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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.

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In our first interview with Rick Moreau from Compuware (www.compuware.com) we looked at how to blend Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and agile software development methods for your organization.

One facet of the equation is a solid PPM tool – but as I always like to say “A fool with a tool is still a fool”. So how exactly can we ensure that our PPM tool helps us increase project success? What are the features to look for and use in these applications? And how do we implement it to ensure that our project managers are more than just "fools with tools"?

Well… who better to ask than someone who is at the forefront of PPM tool development? Say someone like Rick Moreau, who is the Field Enablement Director for Compuware's Changepoint PPM solution? In this premium episode rick and I explore this topic in more depth.

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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. The fundamental objective of the PPM process is to determine the optimal mix and sequencing of proposed projects to best achieve the organization's overall goals. Oftentimes companies have implemented a rigorous process for selection, management and administration of their project portfolio.

Agile software development on the other hand refers to a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams.

Contrary to popular belief, agile methods still promote a disciplined project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals. These approaches to doing the work are reflected in the agile project management manifesto.

It’s the seeming incompatibility between these two approaches – the need for rigorous management of your portfolio vs. the adaptive approach of agile project management – that is at the core of our discussion with Rick Moreau, Field Enablement Director of Compuware (www.compuware.com).

We learn from Rick how these two approaches can indeed be brought together into a blended approach, how Compuware is using their own internal product development almost like a case study to prove it and how the need for portfolio management rigor can still be achieved under this mixed approach.

Did you like this episode of The PM Podcast? Did you like it well enough to take two minutes and go to the Apple Podcast directory to give us a rating or review?  Yes? I would really appreciate it!  Please go to www.project-management-podcast.com/reviews and tell the world how well you think we are doing.

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Earlier this week I spent a couple of days in Florida at the Gartner Group’s Project Portfolio Management and IT Summit. We were at the beautiful Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. Here I had the chance to sit down with Mark Langley who is the PMI’s Chief Operating Officer.

In this interview we learn why PMI has sent a delegation to this event, we hear some of the feedback that PMI has received on the recent release of the 2nd editions of The Standard for Program Management and The Standard for Portfolio Management, we discuss the challenges that organizations face in regards to program and portfolio management and of course how PMI can help organizations deal with these challenges.

During our conversation we also touch several times upon the upcoming PMI North American Congress, which will be held coincidentally in the very same convention center where this interview was recorded. I won’t be able to be there myself but I strongly recommend that you attend. I have always found PMI Congresses to be a great way to connect to my peers.

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A little earlier this week I had the opportunity to participate in an online webinar from gantthead (https://www.gantthead.com). Mark Perry (from https://www.botinternational.com/pmo-podcasts.html) and I each gave a presentation on a specific topic on setting up a PMO. Mark's presentation discussed constituent and non-constituent focused project management offices, in which he conveyed the message that a PMO which is not focusing on the needs of its customers will eventually fail. And he had a great case study in support of this.

My presentation - the one which you see in this episode - is titled The 4-week PMO. This is a 90 minute presentation, which for the purpose of the online project management webinar was shortened to about 40 minutes. At some point I hope to turn the complete presentation into one of our PM Lectures. But for now, here is my approach that will give you a roadmap that enables you to set up your initial PMO framework in about 4 weeks.

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In this episode of The project management podcast we once again welcome back both David Shirley and Rich Maltzman from www.earthpm.com to talk about green project management.

We start out with a short discussion on certification programs for project managers and what Dave and Rich are doing to include the aspect of “green” into these programs. But then we are going to jump into the “how” of green PM. What exactly is it that you do to include aspects of green into your project during initiation, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling and finally also during closing of your project.

That is then followed by the discussion of lifecycle environmental cost. If you remember, Philip Crosby said that “Quality is free” and you can learn today that Dave and Rich feel the same way about green.

And lastly, you have heard of Earned Value Management (EVM), right? But have you ever heard of Environmental Earned Value Management (EEVM)? You definitely will hear about it in our discussion.

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Question: What’s green and manages a project?

The answer isn’t “Kermit the frog” the answer is “All of us”.

At least that is the answer given by Rich Maltzman and David Shirley from www.earthpm.com. David and Rich are two experienced project managers who realized that green is a must because according to PMI, the world will spend 1/5 of its GDP on projects, a hefty $US12 Trillion this year alone.

That's a lot of energy that we put into projects and those projects will use energy, save energy, use resources, and save resources in ways we cannot yet imagine.

That is why they founded www.earthpm.com which is devoted to the intersection of Project Management and "Green" - where green has to do with preventing climate change, preserving resources, and getting things done effectively and efficiently, which should already be flowing in the 'green' blood of any project manager worth their weight in risk registers.

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In this episode of our program I am welcoming back Ron Holohan, PMP and Shawn Futterer, PMP to a roundtable discussion on the Project Management Office (PMO).

Ron works for a large consumer electronics company and a number of project managers directly report to him. He also created the company’s internal PMO portal. Shawn works for a telecommunications provider and is in charge of one of several large projects and also has other project managers who are reporting to him.

We begin our roundtable with Ron’s definition of what a PMO is, compare how this fits with all our understanding and then we discuss various aspects, tips & tricks from our PMOs.

The winners of two copies of Peter Taylor's book The Lazy Project Manager are:

• Marcos Diclei Barros – Toronto, Canada
• Shannon Vettes – Premium Subscriber

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Would you like to be twice as productive on your projects and still leave the office early? Peter Taylor, PMP (www.thelazyprojectmanager.com) has a suggestion for you: Become a "lazy" project manager. Peter is well-known on social media for project managers for his fun presentation style and knowledge of the industry. In his book The Lazy Project Manager he reveals how adopting a more focused approach to life, projects and work can make you twice as productive.

In today's interview we talk about productive laziness and how you can apply Peter's simple techniques and approaches in your own projects. We look at how to manage them from a 'Productive Lazy' point of view. Peter is not by nature, a lazy person and neither is our show host Cornelius Fichtner, but both of them have many other things to do in life, beyond the projects and podcasts that they manage.

Therefore, Peter's approach helps to balance life, projects and work. And of course, if you are involved in project manager coaching and mentoring for your team, you can pass on the tips to your colleagues.

Agile teams are by their nature set up to be productive and track work, but if you have the role of project manager in SAFe agile or, indeed any other agile environment, you will still find this interview eye-opening. I certainly did!

And as always when we speak to a published author you get a chance to win a copy of Peter's book. Listen in to participate and you may find The Lazy Project Manager in your mailbag.

The winners of our last contest where you could win a copy of Mark Perry's book "Business Driven PMO Setup" are:

• Anthony Warrix
• Stanley Kolodziej

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"With the exception of some in the vendor community who have a biased perspective toward their products and some in the community of pundits who simply have an outdated perspective, most contemporarry information technology and Project Management Office (PMO) executives think in terms of architecture, not tools. Tools and applications are important, because they provide individuals and departments with rich feature sets and database-driven capabilities, but it is the architecture that provides integrated information management to the enterprise."

These are Mark Perry's opening words when he discusses the architecture based approach of setting up a PMO in his book “Business Driven PMO Setup”. In this second interview Mark and I delve into this chapter of his book and look at the available tools, analyze architecture approaches and most importantly we talk about the components of a solid PMO architecture.

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In this episode you will hear a roundtable discussion with Ron Holohan and Shawn Futterer on The Virtual Project Management Office (PMO).

Ron works for a large consumer electronics company and a number of project managers directly report to him. He also created the company’s internal PMO portal. Shawn works for a telecommunications provider and is in charge of one of several large projects and also has other project managers who are reporting to him.

We talk about what we think a virtual PMO is and then I go and I kind of ambush the guys to determine if they have all the necessary components it takes to build a virtual PMO. Oh… and we are also joined by Mark Perry – but only virtually.

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Are you working in a Project Management Office (PMO) or are you currently trying to set one up? Wouldn’t it be great if you could read the lessons learned files of over 20 PMO executives and subject matter experts and learn from their experience? We can help you.

In today’s episode we welcome Mark Perry (www.botinternational.com) who is the author of the book “Business Driven PMO Setup”. In this book, Mark merges his personal experience of working with over hundred PMOs with the knowledge of over 20 PMO experts from around the world. The book challenges various traditional approaches and strategies for the PMO and will show you how to implement a PMO using an extensively proven roadmap that is adaptable to any type or size organization.

And yes… you can of course win one of Mark's books - please listen in to learn how to participate.

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What do we project managers spend about 70% of our time on? That's right... communications.

So how would you like it, if you could be "lazy" on your projects about 70% of the time? Enter Peter Taylor, PMP (www.thelazyprojectmanager.com) whose book The Lazy Project Manager has some great advice on how to be "lazy" in your communications. Get the most out of your productive laziness and learn the top tips from Peter on how get the most out of your communications and still leave the office early.

This is an Unlocked Premium 🔓 episode of The PM Podcast made available to all listeners. Enjoy!

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Last week's discussion with Bas de Baar on "Everything a Project Manager should know about Social Media" largely focused on how you as a project manager can use social media for career growth. We also touched upon how social media can be used in your projects.

In this Premium Episode we welcome Elizabeth Harrin (Author of Project Management in the Real World) to look more in depth into how a project manager can use Project Management 2.0 and Social Media on your projects. We discuss if and how we should use these tools, how confidentiality plays into this, how the increasing availability of easy to use online project management tools will turn the "technical" project management skills into a commodity and we touch upon the presentations that Elizabeth gave at the BPUG and APM on these topics.

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The number of social media websites is sheer overwhelming. There are Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, Myspace, Skype, Google Chat, Plurk, Bebo, Xing, Hi5, Orkut, Pownce and LinkedIn. And these are just the more popular ones. But why should you as a project manager care about this?

Bas de Baar (https://blog.softwareprojects.org/) thinks you should. Bas argues that social media will help you personally by growing your visibility within the worldwide community of project managers and he also argues that social media helps your worldwide, virtual project team to grow together faster and deliver better projects.

As we were recording the interview we requested live questions from our Twitter followers. Three of them responded in time and the questions from @CobPEZ, @CoachM and @jgodfrey were answered right there and then. It's the start of integrating social media into The PM Podcast as well.

Bas also offers a free video blog at https://blog.softwareprojects.org/category/video-chat [Update: The web page is no longer available so we removed the link].

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Companies and project managers have believed for years that their only responsibility was mainly a financial one – maximizing value for shareholders and finish your projects on time and on budget. Sustainability is a new idea, where the corporate sector incorporates social and environmental concerns in its strategies and plays a more responsible role in the world.

But why should project managers care about it?

Our guest today is Jennifer Russell, PMP (www.mastodonconsulting.com) who argues that with some effort and foresight, sustainability can be integrated seamlessly in the goals of almost all projects and organizations. Furthermore, it is not necessarily the chief executives who must always initiate and implement sustainability. Project managers have the ability to introduce sustainability in their work and promote social good within the firm. If properly understood and executed, sustainability is a win–win strategy that benefits the project, the company, as well as society.

In our Gizmo's section we talk to Kay Wais who is the creator of the Project Risk Board Game, a fun way to get your mind in shape for project risk management. We are giving away to copies of the game - listen in to hear how to participate.

And the winners of two copies of Dux Raymond Sy's book SharePoint for Project Management are:

• Glenn Rogers, Ontario, Canada (Premium Listener)
• Eliseo Pita, A Coruna, Spain (Free Listener)