LiquidPlanner: Move over Microsoft Project?

I’ve been holding off writing a review of LiquidPlanner, a project management tool that is destined for greatness.  The reason is that, although they had already implemented a paradigm shifting solution, it had a flaw that I just couldn’t get past:  No dependencies between tasks.

I’ve been saying for years that project planning and management tools needed a top-down rethink, and the LiquidPlanner team has done just that.  The rest of their solution addresses my wish list very well, but, when I came to creating a plan, I couldn’t do it with just priorities; no matter how hard I tried, dependencies between different people’s tasks seemed necessary.  So I had a teleconference with them a month ago (mostly to find out where I was wrong – they seemed to be so innovative), and discovered that they were ‘coming soon’.  In fairness, their tool is still in ‘beta’.

So I’m delighted that, today, I received a notification that they have been implemented, and I now think that it’s probably the best tool out there!  Now that dependencies are implemented, I’m going to use the tool ‘in anger’ and see how it performs – I’ll post a review when I can make an authoritative comment.

Let me know what you think!

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Project+management+tool, LiquidPlanner

LiquidPlanner: Move over Microsoft Project?

I’ve been holding off writing a review of LiquidPlanner, a project management tool that is destined for greatness.  The reason is that, although they had already implemented a paradigm shifting solution, it had a flaw that I just couldn’t get past:  No dependencies between tasks.

I’ve been saying for years that project planning and management tools needed a top-down rethink, and the LiquidPlanner team has done just that.  The rest of their solution addresses my wish list very well, but, when I came to creating a plan, I couldn’t do it with just priorities; no matter how hard I tried, dependencies between different people’s tasks seemed necessary.  So I had a teleconference with them a month ago (mostly to find out where I was wrong – they seemed to be so innovative), and discovered that they were ‘coming soon’.  In fairness, their tool is still in ‘beta’.

So I’m delighted that, today, I received a notification that they have been implemented, and I now think that it’s probably the best tool out there!  Now that dependencies are implemented, I’m going to use the tool ‘in anger’ and see how it performs – I’ll post a review when I can make an authoritative comment.

Let me know what you think!

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Project+management+tool, LiquidPlanner

SmartDraw and Project Management

Recently the kind people at SmartDraw asked me whether I’d like to review their software – and since it’s one of the things we do here, the answer is “yes please”.  I haven’t done it yet, but their tool looks to have elements that support project managers and project leaders in producing compelling communications – core stuff!  I’ll be posting my thoughts on it here shortly.

They also informed me of a tips page on their website that you might be interested in:

10 Project Management Tips from SmartDraw

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: SmartDraw

SmartDraw and Project Management

Recently the kind people at SmartDraw asked me whether I’d like to review their software – and since it’s one of the things we do here, the answer is “yes please”.  I haven’t done it yet, but their tool looks to have elements that support project managers and project leaders in producing compelling communications – core stuff!  I’ll be posting my thoughts on it here shortly.

They also informed me of a tips page on their website that you might be interested in:

10 Project Management Tips from SmartDraw

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: SmartDraw

SmartDraw and Project Management

Recently the kind people at SmartDraw asked me whether I’d like to review their software – and since it’s one of the things we do here, the answer is “yes please”.  I haven’t done it yet, but their tool looks to have elements that support project managers and project leaders in producing compelling communications – core stuff!  I’ll be posting my thoughts on it here shortly.

They also informed me of a tips page on their website that you might be interested in:

10 Project Management Tips from SmartDraw

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: SmartDraw

Project Management & Leadership Search Engine

A while back we put quite a lot of effort into this custom Google search engine, and while the traffic has been steadily increasing, it can still be improved...the more people use it, the better feedback we get, the better we can make it!

The link for the search engine home page is here:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011867071513363012666%3Atbng4tlbkso

The code for adding the search box to your web page is at:

http://gmodules.com/ig/creator?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcoop/api/011867071513363012666/cse/tbng4tlbkso/gadget

If there are topics under-represented, or sites that you feel should be included, please leave a message in the comments.

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Google, Custom, Search, Engine

Project Management & Leadership Search Engine

A while back we put quite a lot of effort into this custom Google search engine, and while the traffic has been steadily increasing, it can still be improved...the more people use it, the better feedback we get, the better we can make it!

The link for the search engine home page is here:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011867071513363012666%3Atbng4tlbkso

The code for adding the search box to your web page is at:

http://gmodules.com/ig/creator?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcoop/api/011867071513363012666/cse/tbng4tlbkso/gadget

If there are topics under-represented, or sites that you feel should be included, please leave a message in the comments.

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Google, Custom, Search, Engine

Inform, Influence, Inspire

Here’s a video called “Inform, Influence, Inspire” – a phrase borrowed from our project communications model.  It’s about what Beaufortes does for our client’s project teams. 

The presentation style is a touch experimental, but you’d expect nothing less from us, now, would you?  We expect to do a lot more with video in the years to come, so we’re building the skills now.  As a company we’re always evolving and improving, and this presentation is aligned with that ethos.  So this current version is simplified, and the video rendering is vastly improved…

So dim the lights, put the headphones on, put your feet up, and enjoy a tranquil moment with Beaufortes!

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Why+Use+Beaufortes, Inform, Influence, Inspire

Inform, Influence, Inspire

Here’s a video called “Inform, Influence, Inspire” – a phrase borrowed from our project communications model.  It’s about what Beaufortes does for our client’s project teams. 

The presentation style is a touch experimental, but you’d expect nothing less from us, now, would you?  We expect to do a lot more with video in the years to come, so we’re building the skills now.  As a company we’re always evolving and improving, and this presentation is aligned with that ethos.  So this current version is simplified, and the video rendering is vastly improved…

So dim the lights, put the headphones on, put your feet up, and enjoy a tranquil moment with Beaufortes!

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Why+Use+Beaufortes, Inform, Influence, Inspire

Flo Radio Part 2 - The Real Deal

A while ago I published a blog piece on the use of sound in the office environment to enhance productivity - and a link to a Pandora radio station I created called Flo Radio.  I know quite a few people now listen to the station, and I’ll keep on refining it because…I like it .  But I’m an interested amateur where environmental sound is involved…

Yesterday at the London Ecademy BlackStars networking day, Julian Treasure gave me a review copy of his book “Sound Business”.  I first met Julian last week; he’s the chairman of The Sound Agency, and we had a long discussion about obscure ‘80s and ‘90s music.  I read his book overnight last night, and Julian is the real deal.

The book is packed with insights about how we perceive sound, how we relate to sound and how we can use it effectively to enhance performance, revenues, quality and workplace mood. 

The book comes with a CD with examples – including a set of loop tracks for working and relaxation.  Try them in your home office – try them with your work teams.  Put them on low in your meetings – notice how the mood changes.

— Philip Greenwood

P.S. The CD content is for personal use only – you’ll need to contact the Sound Agency to discuss commercial applications.

Tags: Environmental, Environmental+Sound, Sound, Music, Birdcall, Effectiveness, Efficiency

Flo Radio Part 2 - The Real Deal

A while ago I published a blog piece on the use of sound in the office environment to enhance productivity - and a link to a Pandora radio station I created called Flo Radio.  I know quite a few people now listen to the station, and I’ll keep on refining it because…I like it .  But I’m an interested amateur where environmental sound is involved…

Yesterday at the London Ecademy BlackStars networking day, Julian Treasure gave me a review copy of his book “Sound Business”.  I first met Julian last week; he’s the chairman of The Sound Agency, and we had a long discussion about obscure ‘80s and ‘90s music.  I read his book overnight last night, and Julian is the real deal.

The book is packed with insights about how we perceive sound, how we relate to sound and how we can use it effectively to enhance performance, revenues, quality and workplace mood. 

The book comes with a CD with examples – including a set of loop tracks for working and relaxation.  Try them in your home office – try them with your work teams.  Put them on low in your meetings – notice how the mood changes.

— Philip Greenwood

P.S. The CD content is for personal use only – you’ll need to contact the Sound Agency to discuss commercial applications.

Tags: Environmental, Environmental+Sound, Sound, Music, Birdcall, Effectiveness, Efficiency

On-line Project Management Tools

I recently started a question on LinkedIn:

On-line project management tools - what is the state of the industry?

There's been a recent serge in the on-line project management tools available, and web 2.0 seems to be making them more user friendly. I'd like to evaluate industry awareness, so without doing research, which on-line platforms do you know of?

Also, if you've experienced using them in earnest, which ones, and what was your experience?

I’d appreciate your responses posted on the LinkedIn site (though posting here will do fine too).

If you’re not a member of LinkedIn, why not join? It’s free – and I will accept your link to get you going.

— Philip Greenwood

P.S. Beaufortes (www.beaufortes.com) is NOT affiliated or sponsored by any supplier organisation. Please note your affiliations (if any) in your response.

Tags: Project+Management, Software, On-line, Tools

On-line Project Management Tools

I recently started a question on LinkedIn:

On-line project management tools - what is the state of the industry?

There's been a recent serge in the on-line project management tools available, and web 2.0 seems to be making them more user friendly. I'd like to evaluate industry awareness, so without doing research, which on-line platforms do you know of?

Also, if you've experienced using them in earnest, which ones, and what was your experience?

I’d appreciate your responses posted on the LinkedIn site (though posting here will do fine too).

If you’re not a member of LinkedIn, why not join? It’s free – and I will accept your link to get you going.

— Philip Greenwood

P.S. Beaufortes (www.beaufortes.com) is NOT affiliated or sponsored by any supplier organisation. Please note your affiliations (if any) in your response.

Tags: Project+Management, Software, On-line, Tools

Guarantee Project Success 2

I suggested in my previous blog piece the idea that a powerful definition of a project would be:

“A project is the way that an organization takes a risk”.

I think this is powerful for several reasons:

1. It’s universal – it doesn’t matter what type of project you’re running, you invest resources with the intention to capture value.
2. It formally acknowledges uncertainty – every project has it, but most teams are in denial about the extent of it. For instance, enterprise transformation projects are very often a process of discovery, rather than the execution of a set of pre-defined steps – yet I seem them planned-out like concrete projects all the time!
3. When you take risks you continually assess alternative outcomes for merit. These are “real options” and they have positive inherent value.
4. It creates a tacit permission to consider course changes during the project if new outcomes are perceived.  The selection of these outcomes would still be considered success!
5. A thorough consideration of project domain complexity will reveal that we tend to vastly over-simplify our approach to them.  The definition suggests the proper appraisal of the project’s complexity is necessary.
6. It embeds the project within the organization, and the portfolio of changes that are occurring inside it and in its external context.

It’s unusual to discuss risk-taking, rather than risk-management.  Most project management tools are risk management tools, focusing on minimizing risk for a single course of action, a single outcome.  Risk taking is another art entirely.

I’m sure I’ve got more to say about this subject – until next time!

— Philip Greenwood

Tags:  Project+success, Project+failure, Risk+management

Linklaters launch a wiki initiative

I noticed yesterday, on Scott Vine’s Information Overlord, that Linklaters (esteemed law firm, and member of the magic circle) is launching a wiki initiative that they’ve called “linkpedia”.

In The Lawyer, Linklaters chief knowledge officer comments:-

“the purpose of Linkpedia is to organise and share the knowledge held across the firm on a platform that staff are familiar with. The overall strategy is to see how the firm can use the technologies available in the public domain within the corporate law firm environment"

Now I’m hoping that it’s a success, but a couple of things worry me. Firstly there is “empty wiki syndrome”, and the problems associated with using a “dirty wiki” in a high pressure corporate environment that relies on getting things right first time, and maximizing the sale of billable hours.

But the quote from the CKO worried me a little too…

“The overall strategy is to see how the firm can use the technologies available in the public domain within the corporate law firm environment”

To me, it smacks of a world view in which wiki’s are like SAP, something you plug in, and get a legal wikipedia out the other end. It’s a cold lifeless definition of the strategy, and although wiki’s can be used like that, it doesn’t allude to the secrets that make some wiki’s great, while others languish empty.

the secret to creating a great wiki is unsurprisingly about community and quest, it’s about  having something that draws people together to collaborate on an endeavour that is larger than themselves. A wiki shouldn’t be classified as a technological tool … (hey isn’t almost every key business tool a technological tool?) A wiki is a community facilitation tool.

What if the CKO had said this…

“The overall strategy is to grow THE legal reference work for British law. This internal resource which will grow case by case, and have input from the best legal minds in our firm, will become our key knowledge resource over the next 50 years”

Now I understand that Linklaters have the ability to reward people financially for their contribution to the internal knowledge resource, but is this ‘encouraged’ contribution really going to get the kind of whole company response that creating “THE legal reference work for Linklaters and British law” might?

The lessons from Wikipedia aren’t all about the technology used.

– Jason Bates

edit : 02-07-07
I understand from someone who knows more about the initiative than I do, that Linkpedia is more of an interactive extension of their intranet, than having a go at creating THE legal wikipedia. That's interesting... they have the community internally, and I've always thought it very cool when company's create 'Rough Guides' - things you really need to know about day to day living in an organization. Hopefully they will pitch the wiki in a way that really captures the organizations imagination. JB>

Tags:  Linklaters, Wiki, quest

The Dirty Wiki

Jason Bates wrote about The Empty Wiki in a previous post, but I’d like to point out another problem with wikis (those that aren’t empty anyway):  The power of the special interest group…

The Dirty Wiki

Jason Bates wrote about The Empty Wiki in a previous post, but I’d like to point out another problem with wikis (those that aren’t empty anyway):  The power of the special interest group…

The Dirty Wiki

Jason Bates wrote about The Empty Wiki in a previous post, but I’d like to point out another problem with wikis (those that aren’t empty anyway):  The power of the special interest group…

MindJet Project Management JetPack for MindManager 7

The good people at MindJet have allowed me early access to their MindManager Project Management JetPack.  As I read that sentence I realize that many readers won’t have a clue what I’m talking about, so let me explain:

MindJet is the company that produces the MindManager application.

MindManager is, at its heart, a brainstorming and mind mapping software tool.

Mind mapping is a knowledge management technique for generating, organizing and communicating ideas or concepts. (Go here for more info)

Change Management Isn't a Methodology!

A few years ago I worked on a project with a client (global, ~140,000 people) that had an in-house change management methodology.  I expected that this would make the job easier – after all, they must recognise the value of change management and know how to use it, surely. 

I was astounded to discover that very few people in the company knew how to apply the methodology – I found nobody who even knew where to start!  After hours of studying the methodology I figured out why:  There was no starting point. I was just a cluster of loosely connected tools.

Wikis finally go WYSIWYG

Sourceforge.net, the open source development platform, has announced that all of their projects are going to have wikis available to them – this is a major advance because so few of these projects have sufficient documentation – actually many have none at all!

Sourceforge’s user community numbers in excess of 1.5 million people, so their choice of wiki is quite a big deal.  The obvious choice seemed to be Mediawiki – the tool that powers Wikipedia – because Mediawiki is well proven and is open sourced itself.

But Sourceforge has gone with Wikispaces.  I took a little time today to review the Wikispaces offering and I’m quite impressed.  The key benefit of Wikispaces is usability: It has a WYSIWYG editor (more like writing in a word processor), so unlike Mediawiki, you don’t have to learn any codes.

Will this mean the end to the empty wiki syndrome?  Does this make the wiki a usable project tool?  Well try it out; there’s a free, hosted, advert supported trial option!

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Mediawiki, Wikispaces, Wiki, Sourceforge, WYSIWYG

Wikis finally go WYSIWYG

Sourceforge.net, the open source development platform, has announced that all of their projects are going to have wikis available to them – this is a major advance because so few of these projects have sufficient documentation – actually many have none at all!

Sourceforge’s user community numbers in excess of 1.5 million people, so their choice of wiki is quite a big deal.  The obvious choice seemed to be Mediawiki – the tool that powers Wikipedia – because Mediawiki is well proven and is open sourced itself.

But Sourceforge has gone with Wikispaces.  I took a little time today to review the Wikispaces offering and I’m quite impressed.  The key benefit of Wikispaces is usability: It has a WYSIWYG editor (more like writing in a word processor), so unlike Mediawiki, you don’t have to learn any codes.

Will this mean the end to the empty wiki syndrome?  Does this make the wiki a usable project tool?  Well try it out; there’s a free, hosted, advert supported trial option!

— Philip Greenwood

Tags: Mediawiki, Wikispaces, Wiki, Sourceforge, WYSIWYG

Project Management & Leadership Search Engine Enhancements

We’ve significantly enhanced the Google Custom Search Engine for Project Management & Leadership:  We’ve focussed it on content rich sites, and the number of selected sites is up to 46.

We’ve also been experimenting with how to get the best results from including or excluding general search results – trying to get bad matches from Wikipedia and other mega-sites out of the search results, while maintaining their valuable good matches!

The link for the search engine home page is here:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011867071513363012666%3Atbng4tlbkso

The code for adding the search box to your web page is at:

http://gmodules.com/ig/creator?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcoop/api/011867071513363012666/cse/tbng4tlbkso/gadget

If there are topics under-represented, or sites that you feel should be included, please leave a message in the comments.

— Philip Greenwood

 

Tags:  Google+Custom+Search, Search+Engine, Custom+Search+Engine, Project+Management, Project+Leadership

The Empty Wiki

There is nothing that sums up the problems of the modern business world like an empty wiki.

Eventually when Project Leadership tools are as ubiquitous as the Gantt chart – my own company’s mission – business people will realize that the tools for making creative collaboration happen aren’t technological…

…they are social, inspirational, and as old as the hills.

Wiki’s, and Web 2.0 might fan the flames of collaboration, and extend the reach of our conversations, but it will always be inspirational people and their quests that create the vital spark.

Grow a community around a great quest, and those people will find, create, beg borrow and steal all the tools they need.

Empty wiki's are sad :o( but they do teach us something.

— Jason Bates

 

Tags: web+2.0, wiki, empty+wiki, social+tools, community

Live Blog - Mindmanager 7

Be careful what you blog:  I mentioned Mindmanager, the mind mapping tool from MindJet on this site only a few days ago, and they promptly invited me to their product launch Webinar.  Actually I’m quite flattered because only around a thousand people visit this site – it’s no Trump University (currently the biggest business blog site) – yet.  I hope you find our content is a little more pithy though.

To try to boost our subscriber base a little, I thought I’d give live-blogging a go – to see if I could be the first blog to review the new version of MindManager.  My apologies in advance for any typos, grammatical flubs and non-sequiturs that this may cause.

How Visible Is Your Project?

I believe that the vast majority of projects are not nearly visible enough, particularly among the extended stakeholder and customer groups, though I’m constantly under fire for holding this opinion.

The reason teams don’t like visibility, as far as I can tell, is that we humans – in general – like to hide what we perceive as risky behaviour.  We do it as children, and the instinct doesn’t disappear.  (Though once we’ve got the trick mastered,  we’re quite happy to show it to the world to impress them with our daring – just watch the skaters on the South Bank in London).

From Brainstorm to Gantt Chart in One Step

I started mindmapping too long ago to admit, but I found it cumbersome when using paper.  I used to find that thinking about the organisation of the mind map either got in the way, or conversely – and at different times – it inspired further thoughts.  I wanted to be able to be able to get the ideas down in a blaze of creativity, and then use structures to fill-in the gaps.

These days I love mindmapping with software because it de-couples idea generation from idea organisation.  Now I can quickly re-structure the map as many times as I like, I get the best of both worlds.

For seven years I’ve been using versions of Mindmanager from MindJet, which is probably the market leading tool.  There seems to be no end of uses for this software, but one really clever extension application is