Episode 146: Projects, Programs, Portfolios & Career Advice
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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.