Daniel RiveraCEO| Rivera Management Solutions, Inc.Cranford, Nj, United States
I'm relatively new to this site and was looking for advice regarding using Project Management tools to properly plan Software Development project plans. I'm looking to better organize my programming time used to create applications. I'm a programmer, but a lot of times am distracted by friendly chit-chat, e-mails, etc. I think the worst thing I've ever done at my job was to be friendly. Saving Changes...
Hi Daniel, As another relatively new to the site, (Hi Michael!) I am glad to offer some small bit of advice. Although I'm not a personal productivity expert, I have also had to deal with being "distracted" at times.
I offer two pieces of advice, and I'm sure others can provide more detailed suggestions.
First, be cautious of using any tool to organize your life that will simply take time away from your work. Being organized is important, but it is possible to spend a lot of time organizing rather than doing... this is fine as long as the effort spent organizing is gaining you productivity, not creating an opportunity cost of lost productivity. I have used a variety of planning methods that have cost me time and not helped me with productivity.
Second, my personal experience has been that I can spend time in friendly chit-chat if I'm organized or not. For me, I need to know my deadlines and consciously decide if I have time to chat or not. This is where organizing helps me. I don't schedule every minute. To do so isn't really helpful to me because I will inevitably vary from the schedule and the time it takes to update it isn't worth it. I keep track of my deadlines and check where I am towards completion. Then I know if I have time to chat. I think a positive work environment is important and necessary, so I will chat (you can learn a lot through casual conversation) but I have found that I need to keep an eye on the big milestone/deadline points because the finer detail scheduling never seems to hold up for me.
For some more complicated projects where I need to coordinate with others I use MS Project, but personally I find booking target dates in my MS Outlook Calendar, and capturing key dates in my Outlook Task list works for me.
Hope this helps. (oh Michael, I know this post isn't exactly PI, but Productivity Improvement kinda fits doesn't it? :-) ) Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Welcome James, Yes productivity improvement is all part of the world of PI. Afterall, its all about improving the outcomes we deliver to stakeholders. Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
In my experience the tool is far less important than the buy in to use it. If you are trying to use a project management tool it doesn't matter whether it is project, primavera, artemis, workbench or any of the others if your organization and its employees are not committed.
You need to demonstrate the benefits to get and maintain commitment and only then will the tool really show its worth.
If the concept is new to people then start simple so that they can quickly grasp the principles and see the benefits for themselves.
In terms of personal productivity then the answer has to be, whatever works for you. Saving Changes...
