September - October 2004
Latest Publications and Newsletters
"Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects"
Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects, Third Edition Russell
D. Archibald, PMP, Fellow PMI and APM/IPMA, MSc - John Wiley & Sons, 2003,
ISBN: 0-471-26557-8, hardcover, 412 pp., $100.
In his new third edition of Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects, Russell D. Archibald brings new information to readers that reflects the advances of the last 10 years and provides a foundation for improved performance in today's project world.
Russell Archibald has published his Third Edition (2003) so we thought that here is an opportunity to compare his latest book with the original first edition to see what is new or changed. This should give us an insight into how project management has evolved over the last quarter century, and also provide us with an opportunity to provide a perspective on Russ's latest thinking.
A Better Practice Guide on Management of R&D
The Australian National Audit Office has recently released a Better Practice Guide on the Management of Scientific Research and Development Projects. It is available for download.
http://www.anao.gov.au/WebSite.nsf/0/6CED4E9281E880C6CA256DF8000A4D67
to reach this site copy and load into your browser.
CrossTalk - The Journal of Defense Software Engineering
Pamela Palmer Managing Editor of CrossTalk, The Journal of Defense Software Engineering informs the PM World Today that the February 2004 issue is now available at the Journal's website.
She states... This month we feature "Software Consultants" and look at ways to coordinate a mutually beneficial relationship.
Our first article is "Lessons Learned From Software Engineering Consulting" by Dr. David A. Cook and Theron R. Leishman. These two seasoned veterans share some of the insights they have acquired from their combined 15 years as consultants with the Software Technology Support Center. They talk about the patterns that emerge from observing and analyzing many different organizations and offer suggestions for improvement.
Next, Gregory T. Daich offers his experienced insight in "Overcoming Training Dilemmas Brings Greater Training Value." If you are planning training for your employees, Daich suggests ways to better plan, determine training objectives, and conduct follow up evaluations that can get you more value from technical training.
If you need help getting clients to take tough actions, read "Ten Key Techniques for Process Improvement Consulting in a Challenging Environment" by Sarah A. Sheard, Suzanne Zampella, and Albert J. Truesdale. These authors outline techniques that consultants can use to encourage clients to do what needs to be done to help make a process improvement effort successful.
Our supporting articles this month expand on addressing organizational issues. In "The Human Dynamics of IT Teams," we are reminded that we must determine how best to work with the people who make our software to achieve the most success. Authors Jennifer Tucker, Abby Mackness, and Hile Rutledge discuss the results of a research study that identifies the relationship management needs of today's information technology leaders.
"Making Meetings Work" by Michael Ochs and Rini van Solingen lends some insight into why some meetings are successful and others are not. The authors offer some explanations based on the results of an industrial measurement study, including optimum number of people, meeting length, the affects of hierarchy, and more.
In "Verification and Validation People Can Be More Than Technical Advisors," George Jackelen proposes thinking outside of the box. He proposes extending the benefits of verification and validation to non-technical areas like project or resource management, or finance or scheduling.
Pamela Palmer
Managing Editor
E-mail:
karen.rasmussen@hill.af.mil
The STSC Web Site http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil
Luminary is a free, e-mail PDF newsletter designed for software development managers, project managers, and consultants. This monthly publication is dedicated to the promotion of ethical consulting and improvement of the software industry as a whole. In a quick-read format, Luminary shows the busy software professional how to:
- Excite, energize, and inspire team members
- Reduce software development costs
- Assess and mitigate risks in software development
- Effectively manage customer expectations
- Determine the best leadership technique for the situation
- Identify and develop your key players
- Influence others successfully and consistently
Communicate effectively with stakeholders and developers - Manage geographically distributed teams
- Determine a project's usefulness and value
Luminary contains the latest news and information related to software project
management and the software development consultant. To stay current in the
world of software project management and consulting, don't miss the latest
issue of Luminary. To learn more about Luminary, or subscribe online, visit
the Luminary web site.
Project Management Institute
Practice Standard for Earned Value Management
The Project Management Institute has published a free exposure draft of the Practice Standard for Earned Value. The PMFORUM has, in a number of articles by Quentin Fleming and Wayne Abba, both recognized experts in the practice of earned value, advocated the practice of Earned Value Glen Alleman in recent Viewpoints Columns has given us a "from the trenches view" of the application of Earned Value to IT and software development projects.
In a March 2003 Editorial we reported:
"This issue of the PM World Today started us thinking about the long journey of Earned Value as a valuable and credible project management method. Our Feature Paper by Wayne Abba "How Earned Value Got To Prime Time" reminded us of the arduous journey to acceptance of a simple and concise concept for providing project structure and visibility. We thought about the twists and turns that the Criteria approach of Earned Value Management Systems has taken over the past 30 years. And we wonder what happened along the way and why has acceptance of such a simplistic approach to describing a project and modeling the cost and schedule of a project had such a hard journey? We think that like all new management technology the life cycle of Earned Value can be summarized in three words hype, bust, reality.
To our mind the most unfortunate mythology of the early Earned Value was that it was somehow in a category separate and distinct from that of a project management methodology. When in fact it was introduced as a set of Criteria for a management system that embodied the essence of project management. That is, plan , allocate the work, schedule and cost the work and then work the plan seemed to be that which was urgently required to provide structure and management visibility to the work of a project." [More]
The Project Management has this "exposure draft available to all on line and available for download load in pdf format. The exposure draft expiration date is 31 March 2004.
This is a must download for a project management practitioner's personal library in addition to being an excellent read into the structuring of a company and project Earned Value Management System.