Welcome to the asapm September 2009 Newsletter! Welcome to the asapm September 2009 Newsletter!
This is an Opt-in Newsletter from asapm, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. Normally produced in the even-numbered months, we are experimenting with monthly editions. Enjoy!
In This Issue
1. Change Agents: President's Message, by Stacy Goff
2. asapm Promoting PMO Symposium 2009, Nov. 8-10, in Atlanta
3. Articles: Hodge's Doubleheader, by Jeff Hodgkinson
4. PMAC, IPMA-Canada, Offers Webinars for asapm Members
5. Article: Redefining Project Management; by Dr. Denis Petersen
6. Reminder: Feb. 2010 IPMA Expert Seminar Abstracts due 19 Oct. 2009
7. Article: What Mismanaging Small Projects Will Cost You; by Curt Finch
8. asapm Appoints Brent Hansen as Director of Member Services
9. You Go, Kevin... and More About PMAC-AMPC, IPMA-Canada
10. LinkedIn Update: asapm Is LinkedIn; Are You?
11. New Survey Focuses on Executives in Telecommunications
12. Play PM Hangman (But Don't Let Them Catch You)
1. Change Agents: President's Message, by Stacy Goff
Managing Change will continue to be our greatest challenge. Appropriate, because PM is the discipline of managing change for the better. As part of managing change, we have instituted Change Agents, a blog-based dialogue (click the link). Intended to include Guest writers as well as asapm Board members, the Change Agents blog is part of a series of initiatives that will increase the frequency of asapm's interaction with our members and friends. In this month's posts, we continue the discussion with the following blog posts:
When Does a Project Begin? One of the greatest challenges in managing a project is managing its duration. And yet, inconsistent standards about when a project actually begins makes everything from duration metrics to Customer expectations inconsistent. Let’s look at a hypothetical example...
Report: 3rd Annual UT Dallas PM Symposium. asapm and IPMA were well-represented at the 3rd Annual University of Texas at Dallas PM Symposium August 13-14. With the theme Managing in a Changing World, and sponsored by the UT Dallas, the Dallas Chapter of PM Institute, and by PMForum, this was the most interesting US conference we have participated in this year. We presented twice, and IPMA Secretary General Veikko Välilä also presented twice. One of our presentations was in a PM Career Management track, and the other was with Veikko in a Panel discussion about The Future of PM.
Understanding Change: A Good First Step. If we are to be successful as Change Agents, we need to understand Change. That understanding ranges from the dynamics of Change, to the disciplines involved, even to the terminology around Change. This posting deals with some of the terminology around Program or Project Change. For example, many years ago, ...
Posts will continue to include wide-ranging commentary; and here we ask your help. Many of us have started blogs, and then gotten too busy with other priorities. Soon a year had gone by, with no new posts. So we want your contributions, too! If you have something to say, and can express it in a relatively even-handed way (no flames here), please Contact Us!
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2. asapm Promoting PMO Symposium 2009, Nov. 8-10, in Atlanta
PMO Symposium 2009 is the premier PMO event of the year, featuring over 25 speakers covering topics important to PMO leaders and project management practitioners alike. In 2008, over 275 attendees representing over 200 companies participated in the PMO Symposium, making it among the largest global PMO-specific events. Whether you lead or work in an existing PMO or are responsible for establishing or maturing a PMO, the PMO Symposium 2009 agenda is designed to give you leading insights and information on how to advance your PMO, including two keynote presentations by internationally recognized PMO experts from Forrester Research and Project Management Solutions, a variety of breakout sessions focusing on practical topics of interest to PMO practitioners, panel discussions, and networking opportunities.
Sessions are available in three track themes, focusing on strategic, managerial, and tactical PMO aspects, allowing you to select from a variety of sessions based on the unique needs of your PMO. Topics are designed to address a variety of industries and levels of PMO maturity, from newly formed PMOs to well established strategic PMOs. All three days will allow you to network with other attendees and seminar speakers to discuss your specific area of interest and to advance your knowledge.
PMO Symposium 2009 is being held at the Intercontinental Hotel Buckhead hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, located in the heart of Atlanta's unique Buckhead neighborhood, featuring world class dining, entertainment, and nightlife. Complete details are available online at www.pmosymposium.org.
The PMO Symposium 2009 team is pleased to offer all asapm members a 10% discount off of the already low early registration price of $995 (only available until September 1) or the regular registration price of $1,095. Use the discount code ASAPM when you register online to receive this discount.
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3. Articles: Hodge's Doubleheader, by Jeff Hodgkinson
Jeff Hodgkinson seems to really get around: Active on LinkedIn, where he leads a Program Management group, he also participates in asapm's Program Management activities as well of those of other organizations. When we asked him for an article for the asapm website he responded in splendor. We publish two in this issue, and will post a third one for October.
Realizing Benefits – It’s What Projects Are For! By Gareth Byatt & Jeff Hodgkinson
“A project Business Case is your platform for agreeing to the plan that will ensure value-driven Benefits Realization”. We believe a simple methodology can be applied to attain Benefits Realization. Achieve true project success by ensuring:
Summary: Today, more than ever, project benefits need to be achievable then realized and then sustained (maintaining relevance) when your project is complete and its output goes into use. Adopting a simple ‘Project Benefits Realization Tracking Method’ starting from the project’s business case onwards can help you achieve this…
Leadership Styles for Program and Project Managers,
by Jeff Hodgkinson
Leadership Style is a one of the potential success factors for both program and project managers. It is a ‘soft skill’
which is often neglected in training because it is very hard to measure a person’s leadership style in a training
situation. By understanding leadership styles and their impact, a PM can become great project leader. Therefore,
the program and project manager must determine the most appropriate leadership style for each project team. A
Program/Project Manager should choose the correct leadership style based upon the Project & Project Team
requirements.
Summary: The mastery of ‘soft skills’ in knowing and understanding the different leadership styles and when to apply them will greatly benefit your project management abilities as each has a place and time given the situation. It is a good bet that not just in work but in life you have had to use each one of the leadership styles listed in some form but not known it. In all styles, you should know when they are being applied to you and how to respond back.
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4. PMAC-AMPC, IPMA-Canada, Offers Webinars for asapm Members
We have posted this before, and, here it is again for our last opportunity, coming September 10! We just signed up for this one, and it looks to be really interesting!
About PMAC-AMPC: The Project Management Association of Canada (PMAC), IPMA-Canada, is setting up a slew of low-cost webinars and teleseminars as educational opportunities that generate revenues for their association and also create a member benefit (members get a significant discount on the events and can still earn credit hours towards their re certification at the same time).
PMAC is extending their member discount to asapm members. They offer us the same member discount that they offer to their own members to these events. Thanks PMAC!
The next event is September 10, 2009 - Project Lessons from The Great Escape by Mark Kozak Holland - $9.95 members, $19.95 non-members. See event details and registration at http://www.mmpubs.com/catalog/10-september-2009-pmac-project-lessons-from-the-great-escape-p-311.html.
For asapm members to get the member discount, see the posting in the asapm Members Only area, with the link to the sign-up, and the special discount coupon code, for your use when making your online purchase.
See you at the webinar!
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5. Article: Redefining Project Management; by Dr. Denis Petersen
People truly are a project manager’s most valuable asset. Those who understand this principle find success. The title “project manager” is in many instances a misnomer. People hear the title and immediately begin thinking of schedules and budgets. However, truly successful project managers understand that tools do not produce success. People produce success.
People are a project manager’s most valuable asset. Without good people, tools and processes are left lifeless, inanimate and unproductive. Successful project managers also understand that people need leadership; they cannot be managed like a project schedule or budget. Thus, project leader or project coach may be titles that better describe what project managers must be to produce success on projects.
The term people, as used above, refers to executives, project sponsors, project team members, customers and other stakeholders who have a vested interest in the outcome of a project. Many projects are truly organization-wide efforts. The impacts of successful or failed projects can touch stakeholders positively or negatively throughout an entire organization or enterprise. This simple fact demands that project managers provide effective leadership for stakeholders (across, up and down the management chain) throughout the lifecycle of a project.
This is from the article's Introduction, and it gets even better. See this article.
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6. Reminder: Feb. 2010 IPMA Expert Seminar Abstracts due 19 Oct. 2009
You have less than 6 weeks to respond to the Call For Papers for the February 18-19, 2010 International Expert Seminar to be held in Zurich, Switzerland. The abstracts, with your choice of topic streams, are due October 19, 2009, and Early Bird Registration (with discounted fees) ends December 7th, 2009. Additional information, the four streams, and registration is on the Expert Seminar website.
The IPMA International Expert Seminar 2010 will be a fruitful combination of plenary sessions and breakout stream workshops. While the plenary sessions aim to lay a common understanding of the subject, the streams aim to exchange experience and to jointly develop new ideas on the subject. In plenary sessions, the main format will be paper presentations while the streams will be more interactive with short presentations and team work.
Hosted by the Swiss Project Management Association, the Swiss Member Affiliate of IPMA, the Expert Seminar Series is the must-attend exchange for all PM practitioners who wish to help forge the future of our practice. Unlike other associations, IPMA does not compete with its own vendors, by holding typical PM classes. Instead, the Expert Seminars and a few limited other offerings are intended to establish and share leading ideas and practices. Thus, Expert Seminars are unique: We encourage your participation!
Report On the 2009 Expert Seminar
Two asapm members, William Duncan and Stacy Goff, participated in the IPMA 2009 Expert Seminar; we can heartily encourage your participation in 2010. To add visibility and interest in the USA, Dr. Hans Knopfel Expert Seminar Chair, has given us permission to publish Goff's paper, Improving PM Performance in the Classroom & Beyond, on the asapm website.
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7. Article: What Mismanaging Small Projects Will Cost You; by Curt Finch
Okay, so maybe you have the large projects nailed in Microsoft Project, but what about the smaller ones
that, in reality, make up the bulk of your portfolio? Are you just "winging" those, using status emails
and Excel spreadsheets to manage them? If so, you could be making a great mistake.
Small projects, while often overlooked, are still crucial to a company's success. Since they might not involve large sums of money, many companies do not worry as much about them, but all of these small projects can add up to some major costs if managed improperly.
Best Practices
Top project managers know the best practices for their large projects, but what many do not realize is
that these techniques can be applied to smaller projects as well. An article recently published in ProjectSmart
affirms this: “Applying the best practices to even a small project can be done without creating
too much paperwork or overhead. The best practices are the things which countless project managers
have done on thousands of projects and are deemed to be the 'best practice' because they tend to help
you to achieve the best results. Don't think that because you're managing a small project that you can
ditch these best practices because if you do, you will regret it later when your project gets in a mess.”
Curt Finch is CEO of Journyx, a popular PM Tools provider; see his article.
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8. asapm Appoints Brent Hansen as Director of Member Services
From the Press Release: The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has appointed Dr. Brent Hansen, D.B.A, PMP® from Bountiful, Utah to serve as Director of Member Services. The position became open when Stacy Goff, formerly in that role, was elected asapm's President. Brent will serve the remaining two years in the position.
Brent’s interests include increasing membership and serving current members, increasing affiliations with Project Management‐related professional organizations, and improving the visibility and results of asapm’s contributions to national and global project management performance. asapm is the International Project Management Association (IPMA – www.ipma.ch) representative in the United States. IPMA has over 40,000 members worldwide. asapm is a young and growing organization, yet offers the USA's only Performance competence-based certification of Project Managers and Senior Project Managers. Welcome to the Board, Brent!
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9. You Go, Kevin... and More About PMAC-AMPC, IPMA-Canada
We mentioned PMAC above, but our friends up North have far more going on. To start with, see this article (from May) by Kevin Aguanno, one of the founders of PMAC-AMPC. Kevin speaks to the need for more advanced topics, and for a variety of agile methods. Significantly, he emphasizes the need to move beyond basic PM knowledge, to develop PM Competence as well. Sound familiar?
While you are on the site, click on Certification, then Specialty Certifications, and see PMAC's latest clever idea. They are offering a Specialty Certificate in Agile Project Management. This is an additive certification: Applicants must already have an initial certification or entry-level foundation, such as a PMP or an IPMA Level-D, or others. This interesting idea shows how the great combination of leadership, talent and experience is working for PMAC!
asapm past President Lew Ireland will speak at the Annual General PMAC-AMPC Meeting in Toronto on December 2. Watch the PMAC Events page for an update and details.
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10. LinkedIn Update: asapm Is LinkedIn; Are You?
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of Group Moderator Thomas Keenan, we now have over 200 members in our asapm Group on LinkedIn. Not all are members -- yet, but there are some very interesting discussions going on. If you have not yet checked it out, come join our LinkedIn Group (the linked page requires a LinkedIn account, and you then apply to join the group). The existence of this public group has raised some questions about how this affects our Members Only networking site. They have different purposes; the difference between the two, as we see it:
Our Members Only site has all the capabilities of a social network, and more, but from a more secure, inward-facing perspective. That means no junk posts, and no screaming guarantee you'll pass your cert exam ads. Because of that security, you can also find free goodies there that you will not find anywhere else.
Our LinkedIn Group is outward facing, to help others to Discover the PM Performance Competence Difference. In addition to lively dialogue between favorite protagonists, some interesting new people have weighed in; we will use the LinkedIn Group to attract gifted PM Talent to write articles for our website, participate in our projects, and other PR activities. For example: We are looking for people (members, or savvy not-yet-members) who are interested in proselytizing with the asapm message on popular social networks, e-zines, and blogs. Interested? Contact us!
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11. New Survey Focuses on Executives in Telecommunications
Edithe Drewery Brown, PMP®; SSBB has asked if we can put in a link to her survey on our website. This survey has a focus on PMs and Executives of the telecom industry. If you are not in this audience, perhaps you will forward it to relevant peers and friends. Here is her note, and a link to the Survey:
I would greatly appreciate it if this link to the Survey could be put up on your site for both Project Managers and Senior Executives to see and hopefully I will be able to get enough telecom PMs and Executives to see it and respond to it to render my research meaningful. -- Best Regards, Edithe
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12. Play PM Hangman (But Don't Let Them Catch You)
Okay, we gave in. We resisted posting this PM Hangman Game, but just must. If you are familiar with the way Hangman works, this is pretty typical. The difference: It uses Project Management phrases, rather than everyday ones. Oh wait, PM phrases ARE our everyday ones! When we tried it, we often solved the puzzle with only one wrong guess; sometimes two. We're sure glad it uses American English; thank you Prem!
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asapm, the USA Member of IPMA, is the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. We are a not-for-profit organization, staffed with volunteers who are dedicated to improving Performance Competent in Program and Project Management. asapm is a registered trademark of the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management.
For subscribe information or even better, to Join asapm, see the links at the bottom of most pages on the asapm.org website.
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