Time Tracking Software - To Be Accurate… By paying attention to the time spent
By paying attention to the time spent in the requirements and specifications phases, and correlating estimates to timesheet data, you can more accurately predict and track overall project length. If more companies did, fewer undoable projects would ever start.
Have you ever worked in a place where 10 percent of 10 projects got done instead of 100 percent of one project? Ultimately, nothing is accomplished and everyone is totally stressed out. Inaccurate estimates cause over-commitment of time, yet not much gets done. Inaccurate estimates also cause bad decisions. “Inaccurate” usually means “too low.” When this happens, the return on investment (ROI) calculation shows the project as ‘worth it’ when it is not.
Read more at: http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/articles/226867.cfm
Project and Phase Level Security
The project and phase managers can introduce a finer level of control for each of their projects and phases on a case by case basis.
Accurately Projecting Costs: The Battle Continues
Journyx CEO Curt Finch weighs in again with another thoughtful business article, and this time it’s focused on accurate cost projections. The BusinessEdge presents the second in Curt’s 3 part series about How Corporate IT Departments Are Doing More With Less.
Get accurate at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/bedge-finch2.html
Portfolio Management - Connecting Projects
“As project clients and management become more sophisticated in the practice of project management, the focus is shifting to the front-end of the project management cycle, namely choosing the ‘right’ projects and giving them the ‘right’ priority. We see a need for both a decision making model and a prioritization model. First, we choose the correct projects, and then we prioritize them objectively relative to other projects. Next, we register the approved and prioritized projects as part of the portfolio mix, and finally properly activate and manage them. This is Project Portfolio Management - a method of organizing requests and managing work within a strategic context, with specific and measurable parameters, applying the project management discipline to meet corporate objectives.”
Read more at: http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/122
So You Want to be Manager of the Year
“You’ve been selected to be a project manager (or you want to be) and you want to be a success. Here are ten rules to help you be selected as Manager of the Year or the equivalent in your organization.
- Hire good people. Having good people makes being a successful manager easy. Be selective. Personality and attitude sometimes are more important than experience or skills. And even mediocre employees can be improved with patience, training and effort on your part. But that requires time and work on your part.
- Give them the tools that they need. A carpenter cannot build much without the right tools. The same goes for any employee. If it is a good computer and the right software - get it. If it is a certain piece of equipment - get it. Get them whatever they need, and I emphasize need, not want. Training is one of those tools, too. Frustration on the part of an employee who cannot do his or her job because of a lack of tools can destroy morale and productivity. It may cost money to get the tools and training, but it pays off in the end. Remember that a penny saved can cost you a dollar later.”
Find out the other eight at: http://www.projectmagazine.com/v6i1/man_year1.html
Project management key to career advancement
“The security job market is experiencing a classic case of supply versus demand. As an increasing number of certified security professionals browse the want ads, the pay for such positions is decreasing. As a result, competition is tougher. One way to get your resume noticed - and move up the security career ladder - is to hone your project management skills, experts say.
“Project management skills, such as value and risk analysis, relationship management and communications, can make all the difference. ‘They help me to align business needs with security needs,’ said Tom Bowers, a manager of security operations at a pharmaceutical company. ‘They bridge a lot of the gaps from a security standpoint. I can literally go to our drug research folks and we can talk the same language.’ Bowers holds several certifications including the Certified Information Systems Security Professional and the Project Management Professional.
Learn more at: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1117462,00.html