Change Happens by Maciver Projects is a blog focused on the relationship between project management and change management and the importance of both capabilities to deliver change in organisations. Blogging weekly, the Change Happens blog was started in February 2010 as an opportunity to share experiences, specifically about the space overlapping both change management and project management professions. There is a lot of information that can be shared between the two. Change Happens hopes to stimulate debate on how to learn from each.

Change Happens explores the relationship between project management and change management. It asks questions about the skills required to be a project or change manager and explores the methods widely used, but not always widely understood. The blog is a must read for people working on projects that require those impacted by the project’s outcomes to change – usually behaviours. The information is useful to both practitioners (the change and project managers themselves) and people experiencing the changes.

Change Happens is written by Lynne Maciver and Lynne is a Programme Manager with experience leading large scale projects and programmes for organisations in the utility, public and infrastructure sectors for around 15 years.

The most read article to date on Change Happens is a series on Kotter’s Leading Change providing a summary of each of Kotter’s 8 steps:

The first in the series – Establish a Sense of Urgency.

Lynne’s personal favourite is: “Creating an adaptive culture the Zappos way” which explores how the American company Zappos have succeeded in integrating change into the very foundations of their company culture. An amazing feat.

Creating an adaptive culture the Zappos way

The Change Happens run a series of topics usually over a period of 2 to 3 months such as Kotter’s Leading Change last summer and are currently exploring Project Manager competencies.

You can reach the Change Happens blogger on Twitter at: MaciverProjects

URL: http://www.maciverprojectservices.co.uk/blog

RSS Feed: http://www.maciverprojectservices.co.uk/blog/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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The AFA blog is one of the most recently established blogs on PPM Community, premiering 1st November 2010. It’s company blog for AFA, established as a management consultancy organisation 15 years ago and since developing into a reputable training course provider.

Alan Ferguson suggested AFA to PPM Community, as the blog updates 3-5 times per week.

“As one of the most successful and well known project management specialists throughout the UK and Europe, AFA would like to give a unique insight into the mind of some of the most respected managers within the community and a unique ‘all access’ view of our organisation,” he says. “We hope the AFA blog will give people an insight into practices for delivering change, including portfolio, programme and project management as well as AFA as an organisation.

The newness of the blog creates an uncertainty as to where the content of the blog will lead over time, though change could be a key area of focus.

“What will we be discussing? Of course we don’t know – that is the beauty of a blog,” Alan says. “When AFA was founded by me over 15 years ago the world was simple – we used project management. But as time has moved on we have all realised that we need more tools, methods, methodologies, disciplines, practices… Then there is programme and now portfolio management, offices, maturity models and a whole range of super-techniques: benefits, risk, value. And below all this sits the softer side of achieving change – change management. Well we have found ourselves referring to this set of methods as Practices for Delivering Change. So I think the theme of the blog will be Practices for Delivering Change.”

Alan’s experience includes updating the most recent Best Practice management guidance. AFA, he says, is in demand to deliver master classes and other training events throughout Europe. Since founding AFA, Alan has delivered assignments in numerous locations as far afield as New York and Canberra; he has experience in working with both public & private sector organisations.

“Here at AFA, we are having more and more fascinating discussions on blogs and discussion groups and thought we would like to pull these debates together in one place,” he says. “The best way to do this was to a create a blog, which we hope in time will become a community, a place like minded colleagues can share their views and ideas.”

The most widely read post on the AFA blog is:

Are you a true Project Manager?

Some of Alan’s favourites include these three:

PRINCE2 with UNIFIL in South Lebanon

Evaluating a P3O Initiative

Are you a true Project Manager?

Follow the AFA blog on Twitter @AFA_Alan, on LinkedIn and on Facebook.

Blog: http://www.afaprojects.com/blog/

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

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International Community for Project Managers is a blog directed by founder Shawn Futterer, PMP. The weekly blog known for short as ICPM began in 2006 with the goal of helping “project managers around the world connect, share and learn from one another. Better projects through community knowledge.”

Shawn has managed project and people for over 15 years, in Manufacturing, Retail and Telecommunications capacities. Shawn has experience with projects of all sizes and scope and is currently managing a team of project managers for a fortune 50 Telecom company. In short, he can write for a variety of project managers across a wealth of experiences.

“I’ve managed projects from a few thousands dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars and with scopes and durations from 30 days to 5 years or longer,” he said. “I’ve tackled projects that impact local businesses all the way through projects that have national impact on a large scale.

“The blog is for any professional who is connected in any way to managing projects. ICPM is a culmination of many blogs and many bloggers. ICPM covers a wide range of topics related to project management.”

The most widely read article on ICPM is How to Become a Project Manager. Some of his favourite posts include:

Creating Clear Project Requirements 1 of 5
Using a PMO to Achieve Results in Your Agency
Convince Executives of the Value of Project Management

Follow ICPM and Shawn on Twitter @theicpm.

Blog: http://theicpm.com/

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/theicpm/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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QAspire Blog is edited regularly by Tanmay Vora, a Quality management professional who seeks the trends and tendencies in management and leadership with his blog.

Starting in April 2006, Tanmay used QAspire to to delve into those two key aspects with short stories on those subjects.

“I started the blog because I was passionate about documenting and sharing lessons I learned while doing my work. – because I always wanted to get better at writing and expression,” he said. “Because I wanted to ‘explore’ this new fad called ‘blogging’ (and I am so glad I did).

“Motivation for blogging comes from validation of your thoughts: share knowledge, exchange ideas, take the subject forward and make some great friends along the way.“

Tanmay averages three posts a week, mainly consisting of practical ideas and insights in areas pertaining to quality, leadership and improvement for both businesses and professionals.

“Quality is at the core of business success and QAspire attempts to look at the soft side of quality through explorations on organization culture, leadership, project management, people and constant improvement,” he says.

Though project management is but one of the many things Tanmay focuses on through QAspire, he says the target audience of primarily senior managers, consultants and HR personnel also explicitly seeks out project managers.

Tanmay says the most popular post in the five-year history of QAspire focuses on how lessons are not just learned, but retained:

5 Ideas to Ensure That Lessons are Really Learned

He also has three other posts he lists as his favourites:

Seven Key Thoughts About Managing Human Resources

The Rubber Meets The Road 15

Working and Walking – Where Are You Going

To keep track of Tanmay’s updates to the QAspire blog, follow him on Twitter @tmvora

Blog: http://qaspire.com/blog/

RSS Feed: http://qaspire.com/blog/feed/

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The Project Box combines industrial psychology with project management topics to deliver a thought-provoking weekly blog under the editorial practice of Bernardo Tirado.

Bernardo is an Industrial Psychology practitioner and has worked in project management capacities for Fortune 50s from project manager to portfolio level leader. Bernardo was also an adjunct professor teaching industrial psychology at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Metropolitan College of New York. He says that through his use of The Project Box, he aims to approach project management from a psychological perspective.

“I wanted to provide an industrial psychology perspective on how to manage projects,” he says. “Many times Six Sigma, PMP, Prince2 focus on the technical elements in running projects but that’s only 10 to 20 % of projects success. The remaining is really contingent on human delivery. The Project Box provides insights and tools for Project Leaders to manage project teams. It focuses on the psychological impact of change and tips to delivery efficiency.

“Having been a professor teaching industrial psychology, I’ve always had the inclination to share/teach others through my experiences. I firmly believe a great leader is one that can pass on knowledge to others.”

Bernardo is a recent addition to the PPM blogosphere, having premiered The Project Box 25th June 2010, just six weeks prior to this profile. He says the most popular article on The Project Box focuses on comparing two regarded project management certifications.

Project Management Professional vs. Six Sigma

He also has three posts he lists as his particular favourites:

Knowing the Informal Leader in your Project Team

How to Maximize Business Process Re-engineering: People, Process, Tools

Body Language: You Say More Than You Think

You can follow Bernardo and The Project Box on Twitter @bernardo_tirado and on Facebook.

Blog: http://www.bernardotirado.com/

RSS Feed: http://www.steppingintopm.com/feeds/posts/default

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EarthPM’s oft-mentioned slogan is “at the intersection of Green and Project Management,” a power-packed credo for two veteran project managers left with an indelible imprint on the importance of resource sustainability.

Rich Maltzman and Dave Shirley have worked primarily as project management practitioners in their respective 30 years of field experience, and in launching EarthPM they both have undertaken a regular publication they describe as “part altruism, part business idea.” More than that, environment-oriented projects and sustainability tap into a growing concern in world economic growth and prosperity, giving that business idea an opportunity like never before. Rich says that project management principles remain central to the goals of EarthPM because of their closeness to the medium.

“We’re motivated to blog by news stories and other pm blogs,” Rich says. “Our site is devoted to the intersection of Project Management and “Green” – where green has to do with preventing climate change, preserving resources, and getting things done effectively and efficiently, which should already be flowing in the ‘green’ blood of any project manager worth their weight in risk registers.”

While they are unable to cite favourite posts or a most widely read post – “We have 125 posts, all with roughly equal readership” – they describe the blog in buzzwords that tap across all mediums affected by sustainable project management. Or – considering the buzzwords they used included “Eclectic”, “electric”, “executive-level”, “energizing”, and “engaging” – all the relevant ones that shared the same first letter as “EarthPM”!

You can follow EarthPM and Rich Maltzman on Twitter @RichEarthPM.

URL: http://earthpm.com/

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

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The Hard-Nosed Project Manager tends to gravitate in scope toward its given title: hard-nosed, as well as practical, first-hand experience and observation as opposed to theory. Specifically, it is written from the hard-nosed experience of Patrick Richard, a Montreal-based PMP, with Combat and Chemical Engineering experience across a variety of industries. Admittedly, Patrick says he was surprised that his approach to project management was anything but “out there” when he started Hard-Nosed in January 2010.

“It was NOT a New Year resolution,” Patrick says. “I attended a class by Harold Kerzner and was surprised that my approach to project management was not “way out there”. I started reading other PM blogs and decided that I could contribute.”

Patrick adds new posts a “few times a week” to Hard-Nosed, and says word or mouth or relevant buzz in the industry inspires him to write.

“I’m motivated to post by something I read or heard, something that happens in one of my projects, questions from peers or those looking for mentorship,” he says. “I intend to reach other PMs, those who aspire to become PMs, those who face team leadership issues.”

Follow Patrick and The Hard-Nosed Project Manager on the following portals:

Blog: http://thehardnosedpm.typepad.com/

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheHard-nosedProjectManager

Twitter @hardnosedpm

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickrichard?trk=btn_typepad

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Kelly’s Contemplation is a project management/leadership blog that started in May 2010 under its namesake editor, Robert Kelly. Robert’s career in IT allowed the blog to premier as a haven of online communication of his thoughts and ideas on leadership and team management in a high performance capacity.

Robert is a PMP certified IT leader that has 10 years of project management experience that lends well to his writing and video presentations, new versions of which usually appears on Kelly’s Contemplation each Monday. He has led both software development initiatives and worked in IT Services at large financial institutions. More recently, Robert has been at one of the world’s largest PC makers focusing on developing global service capability and optimizing corporate best practices.

“My 10 years of hands-on and in-depth experience has allowed me to lead all sizes of managed/ support service organizations, customer service center operations, managing customer/vendor relationships, re-engineering programs, and leading new portfolio/offering development,” he says. “My approach is to share a weekly video, some humor,and a plethora of links to other white papers, blogs, etc. The topics I choose each week are usually motivated by a number of sources…a white paper or book I read, specific experiences I may be going through at that time, or other discussions I have engaged in through the blogosphere or local PMI chapter/event.”

Kelly’s Contemplation is about more than project management – Robert says the blog endeavours to share the values of great leadership.

“The primary target will be both aspiring and current project managers, with a secondary market for those with general leadership interest,” he says.

The most widely read article on Kelly’s Contemplation on the power of not saying “No!”

The Other Side of No

He also lists other blogs like Project Shrink, Re:Focus and EarthPM as his favourites, especially these respective posts:

• Project Shrink – Memes and Emotions
• Re:Focus – The Journey
• Earth PM – Can you learn from lessons past? You bet your BP you can!

You can follow Robert Kelly and Kelly’s Contemplations on Twitter @rkelly976.

Blog: www.kellycrew.wordpress.com/

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