Since HueCubed launched a month ago, I’ve toiled over what new feature(s) should be in Version 1.1.   I want to keep the product simple but I also want to continue to develop a product that meets the needs of potential users.  So, what can I do to make the product better?  There are two key enhancements I’ve been considering.  The first is enhancing the access module.  The second is potentially changing the payment model.

User story 1:  As a new user, I want to gain access to HueCubed, so I can use the product or service. At present, a new user can browse 20 free flashcards.  But, in order to see how they did, they need to create a free account and then log in.  That is a barrier of entry.  I believe I have to make it easier for someone to access the free account features.  Rather than having a unique login from HueCubed, perhaps I should also be using something like Facebook Connect, Twitter, or OAuth.

User story 2: As the creator of the products/services, I want people to pay a reasonable price, so I can continue to develop products and offer more services. Right now, a premium account is $4.99 a month (1,200 flashcards + progress feedback).  Though I intend to offer more services in the future, I expect the average user to use the current offering for 1-3 months.  I have been considering changing the model to a one-time purchase price of $10.

So where does this leave me?  I generally use a  Consultative leadership style.  That is, I generally invite others to provide ideas.  In this case, I have the ideas but I need, what James Surowiecki termed, The Wisdom of Crowds.  So, if you would be so kind, please complete the 2 question survey listed below.  I would be very grateful.

The only constant in the universe is change.  That couldn’t be more true then on the The Plan Is website.  They created an interface that displays real time reputation scores for Project Managers on Twitter.

The new interface displays not only the rank, name and score of the account trending the highest over at Twitter, but also which way they are trending.

Yes, #FollowFriday is an excellent way to discover people Tweeting about like topics.  But, this list is dedicated to Project Managers on Twitter.  Want a reputation score tracker for your own site?  They are offering that as well.  What I find so compelling is this list is impartial and dynamic.  If I’m not engaging with people, I fall off the list.  Considering this thing tracks by the hour and by the day, it provides a good feedback loop.

Just a note, the graphic above was captured an hour before this post was written.  The list below was just taken from the The Plan Is site.  By the time you read this, both will be out of date.

Check out The Plan Is website and then follow them on Twitter @ThePlanIs

Let’s see show them some Twitter love.

From left to right: @josephgruber @TheGreenPM @ProjectRecovery @derekhuether

The other night, I enjoyed the company of three awesome people who use the Twitter hashtag #pmot (project managers on Twitter).

It was nice to hear why someone else would blog about project management, why they would engage others on Twitter, or who they thought was interesting in the project management community.

We talked; we laughed; we shared stories.  What I found most intriguing was we weren’t all that different.

If you ever get a chance to attend a Tweetup, I say go for it!  It’s not like one of those swarmy networking events where someone you’ve never met walks up to you and hands you a business card.  These are people you’ve interacted with before.  You all have a similar interest.  You’re not there to sell anything.  You go, have a few drinks, and enjoy the company.  It was really nice to shake their hands, making that direct connection.  Though I enjoying singing praises of people on #FollowFriday or tweeting back and forth, it doesn’t top meeting them in person.

I hope I didn’t talk to much.  I get so excited, I sometimes can’t help myself.  Next time, I won’t drink the pot of coffee and will just listen.  Thank you Joseph, Jhaymee, and Michiko for a wonderful night.  And thank you again, Joseph, for picking up the tab!

Image courtesy of Michiko’s iPhone

This week I really wanted to turn up the volume of things I wrote about.  I have a lot to say (and write) about project management and if you missed reading my blog on a given day and don’t have an RSS feed or follow me on Twitter, you’d have to go searching in the archives to find it.  I don’t think that’s good enough.  I should make it easy for you to read what I write.  Hopefully, this week in review will help you find something new while you enjoy your coffee or tea.

1/28/2010

Seeing Value From The Customer Perspective

I don’t care if you’re using Agile, Waterfall, or other methods to deliver value.  What is important is you understand your process and what mechanisms provide the greatest value to the customer.  Just because a process does not appear valuable to you, it does not mean the process does not provide value…

1/29/2010

Refine Your Process If You Must Deviate From It

If you’re looking for a free Microsoft Visio template of a Sprint process workflow, which you can edit at will, you can download it here.  As I mentioned in my post Seeing Value From The Customer Perspective, if you think you need to deviate from a documented or understood process, rewrite or refine your process to account for the deviations…

1/30/2010

The Impact Of Social Networking On Project Management

Good leaders do not operate in a vacuum. They exchange ideas and information with people. Offer free information and it will come back to you tenfold. Listen to knowledgeable people and then make a more educated leadership decision… In this post I compared the traditional communication paths and how that process is turned on its ear, thanks to social networking…

1/31/2010

This Is How You Know When To Kill A Project

A personal rant about paper telephone books and how I never realized, until now, who the real customer was. There is a very similar parallel between the newspaper industry and the printed phone book industry.  They both believe or promote the scarcity of information.  That scarcity justifies cost.  To the contrary, we now live with an abundance of information.  That information is freely distributed and reaches a broader audience…

2/1/2010

The December Numbers Are In For PMPs

Yes, the December numbers are in.  December 2009 numbers for Project Management Professional (PMP®) certifications were published and it looks like there will be over 400,000 holding the certification in 2010…

2/2/2010

And The Best Methodology Is

I recently commented on two blogs that address similar topics.  Jesse Fewell wants to empower teams to succeed, equip managers to lead, and enable executives to unlock the secrets of high performing organizations.  Jesse wrote a blog post offering the real reasons behind the methodology wars.  It’s an insightful post and I would recommend you go and read it…

The other blog post was from Mike Cottmeyer, someone I turn to on a regular basis to find inspiration and wisdom within the industry.  Mike wrote a blog post asking Why is Agile so hard to sell? Again, it is a very good read and you should set aside some time to read some of his writings…

The Pain Of IE6 And Application Development

There are legacy applications out there that were built on IE6 and it’s not an easy migration.  There are some Agencies which ONLY use IE6 and the users don’t have permissions to install a new browser.  So, what do you do?…

2/3/2010

Updated 10 Step Help To Submit PMP PDUs

All PMPs need 60 PDUs during a CCR cycle so don’t put it off until the last minute.  I document the process on how to claim your require 60 PDUs…

2/4/2010

Using Common Sense With Documentation

Though I really love good documentation, going heavy on it does not guarantee a successful project.  My recommendation is you spend a little time identifying documentation that truly meets your needs.  More importantly, identify documentation that truly meets your customer’s needs…

2/5/2010

Managing Risks and Opportunities

Washington DC is in the process of getting 20-30 inches of snow, over the next 24 hours.  Though I know you can’t foresee all possible issues which may occur over the course of a project, you should make an honest attempt to identify them in order to open a dialog with your stakeholders.  Has weather ever delayed your project or pushed it over budget?…

A few years back, while studying for the PMP exam, I committed the formula for calculating communications paths to memory.

[N(N-1)]/2

So, what’s the big deal? Why is it so important? If you’re in the Project Management (or leadership) field, you know all too well how important communications is. I used to call myself a project manager. I now prefer to use the term project leader. What’s the difference? According to Warren Bennis and Dan Goldsmith (1997) there are 12 distinctions between managers and leaders.

• Managers administer; leaders innovate.
• Managers ask how and when; leaders ask what and why.
• Managers focus on systems; leaders focus on people.
• Managers do things right; leaders do the right things.
• Managers maintain; leaders develop.
• Managers rely on control; leaders inspire trust.
• Managers have short-term perspective; leaders have long-term perspective.
• Managers accept the status-quo; leaders challenge the status-quo.[*]
• Managers have an eye on the bottom line; leaders have an eye on the horizon.
• Managers imitate; leaders originate.
• Managers emulate the classic good soldier; leaders are their own person.
• Managers copy; leaders show originality.

In order to both innovate and do the right things, I listen and listen a LOT. (Some people listen; some wait to talk) I’ve watched executives and managers, who knew absolutely nothing about a subject, make uneducated decisions because they were too stubborn or proud to consult a subject matter expert (SME). Good leaders do not operate in a vacuum. They exchange ideas and information with people. Offer free information and it will come back to you tenfold. Listen to knowledgeable people and then make a more educated leadership decision.

Where does social media fit into the grand scheme of things? Old-school managers and executives who believe in the bureaucratic organization and status quo, tend to lean toward command-and-control or top-down management. That group is operating under the assumption people higher in the organizational chart know more. New-school leaders believe in social media. Why? It strips away all of the nonsense and connects people to people. They have real conversations as human beings. They educate and they listen with a freedom to connect at an exponential rate. They are not confined to the notion of an hierarchical organization.

My example is my current engagement, which I have been at for 13 months: Within my direct cross-functional organization chart, I have 28 contacts to interface with. There are no plans to increase the size of this group. [28(28-1)]/2 is 378 communication paths. Not too bad.

Turn now to option number two, social media like Twitter and Facebook. For arguments sake, I’ll say I have 200 followers on Twitter with a growth rate of 10% a month. (I’m actually have 450+ and counting)  Each Twitter Follower is a communications path.

[200(200-1)]/2 = 19,900 communication paths

After one month it would be projected to increase to 21,945 communication paths

Every Friday, people I follow on Twitter recommend others in the industry who I should consider following (#followfriday). Every week, I learn more about my craft and more importantly I get to form relationships with people all over the world. By bypassing the organizational structure to get my information, inbound communications is at a much higher velocity and is now flowing up through the organization.

Social Media helps you be a project leader.

12 distinctions between managers and leaders by Bennis, Warren and Dan Goldsmith. Learning to Lead. Massachusetts: Persus Book, 1997.

Thank you Laurel Papworth for the use of the Social Media Campaign image

* I recommend reading Fighting Status Quo by Pawel Brodzinski