Project Management Software > PM Tools

Is there any advantage to using Cloud-based project management tools to manage projects? Is it cheaper and more effective? Are the tools more feature-rich? And what about the disadvantages? Here is what some research has revealed…

So you want a career in project management? What will it take to be successful, and what about earning potential? This article will explore the pursuit of a career in project management, including looks at characteristics of successful PMs, what employers are looking for and salaries.

A project management office can operate on a continuum, from providing project management support functions in the form of training, software, standardized policies and procedures to actual direct management and responsibility for achieving the project objectives. Here, we look at some of the key responsibilities and features of a typical PMO.

Frustrated by project charter meetings that feature overly textual, often generic descriptions of what the team can expect and how to accomplish it, a project manager applied the agile concept of User Stories to better describe project interactions and inject more real-world meaning into a kickoff document.

Does your PMO Produce Multiple Obstacles for your project or Promote Many Opportunities for success? PMOs often get a bad reputation on agile teams, but it need not be that way--they can also add tremendous support and be a great help.

This cloud thing’s just not working...the silver bullet seems to have misfired. So what went wrong? A tool won't solve all of your problems; in reality, it's a combination of the tool, training, process re-engineering and integration with other corporate functions that will keep you up to speed.

The latest snapshot of project management trends and opinions from the ProjectsAtWork community…

The Agile movement, which emerged from a need to rethink software development projects, has popularized a number of ideas that should be applied more broadly across the PM community. Many Agile principles complement “formal” methods such as earned value management, and can be readily implemented in traditional project environments.

The social engagement of the project is what underlies every aspect of the project process more so than normal. In social PM, collaboration, transparency and mutual participation is central--with the assumption that if this socially engaging environment and the necessary collaboration tools are in place with a clearly defined project goal, then success should follow. But in order for social PM to work, some principles and guidelines need to be incorporated.

What sets PM Masters apart from the rest of us? Is it their learning, innate talents and aptitudes or is it more? In observing those who exhibit PM mastery this writer has found they share some common traits and capabilities that provide some interesting insights.

Project managers usually tend to focus on the methodology for executing the technical part of the project. However, a good understanding of a practical SOA landscape and its associated challenges can help a technical PM make the SOA adoption on technology projects run even smoother.

When something goes rotten in your PMO or project portfolio, all of your projects may be in jeopardy. The best way to handle crisis across multiple projects is to treat it like the train wreck it appears to be. Take a lesson from the medical community and triage the damage before you start trying to treat the wounded.

Sure, Twitter use can be abused, but the same can be said for virtually any tool that the modern organization makes available to its employees. What Twitter can bring is a whole new perspective on project management delivered to a PM’s desk with no effort. In this article, we look at some ways that PMs can leverage Twitter to assist them in their daily lives.

Ever stop to ponder all the different PM frameworks that have been developed over the years and which one you should be using in your organization? Is there really one best framework out there? The options are dizzying, so here we take a look at four of them in depth. What can they do for you? Remember, one size does not fit all...

It is clear that both roles are essential and integral to the success of a project, but often on small projects the manager and administrator role are combined. Regardless of which role you are playing in your organization, it is important to understand the distinctions and the need for both.

CRM tools are becoming much more common. Can they assist a project manager as well?

What does the future hold for project management? What trends and concepts will shape project management tools, methods and practices in 2012 and beyond? For one writer, the answer seems clear. Here, we look at the environment that will influence projects, and the three takeaways we should be aware of heading into the new year.

As we start 2010, project managers should be embracing 21st century technologies and approaches. But while developers and other project members have been benefiting from improved communication and collaboration via new technology in the last 10 years, project managers have been slower to adopt them.

Need help with project recovery? A whole new skill set and strategy is needed to recover an IT project from free fall. Here we provide practical recovery pointers on four project areas for failing IT projects, with a focus on software development for business applications.

If you’re struggling to implement PMO processes in your organization, here is a no-nonsense, lean PMO process set that focuses more on delivery—and less on bureaucracy.

Is your work more industrial-worker based or knowledge-worker based? The way people work together on projects has changed. Have your project management methods kept up?

To be successful in achieving our goals, project managers need to build a culture of efficiency within their teams. In this article, we explore how we build that culture of efficiency without sacrificing project quality--a step made all the more challenging given the economic constraints we face today.

If you have not been a project manager on a contingent worker status, you're missing a great deal of experience. If you are ready to jump into the consultant PM life, what should you be aware of so that you are happy in the long run?

There’s no patented formula for creating the right PM practice. But here are five steps that your organization can take to improve on what it has (or had) and hopefully rise from the ashes with something that will work better than the last iteration.

It scares this writer how many project managers believe that projects start with the planning phase. It scares him even more that their employers often agree.The project starts during the justification phase of the initiative, and the project manager needs to be a part of that process.

Welcome to the PMO! Does your Program Management Office have a plan for helping new project managers? More than any other function, the PMO varies hugely from one organization to the next--and even from one division to the next. That means that there will always be a ramp-up period for anyone entering as a project manager--and yet many PMOs make no allowance for this.

Why do PMOs have such a high failure rate? It's time to take a look at the top 10 PMO worst practices--and advice on how to avoid them.

Is there a "best" way to start a career in project management? Assuming that you have started a career in an organization already, how should you focus on it? If the "by accident" approach isn't for you, there are two very distinct planned paths.

Do you have a dual personality? A PM that also has a foot in the business analyst camp has a “leg up” on the competition for jobs--and has more job security.

In the years ahead, the job of project manager will only become more complex. That’s largely because the profession has finally gotten the recognition it deserves, taking its much-deserved place alongside other essential organizational functions.

Here’s our December 2010 roundup of the latest technology solutions and services for project leaders, teams and organizations, including an application to leverage SharePoint … Agile offerings for distributed environments and portfolio-level planning … mobile capabilities for PPM … a free project management tool for small teams ... and more.

We've all done it: failed to identify all of the stakeholders up front. And you only realize it when you need them to approve something, provide resources or assist with the project. What’s the best way to deal with a “forgotten” stakeholder?

What will project management look like in the future? One writer summons his smarts as he comes up with some dramatic predictions about governance, PMOs and the accountable PM. Is he a genius or a goofball? You be the judge...

IT loves the cloud, but what does the business understand about the pros and cons? In this article, we take a brief, high-level look at some of the considerations that require business engagement--even if cloud-based project management is only being used on IT projects.

Employers often look only at their own industry when hiring, because not every PM can make the jump--and if they can’t, things can get very bad very quickly. So what should employers look for--and by extension, what should PMs demonstrate that they are capable of doing? Does industry matter in your career? How transferable is the project management skill set?

How can PMs harness the power of the cloud? There are many aspects of cloud computing worth noting from an organizational perspective, but this article will focus on two technologies that can be especially useful to project managers: software as a service and commoditized computing.

Managing projects that span countries and cultures brings with it its own set of challenges, not the least of which is a greater risk of failure. This article explores some of those challenges and complexities that are unique or amplified when managing global projects.

Supporting project delivery across project, program, PMO and portfolio management processes, BrightWork is a SharePoint-based collaboration tool that can be adapted to each organization’s capability and maturity level without overwhelming users with unnecessary functionality.

How do you promote your project management brand in the marketplace? This article provides a few creative approaches to establishing your PM brand and reputation using a variety of social media approaches.

How do the rules around communication change when we add the global element? When we add a global perspective into the picture, things can get a lot more complicated. The physical distance can be a big part of that--as can time, language and culture. In this article, we look at how communication needs to adjust on a global project in order to remain effective.

Forget what the PM's background is, forget where their expertise lies. What is the optimal amount of business knowledge that a PM should have on a project? How well do they need to understand the business to be successful? Are you becoming the man or woman who knew too much?

“Project manager” does not mean “stakeholder gatekeeper”. The PM always seems to control that relationship, but there is a better way: When the relationship between team members and stakeholders is working, it’s the PM’s responsibility to stay out of the way.

Which governance/compliance model is right for you? Like so many things in project management, there is no one-solution approach to governance. Here we discuss two models.

In the next few years the PMO is going to evolve considerably as EPMOs become the new norm. The concept of an EPMO is gathering support in a lot of different environments, and the recent economic challenges have only accelerated the process. In this article, we look at what that might mean for traditional PMOs and identify some of the things that you can do for the arrival of an EPMO in your organization.

While working for a small firm, a new PM was asked to go to a major company to help them integrate their IT PMOs...leading to the worst three months of his career. In this two-part article, he guides you through his experience: what he did, what he took from it and how he would do things differently.

What advice has helped you survive this crazy profession? One writer weighs in on some valuable tips of the trade.

How do you lead and develop resources across the miles? Having a strengthened project team can be hard enough if everyone is located in the same location, but how do you ensure success when the project is global in scope? In this article, we explore different aspects of team and individual development and leadership--and some of the specific challenges that are introduced in a global project.

As we enter 2011, it's time for a refresher--it's the perfect time to explore the cross section of views and perspectives about PMOs. It's the perfect time to see what others are thinking regarding the state of PMOs, and this article will focus on starting a PMO, avoiding PMO failure, trends and the future of the PMO.

Want to engage all of your stakeholders quickly and communicate with them throughout the project? Stop being so selfish! It's not just about you. The decisions one PM made that supported communications on his project had mixed results, giving him some valuable lessons in the process.