Project Management – aerial view

Written on 4 October 2013, 01:56pm

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What is a project?
– A temporary structure in the organization
– To create an unique product or service
– Under certain constraints (time, budget, scope, quality)

Why do we do projects?
To create a new and unique product or service, which will bring a benefit.
Turning ideas into reality.

What is Project Management?
The set of activities of planning, organizing, monitoring and managing the necessary resources and work to deliver specific project goals and objectives in an effective and efficient way.

What is the difference between effective and efficient?
Effective is doing the right thing. Efficient is doing it in the optimal way.

Why are we doing Project Management?
To maximize the chances that the project succeeds.

What is the role of the Project Manager?
To deliver; to make sure that the project succeeds.

What does it mean that the project succeeded?
The deliverables have been created under the time, budget, scope and quality constraints.
There is also the hapiness constraint, meaning that the project team is happy and will want to work again with the other team members and with the PM.

What’s the difference between Deliverables (Output) / Outcome / Benefit?
The outputs (deliverables) are products or services that introduce a change.
The change will result an outcome.
The benefits are the measurable improvements resulting from an outcome.

What happens after the projects ends?
Sometimes nothing (ex. when the project is about organising a team week-end party).
Some other times is goes in operational (maintenance) mode (example: after a software application is delivered, technical support and maintenance might be needed).

autumn trees

Career-related links

Written on 3 June 2013, 03:52pm

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I initially posted on this topic, but new interesting views are coming along 🙂 So I am bookmarking them all here.

  1. David Byttow: ABC: Always Be Coding
  2. Tommy Morgan: How We Hire Developers at Treehouse
  3. Lee Munroe: Side Projects Are Your Playground
  4. Thomas Friedman: How to Get a Job
  5. John Sonmez: The 4 Most Important Skills for a Software Developer
  6. Daniel Blumenthal: What recruiters look for in a resume
  7. Jonathan Rosenberg: 42 Rules to Lead by from the Man Who Defined Google’s Product Strategy

Looking for a job? Read this first

Written on 12 December 2012, 01:01am

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John Sonmez: The 4 Most Important Skills for a Software Developer
TL;DR:
You must be good in:

  1. Solving Problems
  2. Teaching Yourself
  3. Naming
  4. Dealing with People

Daniel Blumenthal: Why won’t anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume
TL;DR:

  1. School matters (if it’s good)
  2. Prior jobs matter (if they are at Google or Facebook)
  3. Domain Knowledge and Cultural Fit are important
  4. Start-up Experience – starting a company is hard
  5. Side Projects show if you’re really passionate about what you’re doing
  6. Don’t switch jobs frequently, don’t send 10-page resumes