11 Ways To Use Social Media To Find Project Management Resources (or just about anything!)

The web is an amazing resource for education, research, and discovery - if you know where (and how) to look. Of course, running a search on Google (or your favorite search engine) is one option for finding resources on project management or any other topic you’re exploring. But “page 1” of any search results page will show you links to pages housing content that search engine thinks is most relevant for your search - it may not be the best, newest or most interesting content out there.

Social media sites can provide a treasure trove of resources that are completely different from what you’ll find in the search engines. In fact, you’ll not only find different project management resources in social media, but you’ll be able to:
(1) explore them differently (e.g. visually, by “hashtag,” or in collections curated by others),
(2) see varied types of media (e.g. pictures, infographics, video),
(3) connect with the creators or the “curators” of the content, or
(4) find groups of people actively talking about specific topics or industries.

11 Ways to Find Project Management Resources in Social Media

See below for 11 ways to boost your marketing resource management in social media (or use these techniques to find information on just about any topic):

Pinterest
Pinterest is a great way to find visual content or even links to other types of content (blog posts, videos, etc.) One of my favorite ways to browse is by searching keywords and looking through boards, which are collections of content on a particular topic.

Click here to find Project Management Boards on Pinterest

Quora
Quora is a question and answer site where you can discover interesting conversation threads or ask your own questions about project management.

Click here to see project management questions and answers on Quora

Twitter
Twitter is a constant stream of “tweets” on just about every topic imaginable. Hashtags are special tags that people place in their tweets to help with discovery. If you run a search on the hashtag #projectmanagement, you’ll find people tweeting about it and sharing resources related to project management.

Click here to run a real time search on #projectmanagement on Twitter

Or learn about the 20 Project Management Gurus to Follow on Twitter

LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn is a great resource for everything business - but sometimes it's hard to discover great content on a particular topic. One way to solve this issue is to join relevant groups where people congregate to talk about particular topics or industries.

Click here to run a search on project management groups on LinkedIn

Facebook
So you thought Facebook was just for baby pictures and vacation shots! Not quite. You can find project management groups or pages devoted to project management there, too:

Click here to find Facebook pages related to project management

Google+
Google Plus has a lot of great business-related content. Posts are displayed in an easy-to-skim fashion and you can find companies or groups dedicated to your topic of interest.

Click here to find project management resources on Google+

Listly
We all love lists, don’t we? Well, listly has great lists of project management resources, tools, and websites.

Click here to find project management resources on Listly

Click here to see Wrike's lists on Listly

Wikipedia
Wikipedia is the famous and oft-quoted online encyclopedia completely created with user-generated content. It’s sometimes hard to figure out exactly what is available to you on Wikipedia. One way to discover new content is to look at categories.

Click here to see the project management category on Wikipedia

StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is an interesting site that provides a great way to discover project management-related sites online.

Click here to see what StumbleUpon has in the project management category

Reddit
Reddit is a popular social bookmarking site that covers a variety of topics - from the inane to the serious. It’s a mix of resources, reviews, and Q&As.

Click to see what’s being discussed about PM on Reddit

YouTube
For online videos, YouTube is the undisputed leader. You can find video tutorials, tool reviews, and more.

Click here to access Wrike’s YouTube account where we share tips on project management.

Ready to get started?
With these different social media sites and approaches for discovering content, you should be well-armed to find project management resources or information on just about any topic.

What are your favorite ways to find new resources? Let us know in the comments.

Project Management 5 min read

Project Management Terms: A Quickstart Glossary for Newbies (Part 1)

Your boss just walked into your office and said: "We've overstretched our resources. I need you to check the Gantt chart and tell me if there is any free float for this task so we don't delay our critical path." Wait, what was that? Gantt chart? Critical path? Maybe I'm just not ready for this... Whether you're an accidental project manager, or you're are just starting your professional journey into the PM space, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all of the new information the role entails. The last thing you need is linguistic headaches. Don't worry, we've got you. We consulted with Project Management pros, researched the question, and created a list of terms every project manager should know on Day 1. Study these definitions so that the next time your boss rushes in you can calmly respond, "Got it." Baseline — Our list starts with it, and so will every new project you'll undertake. Time is money, and the baseline is both. It is the original cost and schedule you set for your project. We'll tell you a secret: no project goes exactly as planned. The baseline will help you determine how far team has deviated from the original plan. Based on this knowledge, you'll be able to better estimate the time and resources your team needs to complete the next project. Constraint — Project constraints are the limitations of your project. Like road signs, they tell you what you can and cannot do. Before you start a project, it's important to carefully evaluate all of your constraints. Don't miss any blind spots; make sure you assess cost, human resources, time limits, quality, and potential ROI. Critical Path Method (CPM) — The critical path method is used to model projects. According to Professor Scott E. Page from the University of Michigan, thinking with models helps you outperform those who do not. Don't forget to include these factors in your model: all tasks necessary to complete the project, time estimations for each step, task dependencies, and final milestones or deliverables. By taking all of these factors into account, learning how to calculate critical path helps you create your optimal timeline to intelligently plan every project. Float — Sometimes referred to as "slack." It's the amount of time you can potentially burn on a task before affecting the project timeline. Float is the extra cushioning protecting your deadlines. Note that items on your Critical Path will have "zero free float" and if you want to maintain your schedule they cannot be delayed. Gantt Chart — Meet your lifesaver. This horizontal bar chart was devised by Henry Gantt at the turn of the twentieth century and was used to visualize project schedules by project managers all over the world ever since. It includes start and end dates for a project, and illustrates task dependencies. We, at Wrike, are proud of our cool, interactive Gantt chart. It helps you update project schedules, due dates, and dependencies with a quick drag-and-drop! Key Performance Indicator (KPI) — The measurable indicators of where your project stands, like timed laps around a track. When you set benchmarks for success in the beginning of a project, it's easier to check them off along the way. "Did we hit 10,000 page views today? Make 50 sales calls this week? And what about the revenue, has it doubled yet?" And while you obviously can't determine project success by numbers alone, it's helpful to use your KPIs to navigate the project path and, if needed, easily get back on course. We hope these definitions will help steady your nerves in the PM world. Pin them to your wall and don't forget to drop in for our glossary for PM newbies part 2 where we'll introduce even more vocabulary every project manager should know.

Project Management 5 min read

Peter Taylor on Overcoming 7 Top Project Management Challenges (Book Review)

We’ve collected seven of Taylor’s tips for project managers to give you a peek at what lies between the pages of Real Project Management: Challenge 1: Poor Communication Good communication has always been a sticking point for project managers, but it's getting even trickier to get right. Thanks to always-on technology and social media, an endless stream of messages are coming in from a multitude of channels. Which communication tools should you use, when, and for what purpose? Taylor's Tip: Good communication means the right message, at the right time, in the right format. Consider all three aspects when you have something important to say. But before you hit send, also consider whether your message really needs to be communicated at all. Eliminating unnecessary or distracting communication will help make sure important messages are received loud and clear. Challenge 2: Virtual Nature of Projects With remote teams on the rise, it's important for project managers to understand that who you're communicating to is just as important as the message itself. We must always remember to take cultural differences into account, but great project managers also factor in the loss of other communication cues like tone of voice and body language. They consider how their messages could be read, not just how they intend them to be read. The use of emoticons and other informal language is becoming a common way to eliminate misunderstandings and foster good working relationships. Taylor's Tip: Cultural differences go far beyond language barriers; they affect how people approach their work and what they value. That's why good people skills are needed now more than ever — not only to manage distributed teams, but also to effectively argue why you need certain resources, why particular tasks should be prioritized, demonstrate business justification, and so on. So don't neglect your soft skills! Challenge 3: Constant Time Pressures For project managers, the clock is always ticking. Time to deadline, time to market, time to achieving a certain ROI — all are expected to be fast, fast, and faster. Taylor sees expectation management as the key to success, since mismatched expectations mean wasted time. You need to thoroughly understand what it is you're expected to deliver in order to plan the most efficient path to delivering it. Taylor's Tip: There's a difference between working hard and being effective. Don't create extra work for yourself by needlessly involving yourself in decisions, communications, or processes that don't really need your input. It's not only a poor use of your time and energy, it slows down your team! Challenge 4: Executive Support Taylor sees a lack of committed project sponsors as a major challenge facing today's project managers. But a big part of the problem is this: while 99.5% of organizations surveyed said they believe good project sponsorship is essential to project success, 83% admitted they do nothing to develop, train, or support project sponsors within their companies. Taylor's Tip: Until organizations start properly supporting project sponsors, project managers will need to take it upon themselves to communicate their needs to their sponsors. Make sure your project sponsor understands how crucial they are to the project's success, what their role is, and what's expected of them. Challenge 5: Strategic Connection It's not enough to successfully manage your projects; you need to understand the overall business strategy connecting them all (what Taylor calls "strategic connection"). One-off or "orphan" projects only drain company resources, so overall business strategy should be something that's well understood throughout the company, not just at the executive level. Every project manager (and their team members) should be free to question whether or how the project they're working on contributes to larger business objectives. And if the connection can't be proven, the project should be halted. Taylor's Tip: Project managers must move beyond the tactical approach of managing budgets, project scope, and everyday processes to a more strategic view, where they focus on how their project can deliver the most business value. Challenge 6: Increased Complexity Projects are becoming more and more complex. Taylor defines a complex project as one that has some degree of uncertainty either surrounding its process or its purpose: perhaps there are unclear goals, various political factors or influences, or the tools and processes being used are new to the team. Whatever the root cause, complexity often means increased risk, and unprepared project managers may be in for a struggle. Taylor's Tip: Junior and mid-level project managers should seek out opportunities to work on more complex projects under senior project managers, learning all they can from the experience so they can confidently manage complexity in future work. Challenge 7: Lessons Learned Although each project manager and team member has personal takeaways from each project, they're too likely to internalize them and not share them with their colleagues. Even teams that actually have an internal knowledge base are often unsure what is (or isn't) helpful advice, a valuable template, a best practice, and so on. Plus, there's always pressure to start work on the next project as soon as the first is finished, skipping or rushing the process of reflecting, recording, and sharing potentially valuable information. Taylor's Tip: Instead of trying to record all lessons learned from a project, ask your colleagues what information they would find most helpful. Do they want to know what risks others encountered & overcame? Start a knowledge base just for people to record the risks they experienced and their advice. Whether it's useful templates, effective processes, or project planning tips, find out what your team wants and focus on that. More Tips for Today's Project Managers Check out our interview with Peter Taylor to learn the new definition of project success, which types of projects are most costly for organizations, and much more — straight from the man himself. Read Next: 9 Podcasts for Project Managers On the Go 5 Must-Have Skills for the Project Manager Resume in 2015 7 Keys to Project Stakeholder Management from the #PMChat Community

Project Management 3 min read

Get Ahead Quickly: The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Book Review)

Now on its fifth edition, Verzuh’s book provides up-to-date information on change management best practices, real-life examples and case studies, plus details on current trends. It also offers guidance on how to engage stakeholders and apply Agile management techniques to your projects. Those looking to earn project management certification can benefit from this read, as the book gives ample preparation tips for PMI’s Project Management Professional exam.

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11 Ways To Use Social Media To Find Project Management Resources (or just about anything!)

11 Ways to Find Project Management Resources in Social Media

Wrike Team

11 Ways To Use Social Media To Find Project Management Resources (or just about anything!)

11 Ways to Find Project Management Resources in Social Media

Wrike Team

Related articles

Project Management Terms: A Quickstart Glossary for Newbies (Part 1)

Peter Taylor on Overcoming 7 Top Project Management Challenges (Book Review)

Get Ahead Quickly: The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Book Review)

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