New project management articles published on the web during the week of March 24 – 30. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

PM Best Practices

Glen Alleman takes aim once again at poor estimating practices.

Anna Erdmanska asked her network for ideas on how to create positive energy on a project. She distills it all down to twelve points.

Michael Shaye warns of the “secret stakeholder,” perhaps the boss of the person you thought would be the approver.

would be the approver. Michel Dion notes that getting support for your project requires leadership.

Neil Pragnell tells why he carries a message from a fortune cookie in his wallet. “You are far more influential than you think.”

Daniel Burrus explains what it means to lead by anticipating.

John Goodpasture notes the impact of “prospect theory” on self-esteem and drives different performance in different groups.

Gina Abudi advocates the importance of effective communications in keeping control of our projects. Part two looks at reporting status.

Bart Gerardi shoots down the value of the “stoplight” status with the Watermelon Project: green on the outside, oh-so-red on the inside.

Allen Ruddock looks at cost overruns in small to medium-sized projects, and finds a few simple preventive steps we can take.

Shim Marom concludes his series on the business case with a summary of a research paper, “Building Better Business Cases for IT Investments.”

Managing Within Our Neuroses

Kerry Wills extols the virtues of the neurotic project manager.

Ian Whittingham explores the virtues of channeling our anxieties, when sorting out a complex project.

Martin Webster has a checklist of activities for avoiding stress at work.

Michael Lopp offers some practical advice for business travelers with OCD. Ah, it’s good to be a migrant computer worker …

Elizabeth Harrin pauses from her project manager and mother-of-two duties to note that we have to prioritize, accept our limitations, and adjust our expectations in order to prevail.

Kevin Korterud recounts the warning signs that the risk level has exceed our tolerance level.

Agile Methods

Steven Crago has some thoughts on integrating work products from a mix of Scrum and Waterfall teams.

Pawel Brodzinski: “Let me make a bold observation: neither Agile nor Lean seem to be making a difference… adopting practices and tools is simply a cargo cult.” Wow!

Dave Prior interviews Peter Saddington, who tells what he learned while pursuing the SAFe framework credential. Just 19 minutes, safe for work (if not SAFe).

Mukesh Rao recalls his experience spinning up a new Scrum team, estimating work using the “Ideal Days” method described by Mike Cohn in “Agile Estimating and Planning.”

Mike Cohn notes that three roles must be participating in planning poker, even if two of them aren’t asked to share their estimates.

Adrian Fittolani shares his list of favorite “non-Agile” books for those who want to practice Agility. If you haven’t read at least one of these, shame on you!

Enjoy!

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