File sync and backup service SugarSync (which we’ve blogged about before) just announced new small-business friendly features, including a central admin feature to manage from three to 100 users collaborating and sharing files using the app. The new package also includes flexible group pricing plans starting at $29.99 per month, with no setup fees and free phone support.
While speaking with the CEO of SugarSync, I quickly realized that my post about running a virtual team was missing a critical component: backup. As I listened to the company’s presentation of its product, my mind began working overtime. SugarSync isn’t just about backing up files securely in the cloud. It can also be used for secure file sharing, collaboration and file syncing with cross-platform and mobile device access and compatibility. Read the rest of this entry »
I think project management books should be on every web worker’s reading list because — like it or not — even if your job title isn’t “project manager,” you still have to manage your own portion of the projects you participate in. Even some informal grounding in project management can be helpful for those “rare” times you are pulled into help bring a failing project back to life.
“97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know,” edited by Barbee Davis, pulls together useful project management tips and insights from working project managers without the dry academic style found in many project management books, making it a great instructional read for web workers seeking to hone their PM skills. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, I’ve noticed that more new clients are coming my way with a single request: to help them revive or resurrect a project, web site, or product that has failed in the past. I’m also capable of creating failed projects myself — sometimes I look at my track record and try to fix my worst projects hoping that I can make them better. Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday, I sat down with pen and paper and tried to make a decision about the projects I was going to be working on over the coming months. I wrote down those projects that were currently under way, as well as those I was most interested in pursuing.
The only problem was, by taking on the new projects, I was effectively doubling my workload, and I was barely keeping up with what was already on my plate. Something had to give.
For several hours, I tried to force a square peg into a round hole. I tried changing my perspective, thinking of it in different ways, rearranging my schedule over and over — all to no avail. It just wasn’t going to fit. I finally had to accept a few simple truths. Read the rest of this entry »
Easy Projects.NET, a project management web app that Darrell liked when he reviewed it a couple of months ago, has added improved Gantt charting functionality. The new full-screen “Interactive Gantt” interface is reminiscent of desktop PM apps like Microsoft Project and should make it easier to track project progress. It should also make it much faster to create and edit tasks on the fly, with drag-and-drop task scheduling, resource planning and activity assignments.
It’s good to see a web app vendor taking a step in this direction and making its tool more suitable for “serious” PM work. Most project management web apps don’t have decent Gantt charting; it’s one of the reasons why I still prefer Microsoft Project for planning, and why many project management professionals say that most PM web apps are not really project management tools at all.
If you’d like to try Easy Projects.NET Interactive Gantt charts, a 15-day free trial is available.
Have you tried Easy Projects.NET? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Filemaker’s Bento software for the Mac is meant to be a database management program for users who aren’t much interested in keeping databases. At least, as someone who shudders at the very term, that’s how I see it. The program receives its third major iterative upgrade today, and there’s a lot for web workers to get excited about with this latest version.
I haven’t used Bento since it was first released, so a lot is new to me. For the purposes of this review, I won’t be detailing what’s changed so much as what strikes me as most useful about the program from a web working angle, since I imagine many of you will be new to the software as well. Read the rest of this entry »
By positioning itself between traditional project management apps like Basecamp and personal relationship management apps like Gist, Liaise thinks that it has found a useful niche, which it calls “business interaction management.” It claims that it can do this with a very simple setup, no change in work habits, and without depending on others to be using Liaise.
The concept is intriguing: Using two components — a Windows desktop application and a plugin for Outlook 2003 and 2007 — Liaise automatically collects information about projects, deadlines and to-dos directly from incoming and outgoing messages. Read the rest of this entry »
I just finished reading Twyla Tharp’s book “
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
