The One-Page Project Manager by Clark A. Campbell presents and explores the One-Page Project Manager tool, a specialized Excel template, that turns out to be a very clever and practical way to communicate the status of a given project at certain points in time. As a follower of agile project methodologies, what I immediately noticed is that this tool is a perfect compliment to these methodologies, emphasizing effective communication over undigestible documentation.

I recently read Never Work For Free by Paul Boag and I have to say that after being an independent contractor for over five years now, I have to agree with his central premise: (almost) never work for free. I’ve fallen for the false logic of doing free work a few times in the past, and I’ve always regretted it. It can never be the basis of a good relationship with a client, because you are telling the client from the start that your services are worth nothing. They never will respect you, or value your work. As a result, they actually become the most demanding “clients” you will have, and they will never be happy with the service you provide no matter how much you do, no matter the quality of your work.