OT: project management software ?

[Lisa Stroyan]

I have a one time home project that is bigger and more complicated than either my brain or MLO really can handle. I'm looking for project management software, preferably free , that generates text for MLO import. I'd like to be able to see the relationship between projects , subprojects, steps, and tasks. I have Inspiration software somewhere, and it might do the job. It's more designed for kids.

To give you an example of the kind of things I'm talking about, every belonging we own it needs to be sorted and cleaned after getting rid of toxic mold. However the whole house is torn up, so there isn't really clean places to put things. Returning plates to the kitchen, for example, requires not only that the cabinets be finished, which they aren't, but also that each item is clean before it goes back into a cabinet, which requires a dishwasher. We don't have a new dishwasher yet.

I'm starting to sort it all out in my head, and realized that something to make it visual would be very helpful. Then, I will probably want to generate a set of text tasks and import them into MLO.

Any ideas?

[Dwight Arthur]

My friends like Basecamp, but see http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_project_management_software
-Dwight
Mlo betazoid on Android sgn2

[Steve Gledhill]

Hi Lisa

it sounds like you might like to try Mindmanager (http://www.mindjet.com/mindmanager/) . This is the only mind mapping software that you can import into MLO. It has a 30 day free trial which should be long enough for your one time project. On the home page it even advertises that it supports Project Plans so there will be a template that you could use.

I use http://www.xmind.net/ for free mindmaps but they don't import into MLO.

[pottster]

I'm starting to sort it all out in my head, and realized that something to make it visual would be very helpful.

Highly recommend Scapple. Not free but 30 day trial and very cheap to purchase. Introductory video here demos on a Mac but works the same in Windows. 

 

I have a one time home project that is bigger and more complicated than either my brain or MLO really can handle. I'm looking for project management software, preferably free , that generates text for MLO import. I'd like to be able to see the relationship between projects , subprojects, steps, and tasks.

If you want a simple Gantt chart based program then Tom's Planner is worth a look. Example template here. There are a lot of project management programs with far more functionality than you're likely to need. Most of them have steep learning curves as well. Try to opt for something simple and user friendly rather than powerful.

Your project sounds like it might involve repeating the same process a number of times with different statuses within the process. In that case, Trello might be a better option.

Good luck. I've had problems with mould in parts of my house so I know what you're going through.

 

[Stephen Jones]

Lisa,

I like Mindmanager. It allows you to mind map your ideas with easy drag and drop and then to display in a Gantt chart if that helps. You can then export to MLO including all the task info.

[Dwight Arthur]

Lisa, I imagine that you are well aware of what I'm recommending below but I thought I should add it to the conversation.

You talked about wanting to visualize the overall project as an aide to understanding it and getting it organized. Two leading visualization techniques (there are others) are Gantt and Pert. The Pert chart presents the project as a collection of bubbles, each representing a task, or a group of tasks, or a deliverable, and arrows representing dependencies. In my opinion the Pert is especially helpful for taking a jumble of tasks and turning them into a well organized project. The Gantt presents the project as a series of bars against a timeline. In my opinion the Gantt is especially helpful during execution of a project to see what's done, what's running late, what's impacted and how to recover. 

One other technique that bears mentioning is CPM, the Critical Path Method. If you have recorded all of the tasks, have correctly identified the dependencies of each, have estimated all of the resources (including your time, other people's time, and other scheduled resources such as use of the shop vac) and the amount of time needed of each resource, as well as the amount of time per day each resource is available, then CPM will tell you which tasks you have can work on today in order to bring the whole project to the quickest possible completion, and which tasks really can and should wait. If you find yourself in the familiar situation where the project quickly moves to somewhere between 50% and 99% complete and then stalls, using up lots of time and effort but getting no closer to completion, then you need cpm.

-Dwight

[Lisa]

Thanks, Dwight! I've not had time to look into all the solutions proposed yet and this is helpful to narrow it down. I think Perth is closer to what I'm looking for to start...but finding the time to actually map out the project (even in my own head) has been difficult.  It might just be a matter of figuring out which ball is coming at me more quickly, at this point.

 

Lisa (feeling overwhelmed :) /  lstr...@gmail.com

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[Richard C]

What a great thread.  I have a similar problem at the moment - kicking off the development stage of a project with over 30 functional areas to implement which we want to build and rollout incrementally with lots of interpendencies and factors to think about in relation to the order in which we tackle the implementation.

For what its worth,  I don't think Toms Planner (which I use) does it.  Good for timetabling things out once you have worked out the order but not good for capturing the dependences and thinking about the order.

Trello (which I also use) is Ok for helping you put things in to order (in my case, putting the functions into different workblocks) but doesn't show the dependencies (you can only record these in the notes).   I was planning to use this despite its limitation because a) it is very good in group situations  and b) you can keep a history of your thoughts and reasoning on each 'card'

I agree with Dwight that a Pert style approach makes sense but I don't know of any software that does this.  Dwight do you have any suggestions.

And thank you pottser for the link to Scapple.   Those diagrams look like the diagrams that I tend to draw a lot.   And also the reminder about Mindjet  - it appears to do dependences (but I am not quite sure how).  But not cheap ($399!!)

Great stuff

Richard

[Dwight Arthur]

Richard: have a look at

http://smartlifeblog.com/great-pert-charts-diagrams/

-Dwight

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[pottster]

And thank you pottster for the link to Scapple.   Those diagrams look like the diagrams that I tend to draw a lot.

You're welcome Richard. Incidentally, I've also managed similar projects to the one you're embarking on (e.g. SAP implementations for large PLC's) and Scapple would have fantastic for our kick-off and workshop phases. I was in the beta testing group for Scapple prior to launch so, if you want some more ideas about how this would work, contact me offline. 

[Peter Schmelitschek]

I realise this is an old thread but I wonder if anyone has tried 'ToDoList' (http://abstractspoon.weebly.com/) for the PM scenario.

It is free and stores data as XML files - export/import with MLO also works.

R's

Peter