A Round-Up Of PM Articles Worth A Read

Zen and The Art of Project Management
This is a must read article for every stressed project manager that advocates the opposite of multi-tasking. Instead of writing your report, while taking a call and updating the blog site all at once, try focusing fully on one task at a time to become a more effective project manager. Really listen to your team, really focus on the problems that occur and find workable solutions. Tackling one project management task at a time means you apply yourself and give each matter the attention it deserves.

Project Management and The Art of War
Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” has won widespread acclaim for the pearls of wisdom it contains but what could it possibly have to do with project management? Well, Sun Tzu’s writings primarily focus on leadership and we can learn much from his teachings because the primary focus of effective project management should be great leadership. It is possible to have a huge project team of capable professionals fail dismally under a poor project manager or just a few underfunded employees pull off dazzling feats under an inspirational leader. Being a great project manager requires excellent leadership skills.

Project Management and Portfolio Management: The Balance of Your Business
What’s more important to your business, project management or project portfolio management? The simple answer is that they both matter, of course. But don’t brush the question aside – the precise balance between project management and project portfolio management (PPM) in your business can make all the difference to your bottom line.

Five Ways Gen Y Will Alter Project Management
The future of organizations is in the hands of Gen Y. Most Gen X-ers are probably now in senior management positions or a few may even be retired. So the real execution champions of the future are in Gen Y — the age group that, in the context of business, is the 20- to 35-year-olds. The fundamental difference between Gen Y and Gen X is that members of the former have had easy, ready-access to technology for much of their lives. This significantly influenced and changed the generation’s behaviour, needs and expectations. It follows that project management in the era of Gen Y will also undergo significant changes.
 
Ten uncommon habits for successful project management
The success and failure of a project is not just dependent on the effectiveness of the project management processes but also on areas outside its remit as well; areas such as innovation, networking and turning weaknesses into strengths.
13 tips for keeping IT projects under control
Scope creep, team members who don’t understand what’s expected of them, poor inter-departmental communication – these are just some of the problems project managers constantly face. So how do you keep projects under control? CIO asked dozens of project managers and project management experts to find out and this article lists their top 13 suggestions for dealing with the challenges all project managers face at one time or another – and for keeping projects in check.

Characters Wanted: Fostering Varied Project Management Teams
Project managers often have to deal with difficult people on project teams. The challenge is that there is no undiscovered leadership approach that can take the “difficult” out of these characters who frequent project teams in so many unique forms because there is no known cure for the human personality. (Thankfully.) We are complicated, confounding and wonderfully different people. The team or project leader’s responsibility is not to find a way to quash the variance in personalities, but rather to foster the right environment for people who are different, to come together and perform. Read about a few key mistakes to avoid as you seek to align your collection of challenging personalities around your project and seek great performances.

5 Factors for Evaluating a Cloud-Based Project Management Software
Project management has revolutionised how most companies organise their workflows. It has enabled easier tracking of resource allocations and revenues and ensured on-time and high-quality products for the customer. A major part of this is made possible by project management systems and more organisations are now moving towards cloud-based systems. But finding the right cloud-based solution for your organisation can be a challenge.