Project Shrink

Can you use adventure maps to analyze the function of comments on blogs? Ali suggested I give it a try. Great idea! We are studying the effects of comments. I am experimenting with adventure mapping, the highly playful, interactive and intuitive way of communicating complex elements in your project. Why not combine them? Why not? [...]

You wouldn’t expect a Stakeholder Management workshop to be called “We’re Off To See The Wizard”, would you? Talking about The Yellow Brick Road-technique, keeping the Wicked Witch of The West out of your project, and, well, going to see the Wizard. Ah yes. The Wizard Of Oz as a metaphor! for Stakeholder Management. I [...]

The “commenting”-function in social media is very powerful. You are not only able to motivate authors by providing encouraging feedback, comments also help evolve the original content, concept or idea (meme if you want). This is about feedback mechanisms in social networks, a topic I discuss frequently with Ali Anani. In “A Four-Pronged Approach To [...]

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” – Anais Nin The Others. Them. Definitely not us. Ever find yourself in an discussion where your mind shifts into a “me-vs-him” or “us-vs-them” state? “What are they thinking?” “They must be joking.” “Why isn’t he as smart as I am?” The [...]

A project can have its own culture. I am all in favor of that. Providing a common understanding, shared beliefs and having a culture ensures the group stays together in rough times and communicates effectively. I even encourage you to cultivate a fun group culture by means of metaphors. But the notion of culture and [...]

I talked before about the importance of getting into the habit of leaving comments on posts and other media. My friend Ali Anani takes it even a step further in his great presentation “Comments On Slideshare Their Mapping and Value Added. Comments On SlideShare Their Mapping And Value Added View more presentations from Ali Anani. [...]

Projects are like company earnings. Beat expectations and everybody is happy. Perform below expectations and you’re doomed. Or in different words. A happy stakeholder is a productive stakeholder. An unhappy stakeholder is giving you headaches. Stakeholder management is that part of a Project Managers’ job that makes sure that the stakeholder expectations are in line [...]

In episode 17 Dave and Bas discuss the Wired article “The Phone Call Is Dead” by Clive Thompson and Dave’s upcoming presentation at Agile 2010 in Orlando called “Why you suck at off shoring, even with Agile“. He will be presenting together with Thushara Wijewardena. Click here if you want to subscribe to this podcast [...]

Analyzing complex project situations can require creativity and team involvement. Below are 5 techniques to boost creativity and harness the knowledge of the team for efficient communication and problem solving. Project Adventure Mapping Adventure Mapping is a highly playful, interactive and intuitive way of communicating complex elements in your project. Think about your project as [...]

In episode 16 of Project Potion Dave Prior and Bas de Baar talk about coworking and using video for status reports. As defined by Wikipedia: “Coworking is a style of work which involves a shared working environment, sometimes an office yet independent activity. Unlike in a typical office environment, those coworking are usually not employed [...]