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At this year's PMI Atlanta Chapter's Professional Development Day, Tom Mochal, PMP (www.tenstep.com) presented a 2.5 hour long workshop. It was simply called "Successful Project Management" and was based on the premise that the days of the monolithic, complex, multi-year project are over. Tom says that they are just too hard to plan, manage and complete within expectations. He argues that the better approach is to break large initiatives into multiple smaller projects. These smaller projects are easier to manage and they each have a much better chance to be successful.

Of course, if each project was managed independently, the entire initiative would be at risk of losing focus and getting out-of-control. So... Enter the Program.

A program is the organizational structure that is established to coordinate and guide a large initiative made up of multiple related projects. The program provides an umbrella structure over the entire initiative and has the high-level visibility and continuity to guide all of the underlying projects toward overall success.

Shortly after the workshop ended, I had a chance to sit down with Tom and discuss his approach to project, program and portfolio management. And we even manage to sneak in some career advice for you as well.

W also announce a giveaway where one lucky Project Management Professional(PMP)® out there is going to win a copy of The PDU Podcast. The PDU Podcast is our sister podcast and you can learn more about it at www.pducast.com. It's a convenient way for PMP® and PgMP® credential holders to earn their PDUs through webinars that are delivered to you as a Podcast. Listen to the first 5 minutes of this episode to learn how to participate.

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On May 1st of this year I was in Atlanta, Georgia where I gave a presentation at the PMI Atlanta Chapter's 2010 Professional Development Day. I must tell you that I was blown away by the professionalism with which this event had been set up. As you walked in the building there were volunteers everywhere pointing out the way to walk and offering to help you. Check-in was a breeze and then it pretty much continued in this well-oiled-machine fashion throughout the day.

So I wanted to know... how do you plan, organize and execute such an event year after year?

I had my recording equipment with me and I got a chance to sit down with Charles Galoppe, who is the event's project manager and we were joined by Dean Gudlauski, VP of Marketing and Promotions for the PMI Atlanta Chapter.

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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.

Thanks!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Now it gets interesting

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Are your projects complex?

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Setting up a Project Management Office (PMO) is one of the toughest assignments that many project managers will ever work on.

PMO projects have a high-visibility, dozens of stakeholders, tight budgets and sometimes even customers that want you to fail. So it's always refreshing to be able to talk to someone who was successful in this endeavor and learn from their hands-on experience how they did it. Peter Taylor is the PMO Director at Siemens PLM Software and he has a successful PMO story to tell.

You have already met Peter previously on the program. He is the author of The Lazy Project Manager. In the discussion today we are going to take a look at his journey of setting up this PMO. From inception, to what it is like today, to where he wants to take it in the next years.

And Peter spontaneously and generously offers to give away two more copies of his book. Listen all the way to the end of the presentation to hear how to participate.

Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.

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In the 2009 listener survey you asked us to include more products into our programming. This episode is the 2nd episode in which we introduce a product to you.

We are welcoming back Dux Raymond Sy who is the author of the book “SharePoint for Project Management”. In the coming months Dux is holding a series of Worskshops titled: Delivering SharePoint Success: Mentoring Workshops. Every PM Podcast listener will receive a 25% discount by using the appropriate coupon code and one lucky winner will even be able to get in for free. Listen to the interview to learn what coupon code to use and how you can win.

But we aren't just talking about the seminars. We also want to help ensure that your SharePoint projects get started the right way. So in this interview we not only discuss how SharePoint can help you increase worker productivity, improve business process efficiency and streamline business processes but we also learn what Dux recommends as the first 3 steps to take if you are going to implement SharePoint in your organization.

And as always we have reached out to our followers on Twitter and will be answering these questions as well:

• @Habib_Schems - I've just bought his book! I'd like to know how we can implement pmbok processes in sharepoint workflows! Thanks!
• @ryanendres: - What SharePoint PMO plug-ins do you like? (ie: EPM Live; pmPoint...)

Finally - here are the resources that Dux mentions in the interview or recommends that you check out:

• Articles:
  • 5 Reasons Why Executive SharePoint Ignorance is Not Bliss : http://bit.ly/7tKkKz
  • How to Prioritize Business Needs Before Implementing SharePoint : http://bit.ly/8sCiVR
• Screencasts:
  • How to Build a Change Control System with SharePoint : http://bit.ly/2SJEXz
  • SharePoint Worst Practices: 5 Common Mistakes in Deploying SharePoint : http://bit.ly/2oXk4i
  • Best Practices in Gathering Requirements for SharePoint Projects : http://bit.ly/10lJUk

Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.

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There are two big changes coming your way with this episode of The Project Management Podcast:

• We are officially launching our new website at at www.project-management-podcast.com (or www.pm-podcast.com for those who want to type less... ;-)
• Premium subscribers now receive an episode transcript along with the audio.

So if you are a premium subscriber and you use a podcast app then a PDF transcript of the episodes will automatically download to your computer. I expect that the transcript will be available about 3 days after the audio version of the interview is published.

In today's interview we are once again welcoming Michael Aucoin (www.leadingedgemgmt.com and www.right-brain-leadership.com) back to talk more about the right side of our brain and project management. In particular we want to talk about Chapter 18 of his book Right Brain Project Management, which is titled The Hero in us all – The moral of the story. Michael suggested this chapter for a more detailed look because so many people enjoyed this chapter and thought that it brought much value to them.

Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.