Free White Papers  
Find out how to Earn PDUs by reading our white papers    


Not Just a River in Egypt: Denial management and its effects on projects. * Featured Article
Jeremy Johnson, PMP, PMOP, (with John M. Nevison, PMP)
< Download PDF >

(Acorn Brief) 13 Risk Rules for New Project Managers, as they consider risk
Jack Nevison, PMP . The Project Solutions Acorn 
A brief, humorous, useful look at risk on projects.
< Download PDF >

Microsoft Project News Groups and Free Support 
Mark R. Durrenberger 
Are you wrestling alone with a knotty Microsoft Project problem? Find out how to get free help from Microsoft News Groups on the web.
< Download PDF >

Scope Creep & Creating an Accurate COS: Two One-page Articles by MBA Students 
Nuria Canete and Barry J. Dussault Jr. 
MBA students at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., were asked to choose a project planning challenge and advise a (fictional) novice PM on how to deal with it. We present two of them for a fresh look at some old project problems.
< Download PDF >

The Staffing-to-Schedule Index (StSI) Puzzle 
John M. Nevison 
To complete a project on time, how much staff should you add while preserving the shape of the original staffing plan?
< Download PDF >

Enhancements to Microsoft Project 98 & 2000 
Mark R. Durrenberger, PMP
Makes MS Project perform in accordance with Project Solutions' PM training.
< Download PDF >

An Executive Project Progress Checklist 
Joan Knutson 
To get what you expect, you must inspect. To avoid project surprises, here are the right questions to ask.
< Download PDF >

How Much Is 10% Worth?
Michael D. Barker and John M. Nevison . PMNetwork 
You have your project plan - you know the schedule, the cost, and the performance. Are you ready to chisel it in stone?
< Download PDF >

Project Entrepreneurs for Project Based Enterprises: Extension or Compliment to Project Management Competencies?
Robert De Fillippi and Stephen Spring . Project Management Institute Seminar/Symposium Proceedings
This paper reviews the competencies required to be a project entrepreneur and compares them to the competencies required to be an effective project manager.
< Download PDF >

Some Thoughts About Project Management Software
Carl Belack, PMP . IIE Solutions 
This article deals with the various aspects of selecting project management software for your organization.
< Download PDF >

Building on the Stage/Gate: An Enterprise-Wide Architecture for New Product Development
Beebe Nelson, Bob Gill, and Stephen Spring . Project Management Institute Seminar/Symposium Proceedings 
This paper addresses the development and implementation of an enterprise-wide Product Development Process.
< Download PDF >

Selecting Project Management Software
Allen Allnoch . IIE Solutions Magazine
Get answers to some commonly asked questions about selection of project management software.
< Download PDF >

Managing the External Forces in New Product Development
Mark Durrenberger, Beebe Nelson, & Stephen Spring . PM Network . March, 1996
This article describes some of the roles new product development project teams need to be aware of when dealing with issues external to the team.
< Download PDF >

Creative Time Wasting
John M. Nevison, PMP . PM Network 
A humorous article on how not to run a meeting.
< Download PDF >


 










(Acorn Brief) Project Valuation: How to Rank Your Project Portfolio 
Mark R. Durrenberger, PMP . June, 2006
A quick and easy model to use to help you decide which of your projects should have the highest priority.
< Download PDF >

(Acorn Brief) 13 Risk Rules for New Project Managers, as they consider risk
Jack Nevison, PMP . The Oak Acorn . March, 2006
A bief, humorous, useful look at risk on projects.
< Download PDF >

Behind Schedule & Over Budget: 10 career-advancement techniques you should master 
Mark Durrenberger, PMP . April, 2005
Want to succeed as a project manager in your organization? Mark's 10 simple steps will show you how.
< Download PDF >

Microsoft Project News Groups and Free Support 
Mark R. Durrenberger . April, 2004
Are you wrestling alone with a knotty Microsoft Project problem? Find out how to get free help from Microsoft News Groups on the web.
< Download PDF >

Scope Creep & Creating an Accurate COS: Two One-page Articles by MBA Students 
Nuria Canete and Barry J. Dussault Jr. . December, 2003
MBA students at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., were asked to choose a project planning challenge and advise a (fictional) novice PM on how to deal with it. We present two of them for a fresh look at some old project problems.
< Download PDF >

The Staffing-to-Schedule Index (StSI) Puzzle 
John M. Nevison . June, 2003
To complete a project on time, how much staff should you add while preserving the shape of the original staffing plan?
< Download PDF >

The Power of the Project Journal 
John F. Slack . April, 2003
The project journal is a simple and effective way to foster learning in organizations - yet it is seldom used. With a little planning at the start of a project and some light record keeping during, PMs and their teams can capture "lessons learned" before they are forgotten, and share them far and wide. John Slack offers some dos and don'ts to help you get the most from this powerful tool.
< Download PDF >

The Minimalist's Schedule: One-Line Project Scheduling 
Denise Mura . November, 2002
For the novice project manager, creating and maintaining a project schedule can be frightening and overwhelming. Yet enterprise project managers need detailed schedule updates on every project, whether managed by an old hand or a new hire. This article offers an easy-to-implement method to obtain scheduling details from all your reports, at the same time setting them on the path to eventual scheduling mastery. Includes illustrations using MSProject.
< Download PDF >

Enhancements to Microsoft Project 98 & 2000 
Mark R. Durrenberger, PMP . January, 2002
Makes MS Project perform in accordance with Oak's PM training.
< Download PDF >

An Executive Project Progress Checklist 
Joan Knutson . August, 2001
To get what you expect, you must inspect. To avoid project surprises, here are the right questions to ask.
< Download PDF >

Managing a Project's Organizational Change Issue: A WBS and Activity Lists Can Help 
Brenda K. Gillingham, PHP . July-August, 2000
Many of us have been conditioned to think that organizational change issues apply only to business process reengineering efforts. But organizational changes - those that cause employees to think or behave in a different way - lurk even in the most innocent projects. To insure project success, we must identify and deal with change issues at the beginning of a project, not in the middle.
< Download PDF >

Enterprise Project Management 
Carl Belack, PMP . June, 2000
Many companies try (and fail) to strengthen their ability to perform project work by focusing on the skills of project managers, project team members, and the project review process. Oak has collected data that suggest that, when companies tackle project work problems on a comprehensive, system-wide basis (called Enterprise Project Management or EPM), costs decline, revenues rise, and profits multiply.
< Download PDF >

How Much Do You Pay? The Business Consequences of Poor Project Performance 
John M. Nevison, PMP . April, 2000
Poor project results can cripple a business. Using a fictional company with ten products in the pipeline, spreadsheets tell the story of inadequate senior management and poor project management combining to destroy the company's business plan.
< Download PDF >

How Much Is 10% Worth?
Michael D. Barker and John M. Nevison . PMNetwork . April, 2000
You have your project plan - you know the schedule, the cost, and the performance. Are you ready to chisel it in stone?
< Download PDF >

The Project Schedule and the Weekly Status Meeting: Making Them Work for You 
Mark Durrenberger, PMP . March, 2000
Ever wonder how to make a project status meeting work for you? This article will show you how. You will find several tips you can use right away.
< Download PDF >

You Can't Negotiate Cost 
Mark Durrenberger, PMP . January, 2000
Do you understand the difference between price and cost? How about your boss? After reading this article, you will. And you will be able to generate better project estimates. (Published in the September 2000 issue of PMNetwork magazine.)
< Download PDF >

Overtime Hours: The Rule of Fifty 
John M. Nevison, PMP . January, 2000
The "Rule of Fifty" presents data to support the conclusion that, "on average, no matter how many hours of overtime you work, you will only achieve fifty hours of results in any week."
< Download PDF >

Project Entrepreneurs for Project Based Enterprises: Extension or Compliment to Project Management Competencies?
Robert De Fillippi and Stephen Spring . Project Management Institute Seminar/Symposium Proceedings . September, 1998
This paper reviews the competencies required to be a project entrepreneur and compares them to the competencies required to be an effective project manager.
< Download PDF >

Some Thoughts About Project Management Software
Carl Belack, PMP . IIE Solutions . March, 1998
This article deals with the various aspects of selecting project management software for your organization.
< Download PDF >

Building on the Stage/Gate: An Enterprise-Wide Architecture for New Product Development
Beebe Nelson, Bob Gill, and Stephen Spring . Project Management Institute Seminar/Symposium Proceedings . September, 1997
This paper addresses the development and implementation of an enterprise-wide Product Development Process.
< Download PDF >

Selecting Project Management Software
Allen Allnoch . IIE Solutions Magazine . March, 1997
Get answers to some commonly asked questions about selection of project management software.
< Download PDF >

Managing the External Forces in New Product Development
Mark Durrenberger, Beebe Nelson, & Stephen Spring . PM Network . March, 1996
This article describes some of the roles new product development project teams need to be aware of when dealing with issues external to the team.
< Download PDF >

Creative Time Wasting
John M. Nevison, PMP . PM Network . November, 1995
A humorous article on how not to run a meeting.
< Download PDF >

Planning to Build a Team
Mark Durrenberger, PMP . PM Network . March, 1995
Learn about a process a group can use to build a project plan and a team.
< Download PDF >

Up to Speed: The Cost of Learning on a White-Collar Project
John M. Nevison, PMP . PMI Journal, Volume XXV . June, 1994
This article explores the effect that learning curves of adding new resources will have on project progress.
< Download PDF >

What Can We Learn About Learning On Projects
John M. Nevison, PMP . PM Network . June, 1994
Sometimes our efforts to stay lean and flexible have unintended consequences. The unintended effects of "entry learning" can be significantly reduced if they are recognized and allowed for.
< Download PDF >