PRINCE2 Gets An Update For 2009

The UK’s most widely used Project Management methodology and framework; PRINCE2, is getting an update for 2009.

The name will remain the same but there are some clear enhancements and changes to the method.

PRINCE2 has previously gone through two major changes – in 2002 and 2005.  The new changes are based around creating a simpler and clearer model that, evidence has shown, will contribute to the delivery of successful projects.

The crux of the new changes:

• 7 new basic principles which are universal and self-validating
• These principles are universal and can be applied in any scenario
• The 8 processes have been reduced to 7
• Sub-processes have been removed and replaced by activities
• These activities describe what needs to be done, when and by whom
• The confusing sub-process diagrams have been removed
• The 8 components have been replaced by 7 Key Themes
• These Key Themes are areas that continually need to be addressed: Business Case, Organisation, Plans, Risk, Progress, Quality, and Issues & Changes
• There will be 2 Core Texts to accompany the method
• The “PRINCE2 in Practice: Managing a Project” text will be the sole source of information for the PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner syllabuses
• The “PRINCE2 in Practice: Directing a Project” text is aimed at senior managers and project board members and will provide a role specific guidance on how to oversee projects being managed using PRINCE2
• The terminology has been updated to be aligned with other products

In Summary

The new 2009 PRINCE2 will provide a more streamlined, simpler and more customisable method to be applied to projects.  Clear clarification on roles and responsibilities is enforced and the language of the new methodology is easier to understand, ensuring project managers have a better set of tools with which to deliver projects on time, within budget and to the correct quality criteria.

Netvibes Integrates Multiple Personalised Pages

I’m a massive fan of Netvibes (and have been for what seems donkeys ages), I think they were the original platform to create a personalised landing page for users to integrate all their news, information and feeds (please correct me if I’m wrong!).

Their latest upgrade is to add Multiple Personalised Pages (MPPs).  This basically means that you can have an unlimited amount of tabs categorised into an unlimited amount of pages, ensuring that all your content can be managed and structured into any logical format that you want!

This, I believe, is a great step forward for the progression of Netvibes as the limitations in one page with many tabs has always been a frustration for me and many others.  You can set up your personal page, your “social” page, your business page – anything you want – and manage a range of content, widgets, feeds etc. in a fast and super efficient manner.

It is also a massive boost for Enterprise clients (and branded microsites such as The Daily Influence by Ogilvy) who can now structure masses of data into a page for each area of the business e.g. IT, Marketing, Digital, HR, Finance…the possibilities go on.

The only issue now is that, at this point in time – 20:56 on 27th May 09, the Netvibes server is running amazingly slow!  I guess this is down to all the Netvibes users trying out the new feature and creating millions of extra pages!

I’ll have to wait a few days to set up all my tabs into their new pages.

Thanks,
Tony

YouTube users uploading 20 hours of video every minute

YouTube have recently pushed this crazy statistic out of the door: 20 hours of video footage is uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds.

In fact, just in the time it took me to write up this article, 40 hours of rubbish video was added to the site…

Interestingly, this news comes only a few months after it was discovered that in the United States, more searches are made on YouTube than on the whole of Yahoo.

Don’t get me wrong – there is a lot of funny and good video on YouTube, but I think the majority of it is complete garbage and should be removed as quickly as it can be uploaded!

5 Traits of Bad Project Managers

I’ve worked with a few in my time and I was pondering this the other day when a friend told me they didn’t rate someone as a good Project Manager.

I’m sure there are more than 5 traits but these are the main ones that hit me square in the face when I thought of the main traits of bad project managers.

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Wordpress Migration: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Over the last 24 hours I’ve migrated all my domain names and the Project Cake Wordpress blog to a new server based in Australia.  On a scale of 1 to 10 for my technical skills and knowledge I’d probably but myself around a 7 – I’m not too bad and do have experience, but sometimes things will crop up and just completely stump me.

Here is a quick breakdown of the experience I had…

The Good

• Export function was flawless and practically instant
• As usual the Wordpress setup worked a treat
• Import function was exactly the same
• All previous comments were successfully transferred

The Bad

• All the widgets turned themselves off and did not “remember” their previous settings
• I had to re-import all my old wp-content files and folders from the last backup as some of the files seemed to be corrupt (this was a weird one)
• It took me ages to work out why I couldn’t connect to my database (turned out this one was down to the MySQL DB hostname)
• All theme info (even when I had re-imported all previous data) was messed up and I had to reset all the settings (another strange one)

The Ugly

• All “permalink” info was not migrated and hence any previous links that I advertised anywhere will now be null and void
• The “About the Auther” info randomly disappeared and I can’t remember what witty and interesting comment I put ;o)

Conclusion

There may be valid reasons why some of these things happened, and I didn’t really investigate them too much due to wanting to spend the time as productively as possible trying to get the site back up and running, but you need to be aware of these potential problems prior to starting a migration process…

• Common sense but always make a backup prior to serious work like this
• Maybe take a few screenshots as well just in case the layout / copy is changed for whatever reason
• Wordpress has some solid instructions – follow them!
• It may take you a bit of time and be frustrating but it pays to go slow, concentrate and focus on the task at hand

Thanks,
Tony

Australian Online Shoppers Expect to Spend More in 2009

Despite the current economic conditions, online spending in Australia is set to increase by 12 percent in 2009. Research recently conducted by Celsius Research, on behalf of Shopping.com, found Australian shoppers spent an average of $1,097 buying products online in 2008, with the forecast for 2009 set to defy the offline recessionary trends.

The Celsius Research showed 54% of those surveyed value the ease of their shopping experience on their chosen site, followed closely by price. Comparison shopping sites – which feature offers from a large selection of retailers – have also proven popular because they do the hard work for you making the shopping experience more efficient and enjoyable.

Facebook’s Holocaust Controversy

Following my article about Anti-Social Networking, I came across this new story about Facebook coming under pressure to take a stand on groups that want to air distasteful and controversal views.

Whatever your views are on this, it is certainly a challenging debate that will rage on.

Have a read and let me know what you think…

Facebook’s Holocaust Controversy

Thanks,
Tony

The Difference Between Project & Program Management

It’s been 2 months since I started my new position of Program Manager, I love
every minute of working in this challenging environment, so I thought I would drop a quick note on what I thought the differences are between Project Management and Program Management.

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Top 10 Tools for Project Management Consultants

In this day and age, being a Project Management Consultant means you have to be extremely transparent for your clients, be able to work and manage while you’re on the move, and be able to utilise quick and easy software solutions to help aid your business.

Streamlining the amount of admin you have to do is vital in giving you more time to actually work on the projects, and having the adaptability to differing project scenarios means you never get caught out in a situation that you can’t handle.

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Great Project Management Quotes

I recently went searching for some Project Management quotes as I couldn’t remember a good one I heard a while back – I came across this article on another blog by an experienced Project Manager and these quotes rang true and made me smile – enjoy!

A Collection of Project Management Sayings