NYCPHP Meetup

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Tom tom-at-supertom.com |nyphp 04/2004| wrote:

>Hey Folks,
>
>I'm looking for suggestions/opinions about web-based project management
>software.  We've been using dotProject for quite a while, and it is OK,
>but it is still young and a little buggy.  Just thought I would see what
>everyone else was using.  (Or, if anyone is using dotProject regularly,
>I have some questions that I'd like to have answered - their forums have
>not been too responsive.)
>
>Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions?  Commercial or OS is fine, makes
>no difference whether I host it or not.  Also, this is for internal
>development, so billing features, and client access are not a concern.
>
>Thanks for the feeback,
>
>Tom
>www.liphp.org
>
>
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>  
>
I have always liked Project KickStart http://www.projectkickstart.com/ 
as a supplement to whatever project management sw I use. It may be a bit 
bloated or outdated at this point (I haven't looked for over a year), 
but basically it's a (Windows only) gui for capturing project intent at 
the earliest stage. It walks you (and your team, hopefully) through the 
goal defining, milestones, brainstorming, etc  and then kicks out a 
basic datafile suitable for import into popular PM software. It can do 
basic charting as well.

I find it an excellent tool to project during a project kick-start 
meeting . It helps builds the team, align the objectives, and in no 
small way helps garner a bit of authority as PM (once they see the 
effectivenes of good PM). The company has also been very accommodating 
when I have asked for lower cost licensing to proviude every team member 
with a copy (BTW, they don't usually use it, but they do look at it and 
gain additional respect for the management steps I do).

Personally I do my PM by paying attention to details, and using tools, 
not PM software. Kickstart plus my spreadsheets and calendar are all I 
need... the big software usually gets in the way of actual analysis, 
IMHO, and takes too much time and attention away from managing the project.

-=john andrews