Free alternatives to MS Project?

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Let's face it, MS Project costs real money. If you're a small company, buying licenses for it will eat up your project margin faster than you can say - well, "margin". However, don't despair - there are free Project Management tools around!







One: OpenProj. Best free PM application ever.

OpenProj by Projity is a desktop replacement of Microsoft Project. OpenProj has equivalent functionality, a familiar user interface an even opens existing MSProject files. It does Gantt Charts, PERT charts etc. Available on Linux, Unix, Mac or Windows, and it's free - how much better does it get? Review here, Download here.


Second: Zoho Project.

The team at Zoho is one of the coolest "Web 2.0" companies out there. Their online office suite includes tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, CRM, project management, invoicing and other applications. Being web-native, all Zoho applications are operating system independent. It supports creating tasks, ownership, setting deadlines and tracking milestones; working with calendars, Gantt charts, reports, share supporting files—all the cool features expected in a project management package.

The major difference is that while one can debate the merits of online/offline for individual productivity applications, project management by definition is team-work and as such a natural fit for the Web. Zoho Projects is free for one project, and has a scaled price structure above. 12$ a month gives you 10 projects and 2gigs of file storage. And, even better - if you're running an open-source project - well, it's free. "Beer" free.


Third and last: Ganttproject

Another free alternative - a little less fully featured than the others, but from my experience, the developers take the time to listen to their users (heck, they've incorporated some of my suggestions!). On their website, they claim that "This set is enough for most people (remember that 80% of MSProject customers use 20% of it's numerous features)" - which is probably true, I know I might use 35%, and I'm a heavy user :). Your mileage may vary, of course.

Best news: platform independent(ish), works in Java (so you need a Java Runtime Enviroment if you're running Windows), and free for any kind of use.


More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_project_management_software - but I've tried all of these, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them!

Does your Contact Center work this way?

Shameless "share and reapply"* time.

"Companies don’t engage emotionally with their customers—people do. If you want to create a memorable company, you have to fill your company with memorable people. How are you making sure that you’re filling your organization with the right people? And how much are you willing to pay to find out?"

So true. Your customer - especially if you operate mostly in the metaverse - has his one and only contact with you over the phone, e-mail, your Voice Portal... Either a person he can't see on the other side of the line, or a "soulless" machine. He builds his impression based on his experience there, so you need to work really, really, really, reaaaaalllly hard to make sure it's one he remembers, finds "enjoyable" and leaves him satisfied.

Enter Zappos. They probably have the best Customer Service Agent training idea ever. After a week or so of their initial Agent Traigning,it’s time for what they call “The Offer.” The fast-growing company, which works hard to recruit people to join, says to its newest employees: “If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you’ve worked, plus we will offer you a $1,000 bonus.”

Commitment? I has it.

More at Harvard Business Publishing.


* Share and Reapply: Procter and Gamble speak for "Steal something which another country already did and use it in your country."

Conflict management

Imagine:

You show up on a customer site. Your contact there is out sick, and his temporary replacement has no idea what was already done. He starts a shouting match that he'll have you all fired immediately, that the product is crap and that you're all incompetent. Of course, the fact that he never read the brief, or that it might have been good if he'd had at least glanced at the last status report has managed to escape him.

Now what?

There are many ways to calm down a heated debate (new speak for argument), in my case most of them involve finding a large server and accidentally dropping it on someones toes. (No, not really. I wouldn't do that to an innocent server.) However, since the way I'd resolve the argument in my daydream isn't something that seems to be socially acceptable - to say nothing of proper business behavior, some suggestions from the blog of Jay Morrissey might come in handy:

Your guide to resolving any heated argument and Fight back against verbal intimidation

Check out the rest of his site too - lots of good advice to be found! [www.jaymorrissey.com]

Home office

I work either from home or from a customer site about 90% of the time. For me, it's simply easier and more relaxing to be able to work from home - no screaming (and you don't know screaming until you've heard three Hungarian girls talk about... anything...), no disturbances... Ah. Peace and quiet. I simply find I'm more productive when at home.

Now, a home office might not be for everyone - I've had some issues when I first started with people going "oh, you're at home, can you help me with ", or "can you please clean the kitchen and do the laundry" - but I've trained them well :) I don't bother getting dressed up, or "tricking" myself into going to work while still at home - I know what needs to be done anyway :) However, if you're just starting out, here are some helpful tips:

Advice for setting up a home office
[Productivity 501] via [Lifehacker]