Hi. This question is ideal for people with an understanding of project
management, collaborative software, and process design who have an
appreciation for the nuances that make work easier for people to do.
If you're this researcher, welcome to my question and thank you for
your help!

I run a boutique consultancy that is incorporating collaboration fully
into its operations. We've selected to work with Groove
(www.groove.net). This product allows us to create a "space" for each
project we work on. To that space, different clients and independent
contractors can be invited to participate. Within that environment,
they can co-create work products (like designs, customer experiences,
etc.), review documents, record time, track progress, etc. Groove lets
everyone work as a true team and gives everyone real-time information
about a project's status (and all the details) in an easy-to-use
environment. It does that without requiring people to work in each
other's physical presence.

What Groove's very flexible interface doesn't do is prescribe any
particular WAY of working together. For collaborative work to be
successful, participants must share context (their world) and process
(how they do work together). In other words, clues that participants
put into their documents and Groove entries to each other (file names,
content, expectations about next steps, etc.) need to have meaning --
and the same meaning -- to everyone else. Also, expectations around
the steps each participant expects the others to perform should be
similar so that "nothing falls through the cracks".

I recognize the value of good project management and want to
incorporate a system into our Groove environment. I need your help to
find suitable options.

So far, I?ve found people that can do the work of a project manager
and tell me about process but who can?t simply state the obvious and
I?ve found materials that, while accurate enough, are difficult to get
through for my teams because they require you to ?know everything?
before you can begin to apply the basics. I prefer not to send people
to classes before they work with us and to not have to make
creatively-minded people pour through technical material (they?ll hate
me for asking them to do that). I want a project management system
that can be exposed as the project unfurls.

My plan (challenge me if you see benefits I don?t) is to introduce a
project management framework that?s friendly and simple (15 minutes or
less to introduce and ground people on), where the details can be
exposed just-in-time as participants work on a real project.

For example, I can make Groove put a Project Management tab into each
new project ?space? we create. It can contain the overview and the
template documents inside can contain the details. Kind of
learn-as-you-go is what I have in mind.

Finally, time for ?the question?! Will you please help me find a
licensable (or free) project management approach that comprises these
characteristics:

Learn As You Go ? doesn?t require apriori knowledge of project management
Modular ? cut-and-paste text supplorts the framework but can live
inside the template documents
Friendly ? written for real people (smart, passionate, able to
extrapolate/synthesize)
Clear and Compelling ? communicates with precision without sounding academic

Caveat: The materials must be available in electronic format so that I
can cut-and-paste. I am willing to pay a one-time license fee in the
hundreds of dollars (not thousands) and must have the right to edit
and repurpose the materials for sale to others.

I look forward to seeing what you find. Groove arrives early next week
and we have new projects beginning continuously. Thanks for your time
and attention!