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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 : https://bit.ly/7tKkKz
  • How to Prioritize Business Needs Before Implementing SharePoint : https://bit.ly/8sCiVR
• Screencasts:
  • How to Build a Change Control System with SharePoint : https://bit.ly/2SJEXz
  • SharePoint Worst Practices: 5 Common Mistakes in Deploying SharePoint : https://bit.ly/2oXk4i
  • Best Practices in Gathering Requirements for SharePoint Projects : https://bit.ly/10lJUk

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This episode is reserved for subscribers of the Premium Podcast. Learn how to subscribe to the Premium Podcast to access this interview and transcript...

This episode is sponsored by:

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.

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Here is a quiz for you: What do projects and your brain have in common? Well... they are both very unique from other projects and brains, they use soft skills and hard skills to work and they all have a definite beginning and a definite end.

I recently came across the book "Right Brain Project Management" and was intrigued. It is written by Dr. Michael Aucoin (www.leadingedgemgmt.com). He calls it "A Complementary Approach" and it is intended to help us project managers learn to use the right side of our brain better.

When I originally heard the title of the book I thought to myself... "Yeah Right". But then I found that Michael Aucoin was making a lot of sense and I found that I had instinctively implemented many of his suggested approaches. That was more than an excellent reason to bring Michael onto the program. In our interview you'll learn about why we should use the right side of our brain in project management, how it helps our projects to be more successful and how we can use the tools of Emotion, Pattern discovery, Non-verbal communication and Intuition towards the same end.

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It's absolutely amazing but another year has gone by at light speed.

Many of you will have had challenging, aggravating, boring, or exciting new projects. And some of them may even have been completed successfully. It has been my pleasure to interview the project managers involved and discover the methodologies and processes they used for you.

Now it’s time to end the year with a bit of PM fun. This means that I am opening up the vault of recordings that didn't go as planned and in the next minutes you'll hear all the things that didn’t go as planned during the production of the PM Podcast.

Yes, this is the bloopers show, in which I lay bare all the ah, uhm, coughs and times when I stumbled over difficult word combinations.

If you are a student of The PM PrepCast then you will appreciate this... a video with bloopers from The PM PrepCast. Enjoy.

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In the 2009 PM Podcast Listener Survey you told us that you wanted a) More product reviews and b) More PM soft skills. In this episode we combine these two requests in about 30 minutes.

I'm welcoming Margaret Meloni, PMP who has been a guest many times on our program before. And from those interviews you know that Margaret is a great teacher of project management soft skills. In January of 2010 Margaret is offering almost all of her products with up to a 50% discount. So this episode is a combination of a) product review and b) discussion of PM soft skills. We talk about Margaret's products, interjected with a lot of soft skills talk.

In particular, during our discussion Margaret answers the following questions sent in live from Twitter:

• @bba747: q for margaret: what are her top 3 techniques to quickly identify the motivating agents of project team members?
• @tcsprasan: Which is the most important soft skill a PM must have?
• @splett: is there any chance of success in project management without Knowledge - just pm by Social skills? #mm {Note:Margaret's answer to this question is at the very, very, very end of the podcast. So listen all the way to the absolute end.}

And Margaret also gives us an overview of EQ - Emotional Intellingence.

This is the very first time that we are producing a show that has a strong focus on products for you to buy and improve your skills. Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on the result.

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In this episode of The PM Podcast we are going to take a close look at something that is near and dear to myself: The PMP Exam. In particular we will talk about how to prepare for and pass the pmp exam. But there would be nothing more boring if I just began reading all the tips and tricks I have in my arsenal for this. So in order to make it more interesting, I have invited Bill Rouck, PMP to be on the program.

Bill is one of my PM PrepCast student and has passed his PMP exam just this year. So what you hear from him is pretty much the latest information in PMP exam preparation. We talk about the following topics:

• His reasons for taking the PMP Exam
• We explore if the PMP certificate is a must in today's marketplace
• Recommended PMP exam prep materials
• PMP exam study recommendations
• Tips for taking the actual PMP exam
• What happened before, during and after the exam

We also announce the winners of our book giveaway. They each win a copy of the “Project Management Communications Bible”

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How many times have you heard anyone say that “Project Management consists of about 90% communication?”

Over time, this little saying gets more and more boring but also more and more true. Project Management is all about communications and ensuring that you communicate the right information to the right people at the right time using the appropriate tools and methods.

Let’s talk about these tools & methods and also about what some of the common project management communications problems are.

To do this I welcome Bruce Taylor and Bill Dow, the authors of The Project Management Communications Bible. Together we aim another spotlight onto the importance of proper project communication.

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Communication is a critical, but often overlooked, component of successful project management. This means that we project managers must strive to becoming better communicators. But you cannot do that just by reading the PMBOK® Guide. It takes years of practice!

Enter Bill Dow and Bruce Taylor. Together they have over 60 years of project management experience and so they decided to write the “Project Management Communications Bible”. It contains many tools, techniques, and best practices in the area of project communications that you need to successfully execute projects, keep your team and customers fully apprised, and deliver crucial information in a timely manner.

Together we are going to take a look at a survey that was done in 2007 to determine the "Top 9 Reasons Why Projects Fail". Go ahead... guess... what might be #1?

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In the 2009 PM Podcast listener survey an overwhelming number of respondents said that they would like to see product reviews as part of The PM Podcast. We listen and here is the first such in-depth review of Josh Nankivel's WBS Coach - a training program intended to help both beginners and advanced project managers in employing the WBS to support the success of their projects. The following is in our video:

• WBS Coach overview
• WBS Coach content
• How to download / unzip / use the training
• Listen to a minute of the original audio training
• Watch a minute of the original video training
• The PM Podcast Critique
• The PM Podcast Verdict

And without taking anything away we are happy to say that we give Josh without hesitation 4.5 out of 5 stars for the WBS Coach. Josh created a highly professional and practical training and put all of his experience it. Take a closer look at it by going to www.mywbscoach.com. If you decide to buy it then The PM Podcast will receive a commission from your purchase which we can use to cover our production cost.

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Last week, Josh Nankivel, PMP and I looked at some basics of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and we identified how it will help you make your project better.

However, one of the biggest issues that you will be faced when using a WBS on your project is that you need to first create it. And as you are creating it, you will need to answer the following questions:

• How do I structure the WBS?
• Do I include internal work?
• What about phase 2 and 3 of the project… how will I include that?
• Do I present it graphically or as a simple list

These are the questions that Josh and I are discussing. And at the conclusion of the discussion Josh tells us his favorite way of creating a successful WBS.

You can find out more about Josh's WBS Coach Training Program at www.mywbscoach.com and if you decide to buy then The PM Podcast will receive a commission from your purchase which we can use to cover our production cost.

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A project is defined in the PMBOK® Guide as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. At the core of this definition lies the fact, that there is “something” that our customers want and that it’s our job to deliver this something. We call this “something” the scope of the project. And the absolute best way to define, document and detail your scope is by using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

But now honestly, when was the last time that you used a WBS on your project? And if you have used one, did you use it correctly?

Josh Nankivel is a PMP who has about a decade of project management experience. During this time he used the WBS on initiatives that range from small projects to large scale aerospace programs. The WBS was always one of the cornerstones of his work. Sometimes it was even a contractual requirement.

A few weeks ago, Josh released The WBS Coach. This is a down-loadable training seminar that you can go through on your own time. Josh put all of his experience and practical advice into this training and you can take a closer look at it by going to www.mywbscoach.com. If you decide to buy it then The PM Podcast will receive a commission from your purchase which we can use to cover our production cost.

In our interview today, Josh and I will be looking at the basics of the WBS and how you can best use it on your projects to make them a success.

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In this second interview with Pat Zornes we are going a lot deeper into PMO Assessments.

In her white paper titled “Accelerating Enterprise Improvement with a PMO Assessment” Pat discusses 7 methods that can be used when performing such a PMO assessment. We look at what these methods are and how to use them.

Pat also recommends that we focus on the Process Life Cycle, Organizational Environment and PM Competency in our PMO as we perform the assessment. Here she’ll tell us why we need to assess these and how.

Update: Pat's paper is no longer available for download and we do not have a copy either. So sorry.

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This week’s episode is on one of my favorite topics: PMOs. In particular we are going to discuss if a PMO Assessment will lead to accelerated enterprise improvement or if it is simply a waste of time. But of course, we first answer the question what on earth is a PMO assessment, how do you do one and what type of results and follow up work can you expect if you do it right.

To help us look at this I have invited Pat Zornes as a podcast guest. Pat is an executive consultant for Robbins Gioia (www.teamrg.com)  wrote a whitepaper on exactly this topic so she has a lot to say about this. For instance, Pat says that “An effectively conducted assessment can save months or even years of effort and frustration.  But a poorly conducted assessment can waste not only the time to do the assessment, but valuable time afterward implementing the wrong “solutions”.”

Let’s see what her recommendations are.

Update: Pat's paper is no longer available for download and we do not have a copy either. So sorry.

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I attended the Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summit in Orlando, FL last month. During this time I got a chance to speak with Gartner's Audrey Apfel and learn more about specific findings and recommendations that Gartner has for it's clients.

Unfortunately, I was 25 minutes late to our 30 minute meeting.

However, Audrey was kind enough to get with me over the phone, so that we could still discuss the summit, what she sees as surprising research findings that were presented, her personal thoughts on important Project Management Office (PMO) strategies that organizations should keep in mind and lastly we also look at her recommendations in regards to Project Portfolio Management and Governance that companies with an existing structure and those who are just starting out must know about.

She has some excellent advice for all of us.

If you are interested in learning more about Gartner's services please visit www.gartner.com. Also, the tentative dates for the 2010 PPM & IT Governance Summits are May 2010 in London and June 2010 in Orlando, FL.

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Project Portfolio Management (PPM) describes a methodical approach for analyzing and collectively managing a group of current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. And yes… you’ve heard me say this exact sentence about 2 weeks ago as I introduced the interview with Rick Moreau from Compuware. The reason why I am repeating this sentence here is because you are going to hear from 8 companies who were exhibitors at the Gartner PPM & IT Summit and learn more about 7 PPM Solutions and 1 online project management community.

The original plan was that I would have a short interview with every single one of the solution providers at the exhibition for you. Unfortunately in the end only the following7 solution providers and 1 media company had a representative who found the time to talk to me:

• www.daptiv.com
• www.compuware.com
• www.portfoliodecisionware.com
• www.gantthead.com
• www.myclarity.com
• www.planview.com
• Update: Some companies are no longer in business, so we removed their links above.

The order in which they are listed and in which you will hear these interviews in this episode is completely at random. I got a business card from each of my interview guests, tossed them into a hat and drew them out one by one. And the way they came out of the hat is the order we present them to you.