09/10/2013 by Brad Egeland Tags: business analyst, good business analyst, good business analyst qualities
Good project managers value their project team members highly and build their egos along the way through the project engagement until the project is over. As many “good jobs”, “way to goes”, and “wows” you can give them the better. And the more you can say that in front of the project client, executive management, and the rest of the team, the better as well. Don’t overdo it, of course, but certainly don’t be understated. Build them up – you won’t be sorry. Everyone likes positive praise now and then, right?
To that end, I’d like to outline my three reasons why, on technical implementations, my business analyst (BA) is better than yours. I realize this is all hypothetical. I don’t know you, I don’t know your business analyst, and I certainly don’t know if you are managing IT projects. But this is basically a list of what a good business analyst – from my experience – has brought to the table for me and the projects I manage.
Without further ado, here’s my list…
Continue reading “3 Reasons My Business Analyst is Better Than Your Business Analyst”
09/04/2013 by Brad Egeland Tags: detailed requirements document, detailed scope, good requirements, good requirements characteristics, project scope
I realize that sometimes requirements and scope are used interchangeably. In many discussions, the picture of the detailed requirements become the overall scope of the project that you then protect with oversight and change orders.
But there is also some work that has to happen up front to create that scope – that overall vision for the project and what will and won’t be included and what the ‘as-is’ will become. That overall scope of the project must be well-defined jointly with the customer so that everyone is working from a common vision before the first detailed requirement is written.
Good scope = good requirements
The team that can work closely with the project sponsor and customer team to define a detailed scope for the project will be more efficient and will work through the requirements definition process with the customer more effectively. The earlier you define scope, the more productive – and accurate – your requirement definition process will be. Work done before scope definition is usually wasted effort. An early scope definition keeps requirements writers from diverging, reduces requirement inconsistencies, and keeps the big picture in view. It also shortens the time required for requirement writing and rewriting and reduces conflicts, debates and inaccuracies.
Continue reading “Good Requirements Come From a Detailed Scope”
08/29/2013 by Jackie Dembinsky Tags: Customization, FastTrack Schedule 10, Images, Progress Images, Tips and Tricks
In our projects we keep track of data such as Dates, Durations, Cost, and Resources. There are sometimes cases when we need to keep track of additional items, such as the visual progress of a project. One way that we can accomplish this is by adding images to our tasks in order to help differentiate between points of progress. In FastTrack Schedule 10 we have several different options for adding images directly to our schedules.
To start, we can add up to 10 Image Columns to our schedule. These will allow us to insert 10 different images for every activity. These different images can be used to show visual progress from start to finish on a task, or to even identify a product that will be delivered. You also have the ability to add an image directly to the Timeline Graph. When doing this you can scale and format the image, and even add pointers to show that it is directly related to a specific task.
To start, we will add a custom image column to the file. Go to Insert > Column > Image 1 and select OK to add the image column to your file. To then add an image into the column double click in the Image 1 column for the corresponding activity.
This will cause a Browse dialogue to open, where you can search through saved files for the desired image. When you have found the image, select it and press Open. This will add a thumbnail of the image into the Image 1 column.
Continue reading “Inserting Images into FastTrack Schedule Files”
08/21/2013 by Jackie Dembinsky Tags: best project management software, best project management software 2013, best project management tools
It’s great to be recognized. It’s even better to be named the best. FastTrack Schedule 10 has received Review Authority’s Best Project Management Software Award. FastTrack Schedule earned top marks in the Ease of Use and Customer Support categories and received an overall score of 96.
FastTrack Schedule topped not one, but two versions of Microsoft Project as well as Oracle’s Primavera P6. For MS Project users or those who need to exchange data with someone who uses MS Project, it’s great to know that FastTrack Schedule 10 (Windows and Mac versions) and FastTrack Schedule Go (our new iPad version) open Microsoft Project MPP, MPT, and XML files.
Review Authority’s process involves an in-depth analysis of best performing project management companies in areas including ease of use, overall performance, customer support, GUI interface, and collaboration. Client evaluations of competing project management software companies are contacted in order to obtain their unique inputs and suggestions on the software companies they have used.
Thanks again to Review Authority for the recognition and to all our customers who rely on FastTrack Schedule to plan, manage, and achieve their project goals. If you’re not using FastTrack, download a free FastTrack Schedule trial version and give it a go.
08/20/2013 by Brad Egeland Tags: common estimating mistakes, estimating project work, project estimating mistakes
Estimating project work for individual tasks or groups of tasks can be difficult – and it’s important to rely on the project team to either help with estimates or produce the initial estimates that you, as the project manager, then review and document. Is there a sure fire rule of thumb to project estimating? No way. Everyone bases their estimates on guesses, past experiences, and the advice of others…but nothing is perfect and no estimation will ever be 100% dead on…unless it’s by luck.
I do, however, think some people are much better at it than others. I’m of the opinion that estimating is more of a gift – you either have it or you don’t. It’s that ability to think somewhat abstractly on given tasks and figure out with some degree of accuracy what the level of effort will be. Of course, there needs to be a certain level of experience and expertise – but that experience does not always ensure that you’ll give good estimates. Over time, one can learn to be a good estimator, but it helps to have that gift.
From my experience, there are some key weaknesses or traps we can fall into when trying to produce good estimates. Being aware of these in advance can help the PM and team to avoid them, but it still won’t guarantee that you’re producing an accurate estimate. I’ve come up with a list of five that I think are the most common…
Continue reading “5 Common Estimating Mistakes”
08/15/2013 by Jackie Dembinsky Tags: Cost Management, FastTrack Schedule 10, Resource Costs, Resource Management
In many of our projects we find the need to track and manage the different personnel and equipment that are required in order to complete tasks. We often find ourselves tracking the amount of time these resources are assigned to tasks in order to prevent any over-allocations of work. One way we do this is by utilizing Spot Allocations. Another piece of key resource data we can track is cost. In FastTrack Schedule 10 we have the ability to easily assign and track several different types of costs from our resources.
When working with resources we have the ability to manage three different types of costs:
- Per Use Cost
- Standard Rate
- Overtime Rate
These three options give us the ability to accurately track complete costs for resources across the individual tasks that they work on as well as the project as a whole.
Per Use Cost
Is the cost associated with assigning a resource to a task. When a resource has a Per Use Cost this cost is automatically calculated whenever a resource is assigned, no matter what the total duration of a task may be. For example, if a resource has a $500 Per Use Cost this means that each time the resource is assigned to a new task there is a $500 flat cost. It does not matter if the task is a single day or ten days the Per Use Cost will always remain at $500.
To assign Per Use Costs to a resource, first switch into the Resource View. You can then select in the Information Action Column to the left of the Resource Name.
Continue reading “Tracking Resource Costs”
08/02/2013 by Jackie Dembinsky Tags: Customization, FastTrack Schedule 10, Presentation, Reporting, Tips and Tricks
Throughout our blog posts we have taken different looks at how to create reports, share our projects, and even spruce up our print preview. There are, however, additional steps we can take to give our schedule a personalized look. The feature that we will work with today is known as Outline Styles. In FastTrack Schedule 10, Outline Styles will allow us to customize the appearance of text and even the background of our schedule according to the specific outline level that different tasks fall on.
Using Outline Styles allows us to place emphasis on key aspects of our projects, such as the project title or main phases that occur. Depending on how we wish to format our schedules, we can create specific outline styles in individual columns and within every row of the project.
First we’ll take a look at setting outline styles in our columns. This will allow us to set up custom font styles, including font type, size, and color according to the outline level of tasks. If you’ve built outline levels into your own projects in the past you may have noticed that the Activity Name column applies different font styles to the text. In the image below we can see what these predefined outline styles look like when we have 3 outline levels in a project. You’ll notice that as we go into lower outline levels the font size decreases, which may help to indicate that our “Project” and “Phase” levels contain the most important information.
Continue reading “Defining Outline Level Styles”
07/30/2013 by Brad Egeland Tags: pm expertise, pmp-certified project manager, project best practices, project customer types
Projects are important. If they weren’t they wouldn’t be ‘projects’ and you and I would not have jobs. But they are important, they are necessary, and someone experienced needs to lead them. But they are not and never will be an art form. Let me explain.
We become aware, at some point in life – hopefully sooner rather than later – that we value things differently than others do. What’s important to us may not mean anything to our neighbor or best friend…and vice versa. I know that projects are important, you know that, our customers know that, and our management knows that – sometimes if only seemingly for the revenue they bring in. But getting them done is often what’s valued most. How they get done isn’t that important to many of the people on the big stakeholders list. As long as they don’t cost too much, take too long, or end up quality-poor. As project managers, we understand that there is a certainly level of PM expertise and oversight needed to make sure the project has the greatest chance of success. We want to avoid overkill and micro management, of course, but a project team left to their own devices would likely be lacking those best practices, that schedule accountability, and that PM expertise to stay on track, on budget and to manage the customer all at the same time, right?
Continue reading “Your Project Will Never be a Show Piece”
07/23/2013 by Brad Egeland Tags: documenting project requirements, project requirements, project requirements document
Can you really start a project without requirements? I know I certainly don’t feel comfortable – even for a short project – starting a project and trying to manage scope without detailed requirements in place for the project. Requirements are key – they are the lifeblood of the project. If you try to build an end solution with only high-level requirements, it won’t work. If you try to deliver something to the end user with knowing what they really need the system to perform – what they require of this solution you are providing them with – you may be delivering something they can’t even use. If you haven’t worked with the customer’s subject matter experts (SMEs) and end users to know what the problem is and what they need, then you have no scope to start from…everything is really just a best guess. And that’s a bad situation – for everyone – but mostly for the project manager and team who will be on the hook to deliver a workable end solution. And it just won’t happen.
What do good requirements mean?
What are good requirements? What are the characteristics of a good requirement? In project management, there are some general criteria that requirements are usually held against to see if they are adequate and appropriate and in the proper detail. If your requirements meet these, then congratulations…you have detailed requirements and you have a basis that you should be able to start from to deliver what they customer wants and needs. Good requirements, generally…
Continue reading “Are You Documenting Good Requirements?”
07/18/2013 by Jackie Dembinsky Tags: FastSteps, FastTrack Schedule 10, Filters, Layouts, Project Reports, Reporting, Tips and Tricks
In most of the projects we create, we often find ourselves needing to create reports for different aspects of the project. Sometimes we create reports for upcoming tasks, other times we create reports of schedules for a specific resource. If you worked with reporting in any capacity, you know that it can take quite a bit of time to go through the process of running one report after another. In FastTrack Schedule 10 we can utilize FastSteps which allow you to combine multiple actions, such as applying Layouts and Filters in one simple button push.
FastSteps allow us to automate processes, which would otherwise be quite time consuming, into a single step. FastSteps will even allow us to print multiple reports at once within a matter of seconds.
The first step in working with FastSteps is actually to create all of the specific Layouts, Filters, and even Print Preview aspects that you wish to use for your report. Once we’ve defined these individual items we can begin to piece them together into one or multiple FastSteps. To begin creating the FastStep go to Tools > FastSteps > Define. The FastSteps menu will open with options for creating or modifying existing FastSteps.
Continue reading “Reporting with FastSteps”
