We have created and collected a large number of links, papers, templates and processes that you will find valuable throughout the life of your projects. Most of this material is distributed to the attendees of our seminars and is published here for their convenience. If you wish to understand the complete context of these items, contact us about scheduling one or more of our seminars for your organization. Please review the Copyright Notice at the bottom of this document before you extract any of this information. 

Chuck Tryon

• Amazon.com - Without question, the most popular online bookstore in the world.  So why am I listing them and not all the other on-line books stores?  I find this site especially useful when I am looking for an out-of-print book or a very expensive book at reduced prices.  Amazon has networked thousands of used book stores together to provide this service.  I have never been burned by purchasing in this manner.  I get quality copies of used books (most of them have never been opened), find obscure titles and pay less.  What is not to like about that?
• Dorset House - Many of the books we reference in our seminars are published by this small, but very significant organization.
  If you are a systems or software engineering professional, you need to know about Dorset House.  The roots of this company trace back to the once famous Yourdon Press.  They have continued the tradition of forward-thinking text and leading authors.  Many of the books in my library were published here.
• Executive Book Summaries - Don't have time to read?  Having a hard time keeping up with all the new business ideas that are floating through the bookstore?  Not sure where your career is heading?   Well, don't worry, Bunky!  These people can help you out.  For a small subscription fee, this organization will send you a nice little monthly packet with short summaries (usually seven pages each) of three or four current business books along with some really short recaps of a few other recent publishings.

• IEEE Computer Society - This is the ultimate location for technology and software standards.
• International Institute of Business Analysts (IIBA)- This is a relatively new organization.  It appears to be modeled on PMI with the intent to formalize and legitimize the role of Business Analysts.  They are currently creating a Body of Knowledge known as the BABOK.  Must work remains to be done.  The BABOK is in draft form and may be downloaded as a PDF from their website.
• Project Management Institute (PMI) - This is the most popular Project Management site on the web.  Of particular value you will find a list of available books and resources offered by PMI, local chapter profiles and information on the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification program.  I am a member of the Tulsa Chapter.
• Software Engineering Institute (SEI) - Carnegie Mellon University began a project several years back to identify the various levels of maturity achieved by software development organizations.  From that work, they created the Capability Maturity Model (CMM).  This material, along with their newer models, provides a nice blueprint for where you are taking your organization.  You will find that SEI has made much of their information available for download.  Go to their Home Page to get a complete list.  This will link you directly to a very good overview of the CMM that you can download in PDF format.  It is also possible to read the entire text of the original Watts Humphrey book online.  SEI created CMMi as an update to the original version.  They offer a PDF that compares this standard to the original model.

FUN PLACES TO GO

• Chuck Tryon's Home Page - By the way, this ISN'T me!  It may be that I   have an evil twin out there (or maybe I'm the evil one).  This Chuck Tryon is also a techie and a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien.  At least I'll never forget this guys name.  Spooky!
• Despair.com - If you suffer from a touch of cynicism over corporate slogans and ill-planned initiatives, check out this website.  This is the company who enjoys poking a little fun at the "success" posters.  Now Despair founder Dr. E. L. Kersten has published his decidedly uninspiring book, "The Art of Demotivation."  (Think twice before ordering the "Chairman Edition!")  If this isn't enough cynicism for you, check out the video excerpts from the book.  DVD coming in the fall.
• Static Cling Presentation Sheets - In several of my seminars, I use a type of sheet that uses dry-erase markers on a material that "sticks" to almost any surface.  This product allows you to create a portable white board almost anywhere.  One of the sources for this product is Nashua Corporation and their Static Cling Presentation Sheets.  You will likely need to use an office supply company to actually order the product.  I have also seen similar products produced under the name of Static Images or "static cling paper."  Happy hunting.
• TED Conferences - During several of my seminars, I mention this website.  It is a MUST for people who have an eye to the future.  My original fascination was with the Minority Report-styled interface introduced by Jeff Han of NYU.  He demoed a simple, inexpensive, multi-touch interface that has the potential to make keyboards and a mouse obsolete.  You can see his most recent efforts at Perceptive Pixel.  You will also find links to his original TED presentation on that site.  More recently, at TED 2008, Johnny Lee unveiled his inexpensive way of creating an interactive whiteboard using a Wii controller.  You may view his presentation at TED.com and then visit his private website to download software to replicate his work.  I have one word for this ... AWESOME!

ARTICLES AND POSITION PAPERS: To help explain the basis for many of the processes we present in our seminars, we offer a growing collection of papers published on the web along with some of our position papers.  More are on the way.  

• Bridging the Knowledge Gap (Chuck Tryon) - Organizations of all sizes and types recognize the value of Knowledge Management but are struggling in efforts to make it a tangible practice.  Chuck Tryon, in association with Dr. Suliman Hawamdeh, have created a Knowledge Retention Policy to help bridge the looming gaps in organizational knowledge and also help bridge the gap from KM concept to KM reality.  Part One of this paper discusses the case for a Knowledge Retention Policy (KRP) while Part Two describes the content of the KRP along with a real world example of how it was used.
• Building Your Company's Vision (James Collins and Jerry Porras) - In the Managing Single-Time Efforts, we spend considerable time talking about the five questions that should be asked to define Project Goals.  In that class, and in the Reengineering Business Processes seminar, I draw a distinction between Project Goals, system goals and enterprise-level goals.  The authors of "Built to Last" published this article on company goals in the Harvard Business Review.  Read all about BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals).     
• Business @ The Speed of Thought (Bill Gates) - The Microsoft CEO published his 12 new rules for the digital age in a book by this title.  Whatever you think of Gates, he is no dummy.   Time Magazine published this book excerpt in their March 22, 1999 issue.  The book makes numerous solid observations.  Time then points out in a sidebar that Gates doesn't seem to always listen to his own advice.  How human!
• Got Guts? (David H. Freedman) - In an interview published in the March 1999 issue of Inc. Magazine, former Chrysler vice-chairman Bob Lutz talks about what it takes to run a successful, modern organization.  This material is extracted from his new book Guts: The Seven Laws of Business That Made Chrysler the World's Hottest Car Company.  This online version of the interview has numerous insights like "It's much more difficult to make an orderly company behave more creatively than it is to take a creative company and make it more orderly."  This make for good reading.
• Diane Hayes (former Tulsa PMI Chapter president) was awarded the 1999 Student Paper of the Year by the Project Management Institute.  Her paper contrasts the Project Charter template offered by Tryon and Associates to other project agreements she found.   Her paper was published in the March 2000 edition of the Project Management Journal.  It is available here with Diane's permission.  Our paper SO, WHAT'S YOUR CHARTER? explains our views on this very important project agreement.
• Making Structured Analysis Your Foundation For Managing Requirements (Chuck Tryon) - Tired of undocumented software products, many are searching for a way to define business requirements and then use those specifications as a anchor to a Requirements Modeling strategy.  This paper shows how Structured Systems Analysis provides the techniques, approach and deliverables to capture business processes and then transition those pure business needs into design and product requirements.
• Making Team Plans (Watts Humphrey) - This paper describes a planning philosophy that is very similar to what we present in our seminars and is excellent reading.  Watts Humphrey is the author of the original Capability Maturity Model published by the Software Engineering Institute.
• Modeling Business Requirements:  Defining "Essential" Policies and Rules" (Chuck Tryon) - Business organizations across the country are wrestling with how to define Business Requirements for their business processes.  These companies recognize that these views must be both detailed and solution neutral.  How to actually accomplish this goal, however, is a serious challenge and requires more than trivial thought.   Beginning in the early 1970, Structured Systems Analysis has provided some of the most useful and utilized tools and methods for collecting and refining Business Requirements in easy to use models.  Current application has shown that the most significant component of the Structured Specification is the concise specification products, or Mini-Specs, that define Essential Processes that are recognized during Event Modeling.  This paper provides a very clear explanation of the underlying process for creating Essential Mini-Spec and the value this provides the business. Tryon and Associates offers a very comprehensive seminar series on Structured Systems Analysis.
• Modern Project Management (Chuck Tryon) - Project Management is changing.  This paper describes the assumptions that support our training curriculum.  If you are struggling with why traditional Project Management techniques aren't working for your organization, this paper may help you identify the real reasons.
• NSDs - During the process modeling courses, I introduce several alternatives techniques for creating Mini-Specifications to compliment a Data Flow Diagram.  One of the more useful of these, and most unheralded, is Nassi-Shneiderman Diagrams.  You may find very useful information on this method on Wikipedia and in a software tool that supports the diagramming method.  At the bottom of the Wikipedia description is a link to a free software download called NSD Editor.
• OO Methods (Chuck Tryon) - One of the most significant software development advances in the area of graphical user interfaces is Object Oriented programming languages.  The use of new languages like Ada, Modula, Smalltalk and now C++ have also resulted in new design methods.  The advances in OO thought has also caused some confusion about how this new design strategy fits in with other more established true analysis methods.  This paper provides some background on the discussion and explains why it is still important to define business requirements free of solution bias before using OO Methods to design and build the technical product.
•  PMP Blog - A reader asked InfoWorld writer Bob Lewis his opinion on sitting for a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).  Bob's response launched an interesting exchange on the topic.
• Project Based Knowledge Management (Chuck Tryon and Dr. Suliman Hawamdeh) - The loss of vital  organizational knowledge is becoming one of the most significant challenges to modern enterprises.  Attempts to solve this problem in an organization-wide, enterprise study will find little success.  In this paper, the authors propose an alternate track ... using naturally occurring projects to uncover, refine, retain and share this this critical knowledge asset.
• Project Management Training: The BIG vs. the Small Answer (Chuck Tryon) - Are you a little confuse trying to create a meaningful training strategy for your organization?   There are so many options.  Which is right for you?  This paper may help.
• Service Charters (Chuck Tryon) - Since the mid 1980s, we have worked on defining and refining a Project Charter document that is used by thousands of projects in hundreds of organizations.  While this document is intended to launch single-time efforts, we have applied the same principles to ongoing, repetitive service environments.  This paper provides a vision for a Service Charter.
• So, What's Your Charter? (Chuck Tryon) - Of all the topics we teach in our seminars, how to create a Project Charter is the most popular and used.  I have captured many of the major points of this presentation in this informative and fun paper.
• The Wow Project (Tom Peters) - In this May 1999 article for Fast Company Magazine, Tom Peters declares that all white collar work is "project" work.  And he concludes that you are the projects you work on.  He provides some great hints on how you can make your next project a Wow Project.  While you are there, check out some of the other great articles in this new magazine.

HELPFUL INFORMATION: In our seminars, we reference numerous books and provide helpful reference material.  Here are some of the more popular and requested items.  And no, we do not own stock in Barnes and Noble or Amazon Books.  But they do own a piece of us.

• Process Modeling Bibliography - Here is a list of references we provide during our Process Modeling seminars.  Read and enjoy.  Some real classics here.  Some things get better with age.  I just wish I was one of them.
• Project Management Bibliography - A very popular feature of our Project Management seminars is the bibliography we provide in the back of each manual.   It is provided here for your browsing enjoyment.

FORMS AND TEMPLATES: In many of my seminars, I recommend a variety of sample templates to assist with various processes.  The PDF versions of these templates are available here to anyone who finds value in them.  I do not restrict nor do I charge a fee for the use of these templates.  You are welcome to use them as is or you may create something similar for your organization.  The only restriction on this usage is that you do not charge a fee to someone else for the use of my templates.  If you have any questions about this usage, please refer to the Copyright Notice at the bottom of this page.

• Activity Worksheet - In our Project Management Fundamentals session, we recommend creating a basic worksheet that holds pertinent planning information.  This is one suggestion in PDF format.
• Benefit Worksheet Form - When performing a cost/benefit evaluation of a project, use a standard benefit list like this one to make sure all benefits are considered.
• Business Case - Before a project is initiated, it is useful to consider the relative worth of this Candidate Project with all others in the queue.  This template provides a useful way to document basic project information.
• Business Event List - One of the most significant products that support the Essential Process Model is the Business Event List.  This document serves as a link to specific Business Event View templates.
• Business Event View - This PDF provides a way to create consistent documents to support the Business Event Modeling taught in the Tryon and Associates Reengineering Business Processes seminar.  The graphic is a generic Event DFD imported from Visio.  A Data Dictionary and/or Data Model is required to capture all data definitions and Business Rules.
• Change Request Form - This is a sample document for capturing project changes.
• Communications Plan - A PDF template for creating a communications portion of the Base Project Plan described in our seminars.
• Cost Worksheet Form - When performing a cost/benefit evaluation of a project, use a standard cost list like this one to make sure all costs are considered.
• Data Dictionary Template - When creating a Current Physical Model or an Essential Process Model, it is important to also capture the Data Flows, Data Elements, Data Groups, Data Stores and even the Terminator definitions and descriptions.  Here is a handy template to get you started.
• Initiative Proposal - Here is a template you may used to document new ideas for potential projects.  If you need help completing the form, this QuickStart process was created for the Tulsa Police Department.  It may help.  This document is also the basis for our Proposing New Initiatives seminar. 
• Issues Log Form - If you need to collect a log of issues that may influence your project, here is a sample document.
• Estimate Ballot Form - Use this form to capture the estimates from each participant during the Peer-Based Estimating Process.
• Estimate Scenario Form - It is quite common to create multiple estimates for the total project or some subset of the project.  This document may be used to document the conditions that support specific estimates.  These conditions may include specific assumptions or constraints, the skills and number of people assigned to the project or the physical environment for the project team.
• Estimate Worksheet Form - Use this form to recap the round-by-round results of the Peer-Based Estimating Process.
• External Design Worksheet - This document may be used to show traceability of business requirements from the Essential Process Model into a New Physical Model of External Design.
• Project Blitz Documents - If you are planning to run a Project Blitz to set the preliminary scope of your project, you may find it helpful to document the inputs, outputs, glossary, solution characteristics and open items.  This process is taught in the Business Analysis Fundamentals seminar.
• Project Charter 2.0 - This is PDF file for the very popular project agreement created by Tryon and Associates that has been adopted by thousands of individuals and organizations around the world.
• Project Goals Worksheet - This is worksheet helps you capture the base information that will become the Project Goals listed in your Project Charter.  There is no specific sequence for identifying the five elements of a Project Goal.  There is a second worksheet available that provides a more immediate narrative result that some of my workshop participants like.
• Project Schedule - If you are looking for a simple alternative or supplement document for the traditional bar charts, try this document.
• Quality Plan - A PDF template for identifying deliverables that will be used as control points on the Base Project Plan.
• Risk Plan - A PDF template for listing the issues that could cause a project to fail along with the potential actions that should be considered.
• Staff Plan - A PDF template for identifying the needed skills for a project along with the eventual staff assignments.  This information supports the Base Project Plan.
• Status Report - Here is a very simple template for team member Status Reports.  I recommend they are created weekly and used by each team member to explain their situation during a team meeting.
• Walkthrough Feedback - When using Structured Walkthroughs as a quality review process, it is important to provide the presenter with a list of potential problems found during the session.  This simple form has done the trick for many years.

PROCESSES: We have defined several critical processes that are helpful when managing a project.

• Change Management Process - Once a Project Charter has been approved, this process is critical for managing the necessary, and often unpredictable, shifts and revisions that will be encountered. (11/25/98) 
• Cost/Benefit Evaluation Process - Because project conditions change rapidly, it is important to establish an initial financial projection for the effort, and then reexamine those observations on a regular basis.
• Issues Management Process - Throughout the life a project, many topics surface that could influence the project and resulting deliverables.  This is a simple process for capturing and tracking these issues. (11/25/98)
• Peer-Based Estimating Process - Creating useful estimates is quite challenging when there are significant unknowns or disagreements over the resources or time required to complete the project.  This estimating process relies on the expert judgment of several participants in a multiple round process.  This approach is a modification of the Wideband Delphi Technique developed by the Rand Corporation. (4/17/02)
• Process Modeling Checklist - During our Process Modeling seminars, I provide attendees with this general list of work that should be considered during the project.
• Project Identification Process - The Tryon and Associates Project Management seminars assume a project has been selected and approved for initiation.  Many organizations, however, seek a process to simply identify candidate projects and then consider them for approval.  This PDF file provides insight to the tasks necessary to manage the process.  Included is a list of criteria that may be used to identify the significance of a project. (3/25/03)
• Project Management Checklist - Many have attempted to identify the work required to manage a project.  Here is my shot.  This is based on the material in my Project Management seminars.
• Standard Task List Definition Process - One of the suggestions that arises from the Project Management Fundamentals seminar is to capture known, repeatable work processes know as Standard Task Lists or Standard Operating Procedures.  This is a process for capturing this organizational knowledge. (3/25/03)

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