Your Next Project Management Assistant

Probably will include some of the following three features - link:
 

1. Make easy phone calls

We call them smartphones, but I know a few millennials who don’t ever make calls. They text all day, and when they do place a phone call, it’s maybe once per week. In the living room, if you could make a quick call, it would save time. “Hey Siri, find an appliance repairman and make the call,” would be much faster than using Google Chrome or scrolling through contacts. Today, that doesn’t really work on an iPhone, so the speaker would have to use added intelligence to parse out what you want to do.

2. Engage in real dialog

Siri is pretty dumb, actually. The voicebot doesn’t really engage with you, and the best bot we have for dialog is the Assistant on Google Home. You can ask a question like “Who is Steph Curry?” and then say “When was he born?” and that works. It doesn’t work with Echo or Siri today. Apple could go much further with the speaker and let it converse with you about a wide range of topics; that's important since the speaker will become such an important part of your day (and your morning and your evening).

3. Summarize my email

Siri lets you dictate a text message pretty easily, but I’m not as interested in that. What I really want it to do is summarize my texts and emails, and then I'll keep typing emails on my laptop. The bot should know which ones are important, based on my frequent interactions and machine learning. For example, the boss needs me to call her right now. I’d like Siri to be able to let me know when that happens. And, the bot could tell me a quick synopsis of less important emails, set reminders, and ignore email fluff.

23 Ways to Use Alexa in Your Office

23 Must-Have Alexa Skills for Your Small Business https://t.co/xYRvg2msa3 via @PCMag

— Dr.Steven D.Sanders (@DocEngineering) February 22, 2017

Explaining AI to The Boss

Good overview from Data Science Central.

Project Personalities

From HBR:

"A useful way to think about teams with the right mix of skills and personalities is to consider the two roles every person plays in a working group: a functional role, based on their formal position and technical skill, and a psychological role, based on the kind of person they are. Too often, organizations focus merely on the functional role and hope that good team performance somehow follows. This is why even the most expensive professional sports teams often fail to perform according to the individual talents of each player: There is no psychological synergy. A more effective approach (like the mission to Mars example) focuses as much on people’s skills as on their personalities."

The Next Great Project Management Tool - Whispering Earbuds

When A.I. whispers in your ear all day https://t.co/Nsja6v10Ic via @computerworld

— Dr.Steven D.Sanders (@DocEngineering) September 12, 2016

The Compexities of Managing Teams

From Ed Abbey, author of numerous books and articles, including the Monkey Wrench Gang -

"One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothing can beat teamwork."

The Art of Building a Temporary Swimming Pool

Managing Complex Real Estate Projects

The Amazon Audible Engineering Team

[Engineering Spotlight] Amazon Audible: Changing the Way We Communicate - https://t.co/IYdAN3yCZZ via @Shareaholic

— Dr.Steven D.Sanders (@DocEngineering) June 13, 2016

Navisworks

Term of the Week - Project Quarterback Rating (PQR)

From an abstract in the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management:

"This paper presents the definition and the mathematical formulation of a unique performance metric called the project quarterback rating (PQR). The PQR gives a specific score for each construction project based on a set of key variables affecting project performance and outcome. The importance of the PQR is found in its ability to quantitatively assess overall performance from the contractor’s perspective, taking into account key performance areas, which include customer satisfaction, schedule, cost, profit, and communication. A practical application comparing the performance of several recently completed projects is also presented in this paper to illustrate the new model. This application shows one of many possibilities for how PQR can be used to solve industry problems and to fill an existing gap in the literature. This research offers a contribution to the construction engineering and management literature and to the architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) industry. It is the creation of a unified project performance metric for a practical comparison of overall performance for any construction project."

Building the Tappan Zee Bridge

Metering is Essential for Effective Water Management

Fact sheet from the Pacific Institute.

Big Data on the Crossrail Project

Project Management Question of the Week

During the executing phase of a project for the closing of a nuclear plant, the project manager submits to the stakeholders, including the sponsor, a progress report informing about the project performance.  Which report would that be?

• Milestone diagram
• GANTT chart
• Network diagram
• Earned Value report

A Project Management Plan Example for the Public Sector

The is a good example of applying project management principles and a format project management plan to the public sector - link. 

How to Control Change Requests on Your Project

Project Management Question of the Week

The project manager should solve a conflict that involves five team members that are arguing about a solution to a problem with the critical path.  The strongest discussion is focused between implementing a fast track or a compression.  Which is the best method to solve this problem?

• Confronting
• Compromising
• Avoiding
• Smoothing

Project Management Risk Management

The Critical Path Method