Journeyman PM is a blog under the direction of Bert Heymans, a project manager with a heavy emphasis on his background in software development. He started the blog as heymans.org in 2006 and moved over to the journeymanpm.com URL for good in 2010, and posts at least once every two weeks.

“Making my readers better project managers by sharing my experiences and offering guides is the main goal of the blog,” Bert says of his intentions through Journeyman PM. “I started my previous project management blog Heymans.org with my old PMO in mind for my main audience, Journeyman PM builds on top of that experience. I believe very strongly that a big part of striving for professional excellence is teaching what you’ve learned to others. The human mind is wired like that.”

As with many blogs, Journeyman PM taps the experience of its leader, and Bert combines his experience with his domain and sector knowledges to create one of the longest running blogs to be featured on PPM Community.

“I have a knack for good usability design and my hobbies are photography and keeping up with the latest technologies,” he says. “In the field I’ve managed projects in web consultancy agencies, in advertising, in IT and professional services. I strongly believe in coaching, empowerment, facilitation and using the right tools for the job.”

“I started out as a software developer and after some time as a freelance consultant and technical analyst I rolled into project management. I got formal and informal PMI and PRINCE2 training and followed courses in time management, leadership and people management. Throughout the years I’ve constantly been active online one way or the other, so have a look at my http://about.me/heymans page.”

Bert was driven by the emergence of social opportunities in online media to spearhead Journeyman PM. “I want to have an online project management presence,” he says. “It’s great for networking and it creates a place where I archive my own lessons.”

In describing Journeyman PM, Bert offers his readers this explanation: “It’s an aggregation of advice, checklists and stories that I collect throughout the years in my professional career. I mostly blog about communication and soft skills and keep the posts methodology agnostic. If I find a great project management tool I’ll write about it, too.”

Bert says the most popular post tackles web design projects:

An Illustrated Plan for a Web Design Project

He also has three personal favourites:

A Checklist for Handing Over a Project

Project Management Elements MindMap

Project Management Under NDA Checklist

Be sure to follow the Journeyman PM blog and Bert’s latest news at his Twitter handle @journeymanpm

Blog:  http://journeymanpm.com/

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JourneymanProjectManager

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Adevntures In Project Management by Brett Harned is a blog by the Philadelphia-based senior project manager of the same name who has an extensive list of experiences and clients in a web capacity to which he has supplied his services. In March 2010, Brett wanted to expand upon the lessons he’d taken from a life in projects to the PPM blogosphere.

“I started blogging about project management, because I felt like I could provide a fresh perspective on web project management,” he says. “I’m also trying to build a web project management community in Philadelphia, and thought that sharing my ideas and feelings about my work would be a good way to start connecting people and starting conversations.”

Brett’s fascination with the creative process and his passion for concise communication, strategy, and attention to detail means that his clients at Happy Cog get a project manager who immerses himself in the work product, not just timelines and milestones.

“I have a deep understanding of web process and his ability to apply methodologies to any project makes clients happy. I’ve also become adept at translating the language of web design to our clients, which can sometimes get confusing and conceptual.”

Brett manages projects large and small, and all of them receive the same level of care and dedication. Zappos.com, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Constitution Center, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) are among some of the clients he has had the privilege to work directly with.

“If there is one thing I can tell you, it’s that project managers are not robots. Sure, they might rely on dates and numbers, but they have hearts, too! As part of a Philly-based PM team, I try to practice what I preach on the blog about my own adventures in project management.”

Though frequency can vary, Brett says he likes to add around two new posts each month. His writing style engages and encourages interaction and response. “I tend to write about PM topics that lean more toward soft skills and team management,” he says. “I’m not a technical guy, so my posts are more about my own feelings or opinions and less about process. I give a pretty strong point of view and try to infuse some humor, but encourage serious discussion and/or feedback.

Brett gets a lot out of the social media experience, to which he’s acquired a solid following thus far (he’s on Twitter @brettharned). “I’m just putting my opinion out there for my friends, colleagues and twitter followers to read,” he says. “I don’t think I am the best project manager out there, but I like to think I have some insights to share. And, if anything, I hope people read my posts, share them and comment on them to continue the discussions I start on the blog.”

Brett most widely read post has been picked up at PM Hut that also ranks as one of his three favourites:

You’re a Project Manager, Not Superman

His other two personal favourites include:

I’m Not a Robot. Beeeep

Stick to the budget, man!

Brett says that he has also tried a non-regular featured intended to introduce web professionals to people who’ve managed web projects. “I started running interviews with web professionals about Working with Project Managers. There is no set cycle on these articles, they are published as interviews are completed.”

URL: http://brettharned.com/

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Keeping the Peace is a blog run by Margaret Meloni, a successful working coach and former PMO & project manager that is based in America after several years working in corporate roles, many of which included Fortune 500 companies.

“The blog helps you keep the peace with tips and stories on how to become free from the work related conflict that prevents you from having good working relationships and impacts the quality of your personal life,” Margaret says. “We spend lots of time working. Sometimes we see our co-workers more than we see our friends and family. Obviously those interactions make a huge impact in our lives. What happens at work on Friday can stay with us ALL weekend. I believe we can and should make those interactions positive. I believe we all have the power to navigate workplace conflict peacefully. That is why I am here.”

Margaret definitely sees a great deal of material for project managers to use in a working capacity. Her career is testament to the importance of projects in her career’s development: originally, she started her career as a mainframe computer programmer.

“I wanted to work in more of a leadership role but was not sure how,” she recalls. “One day opportunity knocked and it was in the form of project management. I did not know it at the time, but I was an accidental project manager. As I progressed from project manager to program manager to PMO manager I was given the opportunity to coach other project managers. I also unofficially coached others at the office. When I left, literally my wake up call was the calls I received from the people I had helped. This made me realize that I really wanted to work in a supporting role. I wanted to help people learn how to deal with difficult people and situations that occur throughout the project lifecycle.

“An intended audience of the blog includes project managers who understand that project management is an art and a science and who are looking to successful manage the human side of project management.”

Her most popular item at Keeping the Peace deals with a PMP application. “This is the most visited because it is a free item I give to people to help them with the application for the PMP exam,” she says.

Sample PMP Application

That said, she says the most widely read post deals with workplace compassion:

Compassion is not a weakness

She has three other posts she lists as her personal favourites…

How a Cup of Coffee can Ruin Your Day

Conflicted About Compassion

Goodbye Lee

Be sure to follow Margaret and the Keeping the Peace blog by way of Twitter @MargaretMeloni.

URL: http://blog.melonicoaching.com/

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/melonicoaching

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Fixing Projects is a blog that premiered in May 2010 under the direction of Carol Long, CEO for Three Triangles Performance Ltd. Carol has experience as a programme and project manager, interim manager and consultant in high-tech, public and not-for-profit sectors. She specialises in assisting senior management get value from their project, and also has an expertise in project rescue.

It is the notion of rescuing projects that drives Fixing Projects posts.

“I’m motivated to post by a desire to stop projects failing – I have some insights and experience to share that might help and look for comments and ideas from other managers,” Carol says. “I hate to see the results of failed projects: wasted talent and resources, the demotivated teams, the stakeholders failed.

“If I can reduce the failures by sharing what I see and do in a few organisations with managers and executives around the world, then I will have done something worthwhile.”

The insights and tips from Carol’s experience shine through in Fixing Projects, which usually provides a single post a week (though more are available in other weeks).

“Programme and project management is more than following a method: it is running a temporary organisation with an objective to bring change,” she says. “This blog gives insights, experience and hints to senior managers and project managers to help them improve their project portfolio, programmes and projects. There are tips for PMO, quality and risk managers, too.

“We bring experience, insights and techniques to Boards so their organisation chooses an effective and balanced portfolio of programmes and projects, independent and knowledgeable support to enable board members to be great programme/project sponsors, coach project managers to achieve excellent delivery.”

Carol listed two posts as the most widely read Fixing Projects pieces:

What is IDEF0?

PRINCE2, PMBoK, Agile

She also three other pieces she lists as her favourite:

The delivery of benefits is moderated by risk and quality

Kanban: visualizing work in progress

Planning Communication for Governance

Fixing Projects particularly tries to entice readers with specific weekly topical writings. For instance, Carol pointed to a 2010 series she did on communication for project managers.

Be sure to monitor Fixing Projects and Carol on Twitter @fixing_projects.

URL: http://3triangles.co.uk/

RSS Feed: http://3triangles.wordpress.com/feed/

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Aidan Kelly is a the blog run by the PRINCE2 project manager, chartered physicist and communicator of the same name. Aidan uses the blog, which he started in December 2010, to “share ideas and inspirations on project management, community development, technology and innovation.

“My interest lies in understanding and working in the overlap of these three diverse areas to help deliver innovative solutions that can be a force for good in the world,” Aidan says.

Aidan posts roughly once a month, using it both for making lasting connections and to create new mechanisms that spawn ideas and know-how.

“There didn’t seem to be many people blogging about the fields that I’m interested in – project management, community development, technology and innovation – and making the connections between them. I’m not saying that I’m an expert but I wanted to connect with other people who shared my interests, and see where it could take us.”

Aidan has had a varied career from which to draw upon for his lessons. He began with Vodaphone as an engineer, learning about the principles of PRINCE2 and moving on to internal IT and mobile service projects. He also possesses a wealth of voluntary experience, having worked with local NGOs in Costa Rica and Ecuador in 2002-03, and in Australia from 2006-07.

Since then, he has worked in the charitable/not-for-profit sector first as project coordinator and later as a project manager. His most recent project was Community Voices was with the charity Media Trust.

There is an element within Aidan Kelly of “project management does good”. Community & international development, innovation and technology for social good are all running themes in the blog.

“For me it’s about thinking laterally, seeing ideas in one field and exploring how they could be used to good effect in other fields.

“Innovation doesn’t have to be simply about creating new and cool gadgets, it can also be about creating solutions that are sustainable and have real potential to help change the World for good. That’s my focus, helping to find and deliver innovative solutions to social problems wherever they may lie.”

The blog targets three core groups:

• Professional project managers who are interested in sharing ideas and best practice about project management techniques
• Volunteers and professionals working in the not-for-profit and community development sectors, including the Big Society movement
• People interested in how innovation and technology can be a force for good – from creating sustainable solutions for our communities through to international development

The most widely read article on Aidan Kelly is:

Planning your next innovation

Some of Aidan’s favourite posts include:

Community organising, Big Society and John James

Out of the corporate frying pan and in to the world of community empowerment

Aidan doesn’t rule out adding new wrinkles and features to the blog in the near future. “I don’t have any set running features at the moment, I’m still developing and expanding my blog,” he says.

Follow Aidan Kelly and his blog on Twitter @aidanmkelly

URL: http://aidanmkelly.wordpress.com/myblog/

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AidanKellyMyBlog

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Voices on Project Management is a PPM blog courtesy of the Project Management Institute recommended to us by blog leader Jill Cherpack of PMI. It’s believed to be the only PPM blog here on the community that originated in Warsaw.

“Voices on Project Management was launched at a PMI Research Conference in Warsaw to share news and action from the event,” Jill told us. “It has grown into a resource by and for project practitioners to share and comment on insights and ideas about the practice of PPM.

PMI is a not-for-profit organization that advances the project management profession through globally recognized standards and certifications, collaborative communities, an extensive research program, and professional development opportunities. We have half a million members and credential holders in more than 180 countries. It spearheads one of the leading project management certifications in the world, the Project Management Professional (PMP®). Jill says, “PMI believes that the project management profession delivers competitive advantage by producing positive outcomes, including increased efficiencies, organizational alignment, stakeholder satisfaction and improved decision making. PMI believes that project management delivers a significant strategic advantage to organizations.”

Voices on Project Management offers 2-3 posts each week since its opening post in 2008. It seeks to be a worldly, offering insights and tips from the personal perspectives of its multi-faceted staff of contributors from different regions and industries.

“We blog to offer thought-leadership and knowledge to the project management community,” Jill says. “We provide advice and discussion to professional project managers around the world.”

The most popular post in the blog is:

Hey Boss, What About Work/Life Balance

Three of the staff’s favourites include:

Why I Like Being a Project Manager

Unselfish Networking

Power Without Authority

Keep up with the Voices on Project Management blog on Twitter @PMVoices

URL: http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/voices_on_project_management/

RSS Feed: http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/voices_on_project_management/atom.xml

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Freelancer Project Management is a PPM blog maintained by Jennifer Kantmere, who should know something about the matter herself. A freelance business writer and entrepreneur, Jennifer trained in public sector project management in the UK and left in 2008 to go it alone as a freelance project manager working with small-to-medium sized businesses. She now live in the US and is passionate about using her experiences to help other freelancers.

She started the weekly blog in January 2011 after a brainstorm from an earlier conversation.

“I was discussing time management with another freelancer and asked her if she knew many freelancers who used project management techniques to manage their work,” Jennifer recalled. “She said no, maybe they’d find that useful?

“So I set up this blog.”

Each Wednesday since then, Jennifer covers “aspects of project management that freelancers might find useful to organise and manage their own work.”

“I’m motivated to post from questions people ask me or popular search terms – if people are searching for answers I like to provide them! This blog is aimed at freelancers who haven’t had project management training but who would like advice on organising their work.”

The most widely read blog to date on Freelance Project Management tackles the difference between projects and tasks, a post she also includes amongst her three favourites:

Projects vs Tasks: How to Break Down Your Work and Get Back In Control

Two other favourites include:

Freelancers: 5 Reasons to Use Project Management Techniques
Project Communications: 10 Top Tips

Those who wish to keep up with Jennifer Kentmere can follow her on Twitter @JKentmere.

URL: http://freelancerprojectmanagement.com

RSS Feed: http://freelancerprojectmanagement.com/feed/

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The People and Projects Podcast is hosted by Andy Kaufman, PMP. Beginning in January 2009, People and Projects offer two episodes a month, featuring interviews and insights on leading people and delivering projects.

To Andy, project management is more than a job – it’s a passion that can be applied in all walks of life.

“I fundamentally believe that project management is a life skill. Whether at work, at home, or in the community, we are doing projects all the time. Those who learn how to not just talk a good game, but deliver–they are the ones who make a difference,” he said.

“Project management ultimately depends on people to do the work. Our focus with The People and Projects Podcast blog is to hit head-on the intersection between projects and people–where work actually gets done. I wanted to bring together some of the best minds in leadership and project management to help pour into a community that, at times, focuses way too much on forms and tools (and not people).”

Andy certainly has the chops to bring that community to his podcast. He has earned international renown as a public speaker, author and executive coach, also serving as President of the Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc. A certified trainer, Andy is also the author of “Navigating the Winds of Change: Staying on Course in Business & in Life”, “Shining the Light on The Secret”, and an e-book entitled “How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-Mail Clutter”, all published by Zurich Press.

Leaving his audience fulfilled without droning on too long is the key to People and Projects’ following.

“The focus is on interviews of expert authors, with an emphasis on leadership and project management. We aim to keep each episode at 30 minutes or less, and to keep that time engaging, up beat, and practical.”

“I have little patience for the academic…. I understand why we need models and research, but ultimately it all needs to be practical enough to help the person who is sitting in their cubicle with their head in their hands trying to figure out how in the world they can work with their team and other stakeholders to deliver. I’m motivated to pour into people, to develop their skills, and to help get real work delivered.”

The most widely followed episode at People and Projects was an interview with Harvard professor Richard Hackman on Leading Teams:

Leading Teams, with Harvard Professor Dr. J. Richard Hackman

His own personal favourite episodes include these three:

Who’s Got Your Back, an interview with best-selling author Keith Ferrazzi

Corporate Culture Survival Guide, an interview with Sloan Fellows Professor of Management, Dr. Ed Schein

How to Get Your PMP

To keep track of Andy’s latest additions to the People and Projects Podcast, follow him on Twitter @andy_kaufman.

URL: http://www.PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com

RSS Feed (email required): http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=PeopleAndProjectsPodcastBlog&loc=en_US

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Manage By Walking Around is one of the more established members of our PPM blogosphere, having premiered in July 2006. The weekly-updated blog is run by Jonathan D. Becher, an active participant in the performance management community, a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and a published author on a multitude of subjects.

“A primary goal of my blog is to provide information about performance management in a vendor-neutral way,” Jonathan says. “The inspiration for the title of the blog, Manage By Walking Around, can be found in the inaugural post. Because the term performance management gets bandied around by many different people to describe many different things, in some of my earlier posts (“Operational, Financial or IT” and “What’s In A Name”) I try to disambiguate the different uses, but in reality confusion still reigns in the market. Perhaps it’s a small consolation that continued confusion means continued reading of this blog…”

An EVP of both Enterprise Solution Marketing and Global Field Marketing at SAP, Jonathan is responsible for championing SAP’s strategy of helping organizations close the gap between strategy and execution so that they can optimize business performance.

“Manage By Walking Around focuses on how to systematically improve performance in an organization, using a combination of management style, strategy, processes, and technology,” he says. “In terms of motivation to blog, my not-so-secret passion is writing. I write on a variety of technical and non-technical topics, including fiction. This is an outlet to express myself.”

He says his audience is “primarily performance management enthusiasts but anyone interested in general management will also be interested.” In terms of his credentials, Jonathan has held a variety of CEO and other senior management roles for SAP, Pilot Software, Accrue Software, NeoVista Software and MasPar Computer Corporation. He earned his B.S. in computer engineering from the University of Virginia, and an M.S. in computer science from Duke University.

Jonathan says that if you don’t count a Dilbert comic he once ran, the most read post is

Scorecards vs. Dashboards

His three personal favourites include

Dirty KPIs

Measuring Lack of CRM Usage

My Management Guidelines

Follow Manage By Walking Around on Twitter @jbecher

Blog: http://alignment.wordpress.com/

RSS Feed: http://alignment.wordpress.com/feed/

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Leadership Solutions is a blog geared toward business professionals under the guidance and tutelage of Steve Kaye, an entrepreneur and professional speaker with a Ph.D in chemical engineering that puts particular focus in his brief daily postings on how to conduct effective staff meetings.

Though Steve’s blog, which premiered in May 2007, does not often hone in squarely on project management, the business principles, meetings advice, time management data and communication tips can all be effective resources for the PPM community.

“Leadership Solutions offers brief, practical tips on topics related to leadership,” he says. “Most of them also relate to my workshop, which include: Effective Meetings, Business Presentations, Effective Communication, and Time (Life) Management.” Steve added that he enjoys using the blog because “the process of writing expands my creative thinking and inventory of valuable ideas.”

Steve also writes a regular newsletters, a source for the three individual writings that he considered to be his favourites:

Business Lessions from Able Leader

Fear Chart

World’s Best Self Introduction

Those who wish to follow the Leadership Solutions blog and other actions of Steve Kaye can do so on Twitter @SteveKaye

Blog: http://blog.stevekaye.com

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/OneGreatMeeting

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