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Netcheck

By Clare Forrest (November 2006 Issue)
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Have you ever considered that most training work is actually discrete projects? What I mean by that is, something with definable beginnings and ends that (more often than not) involves many people who all have a role to play but who, if they don’t do what you need them to do when you need them to do it, can make or break the end result. As trainers we should perhaps pay more attention to the basic tenets of project management, to ensure that we achieve success – or at least recognise when it’s all going, as they used to say, pear-shaped.

If, like me, you’ve usually considered project management in the context of a course provided for others but not necessarily for you, then you might like to conduct some continuing professional development in this area. And where better to look than the Internet for advice and help … which is exactly what I did. No surprise; there’s a lot out there. Much of it, though, is either incomprehensible, or too basic or has to be paid for (or all three). However, there’s a great deal available for free providing you’re not too hung up on the visual beauty of websites. Compare and contrast these sites, for example:

* www.projectconnections.com/index.html
* www.hyperthot.com/project.htm
* www.maxwideman.com
* www.michaelgreer.com

www.projectconnections.com/index.html
CONTENT ***
ORIGINALITY ***
NAVIGABILITY ***
PRESENTATION & GRAPHICS ****
DOWNLOADS & FREEBIES **
LINKS **

PROJECTCONNECTIONS
www.projectconnections.com/index.html is a very attractive site with lots of customer recommendations and with the extremely enticing welcome telling you that you can: ‘Get what you need today, FREE! Immediately access the know-how you need for critical project management tasks and situations.’ But read a little further and you quickly find that to do so you’ll need to: ‘Sign up for a Premium subscription now and try our how-to resources FREE for 15 days.’ True, it does say that there is: ‘No risk – you can cancel at any time in the first two weeks and pay nothing’, but you’ve still got to hand over all your details (more spam likely, then) and your credit card info to get at the stuff. And while it’s not particularly expensive – the monthly premium subscription rate is US$14.95 (about £8); alternatively the annual rate is US$149 (about £80) – it’s still money you don’t need to fork out, if you do a little more research.

There is, to be fair, some free stuff if you simply register, but not a great deal beyond a few articles. Since many of these are culled from other sites, it hardly seems worth the effort of registering – not to mention the downside of handing over your details – for stuff you can get at via Google or about.com (see a review of about.com in ‘Netcheck’, October 2004, pp. 72–73). Even more irritatingly, when you do get some information in a free article provided by the ProjectConnections.com owners, some of the links in it will take you straight back to the premium area – so you won’t get ’em unless you pay.

If you think I’m being curmudgeonly about paying for information, you’re probably right! I had a significant birthday this month, which has allowed me to don the official and much coveted mantle of ‘grumpy old woman’. Hurrah. I shall, of course, wear nothing but purple and red hats now (see www.wheniamanoldwoman.com/pages/348544 for an explanation, if this means nothing to you). But the real point I’m trying to make is that, provided you take a little time, more often than not you can find good quality information for free on the Internet – in fact, sometimes even better quality than the stuff you pay for. And the website that follows is a case in point.

www.hyperthot.com/project.htm
CONTENT *****
ORIGINALITY *
NAVIGABILITY ***
PRESENTATION & GRAPHICS *
DOWNLOADS & FREEBIES *****
LINKS ***

HYPERTHOT
www.hyperthot.com/project.htm is possibly the least attractive site you’ll have seen for years. It’s very reminiscent of the early days of the Internet, before web designers took over – which isn’t too surprising, as the articles are all dated circa 1997.

Obviously home-made, this site is a genuine labour of love by its author and is dedicated to ‘Principle Based Project Management … to help you better understand and apply the principles, practices, and techniques of project management’. Its author is James R Chapman, who describes himself in his online CV as a ‘project management consultant with extensive experience in project planning, cost and schedule management, requirements analysis, project management infrastructure development, IT lifecycle development process, government program management and budgeting process, project leadership and best practices, project diagnosis and recovery, project management training and group facilitation; PMI certified PMP since 1995’ … a very long profile that would benefit from a full-stop or two, but it does seem to indicate his credentials.

Now it’s fair to say that Jim, as he apparently likes to be known, does have another, less-than-pragmatic (perhaps), side to him. If you go to his main site, as opposed to the project management area, then you will be greeted by the words: ‘This site introduces you to the special perspective that comes from going beyond basic spiritually minded thinking in the human dimension into the realm of the infinite. Infinite spiritual thinking (sic) reveals what awaits as we reach beyond not only the mortal and material to the spiritual, but beyond the human to the infinite I. This unfolds the source of all identity – the infinite singularity of holiness – undergirding (sic) all existence.’ I’m sure this will appeal to some of you, but definitely not to me. And Chambers doesn’t recognise ‘undergirding’ as a word, so I have no idea what this last part actually means.

And yet, there’s a lot of good solid information about project management, principled or otherwise, here. Sometimes there’s more technical detail than you’ll probably need or want, but there are forms, graphs, charts and so on to help you set up your project, communicate to stakeholders, assess and manage risk and manage its implementation. It is a genuine gem. But it sure ain’t pretty!

If this site isn’t for you – maybe you like a little less text and more design – then there is another free option, detailed below.

www.maxwideman.com
CONTENT ****
ORIGINALITY *****
NAVIGABILITY *****
PRESENTATION & GRAPHICS ***
DOWNLOADS & FREEBIES *****
LINKS ***

MAXWIDEMAN
www.maxwideman.com, known as Max’s (is it a rule that project managers should have three letter names?), is a huge site, stacked with information. Initially more attractive than Jim’s site, I actually found it too big and too confusing. Take a look at the site map and you’ll see what I mean. A nice feature here is the ‘Issacons’ (which stands for ‘Issues and Considerations’), a set of slides providing summary and succinct information on a particular project management topic. And for a thought-provoking story on project success and failure see www.maxwideman.com/musings/risk.htm

www.michaelgreer.com
CONTENT ***
ORIGINALITY ***
NAVIGABILITY *****
PRESENTATION & GRAPHICS ***
DOWNLOADS & FREEBIES *****
LINKS *****

MICHAELGREER
Finally, another ‘pay for some (but not all) of it’ site – but this time one well worth considering – comes from the well-known Michael Greer at www.michaelgreer.com

Once again, this is clearly a home-made site but much more up to date than Jim’s or Max’s. Michael is a project management trainer, guru and writer – and you can buy his latest book here. However, there are many freebies. Try the eminently clear 20 Key Project Manager Actions and Results as a great introduction to the topic. This site has excellent and comprehensive links, and shows you how to obtain freeware and shareware for your project. It is a good guy’s site in every sense of the phrase and, overall, is the place I’d start for researching this topic. If only I’d found it earlier …

Have a great summer everyone. And, if you’re lazing on the beach with your laptop and an Internet connection (sad, sad!), then let me know of anything interesting you discover. See you in August.

 

As always our thanks for this ‘Netcheck’ go to Clare Forrest, who would be pleased to know by snail-mail, e-mail or carrier pigeon the URLs (web addresses) of any sites that you have enjoyed, loathed or found just plain indispensable so that she can bring them to everyone’s attention. She can be contacted at clareforrest@structuredlearning.com or visit www.structuredlearning.com

The inimitable Garry Platt returns in July issue of Training Journal to share the findings of his latest Internet trawls.

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