Add-On Project Management: Fill & Download for Free

I know how difficult it is to commit to a single project planning application without options to extend its features. It’s almost impossible to tailor PM software for your multi-project needs without a state-of-the-art add-on. If you’re using MS Project and don’t want to implement another planning system from scratch, you can pick an adaptable project management tool – Epicflow. This tool was designed to upgrade MS Project and similar PM solutions for multi-project environments. Read this article on Project Accelerator News to find out more about what makes this project management software unique.

Q: Why do many software engineers have negative experience with project managers?A: Because a project manager is responsible for the timely completion of the project, but is not responsible for any of the work that goes into completion of the project.The project manager has to get a team of engineers to deliver something on a schedule they usually don’t have much input on. The stakeholders like to add features, but don’t like to extend the schedule to accommodate the new features. The stakeholders put the project manager in between themselves and the dev team so the PM will take the heat and do all the unpleasant work of, um, motivating (yeah, that’s it, motivating) the team to meet impossible, arbitrary schedules.It would be more instructive to ask, have any developers ever had a really positive experience with a project manager who understood their needs?

<<did not write this question.Plan. Do. Check. Act. or said another wayPlan. Execute. Test. Implement.The most important quality of a good project manager is s/he is driven to push the project forward. To demand activity. To require progress.Many project managers are excellent at planning. Business Cases. Project Charters. Work Breakdown Structures. But when it comes to executing the plan, they sit back and expect the team members to work by themselves. It never works.Constant oversight. Requiring regular updates. Solving. Solving. Solving all the issues that are presented by the team. It can seem bizarre the level of involvement required. Team Member: 'I haven't heard back from X". "Did you call him again?" "Will you call him again?" Do you want me to call him again?" Remove the excuses. Force the team members to work with each other. Focus on the project deliverables. Relentlessly stop the project from growing.In addition, a good project manager is the liaison with the business and senior IT executives. Some of these will be determined to directly interfere with the team members and the project itself. It is the PM's job to communicate effectively with them, while keeping them out of daily project activities.Know where everyone is, and what everyone is doing, so that any request for information is met with the facts.Expect everything to take longer than estimated but work vigorously to keep people on the schedule. Handle all the different egos. Be supportive and understanding to some, and kick butts and shake up complacency for others.For the PM, the project is everything that is happening. Fight off all the other distractions that will occur - especially to the priorities of the team members. Manage all political problems yourself. Stay out of the technical side. A project manager who tries to be a developer, or a tester is doing the wrong job.Work with people. Be endlessly patient with problems. Everyone will scream and yell and cry to you. You will be calm and reasoned with everyone.Do. Be involved. Be the one responsible. Don't blame anyone for anything. Fix it.Complete the project. The running joke is that the project is always 95% complete but never gets finished. Finish it. Close it down. Hand it off to operations. Start the next one. If the project is phase two, so be it. Phase one is done and you never go back.Work the problem. Keep everyone involved. Manage the Project.And now for the cliches.A good project manager will be equally hated by everyone at the end of a project.Focus on good enough. No project will be perfect.80/20. A project that produces 80% of the promised functionality is a complete success.80/20. 20% of the project team will produce 80% of the work. Focus on them to get things done.80/20. 80% of the cost will be salary / contracts. Resources (people) will always be the most expensive part of the project. Time is the enemy, not infrastructure.People who think they know everything are especially annoying to those of us who do. Work with them but make your own decisions. You are the expert; the expert at getting things done.Analysis Paralysis - Production, Production, Production. All of the team, the stakeholders and executives will be entranced by more study - don't let it stop you.Doing it wrong quickly is at least better than doing it wrong slowly (Ashleigh Brilliant)It is nice to think you can do it right the first time, IF it doesn't take too long. It may take longer to fix it than to do it right, but it will take longer if you wait until everything is perfect.Scope Creep. Everyone will try to add things to your project - the team members and the stakeholders. You can't say no to everything but try anyway