Headlines
 IPMA Initiates New Branding Campaign! 04/2008
 As part of his Charter for his VP of IPMA Marketing role (2007-2008), Henrik Jonsson (Sweden) has just rolled out a new IPMA logo, with useage guidelines, and sample graphics. Over the next year, all IPMA collatoral materials, including the stellar IPMA magazines, will use the logo and printing guidelines. The logo already appears on the asapm website, at the bottom-right of each page.
The branding includes tailored slogans, such as Moving People Forward, Moving Certification Forward, Moving Winners Forward, and so on. Click here to see the updated IPMA website, with the cool color-changing banner.
Certification, with The Platinum Standard tagline, will be one of the first areas to benefit from the new logos, with the colors black and platinum dedicated exclusively to Certification materials. When the materials are ready, asapm Certificants will receive the artwork for these bold new designs. The net result of all these changes? IPMA and asapm Continue to Move Project Management Forward!
asapm Board Election Results 07/2007
Larry Kueppers, PMP, has been elected to the office of asapm Director of Standards. Congratulations, Larry! Part of his first job will be to establish a process for Standards recognition; then he will begin work on a Lessons Learned (or After-Action Review) Standard. If you are interested in participating, contact Larry through the Board web page.
Several members wrote themselves in for the position of asapm Vice President. We are speaking with them about their interests, and how to best engage them in building upon asapm's strengths. We may have a run-off election for the position.
Open Source Becomes Open Sesame' For Projects 06/2007
Just as Ali Baba learned the secret password that opened his world to treasures, Open Source Software is beginning to have significant influence in the World of Project Management. Here are two new treasures for those who really grok PM: Those who understand that tools only help if you are competent in your PM practices.
New Open Source PM Software Announced
This week a new Open Source PM Software tool was announced, "as a Microsoft Project Replacement". It is still a beta, but we downloaded it, round tripped several files (to and from MSP, Microsoft Project), and think it has great promise—especially for those who don't want to install Project Server for the whole enterprise. It's called OpenProj, and is developed by Projity.
OpenProj works on multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac and Linux. The beta version's Windows startup is a bit kludgy (a bat file starts a Java application in a Command window), but it ran fine on Vista. In addition to the Open Source version, Projity has a web-based version, Project-On-Demand, that they offer for a fee.
We've supported and promoted MSProject since before Microsoft bought the product from the original developer in the mid-eighties. We introduced hundreds of companies to it in the early Windows era. Even served as advisors and beta testers into the mid nineties. And although there are still some practitioners who have a bit of the attitude that "real project managers don't use MSP", we believe it has well-served the needs of millions.
But way more is needed, whether open source or usable commercial tools, to reach the potential market of usable PM software. Even Microsoft still says that Excel, not MSP, is the World's #1 Project Management software.
Given that there are now over 6 Billion people in the World, half of them need easy-to-use, easy-to-learn, and easy-to-acquire Project Management software. This is a big market!
Open Source Mind-Mapping Software
We've also used Mind Mapping software for many years, and really like it. It is useful for everything creative, from workshop design and content development to developing Project Work Breakdown Structures. We've especially liked Mindjet's MindManager Pro, with its great ability to roundtrip a Work Breakdown Structure with Microsoft Project.
And now an Open Source Mind Mapping project that we have been following has a .9 release that is very functional (even most of the Czech help files have been translated). It is called FreeMind, and you can download your copy (platform independent, but requires Java Runtime on your system) from SourceForge.net. Now there is no excuse for right brain dominant people sticking with simple outline lists! For more background on the topic of Mind Mapping, see Wikipedia on Mind Maps.
Board Nominations Closing: Serve Your Society!
The asapm Board positions up for election in 2007 are Vice President and Director of Standards. The preferred path to the Board is for each member to first serve on one of the Project Teams (our term for committees) in the area you indicated interest in when you joined--or in other areas, as you discover the additional exciting things in which asapm is involved. Each year, approximately one-third of the asapm offices open for nominations.
More Volunteer Topics: Of course, we can always use your help in asapm's most visible efforts, including this newsletter, our website, and our PM Communities of Practice. If you are interested in helping advance the state of the practice of Project Management, let us know! Note that you can use your volunteer efforts to do double-dipping, claiming volunteer time both for asapm recertification credits, and for recertification for other project management credentials.
Nominations Status: We have one candidate for the office of Director of Standards; watch the asapm website for the details about this candidate's agenda and aspirations. We still need candidates for the position of Vice President. Stacy Goff has held this position since asapm's beginning in 2001, and our bylaws prohibit running again. Who is interested in serving? Please Contact asapm. Nominations close in May, with the elections in June.
Goff discusses PM Competence on Cornelius Fichtner's The PM Podcast 11/2006
Hear Stacy Goff distinguish between Competence-based or Knowledge-based PM Certifications on Cornelius Fichtner's The Project Management Podcast, episode 55. Also, while you are there, pick up The PM Podcast with our great friend Max Wideman in episode 50.
European Commissioner Launches IPMA's New ICB3 (08/2006)
Our good friend Ed Naughton, IPMA Marketing Vice President and the Executive Officer for IPMI, the Ireland Member Affiliate of IPMA, has struck again. This time, he has gotten Charlie McCreevy, the European Commissioner responsible for the European Union's policy on the EU's internal markets, to introduce and embrace IPMA's new Competence Baseline—and thus IPMA's universal and unique Four-Level-Certification system.
asapm was involved in this ICB release in many ways, from early inputs, to adapting key parts of the draft into our own NCB, to a last-minute edit before publishing in May. This new edition, much stronger than the 2.0 version, will be the foundation for harmonization of IPMA's 40 Member Nations' Certification programs over the next 3 or so years. Click here to see the whole ICB3 Press Release on IPMA's website.
asapm has ordered copies of the bound volume of ICB3, and we also have cds coming. Of course, our just-released NCB is a superset of ICB, containing materials that ICB does not include; and, NCB is the basis for our currently-available certifications. NCB is available at the asapm website.
Press Release: Senior Project Manager Certification Available (07/2006)
LEXINGTON, MA (July 4, 2006) — The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm) has announced the public availability of asapm's Certified Senior Project Manager, IPMA-B credential.
According to asapm President Lew Ireland, “asapm has been working to bring competence-based certification to the USA for nearly four years. We are both pleased and proud to be able to offer this valuable service to project managers and their employers throughout the USA.” Ireland noted that the asapm program is the US version of the Four-Level-Certification program (4-L-C) designed and used by the International Project Management Association (IPMA).
Certification On A Roll With IPMA-B, IPMA-D Assessments (05/2006)
With our First Assessors approved and ready to go, asapm plans to complete the first round of IPMA-B® Senior Project Manager certifications by the end of 2nd Quarter. That's this year, for those who have watched and waited so long. We are getting queries about applications, and have promoted a special onsite rate for organizations with a handful of competent Senior Project Managers to assess.
And, our IPMA-D® program, for Certified Project Associates, is booming. So far, this exam-based certification has been done onsite, for groups who will benefit from this internationally-recognized (through IPMA, the International Project Management Association) certification. One of the great benefits of this certification is the fact that if you know how to manage a project effectively, you are already a step ahead.
To see more about these great opportunities for recognition of your knowledge, skills and competence, see our Certification section.
CompModel 3.0 PM Competence Development Tool Released (Jan 2006)
"Are You Experienced?" It was a Jimi Hendrix song of the late 60's. We're not quite sure what he was talking about then, but today, we are positive the question is essential for Project Managers.
As many enterprises find it to be a competitive advantage to improve the skills, competence and performance of their Project Managers and stakeholders, we still encounter a few that that invest their PM training funds in programs that have no impact on either project success or Project Manager Competence.The result: "project managers" who have never managed a project to successful closure. They may not even be able to tell you how to do so. What you really need is competent Project Managers who can cite their successes, and explain why they are successful.
Release 2.0 of the asapm PM Competence Model has been one of our most popular downloads. Now we have released an update, that directly supports our now-completed USA National Competence Baseline (NCB) for Project Managers. The new PM CompModel release maps stakeholder competence criteria to the elements of the USA NCB. It covers the range of positions in our 4-Level Competence-based certification program, plus Project Sponsors, Resource Managers, and Project or Program Office consultants. Now you can use PM CompModel to find and correct "Your Weakest Links".
In the interests of more effective PM Competence development, we offer free licenses for the lite version of CompModel 3.0, available to asapm members and website guests. Because PM CompModel is a tool for personal, team and organizational competence assessement and development, an increasing number of asapm members and savvy vendors are integrating CompModel and the USA National Competence Baseline into their instructional and consulting offerings. To find out more about PM CompModel and get your download, click here. Members can download the SixPack version from the Members Only site.
 asapm Releases USA National Competence Baseline (Nov 2005)
USA-NCB is Here! A team of dedicated Project Managers has been working for over a year on the USA's National Competence Baseline, the foundation for our 4-Level-Certification program. Based on the International Competence Baseline of International Project Management Association, this is a foundation of a proven international certification program that certifies the competence and knowledge of multiple different levels of Project Managers and Project Practitioners.
Get NCB
Click here to request the link to download the official release of USA-NCB, in Adobe Acrobat format (pdf, 550K).
To see more details about our 4-Level Project Management Certification program, go to our Certification section.
Introducing the asapm Competence Enabler (ACE) Program
ACE (asapm Competence Enabler) helps
you find PM Vendors who can help advance your project management
practices. Whether you are improving your own skills, or improving
the methods and Competences of your entire enterprise, CE
can
be your partner in Competence development. Learn
more about the Competence Enabler program |
