Welcome to the asapm July-August 2010 Newsletter!Welcome to the asapm July-August 2010 Newsletter!
This is an Opt-in Newsletter from asapm, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. We are IPMA-USA, the USA member association of International Project Management Association. Enjoy!
In This Issue
1. Change Agents: President's Message, by Stacy Goff
2. asapm 2010 Elections this Month; Please Vote
3. Project Management and the Alien Encounter, by Peter Taylor
4. asapm August 5 Dialogue Webinar: Which Animal In the Zoo Are You?
5. More News About the asapm Dialogue Webinar Series
6. Hodge, Byatt and Hamilton Offer a Double Play of Articles
7. IPMA 2010 World Congress Update: Papers Due July 30
8. Can Technology Solve the Project Execution Problem? Article by Boland and Finch
9. asapm Asks PMO Participants to Respond to The Lazy Project Managers PMO Survey
10. asapm Volunteer Positions: Members, Get Engaged!
11. Postings of Interest for Competent and Performing PMs
12. More asapm Items of Interest
1. Change Agents: President's Message, by Stacy Goff
Our Change Agents blog embraces the change that the practice of Project Management brings to the USA, and to Society. We post below teasers from this month's blog posting; click the bold, italicized heading to see the whole posting.
Exploring Success Factors and Measures; 1 of 2
The last month spawned two interesting media events, an interview for a CIO magazine article and an asapm Dialogue webinar. Both covered key aspects of project success. Though independent events, both showed synchronicity around a frequently-discussed, but often disputed topic: What is success, and how do you achieve and measure it? The events covered two aspects of project success, the Success Factors (that lead to success) and the Success Measures (used to evaluate success). This first of two postings covers the Success Factors.
The Success Factors
Success Factors, also called Critical Success Factors (CSFs), are the activities or factors in a project that are essential for it to meet its goals and expectations. They are enablers of success. We recently participated in an interview for the CIO magazine article, IT Project Management: 10 Less-Considered Keys to Success. The article explored comments in a discussion at the magazine’s CIO Forum LinkedIn group. The lively discussion revolved around the most important, but least-well-known Success Factors, or inputs, for a successful IT project.
Ironically, the first-mentioned Success Factor was (drumroll, please) A Clear Definition of Success. And, while the forum and article are targeted to CIOs and Information Technology projects, most of the comments apply to most project types, in any industry. One participant commented that too often success is based on elements of the “triple constraint”. He commented that project teams need to understand the expected value proposition of the project—and achieve it. More
Exploring Success Factors and Measures; 2 of 2
This is part two of our two-part post on Success Factors and Measures. Two independent events last month (an interview for a magazine article and a webinar) resonated around a frequently-discussed, but often disputed topic: What is project success, and how do you achieve it? The events covered two aspects of project success, the Success Factors (that lead to project success) and the Success Measures (used to evaluate success). This posting covers the Success Measures.
The Success Measures
Tim Jaques and Frank Salidis ran the latest webinar in the asapm 2010 Dialogue series the first week of July. The topic was Perspectives on Project Success: Excellence in Project Management. The well-presented and discussed Dialogue was excellent, but there is much more to the topic than an hour’s time. Some of the key points included the fact that the Triple Constraint is merely a project measure, and certainly not as important to the end-user as such hard-to-measure items as customer satisfaction.
Other points included discussions about tangible and intangible value, including Return On Investment, Stakeholder satisfaction (beyond customers), and even enhanced PM intelligence. Perceived failures, at least according to project measures, may be successes, by the time of product measurement. A key example provided was the Sydney Opera House. The distinction made: Project outputs versus outcomes. The slides of this asapm Dialogue series event are available at the asapm website; the video, with great comments from participants, has been delayed, but will also be posted on the same page.
The webinar merely introduced this complex topic; after all, how can one hour-long Dialogue cure the years of neglect we’ve seen in measuring organization benefits from projects? Let us explore this topic a bit further, organized around several key points:
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2. asapm 2010 Elections this Month; Please Vote!
Members, by now you have received your ballot for the 2010 asapm elections. If you are a current member, and have not received your ballot, please contact asapm VP Richard Toledo (Elections Committee Chair). Please cast your vote!
Note too, that each member of the Board will be seeking volunteers for their next year's initiatives. asapm is a member-driven and volunteer-staffed organization. We rely on the skills and competences of our members for our significant range of initiatives. See the volunteers-needed list at the asapm website. We are especially interested in members for the ongoing aPRO Program Team, for our Marketing team serving five services, including certification, a webmaster, and a newsletter editor.
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3. Project Management and the Alien Encounter, by Peter Taylor
Through a number of LinkedIn discussions I asked the following question: ‘We all know the terms of definition for project management but, to get outsiders to understand what we do, how would you simply describe project management to someone who has no idea what it is.’
Now it may just be me – but I am pretty sure it isn’t – people outside of project management don’t get project management. My family have no idea what I really do and here’s a test, ask any project manager you know to answer one simple question. They must answer quickly, no thinking time; just respond! OK. Look them in the eye and ask them ‘what does a project manager do?’ – I bet half them will mumble something along the lines of ‘they manage projects …’
Not very helpful.
So back to the ‘alien encounter’ and I feel that we need to get a few things out of the way here. Naturally as expected people responded with comments ranging from ‘If an alien arrived here from outer space then they probably know more about project management than we do’ – a fair point – to a comment written in ‘Klingon’ (and thank you to another contributor who sent me a translation) – and of course the classic ‘I thought that project managers were aliens’ – very good and ‘no’ but the sponsors could well be. More
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4. asapm August 5 Dialogue Webinar: Which Animal In the Zoo Are You?
A. The next event in the asapm 2010 Dialogue Series was originally presented at the IPMA World Congress in Helsinki in June 2009. asapm President Stacy Goff presents Which Animal In the Zoo Are You? Exploring Social Styles in Project Management. This useful and fun take on classic Social Styles (also called Behavioral Styles), as they relate to Project and Program Management.
Event Date: Thursday, August 5
Time: 3:00PM EDT
Registration: Dialogue Event Registration
Cost: One Hour of Your Time
Legend has it that Socrates described his contemporaries in terms of their Social Styles. Whether you've been exposed to Myers Briggs Type Indicator, or one of the many quadrant-based models, these are either pop psychology or useful tools, depending on how you use them--and whether your projects benefit from your use of them.
Among the take-aways from this webinar:
This Dialogue is for:
Register now by entering your name for this Dialogue Series event, and visit the project zoo with us on us August 5, 2010!
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5. More News About the asapm Dialogue Webinar Series
A. Recap of Our July 1 Dialogue Series Event, Perspectives on Project Success; Excellence in Project Management
Presenters Tim Jaques and Frank Salidis did a great job of choreographing this interactive, spirited session. And once again, Alex Brown starred in Directing the event. We have posted the pdf version of the slides at the asapm website; the videos are not yet available. We think this event just scratched the surface on Project Success, and anticipate more discussion on the topic. We'll inform you when the videos are available. Thanks Tim, Frank and Alex!
B. Duncan on Assessing Project Managers in September
Participate in our September 2 event to find out what Advanced PM certifications are all about. asapm is the only organization in the USA that offers them, and savvy organizations are increasingly demanding PM Performance Competence.
C. About the asapm Dialogue Series
The asapm Dialogue Series strives to increase knowledge and share viewpoints in the area of project management. The Dialogue Series is intended for Managers, Sponsors of projects, projects practitioners, and students of project management.
Gold Sponsor of the 2010 asapm Dialogue Series:: Real-Life Projects, Inc. Alex S. Brown, CEO; www.RLPRJ.com. Thanks again, Alex!
D. Dialogue Series Program Manager Volunteer Needed
The Dialogue program was started by Standards Director Tim Jaques, and he has the agenda nearly complete for this year. We are seeking another asapm member to take over the Dialogue Series so Tim can continue working on innovative PM Standards. You would work with us beginning immediately, then plan and deliver the 2011 Dialogue Series. This is your chance to practice your project planning and execution, delegation, marketing, directing and video editing. Interested? Contact Stacy. Thanks!
Visit asapm for the full schedule of 2010 Dialogue Series events.
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6. Hodge, Byatt and Hamilton Offer a Double Play of Articles
This month our literary "three musketeers" are once again offering us two articles for publication. Thanks, guys!
Anatomy of an Effective Project Manager
It’s first thing in the morning, and you are preparing to interview prospective project managers for an open position on your team. Whether it is your first candidate interview or you have conducted many before in your career, you are likely to be contemplating the line of questioning you will ask of the prospective candidates. Perhaps you are thinking of questions from a “Strengths and Weaknesses: Project Manager Profile” that you typically use, however, any line of questioning can only provide a limited insight about the candidate and their potential to be an effective project manager for your organization.
Understand that a skilled candidate may well have sat through similar interviews recently, researched your organization, and prepared competent answers to what they believe are the most typical interview questions. Or maybe they haven’t, because this is the first interview they are going to – although they are a first-rate project manager that is well thought of in their existing organization. In order to assess whether a person has the potential to be an effective project manager in your organization, we contend that you need to conduct specific assessments beyond interviews and references of previous work assignments. More
What Makes a Good Project KPI Framework?
Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs as generally referred to by all of us, are a powerful tool at the project manager ’s disposition that can, if structured appropriately:
Our article does not seek to focus on enterprise-wide or portfolio-level KPI metrics, nor does it seek to be all-encompassing in the uses of specific types of KPIs that can be deployed or how KPIs and metrics can help to run a business. We simply put forward some “pointers” to think about for project-level KPI control and how KPIs can be a tool to help you as an effective project manager ‘manage’ your project. More
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7. IPMA 2010 World Congress Update: Papers Due July 30
Paper presenters for the November IPMA World Congress in Istanbul have received notice that the response to the request for abstracts was massive, and the organizing committee is still evaluating abstracts. They have asked presenters to submit their papers, as part of easing the evaluation process. They also mention shortening the presentation sessions to 15 minutes, plus 5 minutes questions and answers. As long-time readers know, we have been tireless advocates of longer presentations, and have successfully campaigned for longer, richer sessions each year since 2005. Until now...
But let's look at it another way: Speakers who are members receive an additional 150€ discount. 150€ for 20 minutes speaking amounts to a rate per hour of 450€. At today's exchange close of $1.295 to the Euro, that makes your hourly rate $582.75. That is hard to beat in this economy!
Here are the important dates, for those who intend to present papers:
* Final Paper Submission Deadline: 30 July 2010
* Final Announcement With List of Accepted Papers: 15 August 2010
* Registration of persons submitting papers Deadline: 15 September 2010
* Congress Dates: 1-3 November 2010
Contact Stacy Goff if you have any questions about your Paper Submission. But don't delay; it appears that not only is the venue hotel filling up, the nearby hotels are quickly filling as well. The Turkish organizers have arranged very reasonable rates for the recommended hotels, compared to the rates we found at our favorite travel websites. See you in Istanbul!
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8. Can Technology Solve the Project Execution Problem? Article by Boland and Finch
Project management technology has been around for years now, so the problem of project execution must be basically solved, right? Wrong. The Standish Group has found that 68% of technology projects failed in 2009. Does this mean that project management solutions are just a waste of time?
The truth is that project management technology is only as good as the processes that support it. The only way to improve project execution rates is to look at the root causes of project failure and implement the necessary changes that will allow the technology to work. Here are a few of the top ways to accomplish this in your organization.
Problem #1 – Ignorance of True Per-Project Cost
We all know that people hate to track their time for a variety of reasons. Most find it to be a tedious exercise and believe that it takes time away from more important work. Others might feel suspicious that management wants to keep an eye on them. One of the biggest reasons is often that employees simply do not know what the time data will be used for or why they are tracking it in the first place, so why bother? This is a problem because time data can provide cost insight that you cannot obtain any other way. More
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9. asapm Asks PMO Participants to Respond to The Lazy Project Managers PMO Survey
The results of this short survey (10 questions) will be used to support Peter Taylor’s new book - Leading Successful PMOs (Gower) – due to published in 2011.
Peter is a dynamic and commercially astute professional who has achieved notable success in Project Management; currently as head of a PMO at Siemens Industry Software Limited a supplier of global product lifecycle management solutions. He is also very interested in maintaining a good work/life balance. His background is in project management across three major business areas over the last 25 years, MRP/ERP systems with various software houses and culminating in a role with KPMG, Business Intelligence with Cognos, and now within product lifecycle management (PLM) with Siemens. He has spent the last 7 years leading PMOs and developing project managers.
In addition to his popular article contributions to asapm, Peter is also an accomplished communicator and leader and is a professional speaker as well as the author of ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ www.thelazyprojectmanager.com – you can also access eLearning based on The Lazy Project Manager at www.thelazyprojectmanager.net
Thank you
As a ‘thank you’ for completing this survey you will find instructions at the end on how to receive a free eBook of Peter’s current hit The Lazy Project Manager. Complete the Survey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CJ3JDDB
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10. asapm Volunteer Positions: Members, Get Engaged!
asapm Certification Marketing Manager
We're looking for someone to take over the marketing function for asapm's ADVANCED project management certifications: project manager, senior project manager, and program manager. These are all performance-based certifications and are recognized world-wide as part of IPMA's Four Level Certification program.
We have tons of ideas. What we need is someone to drive implementation. 4-5 hours a week would be an order of magnitude improvement, but if you want to commit more, we'll find a way to make it worthwhile for you!
The major qualification is a willingness to learn and to work hard. Since asapm is IPMA-USA, we also need someone who lives and works in the USA. We'd be happy to teach a marketing pro about project management, or to help a project-management-type learn some marketing fundamentals.
All other details are negotiable. Contact William Duncan, Certification Chair.
aPRO Ongoing Program Team Being Formed
As the aPRO initiative transitions from project closure to ongoing Program Start-up, asapm is soliciting volunteers for the positions in the ongoing aPRO Program Team. These are volunteer positions, as for all the other exciting programs asapm administers. We are actively recruiting the following:
The initial term for these positions is one year. You could be part of this exciting program team that will help improve the PM performance of USA organizations and project teams. If you are interested, contact asapm President: Stacy Goff.
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11. Postings of Interest for Competent and Performing PMs
The Origins of Modern Project Management, by Mosaic Project Services Party Ltd. (Australia): http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/PDF_Papers/P050_Origins_of_Modern_PM.pdf. Recommended by Rose, this article was first published in April 2007, then updated in December 2008. It is lengthy, but rich with background information. It has background about the beginnings of IPMA, including its original name, INTERNET. Also contains some discussion about PM as a profession vs. a discipline.
An Introduction to IPMA; yet another point of view on project management.
asapm Member Services Director Brent Hanson stumbled across this in his research. http://www.key-9.com/portal/docs/PMPC_20060824_V1-0.pdf. We had seen it before, and are familiar with the IBM 7 Keys approach, but Brent thought our members and friends would also enjoy it. This presentation, to a Swiss group, compares the differences in IPMA and the PM Institute, along with IBM's 7 keys.
The presentation is a few years old now (2006), but still very applicable. There may be some inaccuracies, based on the access the authors had to IPMA information. For example, on page 16 there is the "coincidence" of the behavioral aspects being added to models in 2005 and 2006. Since its origins in the early 1990s, the IPMA model has always included the behavioral aspects (interpersonal skills), as key elements of competent PMs.
Birds of a Feather: Project Managers and Business Analysts
Our good friends up North, Project Management Association of Canada / Association de gestion de projet du Canada, continue to do interesting things. In addition to their awards program and special and unique PM certs, such as their Certified Agile Project Manager, they continue to produce intriguing articles. The latest is Kevin Aguanno's article about Project Managers and Business Analysts.
Is There Any Value to PM Certification?
Speaking of Kevin, and we don't know how we missed it, but in May he published another interesting article at ProjectTimes, the rich-with-information site from our friends who run the Project Summit and
Business Analyst World. Kevin's answer to the Value of PM Certification, as you would guess, is "It depends". Of course, as one of asapm's original First Assessors, and now a First Assessor for Canada, in both cases for Advanced PM Certifications, he has a strong bias in favor of Competence-based certs, such as those offered by all the IPMA Member Associations. Of special interest is the comments by readers after Kevin's article. This is a highly recommended read!
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12. More asapm Items of Interest
Duncan's latest Blog Postings
In The rush to licensure, Duncan cautions about the implications of moving project management increasingly towards a profession, together with links to (subscription required) pros and cons on the topic.
In Why do we repeat our mistakes? he explores the implications of an article that Rose uncovered. It's like being Anosognosic is never having to admit I'm stupid! Or, as Duncan says, "there are a ton of incompetent project managers out there who just don’t know enough to know that they are incompetent!"
Young Crew Site Update and News
The Young Crew website now has a new look, new feel, and fresh content, courtesy of Pavan Kumar Gorakavi. Readers may recall Pavan's extensive series of articles last year on a range of Agile methods. And, watch for a news release on new YC-USA initiatives. Great job, Pavan!
Members Only Move IPMA Family Completing
Speaking of websites, the move of the asapm Members Only area to the IPMA Family website is nearly complete. All Members Only links now point to the IPMA Family site, members have been sent invitations to set themselves up in the new site, to post your photo, and to join the variety of groups on the site. This site includes over 100 groups right now, and the number will increase. Of course, the Members Only secret goodies will remain available.
asapm's IBM Grant Update
Interviews are complete, the analysis and reporting is drawing to a close, and now, before submitting the final report to IBM for publishing, there are just a few steps remaining. They include a final edit and review of the findings and recommendations with the USA Government officials who participated in the interviews, and shared their perspective with the team. For those who have not followed this story, their work is focusing on project manager competency in the Federal Government.
In June, the team met for their final face-to-face get-together; pictured below at the Denver World Trade Center are (L to R) Brent Hansen, Tim Jaques, Michael O’Brochta, Morgan Henrie. Tim is Project Manager for the study and is our Director of Standards, Brent is our Director of Member Services, and Morgan is our Director of Marketing. Michael was a great addition to the team, as he brought extensive experience with the CIA certification program, and with the PM Institute's initiatives in certification. Great job, guys! But, where are your asapm shirts?
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asapm, IPMA-USA, 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 Competence in Project and Program Management. asapm is a registered trademark of the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. See our past newsletters at our website.
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