And if your answer is "Yes of course they are complex" then how do you first of all measure this complexity and second and more importantly how do you manage project complexity?
Is it just a question of using standardized project management approaches, PM processes or maybe a project management office (PMO)?
These are some of the basic questions that I discuss in this episode with Jerry Manas. Jerry Manas has been a guest previously on our show about various project management topics. Today we discuss how to successfully manage complex projects with simplicity, clarity and focus.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
Last week we heard how Jerry Manas uses simplicity, clarity and focus to approach managing the ever increasing complexity in business processes. This means that project management processes consequentially are getting more and more complex as well. And we project managers need to be able to handle them.
But what does this approach actually look like in real life? What exactly does he do and how does he do it? Where does he begin his work and what hands-on advice does he have for us. In particular I want to know from him what the first 3-4 steps are that we should take when we begin working on a complex project.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
Play Now [Update: the audio is no longer available, so we removed the link]
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In this special episode we introduce you to PM War Stories - a podcast for the experienced, senior project manager. The show is hosted by Wayne Thompson and here is what he writes about this particular episode:
Project managers face and overcome risks and uncertainties frequently in their projects. Creating a project management office (PMO) is no different. It requires securing a large commitment on the part of the organization, obtaining buy-in at all levels, actively managing stakeholders and sponsors, and carefully gauging, and in some case disregarding, risks and uncertainties.
Success is not achieved merely with the creation of the PMO itself. In fact, 25% of PMOs typically fail in the third year of their existence. To build a PMO that will last, project managers need the proper infrastructure, processes, people and tools. Implementing a project portfolio management (PPM) strategy is an important early step as it helps tie those pieces together in building a PMO. Additionally, it helps drive the sustainability and success of the PMO by providing the necessary system of checks and balances that ensure projects are on track and in alignment with the organization’s goals.
This is the third podcast in a series on project management offices, sponsored by Oracle Primavera. In this episode, we will examine how to overcome the risks and uncertainties in creating a project management office and more importantly, how to successfully maintain it.
To do this, I’m sitting down with industry insider, Beth Partleton who has more than 30 years of project and portfolio management experience in manufacturing and construction. During her illustrious project management career, she was the Director of Strategic Projects for Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; she was a founder, charter member, and president of the Milwaukee/Southeast Wisconsin PMI Chapter; she was Chair of the PMI Educational Foundation Board of Directors and lastly she served on the Board of Directors for PMI’s Manufacturing specific interest group. Today she will be sharing her insights and war stories around the importance of PPM to maintain a successfully operating PMO.
We are pleased to announce that there will be three more chances to win a netbook. The next drawing will be held on February 19, 2010. To register for your chance to win, please click here - Netbook Contest [Update: the template website is no longer available, so we removed the link]
. Members are limited to one entry per month so don’t forget to visit our site and complete an entry form today. Good luck and thank you for listening.
In this Premium episode of The PM Podcast we welcome back Peter Taylor, PMP who is the author of The Lazy Project Manager.
We Talk about his lessons learned in setting up a Project Management Office (PMO). You may recall that he is the PMO Manager for the Siemens PLM Software PMO and in this episode he tells us what he has learned in the 3 years since the PMO's inception.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
Setting up a Project Management Office (PMO) is one of the toughest assignments that many project managers will ever work on.
PMO projects have a high-visibility, dozens of stakeholders, tight budgets and sometimes even customers that want you to fail. So it's always refreshing to be able to talk to someone who was successful in this endeavor and learn from their hands-on experience how they did it. Peter Taylor is the PMO Director at Siemens PLM Software and he has a successful PMO story to tell.
You have already met Peter previously on the program. He is the author of The Lazy Project Manager. In the discussion today we are going to take a look at his journey of setting up this PMO. From inception, to what it is like today, to where he wants to take it in the next years.
And Peter spontaneously and generously offers to give away two more copies of his book. Listen all the way to the end of the presentation to hear how to participate.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
In the 2009 listener survey you asked us to include more products into our programming. This episode is the 2nd episode in which we introduce a product to you.
We are welcoming back Dux Raymond Sy who is the author of the book “SharePoint for Project Management”. In the coming months Dux is holding a series of Worskshops titled: Delivering SharePoint Success: Mentoring Workshops. Every PM Podcast listener will receive a 25% discount by using the appropriate coupon code and one lucky winner will even be able to get in for free. Listen to the interview to learn what coupon code to use and how you can win.
But we aren't just talking about the seminars. We also want to help ensure that your SharePoint projects get started the right way. So in this interview we not only discuss how SharePoint can help you increase worker productivity, improve business process efficiency and streamline business processes but we also learn what Dux recommends as the first 3 steps to take if you are going to implement SharePoint in your organization.
And as always we have reached out to our followers on Twitter and will be answering these questions as well:
@Habib_Schems - I've just bought his book! I'd like to know how we can implement pmbok processes in sharepoint workflows! Thanks!
@ryanendres: - What SharePoint PMO plug-ins do you like? (ie: EPM Live; pmPoint...)
Finally - here are the resources that Dux mentions in the interview or recommends that you check out:
Articles:
5 Reasons Why Executive SharePoint Ignorance is Not Bliss : http://bit.ly/7tKkKz
How to Prioritize Business Needs Before Implementing SharePoint : http://bit.ly/8sCiVR
Premium subscribers now receive an episode transcript along with the audio.
So if you are a premium subscriber and you use a podcast app then a PDF transcript of the episodes will automatically download to your computer. I expect that the transcript will be available about 3 days after the audio version of the interview is published.
In today's interview we are once again welcoming Michael Aucoin (www.leadingedgemgmt.com and www.right-brain-leadership.com) back to talk more about the right side of our brain and project management. In particular we want to talk about Chapter 18 of his book Right Brain Project Management, which is titled The Hero in us all – The moral of the story. Michael suggested this chapter for a more detailed look because so many people enjoyed this chapter and thought that it brought much value to them.
Click "Read more..." below to read the transcript.
Here is a quiz for you: What do projects and your brain have in common? Well... they are both very unique from other projects and brains, they use soft skills and hard skills to work and they all have a definite beginning and a definite end.
I recently came across the book "Right Brain Project Management" and was intrigued. It is written by Dr. Michael Aucoin (www.leadingedgemgmt.com). He calls it "A Complementary Approach" and it is intended to help us project managers learn to use the right side of our brain better.
When I originally heard the title of the book I thought to myself... "Yeah Right". But then I found that Michael Aucoin was making a lot of sense and I found that I had instinctively implemented many of his suggested approaches. That was more than an excellent reason to bring Michael onto the program. In our interview you'll learn about why we should use the right side of our brain in project management, how it helps our projects to be more successful and how we can use the tools of Emotion, Pattern discovery, Non-verbal communication and Intuition towards the same end.
In the 2009 PM Podcast Listener Survey you told us that you wanted a) More product reviews and b) More PM soft skills. In this episode we combine these two requests in about 30 minutes.
I'm welcoming Margaret Meloni, PMP who has been a guest many times on our program before. And from those interviews you know that Margaret is a great teacher of project management soft skills. In January of 2010 Margaret is offering almost all of her products with up to a 50% discount. So this episode is a combination of a) product review and b) discussion of PM soft skills. We talk about Margaret's products, interjected with a lot of soft skills talk.
In particular, during our discussion Margaret answers the following questions sent in live from Twitter:
@bba747: q for margaret: what are her top 3 techniques to quickly identify the motivating agents of project team members?
@tcsprasan: Which is the most important soft skill a PM must have?
@splett: is there any chance of success in project management without Knowledge - just pm by Social skills? #mm {Note:Margaret's answer to this question is at the very, very, very end of the podcast. So listen all the way to the absolute end.}
And Margaret also gives us an overview of EQ - Emotional Intellingence.
This is the very first time that we are producing a show that has a strong focus on products for you to buy and improve your skills. Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on the result.
It's absolutely amazing but another year has gone by at light speed.
Many of you will have had challenging, aggravating, boring, or exciting new projects. And some of them may even have been completed successfully. It has been my pleasure to interview the project managers involved and discover the methodologies and processes they used for you.
Now it’s time to end the year with a bit of PM fun. This means that I am opening up the vault of recordings that didn't go as planned and in the next minutes you'll hear all the things that didn’t go as planned during the production of the PM Podcast.
Yes, this is the bloopers show, in which I lay bare all the ah, uhm, coughs and times when I stumbled over difficult word combinations.
In this episode of The PM Podcast we are going to take a close look at something that is near and dear to myself: The PMP Exam. In particular we will talk about how to prepare for and pass the pmp exam. But there would be nothing more boring if I just began reading all the tips and tricks I have in my arsenal for this. So in order to make it more interesting, I have invited Bill Rouck, PMP to be on the program.
Bill is one of my PM PrepCast student and has passed his PMP exam just this year. So what you hear from him is pretty much the latest information in PMP exam preparation. We talk about the following topics:
His reasons for taking the PMP Exam
We explore if the PMP certificate is a must in today's marketplace
How many times have you heard anyone say that “Project Management consists of about 90% communication?”
Over time, this little saying gets more and more boring but also more and more true. Project Management is all about communications and ensuring that you communicate the right information to the right people at the right time using the appropriate tools and methods.
Let’s talk about these tools & methods and also about what some of the common project management communications problems are.
To do this I welcome Bruce Taylor and Bill Dow, the authors of The Project Management Communications Bible. Together we aim another spotlight onto the importance of proper project communication.
In the 2009 PM Podcast listener survey an overwhelming number of respondents said that they would like to see product reviews as part of The PM Podcast. We listen and here is the first such in-depth review of Josh Nankivel's WBS Coach - a training program intended to help both beginners and advanced project managers in employing the WBS to support the success of their projects. The following is in our video:
WBS Coach overview
WBS Coach content
How to download / unzip / use the training
Listen to a minute of the original audio training
Watch a minute of the original video training
The PM Podcast Critique
The PM Podcast Verdict
And without taking anything away we are happy to say that we give Josh without hesitation 4.5 out of 5 stars for the WBS Coach. Josh created a highly professional and practical training and put all of his experience it. 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.
Last week, Josh Nankivel, PMP and I looked at some basics of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and we identified how it will help you make your project better.
However, one of the biggest issues that you will be faced when using a WBS on your project is that you need to first create it. And as you are creating it, you will need to answer the following questions:
How do I structure the WBS?
Do I include internal work?
What about phase 2 and 3 of the project… how will I include that?
Do I present it graphically or as a simple list
These are the questions that Josh and I are discussing. And at the conclusion of the discussion Josh tells us his favorite way of creating a successful WBS.
You can find out more about Josh's WBS Coach Training Program at www.mywbscoach.com and if you decide to buy then The PM Podcast will receive a commission from your purchase which we can use to cover our production cost.
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Cornelius Fichtner
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP, CSM, is the host and the author at The Project Management Podcast. He has welcomed hundreds of guests and project management experts to the podcast and has helped over 60,0000 students prepare for their PMP® Exam. He has authored dozens of articles on projectmanagement.com and PM World 360. He speaks at conferences around the world about project management, agile methodology, PMOs, and Project Business. Follow him on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.
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How many times have you heard anyone say that “Project Management consists of about 90% communication?”
