Process > Work Management

The third annual AtTask Summit featured the launch of a social work management platform, customer case studies and a live podcast.

Mindjet is also introducing a cloud-based collaboration service and a new version of its collaborative work management solution.

As project and portfolio management processes spread throughout organizations, the greatest roadblock to executive visibility isn’t the software or methodologies employed. It’s individual contributors. Traditional top-down approaches just don’t work. Here are keys to increasing team member participation. Increased visibility and value will follow.

When it comes to leveraging social media techniques on projects, the most important place to start is frame of mind. It’s not about mimicking Facebook in the workplace, but rather removing barriers to communication and information-sharing. Project leaders who do will improve team camaraderie and productivity.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will use the enterprise project and portfolio management solution to improve visibility and reduce costs.

Social project management success is all about people — and starts with the people on the frontline. This is the new paradigm for managing project-based work.

Top-down project management focuses on resource utilization, but fails to gather ground-up intelligence. A better approach requires that organizations truly engage the workforce, making the team members a valid and viable part of the process and allowing information to seamlessly flow up to executives and across departments.

The following section provides additional questions and considerations for Integration. While refining these selection criteria for your specific needs, consider what your organization requires related to integration with existing systems.

Recent alliances, acquisitions and implementations in the world of project and portfolio management.

Dealing with a non-productive team member can be a difficult, awkward process for even the most experienced project managers. Ideally, the remedy should start with the team. Here are some guidelines for discerning the root of the problem and taking appropriate, corrective action.

Teams are more than the sum of the parts. Cross-functional collaboration supports creativity, innovation and speed. Who wouldn’t want that? But managing cross-functional collaborative teams differs from managing a functional team or a tradition project. How can you tell whether a team is working?

First, let’s call it what it really is: Work and Resource Portfolio Management, not just project portfolio management. That's the only way to see the true value of an integrated approach to managing the entire workload and workforce. Then, we can focus on specific productivity improvements, from decision-making transparency to responsiveness to change.

Here’s our July 2009 roundup of the latest technology solutions, services and training for project management professionals, including configurable project collaboration … single-application Scrum development … simplified earned value management … test case management … and more.

The world of project management has changed. Have you adapted? Management techniques historically grounded in construction and manufacturing have quickly become obsolete in today’s fast moving, technology-oriented service organizations. For many PMOs, the message is clear: evolve or die.

Developing quantifiable criteria by which success can be determined should not be such a difficult thing. But based on the countless articles, workshops and seminars on the topic, metrics must be one tough nut to crack.

Microsoft Project Server 2003 offers more portfolio visibility and workflow control.

A wide variety of technology solutions are available to help organizations of all sizes and industries launch, customize and refine their project portfolio management efforts. Here's our spring roundup of new releases, major upgrades and the latest reviews from technology analysts.

Here is a 12-step guide to developing an integrated work-prioritization process.

Are you between jobs? Looking to move on? The latest online poll of the ProjectsAtWork community takes the pulse of job satisfaction and current work status.

Is it possible to create a work environment where individuals embrace a cooperative spirit, united on a personal level to realize a greater mission? Yes, but they need visibility into the purpose behind their work, and the ability to participate in its prioritization — to own a piece of it.

An effective contingent work team can be procured more easily when you get involved in development of the SOW. Your non-involvement may result in a costly Emergency Executive Intervention.

Ken Clements, industry marketing manager, Professional Service Organizations, Microsoft Corp., discusses how PSOs and project managers can better leverage technology.

Traditional project management tools do not apply when it comes to enterprise project management, which requires the full cooperation and support of senior management. The EPM concept is appealing, but its reality has been far more elusive. So what does it take to make it work?

In order to keep your body functioning as it should, you need to ensure that it is maintained properly. Effectively, we all implement ALM on ourselves by managing for our own lifecycle. Maybe this isn’t such a crazy analogy after all…let’s explore.

New Facebook page for Projects@Work launched to encourage editorial comments, suggestions and new contributions.