Level2wo

It’s been a couple of weeks since the last post. As you know, we’ve moved to Atlanta, Georgia, for a new beginning and new adventures. We’re looking forward to it.

Today is the 4th of July, and I thought it would be appropriate to show some patriotism. We’ll be up and publishing again on Monday. Have a great holiday weekend.

The Big Move

Monday is our big move to Atlanta–and we’re going to be heading cross country for two weeks, hitting what are, in my opinion, the prettiest and more interesting places in America.
We’re going to have a guest blogger on Level2wo.net–founding partner and world-class web and design wiz, E. Themmen. I hope you enjoy his posts.

But from my end–it’s time for the fun stuff–showing off pictures of the places we will go! Below are some pictures from the national parks we’re going to–some of which I worked at during my youth–though, truth be told, I don’t feel it was that long ago.

Enjoy!

On Fridays I like to have some fun with the topics that are important to you and to me, namely marketing, web design, content, project management, and the like. Today I thought I would throw up some project management jokes and truisms, as well as some coding, employment, and general work funnies in between. Hope you enjoy them!

Checkpoint Results Defined

Task force to review.
Seven people who are incompetent at their regular jobs have been loaned to the project

Serious but not insurmountable problems.
It’ll take a miracle…

Not well defined at this time.
Nobody’s even thought about it.

Risk is high, but within acceptable ranges of risk
100:1 odds, or with 10 times over budget using 10 times the people we said we’d employ.
Essentially complete
It’s half done.
Employee Appraisal

He has carried out each and every one of his duties to his entire satisfaction.

Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap

This employee should go far – and the sooner he starts, the better.

Technically sound, but socially impossible.
Project Management Proverbs

If at first you don’t succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.

There’s never enough time to do it right first time but there’s always enough time to go back and do it again.

Quantitative project management is for predicting cost and schedule overruns well in advance.

For a project manager overruns are as certain as death and taxes.

Warning: dates in a calendar are closer than they appear to be.

Managing IT people is like herding cats.

Good control reveals problems early – which only means you’ll have longer to worry about them.
Joke

A project manager, a computer programmer and a computer operator are driving down the road when the car they are in gets a flat tire. The three men try to solve the problem.
The project manager said: “Let’s catch a cab and in ten minutes we’ll reach our destination.”

The computer programmer said: “We have here the driver’s guide. I can easily replace the flat tire and continue our drive.”

The computer operator said: “First of all, let’s turn off the engine and turn it on again. Maybe it will fix the problem.”

Suddenly a Microsoft software engineer passed by and said: “Try to close all windows, get off the car, and then get in and try again.”

Project Management – Communication

There are a great many factors and inputs into managing a successful project, none more important than the communication aspect. Without clear, constant, effective communication with all stakeholders–internally and externally, the likelihood of project success will not be very good.

How do you achieve communication success while managing your project?
The first thing you want to do when managing your project, at least from a communications perspective, is draw up the communication plan, even if you’re not going to be sharing it with the project stakeholders in some form or fashion. The plan will help clarify your communication efforts for you; i.e., once you’re in the thick of the project, the communication plan will help ensure that you are getting the right information to the right stakeholders at the right time. The communication plan helps you ensure consistency–you’ll know when you’re to reach out to stakeholders, when they’re to respond back to you, and it will ensure you’re minimizing the opportunity for miscommunication.

While I won’t go into all of the documents that are part of the communication process–the project charter, the milestone chart, the SOW (Statement of Work), the project plan, project schedule, organization chart–these documents will normally be readily available for stakeholders, either on paper (less and less these days), or on a sharepoint site or soft copy somewhere.

Internal Communication
Communication with your project team is critical. Not only is it important to clearly assign what needs to be done, it communicates the WHO that needs to do the work, the With Who (meaning what team members should be coordinating their efforts, including alternative plans if ‘Plan A’ doesn’t work out quite as it should, the main internal project sponsor (likely You, the PM), the HOW–email, daily/weekly meetings, conference calls, etc., and a few other factors intrinsic to executing a successful project.

External Communication
External communication–that is, communication with your client, the project sponsor, and any other project stakeholder who is not part of your internal team, needs to be done consistently (not only in terms of timing but in terms of format–email, hard copy or soft copy, etc, professionally, and as often as needed. As long as external stakeholders believe they are being kept in the loop and appropriately informed of the project’s progress, the project will run smoother and the client will remain happy–given everything else is running smoothly.

I’ll be writing more in the coming months on all aspects of Project Management, but the above communication aspect of projects can’t be overlooked, ignored, or minimized. A project is not a project unless there is communication, and depending on the size of the project, it will be dead in the water unless the flow of communication is consistent, effective, and reaches all stakeholders–internal as well as external.