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Friday Again Already?

In the last time it happens again regularly that I ask myself at the latest on Friday around noon the question; "Friday noon, where is this week already again"? Yes, I really ask myself this question in this form. And not as the universally quoted TGIF - "Thank God is Friday"; because I like to work! So my motto is IIFRA - "Is it Friday really again?" ;-)

So now I'm taking some time to review selected topics of the last week. Maybe I'll be able to slow down the pace a bit... or what's the consultant term for that: "deceleration".

PM Camp Hamburg

PM Camp Hamburg

Finally, the preparations for the „biggest class reunion of German-speaking project managers" (I like to quote myself) are underway. After a few attempts sabotaged by Covid-19, a new orga team has now been found, which has already found a place and a date:

icon

On May 19 and 20, 2023, the PM Camp will
take place on the premises of ISM Hamburg.

More details will follow very soon. Until then, block the date in your schedule. I will definitely be there!

Read more...

Posted by Frank Blome on January 27th, 2023 under Internal
Tags: friday links collection-of-links

The Right Dress Code in Business for Project Managers

Every now and then I have the luxury and may fall back on a student for support. I like to do that, because such an internship helps both sides. The student gets to see first hand how project management is lived on a daily basis and I learn new trends and what is taught at the universities. In addition, a fresh, young look at our topics is always very helpful. After all, we have been involved since 2004.

Recently, my intern came to the office and asked for advice on dress code in business. This resulted in an interesting discussion, which was repeatedly checked by Google. I found out again that there are actually two groups:

  • unofficial dress codes
  • official dress codes
Read more...

Posted by Frank Blome on April 26th, 2019 under Project Management
Tags: friday

Phew… What a Week!

Actually, I should say ”What a year it’s been so far”, as an incredible three months have already lapsed since my last post. After a short Christmas break, we got straight down to work on version 4.2 and our new Express version of Merlin Project – with both being released this week!

Merlin Project

Merlin Project 4.2 as well as Server and Go were released on Monday. Version 4.2 is all about Dropbox folder synchronization. I don’t know about you, but I don’t find these kind of Dropbox folders to be very helpful:

Dropbox conflics

This can happen very quickly when, like here, three people are working in a shared folder. Resolving this was both our motivation and aim: To identify all Dropbox conflicts and resolve them automatically. It turns out that we discovered something unique with our synchronization engine. It was designed to answer the issue – and it did precisely this (and no, I’m not going to quote the A-Team here). Download the new version of Merlin Project 4.2 and save your project to a shared Dropbox folder. You can now work on the same project using Merlin Project on a totally different computer or, using Merlin Project Go, on an iPhone or iPad. On iOS devices, you just need to link your Dropbox account once. After that, you’ll then see all the changes automatically in your project. It really is a blast, and it puts the fun into project management!

Merlin Project Express

The 2nd highlight of the week was Merlin Project Express. Since Merlin Project first appeared, Sales & Support – and me too – have been bombarded regularly with questions asking for a cut-down version. We spent ages trying to decide on the right mix of features, and finally come up with a great set.

Setapp

And with our new app, we’re also taking our first step into new sales channels. I am talking about Setapp – a new service I like to refer to as “the Netflix of Mac apps”, which I mean in a positive sense, of course. The guys’n’gals from MacPaw – also a familiar name on the Mac scene – are behind Setapp. We took a look at this new service when it first launched and were so blown away by it that we didn’t have a second thought about jumping on board. And the best thing: You can give it a go at zero risk as the first month costs nothing. After that, US$9.99 (yes, really: dollars) gets debited from your credit card each month.

And with this, we really have earned ourselves the weekend off ;-)

Best wishes
Frank Blome

Posted by Frank Blome on March 31st, 2017 under Internal
Tags: friday

A Last Friday for This Year!

Just before Christmas I have a last post for this year.

(no) book recommendation

But I have another subject: A few weeks ago, I came into contact with the book "Holacracy, The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World." A first reading was interesting, especially because I am always looking for new approaches for a modern management. So €12.99 were put into the iTunes BookStore and every free minute invested in Brian J. Robertson's work.

Little by little, however, I began to wonder whether this is not an attempt to make the famous "Silver Bullet" for the Americans. Nevertheless, I fought over half the book until I gave up. But what is the - or even my - problem with the "Silver Bullet"?

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a friend of these so-called hype management methods. This includes some management classics, as for example "Getting Things done" by David Allen. Here it is not the method in itself, but much more my envy that I have not had the idea to make a lot of money by "putting new wine in old bottles" ;-)

But Holacracy is dangerous. If I do something wrong with GTD, I burn some personal time. This hurts, but otherwise is not harmful. If I do a mistake in Holacracy, in the worst case, I could drive a company against the wall and destroy existences. Because at this point, Brian Robertson takes a great responsibility when he says, "If you introduce parts of the Holocracy, the power structure will not change." So he demands, that the whole company has to change. This was, when my alarm bells started ringing!

In the further course, the concept became more and more opaque and complex that I inevitably built up a training and certification empire in my head. But when the comparison between a company and an operating system came up, I closed the book amused and spent my time more meaningfully.

(no) Christmas story

Frosty the Project-Snowman

At this time, it is customary to celebrate a Christmas story. From all sides one can hear from "But it came to pass at the time ..." up to various versions over the old Ebenezer Scrooge, the hard-hearted nickel nurser. It is no wonder at all, that these stories are so successful. In addition to the fact that Mr. Dickens had a very pleasant "writing", storytelling is still the best methods to convey knowledge.

Taking this occasion: Due to multiple request, we have re-added the making of story for Merlin to our documentation. It had been buried more and more over the years in the blog Macpm.net. Now, we have reissued it as quick guide.

Short break

You probably already read the news, we need to take a rest. As every year, we use the time between Christmas and New Year for this. The support will be reduced to a minium, the sale and the development pauses completely. Also I personally will try to relax for a few days.

Therefore, for this year, I conclude with my best magical wishes. Spend the holidays with joy and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017. The next year will be very exciting for us as well as for you as a Merlin Project user. I am looking forward to it ...

Yours
Frank Blome

P.S.: Would you like to receive the nice snow man as project file? Follow us on (twitter:MerlinPM text:Twitter target:_blank) and send us a short message.

Posted by Frank Blome on December 23rd, 2016 under Internal
Tags: friday book

Friday Again Already?

Emergency Exit

Team Meeting

Last week the Friday column unfortunately had to be cancelled. The preparations for our upcoming team meeting took up all my time.

In this week it was finally time again. The whole ProjectWizards team met for the annual Christmas meeting. And this was surely not only for me but for all colleagues once again a real highlight.

But we were also busy! On two days we not only reviewed the year 2016 but also planned first topics for 2017. Let us surprise you!

Insiders know that our Christmas meeting is not just about work. We always like to use this event for a more or less sportive activity. This year we went bowling. The support and service teams didn't miss a thing and the final result was very close. Fortunately, nobody had to rely on the use of the admittedly strange emergency exit (see right). We concluded with our Christmas dinner in a nice country inn.

We had a lot of fun and go strengthened into the end of the year.

Question of the week

Of course there was a "favourite question" again this week. Sometimes I wonder how and where people come to an agreement. This week was about working with MS Project and whether Merlin Project can import and export the file format. Yes, of course. There is even a useful one in this context tip.

Completion of the trainings in 2016

This year the training season will run longer than usual. Normally there are no trainings at all in December. But apparently this year is different. So the company Brainworks Training was asked to hold another event in Hamburg in any case. A wish that Josef Neumaier gladly complies with. Therefore, another Merlin Project Training will take place on December 15th and 16th. Some last places are still free. The realization is guaranteed in any case.

Now I must get back to work. Bye for now…

Posted by Frank Blome on December 9th, 2016 under Internal
Tags: friday

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