vsbabu.org : project_management http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/categories/project_management/ Gluing passing thoughts to foregone conclusions en-us vsbabu@gmail.com Copyright 2010 2010-02-21T11:01:21+05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Labelling in Outlook 2003 ala Gmail http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2010/02/21/labelling_in_outlook_2003_ala_gmail.html Extend Outlook 2003 to easily categorize mails. 1069@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I found that moving mails into project folders, when the mails are still on an open topic takes too much time. Gmail's "label" idiom really helps in this situation. Turns out we can do that with Outlook 2003 too with some small macro work. First, see my entry on how to put macros and arrange toolbar in Outlook 2003. Then add the following macro to the module. Duplicate the second subroutine to as many as you've categories and then put toolbar entries for each of those. I think you should be able to do with less than 10 categories. At times you may get mails on an old subject, which you can just read and act and archive directly without tracking it. 

Sub SetCategory(strCat As String)
   Dim Item As Object
   Dim SelectedItems As Selection
   Set SelectedItems = Outlook.ActiveExplorer.Selection
   For Each Item In SelectedItems
   With Item
    .Categories = strCat
    .Save
    End With
   Next Item
End Sub

Sub SetCategoryAdmin()
    SetCategory ("Admin")
End Sub
]]> project_management 2010-02-21T11:01:21+05:00 Time tracking tools http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2009/08/27/time_tracking_tools.html TimeBook and TaskCoach 1050@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I tried many time tracking tools over last year. There are lot of nice and graphical ones out there. Ideally, I wanted to have a tool in which I can plan tasks with due dates and keep logging time against each of those tasks when I actually spent time on those. I didn't need to do this for any billing purposes, but I like reviewing regularly where I spend time. But as a manager, there are only certain times during a software product release cycle when I can actually plan and stick to plan. More often than not, my job is to ensure that I am available to help people so that they can stick to their plan. In this situation, all I really need is just a simple tool to keep logging time in a most painless way.

Let us discuss few options to plan and track time against the plan; and then just to track time.

]]> project_management 2009-08-27T20:18:52+05:00 Outlook 2003 + Flags = todo list http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2009/06/15/outlook_2003_flags_todo_list.html Too many mails and too many todo apps? Outlook works well. Macro to help you get rid of some of the annoyances on the way. 1037@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Microsoft Outlook 2003 has a very irritating system for adding reminders to messages. For example, I want to add a flag to remind me about the mail next day, it involves right clicking and choosing reminder options. Also, this never works on a selection of mails. You have to do it one at a time. Newer versions of Outlook apparently handles this fairly well. I searched the web for ideas on how to ease the pain and got some VB macros. Got those, modified them to suite my needs (original source information is available within the code) and now life is fun.

I needed ability to quickly mark one or more mails for action. Action could be within 2 hours, next day or within 2 days. Similarly, some of the mails are what I sent to my team for followup. Again that is within 2 hours, next day or within 2 days. When things are getting into waiting mode, I need to quickly defer action or followup by a week, 2 weeks or a month. Here's how my custom toolbar looks now!

outlook2003flagger.gif

]]> project_management 2009-06-15T16:20:03+05:00 Scrum for Self : V2 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2008/01/01/scrum_for_self_v2.html Scrum excel for self gets better. 1029@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Last year, I wrote about Scrum for Self, an Excel sheet that I use to plan my week. An updated version is now available below.

Enhancements:

  • Projects, contexts and statuses can be setup now - motivated by GTD.
  • A nice dashboard that gives you idea about your remaining tasks.
  • Better embedded documentation.
  • A 5 week calendar to help you plan your due-dates

If you are interested, you can download the zip file (43KB) that has the Excel file. Extract the zip file. Open the Excel file and look at Dashboard sheet. The Excel has some sample data that you can use as a starter.

]]> project_management 2008-01-01T13:07:52+05:00 ADD and antipatterns http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2007/06/22/add_and_antipatterns.html An interesting post with lots of comments and another antipattern 1026@http://vsbabu.org/mt/
  • ADD
  • Anti-patterns at Wikipedia

    • I did nod quite a bit while reading these. Now, next step is to make sure that I don't do these things whenever I manage stuff :-)

    ]]>     project_management 2007-06-22T10:22:29+05:00     Scrum for self http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2006/12/25/scrum_for_self.html An Excel sheet to help you plan one-man Scrum for weekly sprints. 1021@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I've been managing software development for products since March 2004. I also play the role of a software architect and configuration manager, so I have my own tasks as well. So, as an individual contributor, I wanted some way to plan my work without having to fiddle with MS Project. For my team, I used principles of Scrum in the form of simple burndown charts and backlog lists - it worked very well. Here is my adaptation for using it as a tool for Scrum for one person, for weekly sprints.

    ]]>     project_management 2006-12-25T20:32:35+05:00     Export MS Project to HTML http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2005/05/28/export_ms_project_to_html.html A small application to export MS Project plans to easy to use (IMHO) HTML. 1003@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Do you like the default HTML to which MS Project exports schedule? I hate it. I wrote a small application to export the data to an html file like how I like it. I use MS Project as a manager and as an employee. As a manager, I want to see how well the execution is coming along. As an employee, I really want to see what I should be doing when; and what I should be getting ready to be doing.

    I believe the template I've come up with answers these questions. Here is the sample output file. Let us see how the sample looks and how different sections help me.

    ]]>     project_management 2005-05-28T15:45:53+05:00     Wings of Fire http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2004/01/08/wings_of_fire.html The best resource available for practicing project management. 967@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Yesterday, I read Wings of Fire, a biography of Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, the eleventh President of India.

    A great man, indeed. Humble, brilliant, visionary and inspirational.

    ]]>     books 2004-01-08T08:18:07+05:00     What is the question? http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2004/01/06/what_is_the_question.html If Project Management is the answer, what's the question? 963@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Frank Patrick writes:

    One of my basic beliefs about project management is that it's first and foremost about promises -- making reasonable promises and keeping them. As I've written elsewhere, effective project management is about turning significantly uncertain efforts into reasonably certain outcomes. That's the outcome. That's the "why" associated with project management. But the question that I had in mind with this new spin was more related to "how?"

    If project management is the answer, what's the question? My contention is that it's "What should I be working on?"

    A must-read for all project managers. I like extend this a little bit.

    ]]>     project_management 2004-01-06T06:36:41+05:00     MSP2000 - User Interface http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2004/01/02/msp2000_user_interface.html Nothing complicated, if you are already familiar with other Microsoft Office applications. 961@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ The default screen of MSP when it starts up is shown below. If you've used any other Microsoft Office products, this should look familiar.

    A brief introduction on setting up preferences, the concept of views and tables, text styles and file organization recommendations follow.

    ]]>     project_management 2004-01-02T19:13:41+05:00     Essential theory http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2004/01/01/essential_theory.html Some terms and definitions to consider before using Microsoft Project. 960@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ We need to understand few terms and definitions before we start using MSP. Instead of detailing these terms from a purely theoretic point of view, I have kept in mind how it affects your use of MSP.

    Most of the definitions are based on how I understand it, while I use MSP. Again, if you are trying to get PMP certification or needs to gain solid theoretical knowledge of Project Management terms, this is not the place to get that information.

    ]]>     project_management 2004-01-01T16:00:46+05:00     Notes on Microsoft Project 2000 http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/12/15/notes_on_microsoft_project_2000.html Planning to write a tutorial on this much misunderstood and unfairly hated tool. 950@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ I'm toying with the idea of writing a tutorial --more like a usage notes-- on using MS Project (MSP). Since I don't have time to write a "proper" tutorial, I am thinking of posting it as a series of blog entries. That gives people a forum where they can post comments and ask questions too. I thought about using a Wiki for this, but decided against it, for now.

    Your feedback on the idea is greatly appreciated.

    ]]>     project_management 2003-12-15T18:05:47+05:00     PCTUSELESS http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/12/15/pctuseless.html I had an epiphany today. Analogous to Oracle's storage parameters, here is how it looks. 949@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Oracle adds records to Blocks, which are grouped into Extents, in turn grouped into Segments. And Segments are in Tablespaces. Records get filled into Blocks according to storage parameters, viz., PCTUSED and PCTFREE. Consider the hypothetical values of PCTUSED=40, PCTFREE=20.

    This means that 20% of each block is reserved for future updates: When the block gets filled(used) to 80%, the block is no longer available for more inserts. As records get deleted from the block, the used space in the block decreases. When the used space gets below PCTUSED, the block becomes available for new insert. This process repeats itself over and over again.

    Similar thing happens when you have management processes defined by a committee that doesn't consider how people work in real life. That can be very easily depicted by using a parameter called PCTUSELESS.

    ]]>     project_management 2003-12-15T08:00:00+05:00     Quite a few gems http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/12/06/quite_a_few_gems.html I really liked some articles from SoftwareReality.com. 946@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ From a recent Slashdot article, I visited SoftwareReality.com. Tons of interesting and thought-provoking articles. What I really enjoyed are bookmarked below.

    ]]>     project_management 2003-12-06T15:17:32+05:00     Offshore outsourcing or domestic process fixes? http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2003/11/03/offshore_outsourcing_or_domestic_process_fixes.html Domestic process fixes may be more cost-effective than outsourcing; but are they feasible? 933@http://vsbabu.org/mt/ Crater Moon Landings- Offshore Outsourcing comments on Market Research Firm Touts Outsourcing's Cost-Savings.

    Question: how much more cost-effective would it be to just fix your processes first?

    I'm not going to argue on how 10 people in US are capable of delivering the work of 70 people in India. Last time I checked, programming skills were not proportional to race, nationality, religion or gender.

    ]]>     project_management 2003-11-03T23:30:00+05:00