MacWorld 2010, commented by Dave Prior
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 23. February 2010
In the latest Project Potion episode of Bas De Baar and Dave Prior, Dave Prior comments his visit to the MacWorld, the outcome of his intention to meet up with other PMs, and some new products he found there.
Our favourite quote of the episode is…
And I went out there with the guys of ProjectWizards, that is the company which makes Merlin, which is for my money, the best Project Management software on mac, because it is the only one that lets you enter separate values for work and duration, which to me is a huge deal being as I am a bit of a geek when it comes to making my project plans.
Enjoy the episode, there is so much more PM relevant information to find there. It is awesome! Watch it until the end, and you will know why we call it so 
Tags: PM
My Team: my customers
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 18. February 2010
Reading a blog post about the importance for a good PM to build good relationships not only to clients but also within the project team, I found the following sentence:
your team are your customers
Just a few hours ego I had written a similar sentence to a colleague. I was asked whether it is really ok, that I was told to do so many changes to a specific newly created web content. Of course it was fine with me. My team are my customers. I have delivered the best possible result based on the original instructions, and was satisfied by the result. My ‘customer’ used the possibilities of the new product and was happy at first. But what happens when you use new products? First you try to understand them, and later on you try to customise them. So as expected customisation requests arrived, changing the scope of the project. Very well. Everything is fine. If the changes make sense and the effort is reasonable to the achieved benefits, why not? If my ‘customer’ is happy, I am happy to.
Tags: PM, Scope Change Request
Motivation
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 17. February 2010
One of the reasons why projects fail could also be luck of motivation. There are various ways to motivate a PM or the team. One very important according to me, is letting the people have an amount of autonomy in choosing their way of work.
If the ‘what’ question is clear, it a great to know that you can freely decide ‘how’ methods to apply.
This works at best in creative teams but is also very good elsewhere. Creative workers find it easier to do mental work on their projects while hearing music, being on places outside the office walls, when visiting museums, or shopping moles, by taking a coffee at the coffee shop around the corner, go for a jog etc.
A programmer on the other hand, needs his machine, his code and may find it easier to concentrate in the silence of his office.
There are so many different working habits and ways. Not everyone enjoys company when thinking. Different people work differently well while using the same set of hardware or software tools. Why should a company or a PM try to force a specific one? It would not rise effectivity, it will probably lead to unease.
My suggestion: Do you want to rise effectivity and make your deadlines on a project? Be courageous and offer autonomy to your team to decide for their own how they organise their work.
Tags: Creative teams, Motivation, PM
Disarm with charm
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 2. February 2010
In a previous blog post, we have written about communication skills and that bad communication could be a warning sign to failing projects.
So if communication is so important in project management, what would a PM provoke by walking cold into a meeting? Cold reactions, at the very least. Keith Ferrazzi, an expert in relationship development and author of the books Never Eat Alone or Who’s Got Your Back, mentions in his blog the importance of generosity and spreading goodwill to anyone that we meet as a first step towards a warm relationship.
Tags: Communication, PM
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