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Have you ever spent oodles of money on perhaps a Project Management training session, or book, or piece of software and found yourself afterwards to be… well, oodles of dollars poorer and not oodles of times smarter or more productive? This has happened more than once to me in my project management career and I have come to the decision that Hell No! Hell no, I will not spend one more penny on a worthless snake-oil salesman’s promise of completing projects 4 months under schedule, 2 million underbudget, no no matter how many scope changes your sponsor throws at.
Well, I am here to tell you about a great new Project Management Resource called PM Opinions (www.pmopinions.com) that allows you, as a project management consumer, to read reviews from other people on various Project Management books, training, and software before you spend your money on it. And it is all free!
The PM Opinions website, found at www.pmopinions.com, was founded by Cornelius Fichtner, host of the PM PrepCast and PM Podcast after receiving a lot of questions concerning what products and services he would recommend to project managers. He decided that he could create a free website, where Project Managers could review various products and services to allow others to make informed decisions BEFORE they purchase. What a concept huh? The site is similar to the product reviews hosted by Amazon.com, where people can exclaim their joy or their frustration at products that they have purchased.
There are literally hundred of different products and services with unbiased reviews by real project managers. Everything from various associations – Like PMI and PDMA, to Windows-based Software, like PERT Chart expert, RiskyProject Pro, and Project Kickstart.
By having real Project Managers provide the reviews, you get past that flashy advertising and promotion of the company trying to peddle their products themselves.
Recently I decided to look through the PM Opinions site for Project Management books that might be interesting to read and I came across one that caught my eye called 100 Things Project Managers Should Do Before They Die by Rita Mulcahy. The description of the book certainly sounded interesting….
“With all of the craziness that projects usually entail, sometimes we forget to have fun! Did it ever cross your mind to do something a little wacky? Between creating schedules and holding meetings, it is important to make time to enjoy the experiences suggested in this very different kind of to-do list.
Take a moment to see the humor in projects again! Written by best-selling PM author Rita Mulcahy, this must-have resource includes sections on Getting Your Point Across, Minding the Details, Shaping Your Success, Leading with a New Perspective, Creating Teamwork, Taking Care of You, and more!”
Nice sales plug, but is it a good book? Will it really help me to be a better project manager and is it an enjoyable read? Well, luckily there was a review from project management author Jerry Manas where he provids the following review on the book:
“This is a great book to keep on your desk as a reminder of the simple, small, and sometimes funny things you can do to greatly improve your performance. It’s the kind of book that could easily be a calendar as well, with each page containing a valuable nugget of information. Even better,this could be used as a daily reminder to your whole team!!
I found the book to be a goldmine of inspiration for individuals and teams. The fact that such a simple, unassuming book that can fit in your pocket would provide more value than many 500 page manifestos is downright refreshing.
Some of my favorite excerpts (each supported by a few paragraphs in the book):
- Watch an inspiring movie and draw project management tips from it
- Ask 5 to 10 questions about why the project is being done
- Spend a week not touching software
- Create a WBS for a project you’ve already finished
- Celebrate a holiday from a culture other than your own
- Volunteer to teach project management to a nonprofit organization
- Share stories from each team member’s home country
- Spend a day working from your intuition
- Discover whether you’ve been micromanagingWell, you get the idea. Just buy it.”
Well, just maybe I will! Based on Jerry Manas’ review, it sounds like Mulcahy provides a lot of common sense, yet thoughtful insight on how to stretch your PM experiences and skills.
So, what is my own review on PM Opinions itself?
I think the concept is great. I think the interface is clean and easy to navigate through. Perhaps some of the subcategories could be better organized, but this will probably be improved over time. I think it has a pretty good breadth of products and services listed in its directory to choose from and I am sure new ones are constantly being added.
The biggest area of improvement that I see that needs to be done is that there needs to be more reviews. And that’s where we, as the Project Management consumers, come into play. We need to help build this site by providing both positive and negative reviews to products and services.
I think it is interesting that although Amazon is in business to sell products, it still publishes negative reviews, despite possibly losing some sales, because it knows it can become the most trusted brand in online retail by allowing customers to actually share the good, the bad, and the ugly of their products. Also, Amazon realizes that what one customer sees as a negative attribute may be a non-issue, or perhaps a positive attribute for someone else. PM Opinions has the opportunity to offer the same great review capabilities in our project management industry for a price we can all live with… free!
So, check out PM Opinions at www.pmopinions.com and leave a review on a product or service you have used today or read reviews that others have left!
