Herding Cats

Project management is the instrument of choice for evil bosses who live to torment their teams with micromanagement and impossible deadlines. Stereotypes aside, project management and the software that supports it make almost any complex group project run more smoothly.

Managers of large projects don't even try to keep everything in their heads. Over the years, a system of custom data structures, algorithms, and charts has evolved for helping a manager visualize critical deadlines and tasks. Several commercial software tools use these charts to help managers track and optimize the workflow. One of the popular commercial tools for project managers is Microsoft Project. But there is nothing proprietary about the concepts and methodologies of the project management profession – many of which have been in development for decades. ProjectLibre [1] is a useful open source tool for managing projects.

This article describes how to get started with planning and diagramming a project using ProjectLibre. However, as you read this, keep in mind that experts recommend you not even start using the software until you have a good understanding of the project. Do as much brainstorming and planning as possible by hand: Draw sketches and lists with pen and paper and then revise. Once you are confident or feel you cannot further improve your plan without help, it's time to start using the software.

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