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Tools don't keep projects on track. Communication skills and project management skills keep projects on track. I believe the most important task is to teach yo
by dannysu 9y ago
Tools don't keep projects on track. Communication skills and project management skills keep projects on track.
I believe the most important task is to teach your team members those project management skills.
Teach them the skills to recognize unexpected events and know to communicate those bad news proactively. For example, an assigned task turned out to be much more difficult or larger scope than previously thought? Communicate. Uncertainty whether things can get done in time? Communicate. Feeling even the slightest uneasy about anything? Communicate.
Understanding of the business goals? You have to teach it and make it clear. You're not gonna have a textbox, type it in and expect the team to just get it. There's a difference between reading something, and understanding something.
Again, tools are "tools". No tool can allow your team to just be in zombie mode and not use their brain to think. Tools are there as an aid, not to fill in a hole in competencies.
Choose whichever tool that works for you. Observe how your team members are doing and teach them the necessary skills as needed.
At my company we've used simple Google doc, Asana, Trello, and now we're on JIRA. They all have pros and cons, but so far JIRA is working out alright and I think better than Trello.
- vram22 9y ago>Tools don't keep projects on track. Communication skills and project management skills keep projects on track. Great comment. Good methods are more important than tools, to keep projects on track. As in, methods of doing things, not OOP methods. Tools, while they can be useful (though no panacea), are secondary, and also, some tools bind you into fixed ways of doing things, which may be a hindrance at times.
- jwdunne 9y agoAnother dark side to tools is that they are a vector for procrastination. You can convince yourself (or justify at least) that you need a new X and that's the answer. You'll spend a few hours evaluating various Xs. You might end up using it for a few days but then you quickly fall back to the tools you usually use. I've seen this with email clients, todo apps, project management tools, etc.
- Pica_soO 9y agoThe first thing you will get for raising a issue, is a slap over the head for "bringing everybody down" and "not thinking positively". Many managers view incursions of reality upon there vision as a personal attack. You are right though, good communication is the best approach.
- muzani 9y agoThere are ways to raise an issue. An easy method is to question the reasoning with an open mind. Point out flaws in the plan without it being an attack. It's more likely to be viewed as an attack if raised in front of people.
- BOOSTERHIDROGEN 9y agoAny books about project management skills?