Introduction

In a small and local project, you can get by without any automated tools. You can probably manage the project on the back of an envelope. Even though we employ technology in many projects, we are not great fans. From experience, the basic guideline is:

Use as little technology-based methods and tools as possible.

This seems odd. Isn t technology good? Some is and some is not. The problem is that every time you introduce some new technology into a project, you increase the risks. Let s take an example. A company that had a number of international projects gave each project leader a palmtop organizer that could set up and link to calendars of managers in the network. The goal was to increase productivity. Well, it was a failure that impacted the productivity of the managers in a negative way along with their projects. Managers were attempting to synchronize meetings with higher-level managers. However, very few of these managers put their schedules on the network. Other managers did not use a computer at all; they relied on their assistants and secretaries to print out e-mails and other items. Many project leaders started to use the devices for games and entertainment an expensive GameBoy. What was the solution? Confiscate all of the devices and ban them until the rules had been worked out.

Behind this simple example, there are a number of fundamental lessons learned:

• Consider always the method and why and how technology will be used first before the tool itself.

• Technology...