Project Management Some sofware solutions to project management... We use Open Workbench as our software of choice for formal project management. For a less formal, although still Prince 2 focussed project management solution, Project in a Box is worth a look. The free community edition of this package, designed for the single user in a community setting, is ideal. Additonal modules can be purchased as your skill level or needs increase - courtesy of  Prosis Solutions Ltd. For workflow diagrams and project charts - do it all online for free. Visit the www.gliffy.com for access to a shared workspace featuring templates and graphics for diagram creation. (Registration required for file sharing...) Another free online resource - Get a Google account and you can log into Google Docs & Spreadsheets. A simple, clear and secure way to create, share and show documents online. Open Source and Online Applications - keep your work with you wherever you are. No additional software purchases - no complicated client permissions - just access to a web enabled browser. Some human based solutions to project management... SmithMartin use Prince2 similar techniques. We are flexible, believing simple and elegant is best for clients and service users. We can, if required, develop full programme planning and management, with a complex portfolio of the well recognised templates, ownership groups and sectional work plans with timed reviews. You can find the basis of our skill set on the web page of the Office of Government Commerce. Project management is often couched in the language of consultant speak. There is evidence that some managers have been reluctant to take up Prince2  methods, or even any formal project managment process, fearing extra paperwork or pursuit of complexity. (See the Local Government employers organisation paper - Project Management in Local Authorities Word document download).  Send to a Friend We strive to make simpler, yet still effective, project management delivery on your behalf. We recognise the complexity and intellectual rigour needed to manage high value, politically entwined capital and revenue work programmes. However it is possible, for community based, social enterprise related projects to condense this fog of technicality into a simple five step plan.   SmithMartin deliver projects around these simple core structures. Definition and describing - what is it you wish to do or to deliver?  Being clear about aims and objectives. Being clear about outputs and outcomes. Thinking about measurement, monitoring and evaluation. What will be your key milestones. Who will be the 'owners' of the various elements - briefing the key players. Thinking about and planning the project - systematically and effectively writing up your action plan.  The timing, the decision processes and managing change along the way. Aligning budgets with action, developing and implementing reporting systems, keyed to the needs of the project, the organisation and the key players. What will people want to see, how will they expect to see it? Taking action and starting the work - who is doing what and when, monitoring progress and results.  Supporting the project team into delivery. Check and support of service delivery. Supplier and contractor relationships and performance. Solving the problems, supporting the people. Managing and consulting through the delivery of the work - keeping the plan on course, helping with remedial activity.  Monitoring and assessment, reporting back to you on performance. Defining and managing changes in the process. Bringing activity to an end - programme closure reports and feedback, evaluation of the activity.  Project closure reports and exit strategy effectiveness. Evaluation and sharing the results. Celebrating the successes.   Buy this book, or others like it, from Amazon here. The Project Manager - Mastering the Art of Delivery by Richard Newton Published by Financial Times/Prentice Hall from £13.99 The steep rise in demand for good project managers in recent years has been mirrored by the publication of book after book setting out the formal processes and mechanics of project management. Whether they are textbooks or books aimed at the practitioner, they all usually cover the same ground - the ABCs of project management. But anyone who has ever managed a project or overseen the management of a project in the real world knows that there is a significant difference between mastering the ABCs and mastering the practice of project management itself. It's not that the formal methodologies don't work, but rather that it's only half of the picture. To go from good to great in project management, you need to shift your focus back to the real basics of management.  Amazon.co.uk