009
Tad tells me about a great new case study….
As environmental engineering firm Malcolm Pirnie grew, teams were more geographically diverse and project durations were decreasing due to faster delivery methods. The firm realized that it needed more consistent project delivery processes. It also sought to provide employees with flexible communication and collaboration tools. The firm invested in integrated solutions for business productivity and signed a Microsoft® Enterprise Client Access License Suite agreement, deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, plus unified communications capabilities. The firm’s employees now can better collaborate on projects, strategize how best to serve clients, and gain visibility into project progress. They also use synchronous and asynchronous communications solutions for enhanced productivity and have experienced significant cost savings
To read more see http://www.microsoft.com/industry/publicsector/partnersolutionmarketplace/CaseStudyDetail.aspx?casestudyid=4000004191
Popularity: unranked [?]
Project server puts the fizz into coca-cola
29 May 2009
Tad’s really cranking today – we’ve got another one
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated Improves Project Cost Reporting
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (CCBCC) is a leader in manufacturing, selling, and distributing carbonated soft drinks, bottled water, teas, juices, and energy drinks. The company’s Information Systems and Services Department needed to track all of its projects in a single repository and to do more detailed cost reporting than its project management solution allowed. To address this need, CCBCC deployed the Microsoft® Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution, which includes Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007, Office Project Server 2007, and Office Project Professional 2007. The company chose Project Solutions Group for help with implementation and training. With the EPM Solution, CCBCC can analyze its finances more accurately, easily comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and SOP 98-1 regulations, and better manage its resources. In addition, it has the visibility to make decisions and achieve its goals in less time.
For more information read on…
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000004270
Popularity: unranked [?]
TPG Project Server link SAP certified
29 May 2009TPG The Project Group announced today that its product TPG PSLink has passed the comprehensive tests for “Third Party Integration Scenarios” to achieve a SAP Certification. Now TPG PSLink is the only SAP-certified product enabling the bidirectional integration of Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) with SAP. As the flagship in TPG’s product portfolio, it ensures seamless data interchange between SAP and Microsoft EPM. The SAP Custom Certification Scenario included seven key project management use cases and was based on extremely sophisticated tests that went far beyond standard SAP certification requirements.
For more information see http://www.epmconnect.com/us/Pages/SolutionDetails.aspx?solutionid=4956
Popularity: unranked [?]
New Web Parts for Project Server 2007, Everything You’ve Been Asking For
29 May 2009Imagine your My Tasks Page in Project Web Access with summary tasks, a navigation tool that allows you to page by project and controls for the grid display. Picture a dashboard that displays your time entry totals by day, week and project as you type. This should be music to the ears of any regular Project Server user. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to announce MSProjectExperts’ new line of web parts and VSTO add-ins for Microsoft Office Project 2007 and Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 that address the usability enhancements that people most often ask for when we talk with them in the Microsoft Communities.
At our annual company retreat last year, our team brainstormed our recession realignment strategy for turning what we viewed as inevitable downtime into a new value stream for the company. In examining the market conditions, we concluded that the market would welcome easy to install shareware-priced add-ons that boost user satisfaction and, in some cases, remove obstacles to adoption. Filling the frustrating usability gaps in the application interface has always been on our product radar, but the downturn in the economy finally gave us the impetus to move forward with this program. Our first release wave includes web parts containing the most-asked-for enhancements to the Project Web Access interface with a distinct focus on the My Tasks page. We have a similar series in development for the My Timesheet page, and our near-future product pipeline includes timeless tools for Microsoft Project, custom event handlers, reports, services and web parts that you can plug into the Microsoft EPM Platform to quickly address popular user demands and deliver added value with only a petty-cash investment.
To see what’s available now, click this link.
The new software offerings constitute MSProjectExperts’ first entry into the software market. You can find the software on the company’s newly redesigned shopping portal, ProjectDaddy.com, along with the company’s renowned books, courseware and open-enrollment training. The new product line is also available through MSProjectExperts’ partners and affiliates.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Project Server 2007: PWA Provisioning issue after February CU – Cannot insert duplicate key row
29 May 2009The full error is Cannot insert duplicate key row in object ‘dbo.Objects’ with unique index ‘IX_Objects_ClassId_ParentId_Name’, and this occurs when trying to provision a new PWA site in a farm. Some background first, and then the workaround. In the February CU we added a fix for the “waiting for resources” problems customers had run into when trying to provision new PWA sites. This was caused by a missing timer job. The fix checked for the timer job, and if it wasn’t found it was created – which for most of our customers was a perfect fix. However, for customers running multiple language versions (MUIs), or even just non US English versions it could fail to detect the timer job and think it was missing and try to re-create it – which led to the error!
My colleague Aik had been working on this problem and had a couple of workarounds we’d shared with customers and these turned up back in my blog comments a couple of days ago (Thanks Jose!) – so I thought the time was right for a full posting. So here are the workarounds – with option #1 being the favored one as it has the least impact on the users of the server:
Option #1 – Delete sync jobs before provisioning site
- To delete a timer definition job, find the Job ID by going to the Sharepoint Central Administration site | Operations | Timer Job Definitions
- Look for the Project Server sync jobs and right click on the links and select Copy Link – the default names for the jobs (in English) will be something like Project Server Synchronizing job for ‘SharedServices1’.
- Paste the link into Notepad and the link will look something like this: :/_admin/JobEdit.aspx?JobId=57b935d4%2Db43f%2D4dc4%2Dbd9c%2Dc74bb000b9c6">http://<servername>:<Central Admin Port>/_admin/JobEdit.aspx?JobId=57b935d4%2Db43f%2D4dc4%2Dbd9c%2Dc74bb000b9c6
- Copy out just the JobId section and replace the text "%2D" with a dash e.g -
- Once you are done your GUID should look like the following based on the example above: 57b935d4-b43f-4dc4-bd9c-c74bb000b9c6
- Run the following command with the jobID. [stsadm -o deleteconfigurationobject -id <job_Id>]. For example: stsadm -o deleteconfigurationobject -id 57b935d4-b43f-4dc4-bd9c-c74bb000b9c6
- Make sure to delete both Project Server Synchronization Timer jobs
- Provision site as you normally would.
Option#2 – Change the regional settings
- Change the regional settings on the server to MATCH the language of the MUI.
- Provision site
- Change the regional settings back to it’s original.
Any issues, or if you need some help working through these steps then please contact support. My blog reader Jose says we are may be fixing this in the June CU – though I couldn’t possibly comment…
Popularity: unranked [?]
Buffer, downtime, and productivity
29 May 2009Maybe it’s because I’ve been swamped this week while the sun’s been shining here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, but I’ve been doing some thinking about buffer, downtime, and productivity. I don’t think it’s a secret that projects have a tendency to come in late sometimes. Things come up, bad stuff happens, tasks are delayed…not uncommon. So how do you deal with it? You schedule in some buffer time to help offset the impact of changes to your project schedule. This isn’t rocket science, but is it the right approach?
First let’s talk about productivity. I was reading through Twitter the other day, and David Allen, who you may know as the “Getting Things Done” guy (@gtdguy), had replied to someone else about letting go/relaxing as a prerequisite for productive intensity. This got my attention. A lot of times we don’t think about buffer in terms of enhancing productivity and encouraging teams to get things done on time. Instead, we focus on buffer as one part of a realistic approach to scheduling. Well of course we do, because that’s what it is. But I think it’s important to also remember that A) there are actual *people* working on your projects, B) people tend to be more productive when they feel relaxed, and C) if a project has buffer scheduled in, the people working on that project are bound to feel less stressed than if the project had no buffer. That’s all I’m saying…you do the math.
So there’s the productivity aspect, but what else? Well after I replied to @gtdguy’s tweet, another fellow Twitter-er replied to me, suggesting that maybe some PMs aren’t doing proper risk response planning. Instead, they’re including buffers, with risk as the justification. Interesting idea. On the one hand, hey, at least they’re including buffer, but on the other hand, it’s important to remember that risk management isn’t just some kind of lightweight throwaway work. I mean, PMI’s got an entire certification for Risk Management Professionals. This is serious business. It also could be the reverse…that some organizations have full-on risk management happening, but it’s happening outside of the project schedule, so buffer in the plan itself is being overlooked. And then we’re back to that productivity discussion again. It seems to me that the right answer is a combination of both. Risk management *includes* scheduling buffer. With both in place, you’ve really got a handle on those what-if scenarios, and your team feels supported because you’ve recognized the reality of schedules slipping for one reason or another.
I’m wondering what the reality is out there. Do you include buffer in your project plans? Where, as separate line items, or as padded work estimates? If you don’t include buffer, why not? How do you implement risk management in your project schedules?
Looking for some resources on this subject? Try these:
Use schedule buffers to manage change
Manage project change with Microsoft Office Project 2007
Security Risk Management Guide
View and edit project issues and risks
Goals: Identify and plan for risks, Identify new risks, and Control project risks
Risk management templates on Office Online
Know Your Enemy: Introduction to Risk Management
Popularity: unranked [?]
Freestyling: Beating Agile, Lean And Plan-driven Hands Down
28 May 2009Last week I got an email asking if I am an Agilist.
Scuze me? I am Dutch. Does that count?
Of course I know about agile approaches. Yes, I know Scrum.
Yes, I know the devastating effects a single minded, too narrow focused, command-and-control fanatic can have on the workplace.
But I also know that you can create a balance between plan-driven and agile approaches.
Image by SuperFantastic.
I also know that humans need to categorize everything just to make sense of the world.
When combining the two statements, it will become obvious that “plan-driven” and “agile” are also some arbitrary concepts created by humans to support the limited mind. There is no natural law defining “agile”, there is no eternal balance putting each of them on the extremes of some kind of scale.
It is just us, making up a context we can understand. You can call it whatever you want. And you can put in anything you like. Or out, if you want.
Brian Marick believes Agile is being dumbed down. So he created Artisanal Retro-Futurism crossed with Team-Scale Anarcho-Syndicalism. Just to be sure no one would take that name and create it into something else.
Paul Ritchie mentions the emergence of “Sim”: “… because this piece is in Forbes, I’ll bet that smart c-level folks will soon be asking their PMOs about whether they are incorporating this approach into their methodologies.”
People!
There is just a problem that needs to be taken care of. There is just a team that must be managed. Just observe the situation and look for the cause. Don’t get caught up in “finding the right method”.
Find the problem. Find the solution.
We don’t need sexy flexi Agilist. We don’t need plan-driven commanders.
We need people that can use any technique, any mindset, any approach at the right time.
We need: Freestylers!
You need to be Freestyling.
We need our own song!
Agile. Plan-driven. Waterfall. Freestyling.
I did it again, didn’t I?
Download my Free Project Management E-book Project Shrink Linear Edition.
Freestyling: Beating Agile, Lean And Plan-driven Hands Down
Popularity: unranked [?]
The Secret To Boosting Your Effectiveness As A Project Manager
28 May 2009Do you want to boost your effectiveness as a Project Manager sky high?
Do you want to know The Real Secret? (hmmmm, I think I will turn this into a movie and have a following)
You know projects are about people, right?
You know failure to communicate is one of the biggest causes of project failure, don’t you?
Provide feedback.
The sky opens up, new age music is sounding from the speakers. The Scret to clear and effective communication is …
Feedback.
In communication you have a sender and a receiver. The sender tries to get a message across. The receiver provides reflection on how the message is received or encourages the sender to clarify the message.
With simple Reflective Listening techniques you can develop your communication skills:
Paraphrasing: repeat the same information, but only in different words.
Reflecting: reply with the same words, only add additional emotion to it (say it more strongly or more sad).
Questioning: ask for more information to have a better understanding.
Summarize: create a summary of the message sent.
(I tried to locate the original source of these techniques, but failed. If you know, drop a comment.)
You can create anything into a habit, just by repeating it, over and over again. Provide feedback for a couple of weeks, and you will experience an amazing boost in the effectiveness of your communication.
Just don’t over do it. It may scare people.
Download my Free Project Management E-book Project Shrink Linear Edition.
The Secret To Boosting Your Effectiveness As A Project Manager
Popularity: unranked [?]
Filtering Information: Why You Cannot See Everything
28 May 2009I am tired. I am exhausted from all the information that is poured over me daily.
I already stopped watching television (except for Knight Rider). I only listen to non-stop music radio stations.
Sometimes it feels like being hosed down by information.
In the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know?” Andrew B Newberg, MD states:
“Our brain receives 400 billion bits/second of information, but we’re only aware of 2000 bits/second.”
Great. I seem to be able to use broadband, but currently I am running a 14Kb dial in modem.
I need to neglect information. I have to reduce the input.
Fish have a great mechanism for this, it’s called “front priority“:
“If the fish act upon any piece of information that hits their body the movement of the school gets slow and slight chaotic. By focusing mainly on the fish in front of them, you get this tightly packed movement. The fish seem to swim upstream the information flow.”
If we ignore pieces of information we are better off than having all the information? Can this be true?
Apparently so.
In his book “Blink” Malcolm Gladwell popularized the term “thin-slicing“:
“… our ability to gauge what is really important from a very narrow period of experience. In other words, spontaneous decisions are often as good as—or even better than—carefully planned and considered ones.”
This “thin slice of reality” is a pattern of all things happening in your surroundings. You take the slice and compare it with patterns stored in your mind. When you find a matching pattern, you have made up your mind about a particular situation. This is an unconscious process.
These patterns are dynamic systems in action, a human system seen over a time period. Patterns are trends over time and involve dependencies with other systems.
To spot such trends in projects we use metrics as indicators. If I have the right metrics I can ignore everything around me and focus just on the dashboard.
Can this be true?
We use metrics as indicators, but we need to visualize the data in such a way that trends and dependencies get visible.
The Gantt chart is a bad example. A very bad example.
Tufte presents a design for a Project Management interface that addresses some of the problems with rendering large Gantt Charts. He advocates splitting the chart into two views. At the top of the chart, you see the project timeline laid out in phases, with the current phase denoted with a unique color. On the bottom half of the chart, the local view basically zooms in on the current phase to display more detail.
I am still tired.
But it seems the best thing is to focus on a few things, reduce the input. It will increase my performance. But only if the input is presented in a proper way, in a way that visualizes trends and dependencies.
Can this really be true?
Download my Free Project Management E-book Project Shrink Linear Edition.
Filtering Information: Why You Cannot See Everything
Popularity: unranked [?]