Last week I started a new series called Proud Postings. In it I ask several other bloggers in the Project Management arena What are the 3 postings you are most proud of? This week I may present to you: Raven from Raven's Brain! (Remember? She writes my No 1 Blog of 2007) Tada! Applause! Fade out ….

Photograpy by JoeStump

Peer Code Reviews Yield More Than a Goodnight's Sleep
by guest blogger Lisa Forsyth, Director of Tactical Development, MSNBC.com

"Though I didn't write this post, it is such a well-written piece it deserves more exposure. Lisa discusses peer code reviews in the world of software development and provides some interesting insights on their benefits. After all these years tech managers are still battling to show the benefit of peer code reviews and after reading this post you might find some positives you hadn't thought of and ways to gain buy-in from your dev and test teams."

Project Management And The Search For Perfection
by Raven Young, Senior Project Manager & Blogger

"This is a brief post riddled with thoughts from other folks. The reason I like it is because it focuses on an all-too-common trap project managers fall into called "analysis paralysis". Basically, you get so involved in the search for a perfect plan, schedule, idea - whatever - that you aren't able to move forward. Progress falters and eventually you become paralyzed. Author Gina Hiatt describes this as the three P's - Perfectionism, Procrastination, Paralysis - and I really like the way she tackles the problem in her article. As managers we can avoid this trap simply by being aware of it and taking steps to avoid a cycle of thinking that will leave you stuck in the mud."

Tracking Time IS Important In Project Management
by Raven Young, Senior Project Manager & Blogger

"This post discusses the importance of time tracking and gleans insights from both BetterProjects.com and Curt Finch of Journyx. We all know time tracking is important, yet most PMs tend to blanch when faced with the task of getting everyone to consistently report accurate hours. I have always wanted to know the total cost of a project and, to me, this includes not only the project team but others that participate in the wings or on a part time basis, like operations, maintenance, release management, tech support, database, and that's not including other groups/teams like professional services, architecture, finance, business execs and other groups/people that spend time on a project and contribute to the total cost of a project. With all the software applications out there, both big and small, it's sad that most businesses aren't doing more to track even the basic project teams time. If you don't know what a project is costing you how can you measure profitability or project success?"