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Project Management

Launched Q&A site for project managers: development methods, documentation, personnel and resource management, time-tracking, estimation methods, success definitions, etc.

Announcements

14  
This is also a proposal to bring an existing SE 1.0 site, askaboutprojects.com, into the StackExchange 2.0 network. – tucson Jul 2 '10 at 13:02
4  
@rlb.usa The site proposed here is for all Project Management questions. I see it as more generic compared to the "Systems Engineering & Management" proposal. – tucson Jul 6 '10 at 12:20
3  
It looks like this is only for IT project management. The topic should reflect this. Otherwise in general project management can refer to projects outside IT industry such as a building construction project, govt. policy implementation project etc. – pratikk Sep 25 '10 at 9:54
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Do the “Questions Per Day” metric for Beta Sites Exclude Closed questions?

may 15 '13 at 5:10 Shog9 2,151
6
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5
answers

Are Project Management and IT Management merge-worthy? [closed]

aug 6 '12 at 9:08 hippietrail 2,355
26
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7
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Many site proposals on project management and software development methods [closed]

aug 25 '11 at 9:19 Community♦ 1

discuss this proposal

77 Example Questions (8 closed)

active newest votes
up vote 1 down vote
Which methods are most effective to get your project resources to update their progress regularly, by themselves and accurately?
added by Dan Barak Aug 14 '10 at 12:54
link
This is one of 5 questions I've found with a similar issue (motivating behavior), and which have conflicting votes. I've added a question with a different phrasing in hope of unifying our perspective on this topic. Does your vote on this question agree with your vote on area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/10947/… ? Can this question be consolidated with the others in a way useful for this site's definition? – Huperniketes Oct 10 '10 at 13:59
up vote 1 down vote
How do you communicate the status and challenges in your project to people with no PM experience?
added by Perry Wilson Aug 23 '10 at 18:36
link
up vote 1 down vote
How do you work with stakeholders who are trying to block your progess?
added by Perry Wilson Aug 23 '10 at 18:37
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up vote 1 down vote
Have you found an easy way to search lessons learned knowledge bases?
added by Perry Wilson Aug 24 '10 at 16:11
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I suppose that would largely depend on what type of format the KB is in - wiki, Plone, Sharepoint, a collection of txt files, etc – warren Sep 10 '10 at 16:11
up vote 1 down vote
What are the best professional associations for project managers?
added by LibrariNerd Sep 2 '10 at 16:45
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This might be community wiki, but why is this off topic? – DaveParillo Oct 2 '10 at 2:51
up vote 1 down vote
Our project's PM has moved to a new company, and I have been asked to take over: I have no PM experience - what do I need to do as a minimum?
added by warren Sep 10 '10 at 16:10
link
up vote 1 down vote
What is a risk register and how do I use it?
added by scope_creep, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 4 '10 at 20:13
link
up vote 1 down vote
How would you close a project?
added by scope_creep Sep 13 '10 at 16:41
link
up vote 1 down vote
How can I improve my team's time-keeping?
added by gkrogers Sep 23 '10 at 14:07
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This is one of 5 questions I've found with a similar issue (motivating behavior), and which have conflicting votes. I've added a question with a different phrasing in hope of unifying our perspective on this topic. Does your vote on this question agree with your vote on area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/10947/… ? Can this question be consolidated with the others in a way useful for this site's definition? – Huperniketes Oct 10 '10 at 14:03
up vote 1 down vote
I've managed software projects (web sites and apps) for almost 10 years but am considering a move to construction PM. How relevant is my experience?
added by gkrogers, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 4 '10 at 20:11
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Marking it "off-topic", I assume this proposal is for IT project management, unless the description gets clarified. – Andrew Vit Sep 29 '10 at 19:36
@Andew: yes, that definitely needs clarifying. Until/unless it is, I'm assuming this proposal is for a site about project management in all its forms. – gkrogers Sep 30 '10 at 9:05
@gkrogers: I agree. It's not clear to me what advantage there is to making a distinction re: industry specific project management. There will always be questions that cater to one group or another, but so much of project management applies to all industries, it seems breaking it into pieces would dilute the community & eventually kill the site. – DaveParillo Sep 30 '10 at 20:49
up vote 0 down vote
What are important etiquettes to remember while handling/communicating with customers residing in [Country/Place]? [closed]
added by Coder Hawk, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 23 '10 at 12:53
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closed as off topic by Webber, warren, Dan Barak, Ivan Cherevko, morfu Aug 22 '10 at 11:41

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

1  
not really a PM-specific question, imo – warren Aug 3 '10 at 20:08
While it is an important people-skill, this question would be more appropriate for salespeople or a sociology board. – Huperniketes Oct 5 '10 at 20:51
up vote 0 down vote
How do you encourage all stakeholders (yourself, project members, customer, etc) to use and contribute to collaborative documentation (such as wikis)? [closed]
added by warren Jul 9 '10 at 13:11
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closed as off topic by Philippe, pawelbrodzinski, Stephan, Kala, Mehper C. Palavuzlar Jul 23 '10 at 8:48

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

I think this is a great off-topic question. It is not related to PM, but it's a frequently a manager's concern. – Philippe Jul 14 '10 at 4:12
@Philippe, I disagree, though do see your point. At the end of [almost] any project, documentation generated during the process needs to be handed-over, and if it wasn't done during the project, it's another phase on top of the project's "main" goals. Perhaps a better way to word this would be, "how do you encourage project members to document their work for end-of-project handover?"? – warren Jul 14 '10 at 13:21
This is one of 5 questions I've found with a similar issue (motivating behavior), and which have conflicting votes. I've added a question with a different phrasing in hope of unifying our perspective on this topic. Does your vote on this question agree with your vote on area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/10947/… ? Can this question be consolidated with the others in a way useful for this site's definition? – Huperniketes Oct 10 '10 at 13:58
1  
I must agree with Warren. Part of why I enjoyed contributing to AskAboutProjects is the recognition that Project Management is as much about people management as it is about the projects. If you can't motivate your team to follow the process it doesn't matter how good you are. There are two halfs to our job titile "Project" and "Manager". The only difference between us and Functional Managers is they have to write reviews. I want us to get on Area51, but not if all we're going to talk about is optimizing our Gant charts. – Joel Bancroft-Connors- PMP Oct 17 '10 at 18:58
up vote 0 down vote
How to prepare to handle when an important resource is going out of the team?
added by pramodc84, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 23 '10 at 12:22
link
up vote 0 down vote
PMBoK is worth the effort to implement?
added by Aragorn Aug 10 '10 at 4:59
link
This is an example of a question that is subjective & might spawn lots of extended discussion. While valuable, I don't think it belongs on a SE site. – DaveParillo Oct 2 '10 at 0:22
I see this question adding value if people share their experiences instead plain opinions -- enforcing a Back It Up! principle as described in blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/… appears to be crucial in other SE sites. – Jarmo Oct 9 '10 at 9:30
up vote 0 down vote
Which KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) do you find are the most relevant to watch in [specific project phase]?
added by Dan Barak Aug 14 '10 at 12:53
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up vote 0 down vote
I'm confused about starting a project. My boss says use Prince II. How do I do it?
added by scope_creep Sep 13 '10 at 16:39
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up vote 0 down vote
Should I use automated unit testing on my project? [closed]
added by gkrogers Sep 23 '10 at 14:11
link

closed as off topic by Ana, Stephan, DaveParillo, user21350, Jarmo Oct 9 '10 at 10:06

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Good off-topic example. The presence of the word 'project' in a question doesn't make it project management. This is the type of question I would expect to see crop up that should be closed. – DaveParillo Sep 30 '10 at 19:31
arguably this is a methodology question, but it is phrased vaguely. "What are the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating automated unit testing in my project methodology?" might be better... though technically the question is not about project management, it is a topic that would impact the management of a project – Steven A. Lowe Oct 22 '10 at 18:27
No, it's a software development question, not a PM question. Even if we're talking about software development project management, this isn't a PM issue, it's an engineering issue. – gkrogers Oct 22 '10 at 20:12
up vote 0 down vote
Does Watts Humphrey still contribute to the CMMI? [closed]
added by DaveParillo Sep 30 '10 at 19:55
link

closed as off topic by user21350, Jader Dias, atoygar, Marina Martin, Mark Phillips Oct 14 '10 at 13:07

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Hopefully this is way off topic. This site should not be about people who contribute to the field of project management. – DaveParillo Sep 30 '10 at 19:56
I dunno. As long as it doesn't turn into a shrine I wouldn't object to reasonable recognition of an individual's [ongoing] contributions to a field. As long as. – Huperniketes Oct 1 '10 at 21:47
I disagree. We should try to limit this to project management questions that can stand the test of time. This question is too vague to be helpful. Also, he could retire the day after this question is answered making it obsolete / misleading. – DaveParillo Oct 2 '10 at 0:17
I doubt 1/3 of the answers that will be posted here will stand the test of time, but as my previous comment indicated I'm not particularly for this type of question. For info on a particular individual's contributions one can at least resort to Wikipedia and find more objective and accurate info there than here. ;) – Huperniketes Oct 2 '10 at 1:18
Shouldn't this site try to discourage the kind of questions you can google an answer to in 10 seconds? – Anonymous Oct 2 '10 at 3:35
show 1 more improvement suggestion
up vote 0 down vote
How can I motivate team members to do the tasks which are important in managing the project, but which they'd rather not do?
added by Huperniketes Oct 10 '10 at 11:59
link
Although I complained in the proposal commentary about the addition of new questions w/o resolving earlier ones, I added this one to resolve a conflict in direction demonstrated in 5 questions: two for on-topic (area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/10947/… and area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/10947/…) and three against (#11399, #12330, #17888). My hope is that by phrasing the question this way, and eliminating the misdirecting details, we can determine what is topical and what isn't. – Huperniketes Oct 10 '10 at 12:21
up vote 0 down vote
Which tools do you recommend to perform integrated change control?
added by atoygar Oct 13 '10 at 12:18
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up vote 0 down vote
Are people seeing P3O as career? [sample off-topic question]
added by Mark Phillips Oct 14 '10 at 13:14
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@Mark Phillips: What is P3O? Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices? (UK) – WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 21 '10 at 17:18
@Peter are you asking what P3O is orposting your language as the UK version of the same question? – Mark Phillips Oct 22 '10 at 13:36
@Mark Phillips. No. Shorter question: what is P3O? – WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 22 '10 at 15:15
up vote 0 down vote
What is the difference between a project manager and a product manager when we are talking software?
added by Beth Whitezel, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 21 '10 at 17:14
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up vote 0 down vote
I'm currently a project manager but I want to be a programmer, how should I go about doing that? [Example of Off-Topic]
added by Beth Whitezel Oct 20 '10 at 4:45
link
up vote 0 down vote
My project manager is very strict and is not personable, how do I deal with that as someone on the team? [Example of off-topic question]
added by Beth Whitezel Oct 20 '10 at 4:46
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up vote 0 down vote
What are good strategies for getting project responsibility commitments from people over whom you have no authority?
added by Stewbob Oct 21 '10 at 22:23
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up vote 0 down vote
Should the project manager report to the IT Manager or the CIO?
added by Steven A. Lowe Oct 22 '10 at 18:24
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intentional off-topic example! – Steven A. Lowe Oct 22 '10 at 18:24
up vote 0 down vote
Why does the team lead make more money than the project manager?
added by Steven A. Lowe Oct 22 '10 at 18:25
link
intentional off-topic example! – Steven A. Lowe Oct 22 '10 at 18:26
up vote -1 down vote
What are the project managment capabilities of Visual Studio Team System?
added by Sniffer Aug 8 '10 at 17:49
link
-1 just partly because this could either be answered by reading an MS whitepaper or it is subjective... it would be hard to mark an "Answer" for this one. – Beth Whitezel Oct 20 '10 at 4:40
up vote -1 down vote
How to deal with a supplier who is running late but passed the RFP process which said they could do the job?
added by scope_creep Sep 13 '10 at 16:37
link
An interesting question indeed, but could belong in any company-management forum, not necessarily project oriented. – Diego Sep 17 '10 at 8:13
@Diego: But it's still on-topic for this proposal, and this proposal is the only one (that I've come across at least) dealing with this subject. – Huperniketes Oct 1 '10 at 21:59
I agree it could be any supplier, but the RFP process for signing up software or service suppliers into IT project is now EU/USA standard. The RFP process and the company quality system which predicates suitability of a supplier on a whole range of factors, which is gated by a company process and discussed by PM and sponsors etc, is hugely risky for project. I've seen time and time again when the RFP process hasn't been followed and has had many knock on effects on project, increasing risk, hassle the lot. – scope_creep Oct 20 '10 at 16:00
Cool that they have more space for comments. – scope_creep Oct 20 '10 at 16:01
up vote -1 down vote
How can I tell if it's too late in my project to add manpower?
added by Gordon Gustafson, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 4 '10 at 20:11
link
up vote -1 down vote
What metrics do you use to determine the on-going success of your project?
added by Ari Patrick Oct 8 '10 at 16:08
link
up vote -1 down vote
What has changed between PMBOK 3rd and 4th edition?
added by Jarmo Oct 9 '10 at 9:31
link
(PMBOK: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…, "") – WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 21 '10 at 17:13
up vote -1 down vote
Should I put PMP after my name?
added by Jarmo Oct 9 '10 at 9:58
link
Personally considering this to be off-topic. Others agree? – Jarmo Oct 9 '10 at 9:59
up vote -1 down vote
How to write a CV/resume as a project manager?
added by Jarmo, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Oct 21 '10 at 17:18
link
Personally considering this to be off-topic for this site as it's about career development and not about projet management. Others agree? – Jarmo Oct 9 '10 at 10:04
up vote -3 down vote
I'm 40, and bored of programming - should I move into project management? [closed]
added by gkrogers Sep 23 '10 at 14:12
link

closed as off topic by Andrew Vit, acidzombie24, user21350, WikiSpeedia hang-around, Jarmo Oct 9 '10 at 10:07

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

I don't think this site should try to be a career development site, it should try to provide answers to vexing questions related to project management – DaveParillo Sep 30 '10 at 19:25
1  
Yes, I agree, which is why I proposed it - I think it's a good off-topic question. Bit surprised that 2 people think it's not a good example at all. – gkrogers Oct 1 '10 at 5:48
@GKRogers I was a little frustrated that I got not-a-good-example votes on some of my questions, but I realized that the off-topic questions define what a site is about just as much as the on-topic ones, so this kind of hard-to-place question doesn't help define the boundaries well. – Mark C Oct 22 '10 at 20:51
up vote -5 down vote
How can a client be convinced to accept the use of agile methods?
added by pawelbrodzinski, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 23 '10 at 12:28
link
1  
I'm not sure I understand the question. Why do you need to convince your client ? I'm not sure if this is a good example or not. – Philippe Jul 14 '10 at 4:10
1  
Using agile methods without support from the client (i.e. engagement in demos, active product management/ownership, adjusting priorities) takes out much of value brought by agile process. What more agile works best under time&material contract which you can't sign without client's proper recognition of agile methods. – pawelbrodzinski Jul 15 '10 at 12:13
This is on topic. If your client is determined to use an approach that is inappropriate for the project, you need to be able to convince them. – Perry Wilson Aug 23 '10 at 18:39
@Perry: Or you need to be convinced you're using the wrong methods or not to take on the assignment. :) – Huperniketes Oct 1 '10 at 21:57
up vote -6 down vote
What can I do if my boss wants a Gantt chart?
added by Fu86, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 23 '10 at 12:56
link
1  
It does rather beg the answer "give him a Gantt chart"... – gkrogers Sep 23 '10 at 14:16
@gkrogers, I agree. This question needs to be more specific to be a candidate for an on/off-topic example. – Ari Patrick Oct 17 '10 at 16:35
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