Why is social media important? What is a microblog, podcast, vodcast, or a wikis, and why do project managers need to know? Communication is a key aspect of project management. Social media, the latest buzzword in the communications industry, is appealing to large and small business alike. . Many companies that initially utilized social media to reach customers and to build their reputations are now expanding its use to internal project management as well. Adapting the use of social media to project management drives efficiencies. Project managers appreciate how the concept of community relates to the overall morale and project success.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Rarely does an interesting book about project management cross my desk. Elizabeth Harrin has produced a gem about how project managers, and really anyone in a management or leadership role, can use collaborative internet based tools to "git er done."
Don't let the title of this book mislead you. The scope is not limited to apps like Facebook or LinkedIn that come to mind when you hear the term "Social Media." She covers a wide range of tools such as wikis, blogs, pod and vodcasts, and micro-blogging with a focus on their practical applications as project management tools.
Most failed projects have their root cause in a "failure to communicate." Back when Al Gore first invented the internet, it was primarily a one-way "bulletin board" type conversation that still had value in providing a single point of reference for project communications. But the Web 2.0 tools described in this book have provided an explosive opportunity for collaboration at all levels in a project team. In modern teams where members can easily be spread out over several time zones or even continents, web based tools are even more valuable.
Elizabeth reviews how different social media options can be used as project management tools and how to overcome user resistance. She also shows the value in the tools. One of her sources is quoted as saying that wiki's are, "...about 10% of the cost of [sharing knowledge between training and office staff as compared to] doing it other ways." As a Program Manager in a Fortune 50 company, I've found that wikis are a great way of developing requirements, managing changes, and communicating project status. The collaborative nature of wikis is far superior to the usual method of routing documents via email.
I do wish that the author had also covered the use of on-line survey tools for project management. They're especially effective in getting post-project feedback. On-line surveys provide a great option to get input about what went well and what could be improved. The anonymous element also helps to encourage frank feedback.
In Social Media for Project Managers Ms. Harrin mentions that, "Project managers should be at the forefront of delivering new ways of working. The role of the project manager is to deliver projects but how we get there should be up to us." Her book provides a great roadmap on how to use these tools to deliver faster, more efficiently, and with greater team and customer satisfaction. It's a primer for rookies and a great guide for advanced users.
Let's face it--the average project manager with a personality above room temperature reads the PMBOK A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: (Pmbok Guide) solely to pass a certification test, win an argument, or conquer insomnia. You'll read this book because it is fascinating and will stimulate your mind on how you can use collaborative tools to lead your projects.
Don't let the title of this book mislead you. The scope is not limited to apps like Facebook or LinkedIn that come to mind when you hear the term "Social Media." She covers a wide range of tools such as wikis, blogs, pod and vodcasts, and micro-blogging with a focus on their practical applications as project management tools.
Most failed projects have their root cause in a "failure to communicate." Back when Al Gore first invented the internet, it was primarily a one-way "bulletin board" type conversation that still had value in providing a single point of reference for project communications. But the Web 2.0 tools described in this book have provided an explosive opportunity for collaboration at all levels in a project team. In modern teams where members can easily be spread out over several time zones or even continents, web based tools are even more valuable.
Elizabeth reviews how different social media options can be used as project management tools and how to overcome user resistance. She also shows the value in the tools. One of her sources is quoted as saying that wiki's are, "...about 10% of the cost of [sharing knowledge between training and office staff as compared to] doing it other ways." As a Program Manager in a Fortune 50 company, I've found that wikis are a great way of developing requirements, managing changes, and communicating project status. The collaborative nature of wikis is far superior to the usual method of routing documents via email.
I do wish that the author had also covered the use of on-line survey tools for project management. They're especially effective in getting post-project feedback. On-line surveys provide a great option to get input about what went well and what could be improved. The anonymous element also helps to encourage frank feedback.
In Social Media for Project Managers Ms. Harrin mentions that, "Project managers should be at the forefront of delivering new ways of working. The role of the project manager is to deliver projects but how we get there should be up to us." Her book provides a great roadmap on how to use these tools to deliver faster, more efficiently, and with greater team and customer satisfaction. It's a primer for rookies and a great guide for advanced users.
Let's face it--the average project manager with a personality above room temperature reads the PMBOK A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: (Pmbok Guide) solely to pass a certification test, win an argument, or conquer insomnia. You'll read this book because it is fascinating and will stimulate your mind on how you can use collaborative tools to lead your projects.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I highly recommend Social Media For Project Managers by Elizabeth Harrin
February 28, 2011
By Jeff Furman
Format:Paperback
I highly recommend this leading-edge book on Social Media (one of the hottest topics today in project management!) I first got interested in the book after seeing Elizabeth Harrin give a very impressive presentation on this topic at a PMI conference in Washington DC. Since then, I have also discovered some of Elizabeth's other social media offerings, including her blog, "A Girl's Guide To Project Management," as well as some of her podcasts & "vodcasts" (if you never saw this term before, it's one of the many choices you'll learn about in the book)
What I especially like about the book is how the content is presented in a very concise and conversational style. And how Elizabeth shares her expertise in an interactive format that provokes readers to think about what would work best on their specific projects.
Elizabeth also makes effective use of several experts from PM (Bas de Baar, Cornelius Fichtner, Josh Nankivel) plus managers and technologists from many industries. In sidebars sprinkled throughout the book, Harrin presents interviews/ case studies, sharing valuable features about the specific vendor tools used, and key lessons learned each subject took away from his or her implementation. For example, "Again, de Baar stresses, this is not about deploying technology... It's about you, enabling your team to work as if they are in the same room. Social media is about human interaction." (pages 62/63).
Personal favorite chapter: "Making It Work" (Chapter 6), a very hands-on chapter offering many secrets of social media success, including important sections on which project you should select as your trial project, ways of making it fun for your stakeholders, and methods of measuring the success of your implementation.
What I especially like about the book is how the content is presented in a very concise and conversational style. And how Elizabeth shares her expertise in an interactive format that provokes readers to think about what would work best on their specific projects.
Elizabeth also makes effective use of several experts from PM (Bas de Baar, Cornelius Fichtner, Josh Nankivel) plus managers and technologists from many industries. In sidebars sprinkled throughout the book, Harrin presents interviews/ case studies, sharing valuable features about the specific vendor tools used, and key lessons learned each subject took away from his or her implementation. For example, "Again, de Baar stresses, this is not about deploying technology... It's about you, enabling your team to work as if they are in the same room. Social media is about human interaction." (pages 62/63).
Personal favorite chapter: "Making It Work" (Chapter 6), a very hands-on chapter offering many secrets of social media success, including important sections on which project you should select as your trial project, ways of making it fun for your stakeholders, and methods of measuring the success of your implementation.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I could find this book useful if the reader is completely lost in the collaborative tools and social media applications world. I would say that the book should have called Project Management 2.0 and not Social Media for Project Managers. Either way, I liked the book.
I was totally agree with most of the approaches in the book, the importance of focusing on the usage of collaboration tools as should be used, and not only as static communication tools, the goals of customer outreach and successful project delivery and the management concerns about the risks of adopting social media tools.
But I was expecting more on the definition on the success criteria to measure the performance of the project, and more ideas to sell the idea to the management to implement some of these tools in a project or in the PMO and won't see it as is going to be virtualized.
It's an easy to read book, with basic definitions that anyone in should know these days. Definitely a good starting point if you're going to implement any collaborative tool in a project.
I was totally agree with most of the approaches in the book, the importance of focusing on the usage of collaboration tools as should be used, and not only as static communication tools, the goals of customer outreach and successful project delivery and the management concerns about the risks of adopting social media tools.
But I was expecting more on the definition on the success criteria to measure the performance of the project, and more ideas to sell the idea to the management to implement some of these tools in a project or in the PMO and won't see it as is going to be virtualized.
It's an easy to read book, with basic definitions that anyone in should know these days. Definitely a good starting point if you're going to implement any collaborative tool in a project.
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