The most requested template from The PM Podcast series is a document offered by Sabrina Mancini in Episode 017. This template is intended to help you turn your job search into a project. unfortunately, Sabrina doesn't have this template anymore. Neither do I.
Do you have it?
If yes, then please send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so that we can once again offer it on The PM Podcast.
On May 1st 2010 I presented "The 4-week PMO" at the PMI Atlanta Chapter's Professional Development Day. This video gives you a few impressions from the event.
A little while back Bill Duncan published an article on the importance of clearly (and I really mean clearly) differentiating between the terms scope and work.
Everyone seems to agree on the importance of scope, but there is much less agreement on what it is and where to find it. By focusing on a project’s “product” (whether tangible or intangible), project managers create greater clarity around the implication of all changes.
His reasoning was that by doing so you get greater clarity in regards to what changes on your project should be considered as scope changes, you improve your communication with your customer and by applying "discover-define-deliver" you add another layer of clarity.
Earlier this month, the ASAPM (The American Society for Advancement of Project Management) released their latest standard. It's called "aPro: asapm Performance Rated Organization". You can find it at http://apro.asapm.org/.
My guest today Bill Duncan, who serves as the Certification Chair on the board of directors of the ASAPM. Many of you will recognize his name, as he was the primary author of the original PMBOK® Guide. But that's a story for another time. Today, we're discussing the purpose of the aPRO standard. We'll look at what organizations should consider being rated in this way, benefits and competitive advantage of this rating, how you actually get certified and much, much more.
This episode of The PM Podcast was supposed to feature an interview with a representative from PMI to talk about the recently updated CCRS. That's their Continuing Certification Requirements System.
However, 24 hours before we were scheduled to do the interview we became the latest victim of Murphy's Law: I got a phonecall from PMI letting me know that my interview guest has a bad case of laryngitis. So he can't really participate in a spoken interview. So the #1 law in project management - Murphy's Law - strikes again to bring heartache, pain and tears to a project manager. Me in this case.
Well... that got me thinking about all the various laws that we have in project management. So we will be reviewing the following laws together: Murphy's Law, Boyles laws, Brownian Motion Rule of Bureacracies, Laws of computer programming,The Peter Principle, The Pareto'Principle, Old Engineer's Law, Gordon's First Law, Golub's Laws of Computerdom, Horstman's Law of Project Management, Klipstein's Laws, Ninety-ninety Rule of Project Schedules, Parkinson's Law, Q's Law, Vance's Rule of 2 1/2, The Student Syndrome, Parkinson's Principle of Non-Origination, Theory of the International Society of Philosophic Engineering, Brooks's Law and The Law of diminishing returns.
We also announce the winners of The PDU Podcast promotional giveaway.
Question of the Week: Did we forget to review any important laws and principles of project management? Please leave a comment and let us know!
Last week we learned about PM Simplicity from Sean Henriques. We talked about the basic building block of his approach to managing projects. Now it's time to look at how he uses and implements this approach on his projects. We begin with project initiation and end... you guessed it... with project closing.
In this video, you'll hear more about The PDU Podcast, the easy way to earn 60 PDUs for your Project Management Professional (PMP)® renewal. In under 7 minutes, you'll learn how The PDU Podcast works and how you can easily earn your PDUs.
As a PMP, PDU Podcast episodes will help you develop your skills, improve your professional practice and also earn the PDUs you require in order to recertify at the end of your renewal cycle.
In Episode 140 I spoke with Jerry Manas on how to manage complexity on projects. We discussed his general approach and then (in the premium episode) we looked at a case study and learned how Jerry actually does it. We saw here how he uses simplicity, clarity and focus not just in theory but on his projects.
But Jerry is not the only project manager out there who feels that we need more simplicity.
Sean Henriques MBA PMP, feels exactly the same way. In fact, he feels so strongly about it, that he went ahead and wrote The PM Simplicity Guide at http://www.scribd.com/seanhenriques/d/27897513-Project-Management-Simplicity and makes it available to everyone for free. Sean and I discuss the concepts and philosophies behind PM Simplicity and how you apply it on your projects.
Please note that the information on this page may be outdated. It remains published for historical reference. For the most up-to-date information about how to claim PDUs, visit https://www.project-management-prepcast.com/pdus
Do you have a PMP® or PgMP® certificate? Then this announcement will interest you!
As a PMP/PgMP you have to earn 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every 3 years. Here at The PM Podcast you can earn 15 of these PDUs for free. And starting on April 2nd 2010 we are going to offer The PDU Podcast at www.pducast.com. With this new podcast you will be able to earn 20 PDUs per year.
The benefits for you are obvious! You already know how to use a podcast and now with The PDU Podcast you can sit back, relax and let the PDUs come to you. Month after month.
Listen in for the details and get a 20% discount on The PDU Podcast.
Today's episode is sponsored by the 7th Annual Project Management Conference for the Drug & Device Industry. The conference takes place from April 12-14 2010 at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center in Orlando Florida. Learn all about cutting-edge tools and techniques to help you lead your team confidently and walk away with clear strategies for achieving project, program and portfolio success. To learn more, please visit www.iirusa.com/pdd.
I have a confession to make, and that is that I have moved over to the "dark side" of project management.
Don't worry - I'm neither wearing a black suite, cape or breathing apparatus, nor do I now call myself "Darth Cornelius".
But I have moved from being a Project Manager to the dark side and I'm now... a Project Sponsor. So let's take a look at my very first experience as a project sponsor and to keep it interesting we will hear from 10 other people what they love and hate about their own project sponsors.
Question of the Week:
Do we project managers make good or bad project sponsor? Please leave a comment and let me know!
And if your answer is "Yes of course they are complex" then how do you first of all measure this complexity and second and more importantly how do you manage project complexity?
Is it just a question of using standardized project management approaches, PM processes or maybe a project management office (PMO)?
These are some of the basic questions that I discuss in this episode with Jerry Manas. Jerry Manas has been a guest previously on our show about various project management topics. Today we discuss how to successfully manage complex projects with simplicity, clarity and focus.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
Last week we heard how Jerry Manas uses simplicity, clarity and focus to approach managing the ever increasing complexity in business processes. This means that project management processes consequentially are getting more and more complex as well. And we project managers need to be able to handle them.
But what does this approach actually look like in real life? What exactly does he do and how does he do it? Where does he begin his work and what hands-on advice does he have for us. In particular I want to know from him what the first 3-4 steps are that we should take when we begin working on a complex project.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
Play Now [Update: the audio is no longer available, so we removed the link]
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In this special episode we introduce you to PM War Stories - a podcast for the experienced, senior project manager. The show is hosted by Wayne Thompson and here is what he writes about this particular episode:
Project managers face and overcome risks and uncertainties frequently in their projects. Creating a project management office (PMO) is no different. It requires securing a large commitment on the part of the organization, obtaining buy-in at all levels, actively managing stakeholders and sponsors, and carefully gauging, and in some case disregarding, risks and uncertainties.
Success is not achieved merely with the creation of the PMO itself. In fact, 25% of PMOs typically fail in the third year of their existence. To build a PMO that will last, project managers need the proper infrastructure, processes, people and tools. Implementing a project portfolio management (PPM) strategy is an important early step as it helps tie those pieces together in building a PMO. Additionally, it helps drive the sustainability and success of the PMO by providing the necessary system of checks and balances that ensure projects are on track and in alignment with the organization’s goals.
This is the third podcast in a series on project management offices, sponsored by Oracle Primavera. In this episode, we will examine how to overcome the risks and uncertainties in creating a project management office and more importantly, how to successfully maintain it.
To do this, I’m sitting down with industry insider, Beth Partleton who has more than 30 years of project and portfolio management experience in manufacturing and construction. During her illustrious project management career, she was the Director of Strategic Projects for Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; she was a founder, charter member, and president of the Milwaukee/Southeast Wisconsin PMI Chapter; she was Chair of the PMI Educational Foundation Board of Directors and lastly she served on the Board of Directors for PMI’s Manufacturing specific interest group. Today she will be sharing her insights and war stories around the importance of PPM to maintain a successfully operating PMO.
We are pleased to announce that there will be three more chances to win a netbook. The next drawing will be held on February 19, 2010. To register for your chance to win, please click here - Netbook Contest [Update: the template website is no longer available, so we removed the link]
. Members are limited to one entry per month so don’t forget to visit our site and complete an entry form today. Good luck and thank you for listening.
In this Premium episode of The PM Podcast we welcome back Peter Taylor, PMP who is the author of The Lazy Project Manager.
We Talk about his lessons learned in setting up a Project Management Office (PMO). You may recall that he is the PMO Manager for the Siemens PLM Software PMO and in this episode he tells us what he has learned in the 3 years since the PMO's inception.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP, CSM, is the host and the author at The Project Management Podcast. He has welcomed hundreds of guests and project management experts to the podcast and has helped over 60,0000 students prepare for their PMP® Exam. He has authored dozens of articles on projectmanagement.com and PM World 360. He speaks at conferences around the world about project management, agile methodology, PMOs, and Project Business. Follow him on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.
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