Project management made simple.
As much as I don’t like freelanceswitch.com or other similar sites aimed at converting everyone and their uncle to the holy new way of life – freelance work, there was an excellent article by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.com on simple project management today. I am not going to go into detail on why I think freelanceswitch.com is not on top of my “favorite sites” list, maybe some other day, but the article itself was simply excellent. If you are not familiar with who Leo is, read zenhabits.com, it’s good for you.
Usually when you read about project management, and you should – it is important, it always starts with “Get the software X and do this, this and that, and you shall be managing your projects just like the pros do”. As seen on TV approach that might get you excited, but at the core of it there is a simple sales pitch to move as many units of “software X” as possible. Leo takes completely different approach, no mentions of any software package that would be a silver bullet for your particular situations, just the basic ideas that often gets overlooked when thinking about managing that runaway train that is your project.
Leo’s idea is simple:
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Define outcome
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Setup process
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Focus on the next action
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Send it to the client
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Communicate
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Focus on the next action
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Repeat until done.
And I would like to go as far as to say that it is not really his idea, it is a universally accepted idea on how to manage most of the projects. What really intrigued me was the fact that there was no fluff in the article, good clear explanation that brings you down to the core concept and let’s you decide how to do this in your particular situation.
I would really recommend Leo and his blog for everyone who is serious about his development not only as a IT pro, but as a human being.
