Max Wideman's PM Wisdom

Max Wideman has over half a century of practicing a variety of Project Management (PM) disciplines. This site brings together a permanent record of the accumulated experience and learning that Max has gained in Project Management throughout this time.

It is for those with an interest in PM, have questions, or just want "how to" answers from our Issacons. This site has serious Papers by Max as well as knowledgeable Guest authors. The Musings often raise issues, with a little English humor for lighter reading. Just click one of these links and start from the bottom of the page!

If you:
     • have to learn PM in a hurry — go to our cartoon series PM 101;
     • want help with a lot of typical daily PM tasks — go to Issacons;
     • like reading serious ideas on how to conduct PM — go to Papers;
     • seek to know what other PM masters think — go to Guests;
     • need a good place to start — try the paper PM 1st Principles.
     
     • are interested in a book on PM — take a look at PM Framework;
     • require the meaning of different PM terms — go to the PM Glossary;
     • wish to see the whole scope of this site — go to the Site Map;
     • are looking for something specific — then use our search page.

New This Month — May 2022

Guest: According to María Elena González, a seasoned content writer based in Venezuela, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the entire work ecosystem. Now, almost everybody lives in different locations, with different time zones and different living costs. Hence there is a significant effect of remote work on tech salares. María explores the effects of remote work on tech salaries.

Musings: Angela Civitella is a certified business leadership coach who has written on this web site many times before. She says that if you want to stand out and get a particular job, then there are seven things you should focus on in your next interview. Read her article Smaller Details Go a Long Way to a Successful Job Interview.

Papers: Last January, I wrote a piece on the corporate staff recruiter's view of searching for project management talent. This time I want to look at it from the Job-Applicant's side namely seeking project management employment. First is how to establish what you should be looking for, then secondly, how and where to find it.

Project management tip of the month The freedom from precise projections principle: It is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong.

Recent

Guest: Alan Lockman says "Good Time Management is essential while working on your own or in a team. There are many different strategies for managing your project time to boost your productively more effectively. It's just a question of learning some appropriate techniques. See his paper for his Top 5 Effective Time Management Tips While Working on Complex Projects.

Musings: According to Dennis Spangler there are five types of project risk in particular that you should anticipate and hence here is How to avoid Risk in Running your Project.

Musings: David DiSalvo offers his 10 Reasons Why Your Brain Hates Long Business Meetings from his book What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite. Each of his "10 Reasons" is followed by what you can or should do about them.

Guest: A critical factor required for achieving a successful project is in developing an effective project plan. Elizabeth Larson offers 10 Steps to creating a Project Plan for accomplishing a successful project outcome.

Papers: A 1985 PMI Brochure resurrected as a matter of historical interest and value.

Classic: The original and only Project Management Body of Knowledge (dubbed "PMBOK") published by the Project Management Institute in 1987, is now available as a PDF document. Want a copy? See PMBOK-1987 Reborn under Other Areas and Interests. Contains valuable advice even today.

At-A-Glance

Issacons (Issues and Considerations) are sets of slides providing summary information for specific questions associated with particular PM topics. Designed to save hours of searching yet more detailed than a plain bulleted list.

PM Glossary version 5.5 is free on this site. The glossary shows how many project management terms mean different things to different people. However, for the latest version 6.1 see PM Glossary v6.1 choices.

Papers & Books are thought-provoking and valuable insights into project management and include numerous book reviews. You will also find information about books that I have written or co-authored from time to time.

Max's Musings are brief thoughts on various project management topics.

Guest Articles contain articles on particular PM topics contributed to this site by a wide range of other authors.

Click on the links above to see the most recent additions.

About Max is a brief biography outlining my professional career, some personal history, and even a little trivia about me.

P.Eng.
FCSCE, FEIC, FICE, FPMI, FCMI*

*What do these letters mean? See Recognition on this page.

Copyright — The contents of this site are protected by copyright and may not be used by commercial or non‑commercial organizations without written permission.

Disclaimer — The views expressed are those of the contributors and no responsibility is accepted for the accuracy or reliability of the content or the results of its application.

More, much more . . .

(Other areas and interests)

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