Real Web Project Management: Case Studies and Best Practices from the Trenches

Infatuation with Planning Software

As project managers, we are often guilty of falling in love with planning software. After toiling away on Microsoft Project or Excel, we can't wait to show off the elaborate fruits of our labors: cascading GANTT charts drawn in confident colors selected just for this project. We imagine ourselves in starched, short-sleeve, button-down shirts with skinny black ties, crew cuts, and Buddy Holly eyeglasses, striding confidently into Mission Control Houston to announce the launch sequence. Nervous executives mutter to themselves, “How much will it cost? How long will it take?,” and we provide the answers in cool monotones. Four weeks into the project, our NASA fantasies implode as the original plan becomes a Maginot ...