Here's what we think are the 4 essential Project Management soft skills:

1/ Communication

So many issues arise during projects due to bad communication. This may be the Project Manager misunderstanding the requirements of the Project Board or team members not being given clear instructions.

Make sure you have the ability to both listen and explain. Listening really means active listening; not assuming based on past experience or pretending to accept their way while secretly planning to continue with your own methods.

Simple words at first and then more detailed points go along way when trying to explain a course of action or reason for one to team members. Nip any misunderstandings in the bud by asking for feedback. Get them to offer any problems they see or clarifications they require, upon explanation rather than days or weeks later, when some damage may have already been done.

Microsoft Project 2010 was released last year and many of our clients are upgrading to the new version.  Our guest blogger this week is one of our MS Office trainers and she has put together a list of some of the bugs in Project 2010 and (most importantly!) ways of getting around them.  In time these bugs will be ironed out with updates but for the time being they can be extremely frustrating if you encounter them.

To learn more about the Office Suite of products, see our Microsoft Office training courses, including MS Project training, Beginners Excel training and Advanced Excel training. If you are upgrading from a previous version, our Office 2010 Upgrade training course covers all the new features in Office 2010.

Bugs in Microsoft Project 2010

As a Microsoft Project trainer I was interested to see the new Project 2010 and how it compares to previous versions. I am always keen to find out what’s new with an application and what benefits it can bring to the users that I train, and how best to communicate these features.  There are some great new features such as:

• The Team Planner - this enables you to click and drag work from one resource to another.
• The ability to use the drop down list in the Resource Names column in the Gantt Chart table to select more than one resource.
• An icon in the Indicators column in the Gantt chart table to indicate over-allocations. This saves you having to go a view such as the Resource Sheet to check for over-allocations.
• The ribbon interface which matches the other MS Office applications.

Whilst working with Project 2010, various bugs came to light and a quick “google” and a chat with some other Project trainers reassured me that it isn’t something that I am doing wrong and that I am not the only one to have discovered these problems. For the most part, these bugs affect the display only and if you dig deeper into the detail in other views, the data in the background is correct.

Look out for the release of the Service Pack, but in the meantime, here is a description of the bugs that I have discovered and my suggestions of how to get around them:

Microsoft Project 2010 was released last year and many of our clients are upgrading to the new version.  Our guest blogger this week is one of our MS Office trainers and she has put together a list of some of the bugs in Project 2010 and (most importantly!) ways of getting around them.  In time these bugs will be ironed out with updates but for the time being they can be extremely frustrating if you encounter them.

To learn more about the Office Suite of products, see our Microsoft Office training courses, including MS Project training, Beginners Excel training and Advanced Excel training. If you are upgrading from a previous version, our Office 2010 Upgrade training course covers all the new features in Office 2010.

Bugs in Microsoft Project 2010

As a Microsoft Project trainer I was interested to see the new Project 2010 and how it compares to previous versions. I am always keen to find out what’s new with an application and what benefits it can bring to the users that I train, and how best to communicate these features.  There are some great new features such as:

• The Team Planner - this enables you to click and drag work from one resource to another.
• The ability to use the drop down list in the Resource Names column in the Gantt Chart table to select more than one resource.
• An icon in the Indicators column in the Gantt chart table to indicate over-allocations. This saves you having to go a view such as the Resource Sheet to check for over-allocations.
• The ribbon interface which matches the other MS Office applications.

Whilst working with Project 2010, various bugs came to light and a quick “google” and a chat with some other Project trainers reassured me that it isn’t something that I am doing wrong and that I am not the only one to have discovered these problems. For the most part, these bugs affect the display only and if you dig deeper into the detail in other views, the data in the background is correct.

Look out for the release of the Service Pack, but in the meantime, here is a description of the bugs that I have discovered and my suggestions of how to get around them:

Agile principles are now being applied to software development, software testing and project management, but what are the basic principles that Agile is based on?

All Agile methods were designed around a simple premise; the smaller the project, the greater the success rate.  For agile to be successful it must be both quick and simple.

In 2001 the Agile Manifesto was born.  Representatives from several Agile methodologies (including SCRUM, eXtreme Programming & DSDM) came together and devised a set of values and principles that any Agile methodology should adhere to.  These values and principles would increase the success rate as projects would be constantly revised to meet customer requirements.

We now offer the Certified Agile Project Management Training, please see our Agile Project Management Foundation Training and Agile Project Management Practitioner Training courses.

Agile principles are now being applied to software development, software testing and project management, but what are the basic principles that Agile is based on?

All Agile methods were designed around a simple premise; the smaller the project, the greater the success rate.  For agile to be successful it must be both quick and simple.

In 2001 the Agile Manifesto was born.  Representatives from several Agile methodologies (including SCRUM, eXtreme Programming & DSDM) came together and devised a set of values and principles that any Agile methodology should adhere to.  These values and principles would increase the success rate as projects would be constantly revised to meet customer requirements.

We now offer the Certified Agile Project Management Training, please see our Agile Project Management Foundation Training and Agile Project Management Practitioner Training courses.

Silicon Beach Training now offers the increasingly popular range of Agile Project Management training courses – but what is Agile Project Management, and why is it such a big deal all of a sudden?

In March 2011 the government unveiled its new ICT Strategy which identified a number of problems (or challenges using their words!) with the method in which IT projects and programmes were managed and delivered, causing them to fail.  The first of these challenges being:

• "projects tend to be too big, leading to greater risk and complexity, and limiting the range of suppliers who can compete"

Silicon Beach Training now offer accredited Agile Project Management training, including the Agile Project Management Foundation course and Agile Project Management Practitioner course.

For example, if a project to implement a large IT system is deemed to take 5 years to complete, it is very likely that, in those five years circumstances (e.g. technology, customer and business requirements, even governments!) will have changed, rendering the final solution based on the original specification unfit for purpose.

A number of strategies were identified to address these challenges, one of which is “by the application of lean and agile methodologies that will reduce waste, be more responsive to changing requirements and reduce the risk of project failure”.

Agile methodologies have been used in software development for some years, but are now being applied in project management as they offer a flexible process that can change according to the customer or organisational needs.

How does Agile Project Management differ from traditional project management methodologies?

Traditionally a project manager may direct the project team using a 'command and control' style, actively directing their team towards the work that must be completed.  Agile project management uses a different technique.  At the beginning of an Agile project, a high-level plan will be created by the project manager, which is based on basic requirements and a high-level vision of the solution.  From there on the final project is created iteratively and incrementally, with each increment building on the previous increments.  Agile Project management also differs in the way that team members create the plans for each increment, rather than the project manager themselves.

Silicon Beach Training now offers the increasingly popular range of Agile Project Management training courses – but what is Agile Project Management, and why is it such a big deal all of a sudden?

In March 2011 the government unveiled its new ICT Strategy which identified a number of problems (or challenges using their words!) with the method in which IT projects and programmes were managed and delivered, causing them to fail.  The first of these challenges being:

• "projects tend to be too big, leading to greater risk and complexity, and limiting the range of suppliers who can compete"

Silicon Beach Training now offer accredited Agile Project Management training, including the Agile Project Management Foundation course and Agile Project Management Practitioner course.

For example, if a project to implement a large IT system is deemed to take 5 years to complete, it is very likely that, in those five years circumstances (e.g. technology, customer and business requirements, even governments!) will have changed, rendering the final solution based on the original specification unfit for purpose.

A number of strategies were identified to address these challenges, one of which is “by the application of lean and agile methodologies that will reduce waste, be more responsive to changing requirements and reduce the risk of project failure”.

Agile methodologies have been used in software development for some years, but are now being applied in project management as they offer a flexible process that can change according to the customer or organisational needs.

How does Agile Project Management differ from traditional project management methodologies?

Traditionally a project manager may direct the project team using a 'command and control' style, actively directing their team towards the work that must be completed.  Agile project management uses a different technique.  At the beginning of an Agile project, a high-level plan will be created by the project manager, which is based on basic requirements and a high-level vision of the solution.  From there on the final project is created iteratively and incrementally, with each increment building on the previous increments.  Agile Project management also differs in the way that team members create the plans for each increment, rather than the project manager themselves.

Adoption of Collaborative Software Solutions

The use of collaborative technologies is on the rise. The use of Google Docsand SharePoint is becoming more commonplace. Virtual workers and projects require efficient ways of communication and collaboration.

Automatic and central distribution and control of documents has never been easier.

Agile Project Management

As projects become increasingly complex, project managers need to be increasingly flexible. Businesses and organisations are beginning to adopt Agile Project Management practices and combining them with traditional project management. Many are using Agile to inform and develop a new set of strategies for coping with projects, adapting methods for team collaboration and communication.

Agile Project Management Training enables you to gain Agile Practitioner Certification, enabling you to successfully manage Agile projects.