Sharing ideas, experiences, and best practices for project management.
Helping other Drupallers to become more effective and efficient in projects they manage.
Join us on IRC in the #drupal-pm channel!
Managing Community Projects: Group Calendaring with Google Calendar
Below is a draft of best practices for using Google calendar to manage community projects, something one of my favorite non-calendar-oriented contributors asked me to write up. I'm very interested how my ideas of best practices match up with others.' I'm posting it as a wiki page so anyone can improve on it, but I'm also hoping major changes will spark discussion, explanation, enlightenment :)
Why Google calendar?
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Apache Solr and Open Calais : www.meetup.com/drupalgroup
Please block the calendar for Silicon Valley DUG meetup next session focused on Apache Solr and Open Calais Module for Drupal.
What is Open Calais: OpenCalais initiative is supported by Thomson Reuters which originated to supports the interoperability of content. The free OpenCalais service and open API makes it easy to automate content operations, enhance content, increase audience engagement and extend distribution across the CMS or framework.
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New to Project Management
Hi all,
I just recently took on a wonderful opportunity with a great drupal-based organization here in Portland. They've brought me on to be a project manager, and although I've done a little bit of management before, I'd really like to know what to anticipate. Any tips, advice, or stories would be much appreciated.
Thank you!!
Read moreLatest in Drupal
http://www.meetup.com/DrupalGroup/events/19614911/
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Burndown Graphs
Hi, All.
My company has recently adopted the Agile project management method. I love the idea having burndown graphs for our bigger projects but I do not like the idea of having to pay for them. Is there a free resource I am not finding?
We are currently using Basecamp. Is there an easy way to tie in burndown graphs without leaving the Basecamp site?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Read moreSprint based development for Drupal 8
Hi Drupalfolk -
I documented a bunch of the ideas/discussion points from Dries' D8 core convo on a blog post:
http://affinitybridge.com/blog/drupal-8-git-sprints-efficient-smooth
I am considering making a page/section in the Initiatives section on d.o but would really like a bit more input first - I got a lot of positive tweets and a couple more detailed comments, but I still am not sure exactly how much support there would be for this, nor how much more detail would need to be hashed out for it to become a method that people would be comfortable experimenting with.
Read moreNotes from Project Management BoFs at DrupalCon Chicago
Approximately 20 people gathered for the first BoF, which, with only 30 minutes, limited what we could do. It was, essentially, a meeting about meetings - the worst kind. However, it help clarify what would be best to talk about at DrupalCon and how much people wanted to talk about the subject.
The various pain points identified by the people in the room were (in order of most votes):
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Drupal Project Management BoFs at DrupalCon - Focus sessions
Here's the tentative schedule for the focused BoFs on Project Management. I took the liberty of scheduling one over lunch; if there's a major objection to that, let me know.
- Tools - Wednesday, 10-11 in the Ontario room
- Methodologies - Wednesday, 12-1 in the Ontario room
- Multi-threading projects - Wedensday, 6-7 in the Ontario room
I put these all on Wednesday to leave time for any follow-ups on Thursday.
Read moreDrupal Project Management BoF at DrupalCon
I created a BoF session for Project Management for Wednesday at 2:45. It didn't seem to clash with any project management sessions - I'm more than open to changing it if others want other times. With only 30 minutes, I expect this will only be a small discussion, maybe leading to other ones on Thursday.
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Drupal Programmer essential skills
Hi Guys,
Read moreSpec'ing Drupal Jobs
Hi Guys,
While I was entertaining the relatives this weekend, I couldn't help thinking about Drupal. It's a sickness really. I need to seek help. Before I do though, I wrote this blog post on the key areas I feel need to be explored before taking on a Drupal project. As we all know, some projects are bad bad bad. Some projects are really good. Going through this long rant list that I've compiled should give the new folks the benefit of what some of us older guys have already suffered. It's on my blog here: http://www.drupalcreations.com/blog/drupal-specifications Please feel free to disagree and comment in sarcastic and critical tones. Ideally we get a thread going and share some of the wealth.
I'm off to seek help now :) ,
Read moreProject Management pitfalls
I've found there's one common mistake that I've made as a Drupal developer/Consultant, time and time again: project management. I wrote a short blog about my learning experiences here: Project Management If you're new to the world of professional Drupal consulting, read it to prepare yourself. If you're old, please add some comments to help new recruits understand the value of working a plan.
I give some real world scenarios as examples of mistakes that I've made. It should illustrate why it is critical to follow every step of the project management process. It'll help you avoid a lot of the pain that I suffered through.
For anyone new to the world of Drupal consulting, you should really read through this blog.
Good luck and May the force be with you,
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Usability Resources/Courses
Anyone have any good usability resources? Ideally, I'd like to take a course to brush up on my skills but any information would do!
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The Vendor Client Relationship In Real World Situations [VIDEO]
We've heard every excuse (and reason) why a client wants us to produce A-Z but can only pay for a portion of A-B-C (if that). This video highlights in a "safe for work" way how lame some people sound trying to compare or belittle work while they themselves are unable to deliver the most important part of a delivery - their payment! Granted this video is so true it may not be funny to you, but it will make you laugh.
http://www.dump.com/2010/12/13/the-vendor-client-relationship-in-real-wo...
Read moreDrupal.org Redesign PM post
Hey, just thought you other PM types would be interested in reading Lisa Rex's post on PMing the Drupal.org Redesign: http://growingventuresolutions.com/blog/drupal-org-redesign-not-your-typ...
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Learning Drupal Chat -- Mentoring & Drupal Project Based Learning
Join us for a discussion about mentoring in the Dojo and Kata.
There are a large number of issues to explore including Kata roles and incentives for Mentors and Apprentices.
Chat will be in #drupal-dojo IRC, starting 12 noon ET, 9am PT and 5pm GMT.
Points of reference include:
Call for Drupal Mentors! - http://drupalkata.com/program/node/1201
Define participant roles, responsibilities, and incentives - http://drupalkata.com/program/node/103
A beginner's guide to using Hudson for continuous integration with Drupal
Shameless plug, I just wrote up a beginner's guide to getting Hudson up and running for continuous integration. Huge shout out to Steve Merrill. Couldn't have figured any of this out without following his work.
http://thinkshout.com/blog/2010/09/sean/beginners-guide-using-hudson-con...
Love to get some feedback. Please consider retweeting if helpful:
http://twitter.com/#!/sean_larkin/status/25914260515
Excited to spread the word about continuous integration!!
Sean Larkin
ThinkShout.com
http://twitter.com/sean_larkin
Drupal Dojo session: The Scrum (R)evolution: embrace the future of interactive development
Register To Attend Here https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/639061369
Web development is hard, very hard – and it’s getting harder. But there is hope, a radically different approach called agile.
If you build websites for a living, you know the pressure. Drupal sites can be complex beasts with thousands of moving parts. Clients have high demands – changing demands. Budgets have never been tighter. If you are going to keep the sites you manage ahead of the competition, you have to innovate – continually. And everything has to be done at the breakneck speed of web time.
Read moreSetting the tone
I've been reading an Agile book called Agile Coaching http://pragprog.com/titles/sdcoach/agile-coaching off and on when I get some spare time, and it talks a bunch about the project manager's role and impact in setting the tone for the team. We are often the one person who talks to each developer on a regular basis, is very much in tune with management/owner(s), and also talks to the clients directly.
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Open Source Bridge: Project Management Talks
Open Source Bridge was last week, June 1 - 4th in Portland, OR. This is a conference near and dear to me, it's open source citizens from all over the world gathering to talk about the issues we're all facing, and geeking out on what we're all doing. Lots of fun talks, but the two below are more 'useful'.
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