I like to get involved in LinkedIn discussions. I like a bit of controversy, not the kind that gets personal but a good healthy discussion. LinkedIn discussions are a good way to see what’s going on in the ‘world’ you join there.
Here are some conversations you might want to jump in on if you are PM.
What should go into an advanced Project Management course?
How would you deal with corruption?
How do you deal with PMs who miss deadlines?
Happy PMing
Perry
Hi, the great thing about the Internet is that access to everything is easy. The not so great thing about the Internet is – you guessed it – access to everything is easy. The key is put out useful information, products or services and then to get the right people to pay attention to what you have put out there.
I found a new way to reach out to people on the Internet, and increase my visibility. Over the last few months I have been creating and publishing articles for Ezinearticles.com.
It isn’t a source of income, you publish articles for free. It’s a way to get your name in front of potential clients and drive traffic to your website. When I publish an article, I am putting up fodder for newsletters. People looking for articles to fill a newsletter go to Ezinearticles.com and take content. I benefit because my bio contains a link to my web page and any pertinent information I want to put there.
I do get stats on the number of times someone has checked out my article, and if someone has used it. Just not who.
It’s free to put articles up, the articles are vetted and may be changed a bit to make them more saleable. I have written separate articles and tweaked blog posts for publishing and I’m heading towards the next level of membership – not sure yet what that means.
So, if you have information – or even well formed opinions and advice – consider dropping by to Ezinearticles and giving them a try. They give you guidance and ideas to help you get started.
Have a great week.
Perry
Hi, all. This week is a short post.
I often go looking for other people’s PM blogs to get inspiration for mine, some specialist information, or some insight into what people are talking about in project management.
Mr. Manager send me an email to bring my attention to their latest post, listing the top 50 project management blogs. Check it out and let me know if you have any blogs you think should be added.
Have a great PM weekend – remember next week is a full week after two four day weeks. Enjoy spring.
Perry
Hi, those of us with our PMP designation know the PDU stress. Some leave it to the last minute, some gather PDUs over their three year cycle. But, whatever approach you use, you can pay for them in money or time.
Money can be as little as the cost of your chapter event. PMI West Coast chapter has monthly events, lovely dinner, great speakers, and 3 PDUs for $45. Or as expensive as a PMI seminar. Great workshops, fabulous advice, and usually a great location. Moneywise, cost of event + cost of hotel + cost of travel = expensive.
Time can be based on volunteering, writing articles or books, or simply doing project management work.
At the West Coast chapter event this week, I heard from a fellow PMP that he was running out of time. He has 3 PDUs and 6 months to get the other 57. I suggested he write an article for the chapter newsletter. Something he hadn’t considered.
If you write a blog, you already have at least the start of an article. I created an article for ezinearticles.com from a blog post about estimating. This site is great for building your credibility and driving traffic to your website.
Most SGIs have newsletters and will be happy to include articles in an issue.
Have a great week of project management.
I’ve been giving some thought this week to the idea of developing and deepening project management skills in an organization. During the latest cycle of downsizing, a number of companies questioned why they needed dedicated project managers. They asked, “why can’t my department managers do that job?”
Well, we know the answer to that is at least two sided. First, they need the skills and then they need time. Department managers learn to put out fires and ‘deal’ with problems. They don’t achieve success by keeping their boss informed of problems and challenges and they don’t necessarily provide periodic status reporting. And, they have day jobs. They can’t set aside their day job to do a project.
The reality right now is that operations and projects are getting mixed together. Whether that can be successful in the long term is questionable, history doesn’t predict that it will be, but I think in the short term, there’s a way to support businesses through successful project delivery.
Some project managers who go the self employed route set up as contractors. They go in and do a great job managing a project and then they get out.
Others go the route of consultant. They may still go in to do a project, the difference is that while there, a consultant will look for opportunities to improve processes, set up new ways of dealing with projects in the future and leave lessons behind purposefully.
From a perspective of the business, project management contractors fill in shortages of capacity. Too many projects for a short term to complete with internal leadership. As the company grows, some of the contractors will be invited to become permanent employees.
For the business person, a consultant will suggest changes to improve, streamline, and change, the business processes to increase capacity of the internal team. As the company grows, consultants are asked to do more of this work and may temporarily fill a gap in competency.
The world needs both, contractors and consultants, as much as it needs employees. The key to success for the project professional is to know which you are, consultant or contractor. The key to success for the business person is to know what you need.
Have a successful week.
This is a topic close to my heart. I think it’s because I know that PMO can mean so many things to an organization and the first step is getting the answer to the question posed by the title of this posting.
Most organizations that have a history of project management find themselves all over the success range from Fabulous Success to Spectacular Failure. This variety of outcomes is often the trigger for the executive to start on the PMO path.
In my experience, the reasons to implement a PMO are, in no particular order;
Many organizations also cycle between – absolutely need a PMO to why do we need to pay the overhead of a PMO?
I’ve created and collaborated in creating two PMOs and my experience is that a successful PMO starts with the executive backing aligned with the top reasons for creating a PMO.
Just like any project, you need a champion/sponsor, and a clear understanding of what you are going to deliver. You run the creation and implementation as a project. Develop a clear understanding of the outcomes, create phased milestones, measurements of success (both for the project and the operation of the PMO) and report on the status during the initial period.
The key is that implementation is not the end. When the PMO is running and showing success, the whole reason for the PMO needs to be revisited and refocussed. A PMO is not a product that gets delivered, it’s an operational part of any organization and it evolves.
If the first priority is to create a centre of excellence for project managers, you will likely find that the PMO will evolve towards portfolio management because the executive see more possibilities as the PMs become more professional.
If the priority starts as portfolio management, then it will likely evolve towards a centre of excellence very quickly as it becomes clear that more projects can be done if PMs are supported and developed.
Whatever the starting point, if you are managing/directing a PMO, you need to remember it evolves. Keeping your PMO alive is a process of constant selling of the current and possible value of a PMO.
Have fun this week.
Let’s start with the premise that you do need a methodology, a way to get from “what we want to do” to “we accomplished what we wanted to do.”
The choice of methodology is growing; we have PMI, and Prince2, as underlying approaches. We have waterfall, agile, and now Project Management 2.0. Glen Alleman has a great discussion on PM 2.0 on his Herding Cats blog.
Really methodology is the process of moving from start to finish in a project. The right methodology helps you to communicate where you are in your project, what is coming, what needs to be dealt with, and what is going really well. Using a consistent methodology within your organization allows you to measure your success against other projects, and apply improvement processes to become more efficient at project delivery.
I think it does matter what methodology you use, based on the project you are undertaking. I’m not sure that statement will be controversial.
What I see happening is that methodologies are chosen by bright shininess, not by appropriateness.
So, I think it does matter what methodology you use, even if it’s your own methodology. If you’ve been a PM for any time, you’ll have figured out your style and that adds the flavour to the methodology. If you’ve been one for a long time, you will have been doing agile before the name was applied to the methodology. After all, an agile project can’t be done through waterfall without lots of iterations of the planning process.
Someone out there is using the next best shiny methodology, they’ve created it to fill a gap in a project that is left by the current methodologies. We’ll all be discussing the new shiny one next year, or the year after, forever – well maybe not forever.
The key to success is that you choose – or make up – the methodology that works for your project.
In my experience, there are two kinds of project.
Type A = First we do A, then we do B, then we do C = commonly known as waterfall
Type B = first we figure out A, then we do A, then we figure out B and then we do B, then we figure out C and then we do C = commonly known as agile.
New and improved methodologies must help to make type A and B more efficient, more effective and more easily understood.
Let me know what you think.
I’ve seen lots of postings on LinkedIn, and heard lots of arguments around the question of certification. I have to admit, I’m confused by the whole controversy. Certification isn’t a magic bullet, nor is it the political nicety that people seem to think it is. Certification is a choice for the most part. It’s often a must have to get a job, and it’s a validation that you’ve completed a minimum knowledge and experience requirement. Just like an MBA doesn’t mean you’ll be a successful business leader, a PMP doesn’t mean you’ll be a successful PM but it does say something about what you should know.
The experience requirement is interesting; it states a minimum number of hours, but not a success rate. So, you can participate in projects for the required number of hours (3 or 5 years depending on whether or not you have a degree) but never participate in what PMI would suggest is a successful project. The educational requirement is not that onerous, and can be completed by studying for the PMP certification exam.
I have to be honest; I did learn a few things as I prepped for the exam. I learned why some of the processes were needed; I realized why some issues rose again and again – it was because we weren’t doing a great job earlier in the lifecycle. I also had to memorize things I’ll never use (or have to do manually). I can’t manually estimate duration to save my life – that’s why we have PM software – but, I do understand what the software is supposed to do. I can see where it’s wrong even if I can’t calculate it myself. I have never had to use Earned Value; I memorized it for the exam but I assume I will get a spreadsheet or something to use if I ever need to report Earned Value.
Are people afraid to fail? I did pass the first time (yes, I’m bragging) but I passed mostly on my people management experience. I know 5 other people who sat the exam, only one failed the first time – over thinking the questions is a killer. It’s no harder than any other exam, if you know your stuff, you will pass.
I recommend certification for people who want to be project managers, not just within their current employer, but as a career. When you are looking for a job, or contract, you will meet the criteria to apply. Right now, it’s a buyers market in the job hunting field. That said it’s rarely a sellers market. Why would you want to exclude yourself from eligibility for a job just because you are missing those three letters? As someone who used to hire project managers, I can tell you that I wanted certified applicants because I knew they had the knowledge, and hoped they had the skills. I couldn’t spend my time interviewing people who may have the knowledge and hope they had the skills.
I doubt you’d go to a doctor or a dentist if they didn’t have their certification; or fly in a plane with an unlicensed pilot. But, you have probably experienced a doctor with no bedside manner, a dentist who doesn’t have a gentle touch, and had a bumpy landing in a plane. Why do you think project managers should be different, it’s a profession and as such has certification.