Successful Project Management - Follow Up Resources

Slides

• Successful Project Management

Manual

• Successful Project Management

Templates, Samples, and Exercises

• Tools for Successful Project Management
• Project Management Tools Assessment Exercise

Team Chart Templates

• Team Chart Template (in Excel)
• Team Chart Template (in Word)
• Roles and Responsibilities
• DARCI - Accountability Matrix from Social Transformation Project
• Great templates at Google Docs (many can be downloaded as excel sheets if you don't use Google Docs, but some have specific apps that won't run without Google)
• Other Responsibility Matrices (like RASCI and DARCI)
• The Management Center's MOCHA

Calendar and Gantt Chart How-To's

• How to create a printable blank calendar to help with "Post-It note" planning:  
  • Create a new calendar in your outlook or Google calendar (we usually name it “blank”). 
  • Print the calendar using the "monthly style" (in print options/preferences) for the dates you want to plan for.  We like to print it using 11x17 paper (and single sided).  
  • Using Post-It notes allows you to reuse the calendar for another project during that time period.
• Planning Calendar Format: Simple Word Document Calendar (more free form but with some structure - can be uploaded to collaborative space like Google Docs and worked on remotely with dispersed teams)

Online Project Management Tools (Links and reviews)

A couple reminders and  food for thought on software: 

Learning curve: no matter how “user-friendly” any software or online tool is, you (and your users) will still need to commit a decent amount of time to learn how to use it best for your needs.  In my project management class many of my students offered this suggestion: Don’t start with the biggest most complicated project to learn the tool.  Find something smaller as a good test run/learning approach.

Good project management software/online tools (not tools that are just glorified task managers); require you are relatively sound on project management fundamentals.  The term “garbage in/garbage out” is a term a lot of my project management peers often use when it comes to how to effectively use software/tools for project management. 

• Techsoup is a great site for these types of overview articles.  
  • They aren’t comprehensive, but really helpful in thinking about software selection/use.  There are great articles on collaborative software too!  (links to software and services like basecamp are listed within these articles).  
• Overview of true project management software: Online Project Management Tools Reviews 
• Reviews on online task managers (not true project management tools, but more “to-do” list management):
  • Practical Commerce Reviews
• Google Based Apps (for those who are using Google Apps) here's a list of apps in the App Marketplace. 
• Smartsheet is known for both good functionality AND flexibility
• Instagantt is an integration for project management for individuals or teams who are already using Asana.

Other Resources

• Liberating Structures: Activities to engage people in meetings for different goals.  
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
• Basic overview of David LaPiana's "strategy screen" 
• Sample Memorandum of Understanding