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.  AND ... it was a personal highlight to see my books listed at Amazon.
• CRC Press On-line (a Division of Taylor and Francis) - My publisher also offers my books in print or as downloads.  CRC, thank you for publishing my manuscripts.  More to come ... but don't rush me!
• 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.

• 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.

  FUN PLACES TO GO

• 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!") 

ARTICLES AND POSITION PAPERS: To help explain the basis for many of the processes we present in my seminars, I offer a growing collection of position papers that launched or support my thinking.

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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, I 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, I 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 my 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.

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 me.

• 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.
• Knowledge Management Bibliography - Beginning in 2010, I began presenting the results of my four years of targeted research into Knowledge Management.  Part of that process was identifying papers and books that I found useful in gathering my thoughts and the resulting processes.  Here is a list of the most significant materials..

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.
• Deliverable Plan - This planning tool is a combination of the Project Schedule and Quality Plan.  Like the Quality Plan, it identifies the key intermediate deliverables expected from a project along with the completion and quality criteria.  But it also captures the expected completion date and primary assigned resource to this activity.  The final page of the Deliverable Plan contains a Dependency Diagram (usually created in Visio and copied over).  This document is used to create a detailed breakdown of work in an automated timeline product.
• 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.
• Managing Organizational Knowledge Templates - When I completed my book on a project-centric approach to Knowledge Management, I added several templates at the back.  Concerned that the reduced of the book versions, I offered to post full-sized versions on this website.  As you can tell by browsing this area of my website, I like templates!  While I hope you find these resources useful, please understand the intent behind the creation of these and other templates you find here.  My intention is to give you an sample, not an absolute product.  Use these documents to help you create something that works for you and your organization.  Use new tools and technologies.  Be creative.
• 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: I 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)

This material is the copyright property of Tryon and Associates. If you wish to publish any of the listed materials, please credit the source professionally.