Great Finishes

Simple point, made well.  From Queue ACM.

The Importance of a Great Finish
You have to finish strong, every time.
By Kate Matsudaira

Have you ever felt super excited about the start of a project, but as time went on your excitement (and motivation) started to wane?

Unfortunately, not all work is created equal. It is often the work through the bulk of a project that is not remembered or recognized.

The work that tends to be remembered from any given project is the work that happened last. It is the final step that most people will think of, because it happened most recently. This is especially true of the people who have the most power over your promotions and future opportunities, who don't see what you accomplish day to day. They just see the results.

I have worked with hundreds of engineers during my career, and I have seen this happen over and over again. Projects start with a bang and end with a whimper, and the people on the team are surprised when their hard work isn't viewed as positively as they think it should be.  .... "

Project Management Inspiration

Worth a refresher, have been on both sides of this.

7 TED Talks to Inspire Project Management Experts

We regularly work with project managers from all walks of life, and each of them is likely to experience an emotional burnout sooner or later.

The problem is that any project delay can clog your company’s arteries, causing personal stress (and perhaps high blood pressure) alongside business delays. To inspire you to lead better and keep your team in harmony, the Epicflow team, engaged in developing software for multi-project management, has collected the most heartening TED talks from around the world to help lift your spirits. Enjoy these European business stories!   .... " 

Project Management: Asana and Gmail

Was pointed to Asana as a good system for project management when using Gmail

" ... Asana lets teams track projects from start to finish so everyone knows who is doing what and by which deadline and its current status. Teams that are already using Asana, including Airbnb, General Electric and Nasa can now receive an email, turn it into a task, assign it to a team member, set a due date and track an activity without toggling between email and Asana.  .... " 

More Gmail productivity Add-ons ...

Mind Mapping for Projects

Via BiggerPlate.  My question:   How can mind/concept mapping be used to introduce more structure to early project meetings?   Seems that would be very useful, if you can get everyone to agree to the mapping process, and use the resulting knowledge and capability.   This should be beyond simple note taking.

Mind Mapping for Projects: Interactive Q & A

Tue, May 26, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Hangouts On Air - Broadcast for free
Julie Caffey, Stephanie Diamond, Rudy Sagers + 12 others going
Join us as we discuss the use of mind mapping for Projects, with a live panel of project management professionals, including our good friend +James Franklin who will be sharing some of his recent work in building out complex projects using mind maps!
The call will begin at 5:00 pm London time - hope to see you there! ....

Expanding Gannt Modeling

More dimensions applied to the Gannt chart. Knowledge Cubes they are calling it.  From Metier.  Inspired by Tufte. Its certainly an expansion of data in the process space,  but not what I would call Big Data.   Interesting view,  though more dimensions does not always mean better understanding.   You can get a demonstration at the link. ...

Managing Complex Technology Projects

Via Deloitte:

3 Rules for Managing Complex Technology Projects
Define desired business outcomes, assemble the project team, and stick to a reasonable project plan.

Many companies around the world invest enormous time and money on large-scale technology projects. Meanwhile, statistics repeatedly show that many, if not most, of these projects under-deliver in one way or another. The Project Management Institute’s 2014 “Pulse of the Profession” study found that 44 percent of strategic initiatives, including but not limited to IT projects, are deemed unsuccessful—that is, they didn’t meet their original goals and business intent. Furthermore, according to research from The Standish Group’s 2012 “Chaos Report,” 43 percent of completed IT projects were either delivered late, over budget, or without required features and functions, and 18 percent outright failed (i.e., the project was either canceled, or if it was completed, the new technology was never used). ... "  

Managing Projects Outside Core Mission

Vic Uzumeri wrote about an interesting idea:

I've been working on a project management concept for organizations that need periodic "side projects", but have difficulty organizing and managing activities outside their core mission. They may be overloaded. They may lack specialized skills. They may be fully consumed with a big initiative. They may have a tight budget. I am convinced that there is a new way to handle this type of work. You can see the problem statement in this Prezi:  http://tinyurl.com/cnpmj37
It connects to a second Prezi that outlines a solution: http://tinyurl.com/cytybh8

I am curious what you think. Does this concept make sense? If not, what are the holes? If it does make sense, I am looking for business contacts who have the problem and might welcome a solution. A start-up business? An established business struggling to branch out? An overworked, understaffed business facing new challenges? If you can't use it personally, do you know someone who might?

If you have read this far, I thank you. I hope you will watch the Prezi's. They are fairly short and pretty snappy. If you haven't seen a Prezi before, that may be interesting in itself.... 
Contact: vic.uzumeri@ipov.net