From the Editor

Project managers, and project management, catch a lot of flak for being all about the rules. We know that the rules, such as they are, exist to help the team. We know they help to protect everyone from out-of-scope tasks, and keep everyone in sync by making sure everyone knows what to expect and when. So, in their heart of hearts, do most of the nay-sayers. Why, then, do we hear all the protests about bureaucracy and paper-pushing? Perhaps it's because all too often the rules are imposed rather than adopted, distributed rather than discussed. Maybe we do let ourselves get a little bureaucratic.

Whether you're rolling out a new product, a new team, or a new methodology for development, it pays to make sure everyone involved understands the rules and buys in completely. The columns and blogs featured this week explore these thoughts in several different contexts.

Featured Article

Teching Up a 19th-Century Pastoral Game, by Kent McDonald

You would never confuse me for a fan of Major League Baseball (MLB). I have, however, been following with a small bit of interest the fits and starts MLB has been going through to introduce instant replay in baseball games. I don't have a particularly strong opinion about the use of instant replay in baseball one way or the other. I have been interested in the story because of the way in which MLB has implemented it. There are several lessons to be learned about introducing a new process or system to a group of users from watching MLB dip their toes in the technology pool. Because I am a big believer in learning from others' experiences, I thought I would share some of them with you.

What baseball can teach us about technology rollouts. Read more »

Featured Bundle

Keep Your Hands and Feet Inside the Ride At All Times - Project Kick-off Bundle

Remember your last project, when the team was never sure about the real goals and there was so much re-work caused by shifting priorities and unexpected feature requests that your designers were going in circles? That was last time. This time you're getting off the roller coaster and starting off right. We've collected a dozen templates designed to help you clarify the project goals and objectives, put together the right team, and manage the tradeoffs when (not if!) all the extra requests start coming in. Launch a new project or re-launch a struggling one with everyone on the same page as the executives who started it all. Find out more »

ProjectConnections bundles are a purchase avenue for members who can't or don't wish to maintain a Premium subscription, but they also provide a convenient licensing mechanism for project managers or PMO heads looking to supplement their project office resources. If you'd like your whole department or organization to benefit from this or any other ProjectConnections bundle, we'd be glad to provide licensing terms. Just email deanna@projectconnections.com for more information.

Featured Blogs

Why companies go to Agile development and management, by Cinda Voegtli

The short answer I'm hearing is this: because they need to get better results and what they hear about Agile resonates with the problems that kept them from achieving results for their business customers. I have to agree—what I hear is resonating with me as an exec; as a PM who knows where the bodies are buried on past projects and hears practices that make sense. What I hear also scares the beejeepers out of me in a few areas in terms of what has to change to get the FULL benefit of it all ... But I also see (and have already gotten validation) that you can take baby steps and start getting value pretty quickly too.

My first personal question was: how much of all this did I already know and use on projects and how much is new—and should be paid attention to. (Why should any of us consider doing Agile?)

ANSWERS so far: Yes, it's been a long time since I have operated in the seemingly-totally-reviled waterfall method and I have used some of the practices now under the Agile umbrella. But one thing that's very clear is that using an iterative time-boxed development approach on a project is not necessarily going far enough to take advantage of what Agile methods are trying to offer.

Cinda shares her thoughts from the floor of the Agile 2008 conference. Read more »

No Shoes, No Rules, No Problem, by DeAnna Burghart

I'm not the first ProjectConnections writer to comment on grade school teachers as model project managers, adept at corralling their undisciplined charges with a clear understanding of rules, roles, and expectations. So when I asked our second-grader how he enjoyed his first day of his new school, his reply caught me by surprise.

"It was great! We played No Rules!"

Everything had seemed normal enough when I dropped him off that morning...

A teacher's unique approach to organizing her class illustrates some valuable project kick-off techniques. Read more »

Where's ProjectConnections?

Cinda Voegtli is at the PMI NorCal Symposium 2008 today, in Palo Alto, talking about ways to manage priorities, projects, and people in a small company. Later this month (September 22) she'll be at the PMI Silicon Valley chapter meeting to discuss Adopting and Adapting Project and Development Methodologies.

Randy Englund is also at the PMI NorCal Symposium this week, speaking on "Creating Excellence In and Through Project Management." October 22-23 you can find him in Denver, Colorado, at PMI SeminarsWorld where he will present a seminar on "Creating Excellence in Project Management" with co-author Alfonso Bucero.

Carl Pritchard has a new PMP Exam Prep course in the works, October 1-2 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. If you're in the area (or could be) and will be taking The Test at some point, you can find out more on Carl's website. If you're too impatient to wait that long, or if you just prefer a more glamorous setting, you can check out his Risk Management seminar during PMI SeminarsWorld in Vegas September 10-11.

Kimberly Wiefling has shifted to warmer climes, so next week she'll be conducting two workshops for Nearsoft in Hermisillo, Mexico (co-sponsored by Sun Microsystems). Her next "Creating a Vision for Your Future" workshop is on September 20 in Redwood City.

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