Does a BOK impede innovation?

Yesterday marked another installment of the Project World and World Congress for Business Analysts 2010 webinar series. Part of our year-long-learning initiative, which you can learn more about here, the topic of the day was "Putting Business and Analysis Back in Business Analysis" with featured speaker Robin Goldsmith of Go Pro Management.

During the presentation Robin mentioned an article he had written entitled "Should BABOK Include Shorthand?" The article raises an interesting point, "a body of knowledge (BOK) and related certifications can institutionalize bad ideas along with good ones."

What do you think? Does attempting to codify Business Analysis knowledge unintentionally stifle innovation and true analysis? I highly suggest you read the whole article here.

To enjoy year-round learning benefits such as the webinar series throughout 2012, register for the event today. Readers of our blog receive an exclusive 15% discount off the standard registration rate with code PW11BLOG.

Exclusive 15% discount on ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts®

ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts® is vastly different from any others because it is designed to be transformational.

This year's PW&WCBA pays particular attention to accelerating core leadership competencies. In the wake of all the revolutionary change - there's a clear need to elevate the discipline from manager to definitive leader. That's exactly what PW&WCBA is built to do.
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Unlike any other event, PW&WCBA offers continuous learning and networking year-round. For one investment fee, you will receive:
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• Year-Round Learning: A continuing education series of on-demand web seminars running bi-monthly following the event, offering an additional 12 PDUs/CDUs
• Continuous networking through an exclusive networking site where you can connect with your peers before, during and after the event
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Attend PW&WCBA and you will return to your organization with the most crucial skills for success, and the tools and techniques you need to get the job done.

Join us November 14-16 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, register now to secure your spot, receive an exclusive 15% discount off the standard registration rate as a reader of our blog with code PW11BLOG. Register here.


We look forward to seeing you in Orlando this November!
All the best,
The ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts Team

The PM Podcast on Web 2.0 Tools for Project Management

Have you subscribed to the PM Podcast yet?

The most recent episode of the program (which qualifies for PDUs from PMI incidentally) featured Dennis Brooke, a Senior Program Manager for GE Aviation, discussing web based project management communications tools and specifically Enterprise 2.0 project management tools.

Given our recent features on different options for communicating as a project manager, I found the episode to be especially timely. Check it out here, where you can read a partial transcript and listen to the whole episode for free.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

6 Reasons Why PW&WCBA is the premier project management and business analysis conference

The 2011 Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts event is vastly different because it's designed to be truly transformational. That's precisely why PW&WCBA is the premier project management and business analysis conference in the world.

What makes PW&WCBA different from the rest?
• NEWLY EXPANDED Agile Summit, customizable for your maturity level
• NEW Agile certification, earn credits onsite
• All NEW Keynotes, sharing enterprise-wide leadership
• Four Immersive Tracks with 90 minute in-depth sessions
• Back by popular demand: YOUR SPACE 2011
• LEARNING YEAR ROUND, a continuing educations series of on-demand web seminars will run bi-weekly following the event, offering you up to 12 or more PDUs/CDUs
• CONTINUOUS NETWORKING through an exclusive networking site where you can connect with peers before and after the event
• That's not all, download the brochure for the full event details.

Join us November 14-16 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, register now to secure your spot, receive an exclusive 15% discount off the standard registration rate as a reader of our blog with code PW11BLOG. Register here.

We look forward to seeing you in Orlando this November!
All the best,
The ProjectWorld® & World Congress for Business Analysts Team
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Project Management Software Embracing Social?

In the last issue of ProjectNews, our post visited on the ways in which a successful project manager communicates with their team. Do you email, text, or call? Do you prefer in person meetings? Do you rely on a project management software to document communication and tasks?

I put the question to our LinkedIn group and also posted on Quora to get some more opinions on the subject. Many who weighed in agreed that their is a certain level (over three emails?) where in-person or phone communication is necessary. However, there is also the sentiment that written communication using email or a portal provides back-up documentation of the process, tasks assigned and decisions made.

With this in mind, I was interested to read about the recent integration of CA Technologies Inc.’s project and portfolio management (PPM) software with Salesforce.com’s Chatter collaboration tool.

As reported in IT World Canada, this integration may help with the adoption levels of PPM software, and allow more stakeholders to view project progress. Ken Jochims, senior product marketing manager for PPM software at CA Technologies reasoned that "the integration means non-PPM users, such as stakeholders who are not part of the project team, can also monitor the project’s progression." Brian Bell, CA's general manager of service and portfolio management was quoted in this piece on enterprise APPS today as saying "Integrating Chatter with our PPM solution helps manage collaboration across the innovation life-cycle."

Similarly, this article in The Brainyard explored the evolution of Liquid Planner 3.0 and Mendix's Sprintr specifically and the rise of social streams as part of project management software in general.

Regarding Sprintr, a tool built around agile development concepts, the following feature sounds particularly useful "More specific modules like a tool for creating project "stories" (a technique for gathering requirements) also have a wall-like feel to them, including the ability to make comments on stories and sub-stories." Sprintr is currently only available in private beta, but it will be interesting to see the tool on its full launch.

Are you using any sort of social-style tools to manage projects? Do you find traditional project management tools to clunky for agile projects? Share with us in the comments, or go social and join the discussion on our LinkedIn group or twitter @Project_World.

If you're interested in learning more about social-style collaboration for project management, consider checking out our track on "The New Era of Social Communication,
Leadership & Collaboration" at this fall's PWWCBA conference. To learn more about this track, and the conference, download the brochure. Save 15% off the standard registration rate as a reader of our blog with code PW11BLOG.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com.