Perfection is Overrated
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
2y ago
Since I retired, I’ve rekindled my fondness for working with wood. My workshop consists of the 43 inches between the front bumper of my truck and the east wall of my garage, although the truck moves when I need more room. Still, space matters, and I depend almost entirely on hand tools. And because space matters, I built a Dutch tool chest to store and protect them. This is a classic design, with a lid that slants forward to discourage using it as a place to set things down “just for a few minutes,” and a fall-front door in a lower section. I also built a rolling cart, with a similar fall-fron ..read more
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Happy Trails To You
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
3y ago
… until we meet again ..read more
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Calculating National and Religious Holidays for Your Project Schedule
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
3y ago
In November, 2014 I began an annual tradition: I collected a list of commonly observed national and religious holidays for the coming calendar year, and suggested that those holidays observed by the project team be accounted for as non-working days in project schedules for the coming year. But it’s time to remove myself from the equation: I’ve prepared an Excel workbook that will calculate my (now expanded) list of national and religious holidays, from 2021 through 2030. How it Works Many holidays are observed on a specific date, such as Canada Day. Organizations that observe these holidays us ..read more
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Waterfall, Agile, and Death Marches
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
3y ago
I’ve grown weary of internet debates about software development methodology, argued by people who don’t really understand the vocabulary they use. Allow me to provide a brief lesson on three of the most commonly misused terms. The Origins of the Epithet “Waterfall” A little history: Winston Royce is attributed with defining the methodology now called “waterfall” in his 1970 paper, Managing the Development of Large Software Systems although that term never appears in the paper. Royce was offering his opinion on what worked and what didn’t work after nine years of software project experience. Wh ..read more
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The Project Manager’s Bookshelf: Business Acumen
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
4y ago
I began this series with a few books that I recommend for developing people skills, then followed up with a list of books on technical skills. This week focuses on developing business acumen, closing with books on procurement and basic business law. Project management is a business function, even if you’re managing software development or moving your internally hosted enterprise applications to the cloud. Business acumen is a bit like Justice Potter Stewart’s comment on pornography—hard to define, but you know it when you see it. There are a few foundational knowledge areas that support develo ..read more
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The Project Manager’s Bookshelf: Technical Skills
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
4y ago
Last week, I listed a few books that I recommend for developing people skills. Next week, I’ll close out the series with a list of books on developing business acumen. But this week’s list is about technical skills. The phrase “technical skills” means different things to different people. A programmer, an industrial welder, an aircraft engine mechanic, and a pharmacist each have their own technical skill sets, and their own courses of study and reference books. I’ve collected a short list of books that I’d recommend to a practicing project manager or someone who aspires to that role, to help d ..read more
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The Project Manager’s Bookshelf: People Skills
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
4y ago
I used to see a lot of project management thought leaders write about what they called soft skills. They meant things like Emotional Intelligence, communication, driving change, fostering collaboration, and so on. At some point, they realized that those things are hard. I prefer the term people skills, which isn’t specific enough for some, but it facilitates grouping knowledge and skills into three broad areas: People skills Technical skills Business acumen A lot has been written about these topics, and a lot of recommendations have been made in the SEO-oriented format of Top Ten Books on XX ..read more
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Managing Transitions Between Outsourcing Vendors
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
4y ago
With apologies to Sir Walter Scott: Oh, what a tangled contract we write, when first we practice to outsource. Having managed outsourcing projects on behalf of both the customer and the third-party administrator, and managed transitions from one outsourcing firm to another on behalf of several clients, I have a lot of anecdotal evidence that outsourcing generally works best on a spreadsheet—in practice, results tend to be rather variable. But because most business decisions are driven by spreadsheets, businesses keep outsourcing. That’s not to say that migrating to a better outsourcing relatio ..read more
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Estimating Based on a Model of Project Execution
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
4y ago
I initiated and managed a lot of projects over my career of 30 years or so. Along the way, I observed some common mistakes, both my own and others, that impact the quality of estimates for cost and schedule. Much of this comes down to the way these estimates are prepared. I’ve got a few thoughts to share on managing the preparation of preliminary estimates, so that proposed projects can be approved based on information that the decision makers can believe reflect an understanding of both the problems and the solutions, and how to achieve them. An Estimate is Based on a Model Any estimate of th ..read more
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The RAID Log: Right Topics, Wrong Sequence
The Practicing IT Project Manager
by Dave Gordon
4y ago
If you were to poll project managers on which software tool (aside from email) they use most often, for the largest number of tasks, I imagine that Excel would predominate. From complex calculator to data analyzer to zero-effort database and factoid organizer, I doubt there is a more ubiquitous multi-tool. And yet, we sometimes use it in ways that inhibit our understanding of the problems we’re trying to solve. One example that comes to mind is a spreadsheet template we used in a former life, called a “RAID log.” The spreadsheet had four tabs: Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Decisions. Each ta ..read more
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