Last year, LinkedIn reported it had grown to over 500 million users in 200 countries. To nurture this meteoric growth, LinkedIn has been heavily investing in the platform, adding loads of new features that businesses and individuals can use get more value from the network. One of those areas of investment has been LinkedIn Groups.
For years, LinkedIn Groups provided their members with little more than self-promotional posts and spam, but new changes have transformed Groups into some of the most powerful resources project management professionals can tap. A few of the key updates:
- Groups have received a fresh visual overhaul
- All groups are now private and require their members to be vetted
- Job posting are now on their own tab so as not to distract from discussions
- Group members can now report spammers and remove their conversations
If you’ve written off Groups as a waste of time, it may be worth reinvestigating. These new updates have drastically cut down on the spam problem and encouraged more authentic conversations. LinkedIn Groups are the perfect tool for discovering project management practitioners and veterans who have tons of tips, links, recommended reading, and best practices to share.
It's high time you join a few PM groups on LinkedIn. And we’re making it easy for you by listing 5 groups you should plug into now:
- Project Management 2.0: This group of 20,127 members is focused on arming its members with the latest tools, strategies and tactics to push the discipline forward in the on-demand economy. They invite their members to share their experiences, get feedback, and swap insights. If you’re looking to connect with project management’s cutting edge thinkers, this is the place to do it.
- The Project Manager Network: ProjectManagers.net manages this group of about 867,301 members. Typical discussions in this group revolve around PMP certification, software recommendations, PM methodologies, team and leadership dynamics, and much more. This is THE place for advice on how best to manage your teams and lead them to success. Post a question and you’ll get the highest number of responses here. Members are quite helpful, lendng their combined experience to the task of enlightening a curious member.
- Project Manager Community: This is another large network with 365,381 members and is managed by ProjectManager.com. The group discusses project management as well as project & portfolio management, PMI, PMP, PMBOK, and more.
- PMI Project, Program & Portfolio Management: With 228,356 members, this is the official group of the Project Management Institute—the professional membership association known for its PMP certification. This group often discusses courses, training and career advancement tips. If you have questions about PMP certification, this is the place to ask them.
- PM Link: This group, managed by PMLink.com, boasts 78,508 members and is quite active. Discussions center around tips for PMP exam takers, tools, methodologies, jobs, and of course, best practices related to managing teams and projects.
How about you? Have you joined any project management-related LinkedIn groups that we should know about? Hit the comments and share.
