Ricardo Viana Vargas's Blog, page 20

Understanding that Processes and Projects are not the same thing

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the differences between processes and projects. There is still much confusion in people’s minds about the characteristics and purposes of one or the other. Ricardo seeks to remedy this confusion by bringing a few examples that illustrate each case.

3 Factors that make an Information Technology Project different from the other Projects

In this podcast, Ricardo about the main differences in management technology projects as compared to other projects.

Ego, Vanity and Jealousy: The Project Manager’s Drama

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about ego, vanity and jealousy in the project environment. He gives tips on how we can deal with these personal characteristics that may directly or indirectly affect the project.

Inside Triple-E: The World’s Largest Ship

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about his visit to the world’s largest ship, the Danish Triple-E, which was anchored in the Copenhagen harbor this month. The ship was manufactured in South Korea and has several technological solutions of a sustainable design. The “E” stands for “Economic of Scale”, “Energy Efficiency” and “Environmental Performance”.

Learn more about the ship at www.worldslargestship.com

The saving of the Costa Concordia

In this podcast, Ricardo talks, from the project management perspective, about the impressive salvage operation of the Italian liner Costa Concordia which crashed into rocks and sank on January 13, 2012.

Understanding the Project Closeout

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the process of project closure. He explains the various reasons why it is important to make the closing correctly and lists the documents required for this phase of the project.

Workaround: The 2 Sides of the Same Coin

In this podcast, Ricardo throws the question: is improvisation during a project always something negative? He cites scenarios where improvisation can be good and how we can take advantage of that.

The New Features of Microsoft Project 2013

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the release of his new book, “Microsoft Project 2013: Standard, Professional e Pro para Office 365″, co-written with Allan Rocha, Microsoft Valuable Professional (MVP). The book addresses the new features presented in this new version of the software and maintains the characteristics of the series of books about Project initiated by Ricardo in the book “Gerenciamento de Projetos com o Microsoft Project 98″. Ricardo also talks about another novelty, the “Pangea PM” application, created by the authors, which integrates with Project 2013 and brings many learning benefits.

Superman, Darth Vader or Poor Man? Who is Really the Project Manager?

In this podcast, Ricardo give his opinion about a topic discussed on social networks all the time: who is the project manager? Ricardo addresses three possibilities, would the project manager be a superman, an evil being or a poor man?

Understanding the Rolling Wave Planning

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the concept of Rolling Wave Planning, which deals with the progressive elaboration of the project scope. He presents the pros and cons of this technique, giving answers to questions such as: “How do I get the detail work that will happen in the 2nd week of the 14th month in my project?”