Duration-Driven | A Project Management Blog

Where Can I Learn New Project Management Skills?

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:24:48 +0000

A while ago we talked about some of the project management skills PMs were adding to their toolbox (http://www.duration-driven.com/2011/11/which-project-management-skills-should-i-be-learning-right-now-2/). If you’re interested in developing new expertise or talents but are having a tough time figuring out where to go for more information, we have some tips to help get you started.

Within in your PMO. Even if you aren’t one for formal mentoring, it might be prudent to identify a professional within your organization that has a skill you want to develop. Talk with them one-on-one to see if you can learn from them by partnering on a project, watching them in action, or perhaps taking them out to lunch so you can pick their brain. For departments where training budgets are non-existent, the price of a meal could get you access to some serious knowledge.

Through an industry organization. PMs already footing the bill for membership in a professionals’ group should investigate the organization’s educational offerings. Options range from learning general business operations to courses focused on a narrow topic, and participants may get the option for hands-on training or intern-type partnerships. More of these associations are starting to offer webinars in addition to traditional face-to-face seminars and workshops, so check out what’s available.

From a consultant. Depending on their area of expertise and exposure to the types of projects you’re seeking, an external consultancy may be able to help you hone specific skills or gain greater insight into a particular area of project management. Look for certified trainers with experience providing instruction to professionals at your level, within your industry, or on the size or complexity of projects you hope to manage. Consider joining forces with others in your PMO to get the best bang for your training buck and improve your team’s overall expertise at the same time.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Recruiting Tips

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:38:23 +0000

Project teams are gradually seeing budgets increase and projects restart, leading some to begin recruiting to replenish their ranks. We’ve already covered ways PMOs can attract good talent (http://www.duration-driven.com/2011/10/attract-good-talent/), but for teams just getting back into the recruiting groove, here are some quick fundamentals to make the process efficient and productive.

Start looking early. Even if your team hasn’t received final approval to bring in new members, it’s sometimes helpful to scope out the resumes posted by project professionals on job board and business networking forums.

Consider tomorrow’s needs. Your PMO’s workload will probably be expanding beyond the projects on today’s list, so it’s important to plan for the skills, expertise, and staffing you’re likely to need in the coming months and maybe even years. Look for candidates with skills that complement

Set expectations with candidates. It’s probably safe to assume that if your PMO is hiring, others are as well, and candidates may be juggling interviews and potentially job offers. You’ll be doing your team and your candidates a favor by being candid about a realistic timeframe for making a hiring decision.

Set expectations within your PMO. Don’t tell your team you’re hiring a junior-level professional if everyone knows you need someone with years of experience. At best your search for a new team member with the right mix of skills and expertise will be inefficient—at worst you’ll have existing employees assuming they have a chance of being promoted to fill the high-level gap.

Leverage your network. The old adage says the best candidates probably already have jobs, and a good way to connect with those folks not openly looking for new opportunities is through your PMO’s network of contacts. Tap industry associations and regional professional groups to find people who might be interested in your new job opening.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Managing a Multi-Generational Team

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:13:45 +0000

We’ve already talked about managing Boomers (http://www.duration-driven.com/2011/12/value-your-boomers/) and Millennials (http://www.duration-driven.com/2011/10/managing-millennials/), but how can you successfully pull together a PMO that includes professionals from multiple generations? Check out the following strategies to engage your diverse team and ensure it’s functioning at its best.

Mix it up. To keep everyone thinking as a team, it’s important that you don’t inadvertently cut off one group from another. Look over the various project or cross-functional teams in your PMO and be sure each of them includes a mixture of experience levels and age ranges. Proactively work to place individuals together who have complementary skill sets—most professionals understand where their abilities could use strengthening, and they’ll often welcome the opportunity for some informal mentoring.

Encourage knowledge sharing. The information exchange between Boomers and Millennials isn’t one-way—both groups have much they can teach to and learn from the other. Some individuals may initially feel uncomfortable either asking for help or offering it, so you might need to do some prompting. Consider creating a team-wide initiative to share knowledge, which might include Millennials giving brown bag seminars on technology platforms, and Boomers offering insight into highly specialized niche project experiences.

Keep it competitive. Some professional (and friendly!) competition will keep team members of every age range on their toes, and will also encourage them to continue expanding their range of skills and expertise. Continuing education credits and certifications can be posted as a source of individual pride, or the opportunity to lead the next large project might be opened up to the team member who goes above and beyond on a particularly difficult task. Be sure to recognize accomplishments at all levels, and publicly commend high achievers as well as quick learners. Remember to keep things low-key, so you’re pulling team members together instead of alienating them.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Why Can’t We Get Along?

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:56:53 +0000

We’ve already talked about why it isn’t necessary to see eye to eye to still be a successful project team (http://www.duration-driven.com/2010/06/project-management-teamwork-when-good-confrontation-goes-bad/ and http://www.duration-driven.com/2010/06/5-tips-to-neutralize-personality-conflicts-within-your-team/), but if conflict is disrupting your PMO, maybe it’s time to dig into why folks aren’t getting along. Determining your team’s triggers could help you find a way to channel useless bickering and unnecessary disagreements toward more productive discussions.

Competition. It usually isn’t a bad thing, and a bit of friendly competition can even be useful to keep team members on their toes. But if the environment becomes too competitive—as can happen when budgets are slashed and employees worry their job might be next—the situation can quickly go from collegial to cutthroat.

Fear. Employees who are afraid, whether it’s of failure, potential job loss, or even the lack of future career opportunities, sometimes turn their internal concerns into outward animosity as a misguided form of self-preservation. The hostility might then find a target in coworkers and business partners, who are often entirely unaware of what’s prompting the inappropriate behavior.

Lack of respect. Senior-level team members may see less experienced employees as expendable, and new hires could assume they’ve been brought in to augment or replace existing employees who are underperforming. Newly promoted workers sometimes see their former peers as less valuable to the organization, which can lead to poor treatment and an acrimonious environment.

Burn out. An overworked or burned out employee is likely to take out their exhaustion and lack of enthusiasm on their coworkers, often in the form of increasing unprofessionalism and bitterness. Unfortunately, burn out is the kind of poison that can quickly infect an entire PMO if it’s allowed to fester—some may see the burn out’s actions as being aimed at them personally, while others could realize they’re running out of steam, too.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Register for our May 30th online webinar “Shifting the Worry Curve”

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:29:45 +0000

Event: Webinar: Project Management and “Shifting the Worry Curve”

Description: Anyone who’s worked on projects knows that surprises can often become the norm, not the exception. Unfortunately, many project surprises that could have been identified early go unnoticed until it’s too late. These “last minute surprises” lead to an inordinate amount of time spent on playing catch-up and, ultimately, missed deadlines, cost overruns, and poor quality.

The solution is to shift the worry curve earlier in the project life cycle. This shift requires a formal project management methodology, one that includes a structured and disciplined control process.

In this 1-hour webinar, Jay Wilson, Director of Training for PMAlliance, Inc., will explain why project teams and project managers continue to operate in the panic mode, and how a shift in focus can dramatically improve project outcomes.

Agenda

Overview of the elements of project management
Examine the typical project worry curve
Evaluate a superior approach to managing focus and project deliverables
Understand the interrelationship of project management elements
Learn to manage client and team member expectations

Who Should Attend? Project sponsors, managers and team members seeking to gain greater insight into successful project management methods.

Sponsor: IMEC and PMAlliance, Inc.

Presenter: Jay Wilson, Director of Training for PMAlliance, Inc.

City:

Location: Online

Date: 05/30/2012

Time: 10:00AM-11:00AM

Status: Confirmed

Cost: $0

Audience: Manufacturers

Contact Name: Amy Fitzgerald

Contact Phone: 309-677-2977

Contact Email: afitzgerald@imec.org

4 Documentation Flubs That Could Cost You

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:17:10 +0000

Good, comprehensive documentation practices are an afterthought in many PMOs. If your project office still hasn’t set up an efficient program, check out these 4 ways that your current methods could be sucking up your team’s time, money, or worse.

1 – Your documentation is scattered all over the place. Some is stored within your PMO, but other bits are tucked away in other departments. One risk is that someone will review your records and assume they’re complete. Not only could the missing information cost you time when you have to hunt down the record you need, there’s also the potential for compliance problems if an auditor reviews your files.

2 – Your records aren’t all in the same format. E-mails are stored in your inbox, invoices are kept in paper folders, and photos are archived within their respective presentation files. Something could become lost, but equally important is the risk your team will lose access to old records as new software versions come out and old platforms are no longer supported.

3 – Everyone keeps what they think is important. You have multiple copies of the same information floating around, but nothing is exactly the same. When you come across one version, how do you know if it’s a master or an outdated draft? Not only does this flub take up more space (digital and physical) than necessary, you could also be referencing inaccurate data, setting your new project off to a bad start.

4 – No one keeps what they think is important. In this case, instead of having too many copies of something, you have no copies. Discarding critical information could be a regulatory or PR nightmare, and at the very least you might be losing out on the potential cost savings and improved efficiencies your team identified in earlier projects.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Selling Stakeholders on a Less-Than-Ideal Solution

admin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:23:48 +0000

We’ve already looked at ways to evaluate and select the best option when none of the choices are perfect (http://www.duration-driven.com/2012/03/3-ways-to-make-a-decision-you-can-live-with/). Now the challenge becomes convincing your stakeholders that you made the right decision, and that the end result will still be satisfactory and meet the project’s objectives. Below are some suggestions to keep everyone happy and looking forward.

Describe the options that were open to you. Stakeholders likely aren’t aware of how each option shaped up, so it’s often helpful to provide them with the details on where the solutions were lacking. Be sure, too, that they understand where your team had leverage to make changes (paying for expedited shipping) as opposed to where you were stuck with a solution as-is (lack of available materials due to legal restrictions). Sometimes all it takes is for a project’s key supporters to see how unattractive the other choices were to know you selected the right one.

Identify the factors you used to make the decision. Thoroughly explain what your team considered when making the final decision and what importance was placed on each factor. This will help to assure stakeholders that your criteria were sound and reasonable, and that their personal preferences might not rank highly when viewed in a wider context. Be sure to highlight budgetary restrictions, timing requirements, compliance or regulatory mandates, and anything else that had little (or no) wiggle room.

Explain how the solution will impact the project. Now is the time to lay out what effect your decision will have. Does the schedule need to change? Will low-priority objectives be eliminated in favor of supporting more important deliverables? Are users going to see different benefits at the end of the project than originally planned? Remember to emphasize those areas where the selected option didn’t have any negative effects.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

4 Video Mistakes PMOs Make

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:53:33 +0000

We’ve already talked about ways your PMO can use video to build stakeholder support (http://www.duration-driven.com/2012/02/4-ways-pmos-are-using-video/), but what if you’re not sure where to start? Below are some common mistakes project teams make when leveraging video, along with ways you can avoid these everyday pitfalls.

1 – Creating videos that are too long. Unless your stakeholders have specifically asked for in-depth coverage on a project, it’s best to keep videos to a length that won’t overwhelm viewers—three or four minutes is usually a good guideline as a maximum. PMOs often leverage videos that are even shorter in length to good effect. Remember, too, that these bite-sized videos are easier to add to already-full meeting agendas than something that’s overly long.

2 – Covering too many topics in a single video. Videos that are complicated or try to tackle too much in one sitting usually end up being confusing and ineffective. It’s better to create multiple videos that each cover one aspect of your project, rather than try to cram everything into one. Viewers are also more likely to be engaged by your videos when they can pick and choose the subjects they want to see.

3 – Making poor quality videos. You may not need a full video production team, but cell phones and older model cameras often don’t produce good enough video to keep viewers engaged and informed. Low lighting conditions often make images difficult to see, an unsteady hand leads to blurry footage, and loud environments can quickly render a video nearly unwatchable.

4 – Releasing videos as-is. If your video includes an on-camera speaker, adequate lighting, and good sound quality, you can probably make it available to viewers without much editing. However, most videos will benefit from captions, an audio track, the careful removal of unnecessary footage, and smooth transitions between shots.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Should You Establish a Focus Group?

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:44:33 +0000

Earlier we talked about how your PMO can make the most of focus groups (http://www.duration-driven.com/2012/02/making-focus-groups-work-for-you/), but it’s important to remember that a focus group may not be right for every project. Situations will vary, but below are some guidelines to help you determine if a focus group is likely to help or hinder your progress.

The budget is tighter than usual. You might still be able to put together a lean, mean, cost-cutting focus group machine, but beware: if you’re counting every single penny, you’re unlikely to have the resources needed to meet more than 1 or 2 of the objectives your group identifies. Because focus groups quickly lose their steam when they realize their efforts can’t possibly supported, it’s better to either forego the focus group approach entirely, or present them with very tight boundaries in which to work.

End users are too geographically dispersed to bring everyone together. While video or teleconferencing might do the trick in some instances, remember that time zone differences could make ongoing focus sessions difficult for everyone to accommodate. It’s better to reduce the size of the group to only those you know can attend every meeting, or even to eliminate the focus group altogether, than hold numerous unproductive sessions. As an alternative, consider sending out surveys—they might be a better vehicle to help you gather the information you need.

Bringing disparate groups together is likely to spark animosity. This is especially true when a project’s objectives have been honed down from their original scope and some groups will no longer reap the benefits they initially hoped for, or when you’re managing one executive’s pet project. Talking individually with end users may be a better solution than establishing a full focus group, but be careful you aren’t playing into users’ fears about favoritism.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

March Madness

admin — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:19:40 +0000

When everyone who watches college basketball a few weeks out of the year turns into experts.

NCAA brackets come out the second week in March, and the basketball fanatics watch the games intensely, while closely monitoring how their office pool brackets are shaping up. March Madness actually has some interesting tie-ins to project management, from the novice’s personal opinion of their prognostication abilities to how they make their bracket selections to how skilled they are at recognizing surprises early.

Once the NCAA brackets are released and everyone surveys the regional pairings, one thing is certain: everyone knows more about how the tournament will play out than everyone else—including the experts. It doesn’t matter that the experts live, sleep, and breathe college basketball year-round, while most fans start paying attention to the standings a few weeks before the Madness begins. These part-timers are sure they know more than the experts. This is similar to project management, where the people who perform project management tasks sparingly know more about it than the consultants who do it every day.

After everyone has reviewed the experts’ picks, it’s time to build their “schedule.” Similar to project management, the thought of “how hard can this be?” is usually at the forefront. If you simply follow the higher-seeded team, they should win, right? Of course not. The savvy bracket analyst realizes there is far more science to it than that. There are a host of metrics to be analyzed: strength of schedule, RPI rating, rebound margin, road record, field goal percentages…the list goes on and on. And all these statistics enable the experts to determine every game correctly, right? Again: of course not. The experts know there is some art that needs to be added to that science. Every year there are countless surprises that turn 90% of the country’s brackets upside down, and this happens every year without fail. Similar to project management, those people who can recognize the surprises early are the ones who are the most successful.

Mach Madness can teach us a lot about our project management success. If you perform project management part time, or if you’re a recipient of project management data, recognize there’s value in deferring to the perspectives of experts who perform project management every day. The experts might make project management look easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not difficult. Understand that even after all the research and preparation, surprises will occur. It’s the ability to recognize the surprises early that often determines success.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Duration-Driven | A Project Management Blog

Where Can I Learn New Project Management Skills?

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Recruiting Tips

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Managing a Multi-Generational Team

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Why Can’t We Get Along?

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Register for our May 30th online webinar “Shifting the Worry Curve”

Event: Webinar: Project Management and “Shifting the Worry Curve”

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4 Documentation Flubs That Could Cost You

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Selling Stakeholders on a Less-Than-Ideal Solution

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4 Video Mistakes PMOs Make

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Should You Establish a Focus Group?

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March Madness

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