In this Edition
Letter from the IT Director
Feature Article: Eight Tips for Keeping the Best of Your Project Teams
Events: User Conference
On-demand Webinar
Blog Posts: Capturing Lessons Learned: A Work Management Best Practice
Three Keys to Successful Software Implementations
Leading Project Teams
Customer of the Month: Trilliant
Letter from the IT Director
As many of you may have heard, AtTask received SAS 70 Type II certification in Q1, 2010. We are very proud of this achievement. Especially since we received zero exceptions from our independent third party auditing firm. For those of you who have dealt with detail-oriented auditors, you know exactly how hard it is to get any auditor to issue a 100% clean bill of health. We take great pride in doing our best to protect our customers’ data. We believe that attaining SAS 70 Type II certification proves that we take data security and production change management extremely seriously.
Please read our SAS 70 success story to learn how your company can use @task to help you streamline and expedite your company’s audits.
Otto Silva
Director of IT Ops, AtTask, Inc.
Feature Article
Nurturing Project Leaders: Eight Tips for Keeping the Best of Your Project Teams
Woody Allen once said, “80% of success is showing up.” I believe the greater challenge for most organizations looking to succeed involves keeping good people.
Employee turnover is a fact of life. Some studies even suggest that the average employee stays with a company for a maximum of five years before moving on. Even the Japanese… Read the complete article here
Events
Annual @task User Conference – Attendees Receive 10 PDUs
The @task User Conference will be here in one week! This highly interactive event will include 24 breakout sessions, an Olympic Gold Medalist keynote speaker, and a PMI Project of the Year Recipient. @task users from around the world will gather in Salt Lake City, May 11-13, 2010, to address key issues confronting organizations looking to align strategic objectives with project processes and increase efficiencies and ROI. Make sure you’re one of them.
Preliminary Agenda
Read more and register
On-demand Webinar: Definitive Project ROI: 5 Keys for Increasing Project Portfolio Value
Are you inundated with project requests that will stretch already scarce resources? You’re not alone. Many organizations with a broad range of contributing business units receive hundreds, if not thousands, of project ideas that could quickly consume limited budgets—but it doesn’t need to be that way.
Focusing on the right projects is just as important as executing projects the right way.
Craig Symons, Vice President of Forrester, will discuss strategies for increasing business value:
- Optimizing investments and resources
- Aligning operational and strategic goals
- Reducing low-value projects
Paul McGriff, Manager of Governance and Administration for Buckman Labs, shares what Buckman Labs does to ensure they are working on the right projects. According to Paul, “If someone presents a potential project that doesn’t tie into a strategic initiative, we ask, ‘why are you doing this?’ It’s that important to us.”
Watch it now
Other Events
Blog Posts
Capturing Lessons Learned: A Work Management Best Practice
 Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I sometimes wonder if he was talking about project managers. The increasing pace of change in the workplace causes me to wonder, do we take enough time to learn from experience as processes and personnel are constantly changing.
Read the complete blog post here
Three Keys to Successful Software Implementations
Someone recently asked me, “What is the best way to implement your software?” Although this question was related to project management software, the principles apply to any type of software implementation or development for that matter. I’d like to propose three keys that will help project managers avoid common pitfalls when bringing about change in their organizations:
- Expect Incremental Improvement
- Override the ‘Smart Guy’ in the room
- Communicate, Commit & Club
Read the complete blog post here
Leading Project Teams
Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” In personal relationships and project teams, I’ve noticed the traits that make people successful leaders are not always the same traits that make people successful managers. I agree with Rear Admiral Grace Hopper when she said, “No one ever managed men into battle.” Unfortunately, some of the skills and attributes that make a good project leader aren’t always associated with the metrics that determine whether or not they are successful at managing projects.
Read the complete blog post here
Customer of the Month
Company Name: Trilliant
Industry: Communications
Highlights: Trilliant, a Smart Grid communications company that supplies utilities with wireless mesh equipment, needed a PPM solution that would provide visibility and accountability for all projects worldwide. @task provided the accessibility and visibility Trilliant wanted into every project, in an easy-to-use package. Trilliant’s staff has exceeded all expectation in their use of @task, with more than 170 users actively tracking 100+ projects worldwide.
Read the Success Story
Watch the video |
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