Welcome to the asapm December 2009 Newsletter! Welcome to the asapm December 2009 Newsletter!
This is an Opt-in Newsletter from asapm, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. We are the USA member association of IPMA, the International Project Management Association. Enjoy!
In This Issue
1. Change Agents: President's Message, by Stacy Goff
2. Article: Productive Laziness and the Open Door Policy, by Peter Taylor
3. asapm Wins IBM Grant to Research Link Between Project Success & PM Competence
4. How to Avoid Being Seen as 'Project Management Overhead,' by Curt Finch
5. Volunteer for asapm/IPMA World Bank PM Curriculum Project!
6. Article: Build Your Project Using ..., by Pavan Kumar Gorakavi
7. Certification News You Can Use, by William Duncan, Certification Chair
8. Team Members, Consultants and Assessors Needed For aPRO Stage 2 and Rollout
9. Two Surveys Request Qualified Responses
10. More asapm and IPMA-Related News:
Wanted: Social Networking Gurus and Moderators
Cisco Systems Posts Collaboration Platform PM Job
IPMA Young Crew Newsletter
Recommended Blog Post: How to Recover From Project Failure
First Call For Papers, IPMA 2010 World Congress
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 each of this month's blogs; click a bolded heading to see the whole entry.
The Work To the Left of Proposal, Part 2
What is the Work to the Left of Proposal? The answer depends on your role, your program or project, and your perspective. For example, although many programs involve proposals, many projects do not. In engagements that involve proposals, the majority of success often depends on the work that occurs before the Proposal is ever signed. What is that work, who performs it, and why is it so essential to both Proposal and engagement success?
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the importance of the actions of the first 10% of any project or program, the Buyer/Seller relationship in any complex project, and the role of Business Development in assuring success in each of those areas. In this part, we disclose a bit more of the attraction of Business Development, then introduce another key role that every complex project or program requires ...
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2. Article: Productive Laziness and the Open Door Policy, by Peter Taylor
The importance of being accessible but in a controlled way
I’m all for being there for people, honest I am. It’s just that people take advantage of it if I am. So for the ‘productive lazy’ project manager I would suggest that it is perfectly acceptable for the lights to be on and for no one to be at home; not all of the time obviously, and at critical times access and visibility are all too important. But for the rest of the time, why not let the whole of the team work a few things out for themselves, take some degree of responsibility and decision-making, and generally get on with the tasks at hand. Being there when you are really needed and being there all the time are very different things indeed ...
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3. asapm Wins IBM Grant to Research Link Between Project Success & PM Competence
Colorado Springs, CO – November 18, 2009. American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm) announces today that it has won one of the IBM Center for The Business of Government’s highly sought after, internationally solicited, 2009-2010 Research Report awards. asapm’s proposal development team, Timothy Jaques, Reed Ulrich, Morgan Henrie and Brent Hansen, successfully presented that a need exists to better understand the relationship between project success and project management competence.
The team will research the implementation of the Federal Acquisition Institute’s Program and Project Management Certification. “asapm continues to advance the field through innovative research like this,” said Stacy Goff, asapm President. “We are especially excited at the possibility of working with IBM in this endeavor.”
The grant will result in a report that will assist public sector executives, at all levels of government, to more effectively respond to their mission and management challenges.
About asapm
asapm, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management, is a not-for-profit professional society dedicated to advancing the practice of program and project management in the United States. Working through its members and with other professional associations around the world, asapm
provides the leadership to improve program and project management performance competence throughout the USA and beyond.
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4. How to Avoid Being Seen as 'Project Management Overhead', by Curt Finch
We are currently facing a challenging economic climate that is forcing many companies to cut costs in order to survive. There are different ways of doing this, and unfortunately, a popular one is slashing employees, projects and even entire departments. Consequently, almost everyone in the business world is now looking for a way to justify their work to upper management and other stakeholders in order to be spared.
Many executives do not fully understand the value of the PMO in their organization, endangering the survival of the PMO when the time comes to cut back. In fact, Josh Nankivel of PMStudent.com recently polled project managers about how the economic climate is affecting them, and he found that 27% had experienced project cutbacks, 14% had experienced PM layoffs, 11% had experienced financial scrutiny of projects, and 10% had experienced project staff reductions.
The answer to this problem is threefold: PMO managers first need to focus resources on the right projects, then ensure that these projects are successfully executed, and finally, effectively communicate the value of these projects to upper management.
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5. Volunteer for the asapm/IPMA World Bank PM Curriculum Project!
Background:
Throughout the 1980s and into 2000, asapm co-founder and member Bob Youker worked with World Bank to bring Project Management to the developing countries. As part of continuing that effort after Bob’s retirement from World Bank, he worked with several others to put the entire 5-week PM curriculum together on cd. World Bank has been selling that cd on its website, and asapm has hosted parts of it on our website, for the last 5 years.
Recent Activity: In a recent visit, PMForum Editor David Pells met with Bob Youker, Russ Archibald and others, to discuss how to get the World Bank Institute PM Kit out to the rest of the World, so IPMA members, Governments and trainers in developing countries, and others could benefit from it. asapm proposed a project to IPMA, and Education and Training EXBO VP Dr. Mladen Radujkovic supported the initiative. He has identified several key EXBO (IPMA Executive Board) members who will serve on a steering committee for this effort.
Project Approach and Staging: The World Bank Project Kit is currently available on cd from World Bank. It contains all Lesson Plans, PowerPoint Slides, Instructor Notes, exercises, and support materials needed to produce a 5-week intensive Project Management Workshop. The purpose of this project is to make the content available to IPMA Members and to Officials, Executives and Training Managers in developing and developed countries.
This will occur in (at least) two stages:
Stage 1. Perform the minimum needed to quickly make the cd content available online, restricted to IPMA members only. This may or may not involve technology options such as Moodle or other such tools. This stage would allow IPMA Members to access much of the cd content for their own use, or for their use with others.
Stage 2. Expand upon the Stage 1 results with a more-complete integration, exploring/considering the following:
a) Perform a gap analysis, comparing the content to ICB and identifying missing components.
b) Define the requirements for a more-complete IPMA-offered PM Learning Package.
c) Add some type of Learning Management System, for participant status tracking.
d) Add synchronous or async collaboration (e.g., Moodle and DimDim can potentially work together).
e) Make possible additions to the content, where needed to deliver missing ICB topics, or other needed material.
f) Establish a feedback loop for suggested additions and improvements.
This Stage would *not* involve full web-ization, due to the great difference between putting powerpoint online and developing real web-based training. It should include fee-based access by those who could benefit, but are not yet IPMA members. This stage could be the foundation for some future web-based-training or blended learning development stage, as yet to be defined.
In each case, IPMA's Project Management Methodology will be used to manage the project and communicate with EXBO and stakeholders. All the project team's work will be virtual, as the team is expected to span the Globe.
Volunteer Team Members Needed:
The next step is to identify team members for the two stages of this project. We are looking for 6-12 qualified learning experts or learning enthusiasts as team members, and 3-5 additional Steering Committee members, to support this project. Interested persons should contact Stacy Goff, Project Sponsor, with the following information:
* Your Name and contact information (email, skype account if you have one, and GMT +/- time zone).
* Your Qualifications for a learning project; these can include instructional design, blended learning, Learning Content
Management Systems experience, Collaborative Learning Tools experience, and any other useful information.
* The project stage or stages in which you would be interested in participating.
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6. Article: Build Your Project Using DSDM, by Pavan Kumar Gorakavi
We continue a series of articles on the asapm website, thanks to Pavan Kumar Gorakavi. Pavan is interested in Agile PM Methods, and while the examples he uses are primarily for Information Technology projects, our reaction is that many of the methods are also relevant for many other types of projects. Based on a Build Your Project With ... theme, his article series continues this month with article 5.
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7. Certification News You Can Use, by William Duncan, Certification Chair
Lots going on ... almost too much ... it would be nice to take a break for the holidays, but we are anticipating a GREAT 2010, so we need to hit the ground running ...
Level D news. Exam dates for the first six months of 2010 are now posted on the website. Pick a date and a location, submit your application, and you're good to go! In addition, the Certification Board has decided to make one book on project management the authoritative source for the Level D exam while the NCB is being upgraded. That book is Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation by David I. Cleland and Lewis R. Ireland. The book is widely available online both new and used.
Level C and B news. We've simplified both the application forms and the pricing structure. The new price includes the application fee to make the total cost more apparent. The individual member price for Level C is now $995, and for Level B it is $1,295. Group pricing is unchanged. We have also tweaked the experience requirements a bit to make sure that the projects used are sufficiently complex. These changes should be available on the website by the end of the month.
Level A news. The Level A application is almost done. Just a few minor details to iron out. If you have previously expressed interest in Level A, you will get a copy as soon as it's available.
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8. Team Members, Consultants and Assessors Needed For aPRO Stage 2 and Rollout
aPRO, the asapm Performance Rated Organization project, has quietly been going on for almost a year. Just a year ago, we sent out specific invitations to members who had background, experience, and interest in this project. From the responses, we selected a team that has been working on a new Standard, that will be released to the public in Q1 2010. In fact, just this week the team is meeting in Los Angeles to review our collective results, and begin planning the next stages. But this is just the first step. To move aPRO forward, we need to expose a bit more information than we have made available--until now.
Originally developed by William Duncan, and offered to his client base as OCiPM, Organizational Competence in Project Management, this new aPRO Standard is an organizational assessment of PM Performance. It has two different uses:
The aPRO Certifications will be performed by assessors trained and assigned by asapm. The aPRO Assessments will be performed by consultants, such as those in our Competence Enabler program, who will also be trained and then licensed by asapm. The consultants will be able to not only provide recommendations for performance improvements, but also to engage with customers in helping deliver those improvements.
How is this different than the PM maturity models that are on the market? That's a great question, and we are eager to answer it! More marketing information will be developed between now and the aPRO release, but the biggest difference is this: Instead of evaluating all the inputs and processes, the typical maturity model approach, aPRO looks at the results--the organization's PM Performance. As we knew when we crafted asapm's Performance-oriented PM Certifications, it requires significantly less effort (both on the Assessor's part and in Customer organizations) to assess the results, rather than all the work needed in other methods. And, the results can be more reliable, too.
Here is an analogy: If you wish to assess an omelet, there are several choices:
a) Assess or evaluate all the inputs (ingredients, skill of the chef) and processes (recipe steps).
b) Taste the results (results, or Performance). Come to think of it, this is more fun, too!
What we have accomplished to date. The aPRO team has:
What we are looking for next:
First, we are recruiting volunteers for the next stage in the project, including production of marketing materials, website development, Assessor and Consultant training, together with authors of articles, and research reports on the benefits of Organizational PM Performance.
We are also recruiting:
Note that we have recorded the interest of those we have already contacted, or who have contacted us; are you interested? What an aPROpriate idea! Contact asapm Director of Standards Timothy Jaques.
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9. Two Surveys Request Qualified Responses
One of the ways asapm advances the practice of Program and Project Management is by supporting Doctoral Candidates in their surveys and studies related to PM. This month, we repeat the request for a Product Management survey from last month, and introduce a Program Manager survey. Please review the surveys, and respond. asapm will receive and share a copy of the results.
Reminder: Your Participation Needed in a New Product Development Research Study
We mentioned this last month, and so this is a reminder, and a request for your participation. Tom Carbone, a PhD candidate, is conducting new product research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The goal of this research is to better understand how organizations deal with new product information and the impact on product success. He requests your help in this study by participating in this short survey. Your responses will remain confidential. All participants who include their optional contact information will receive a free copy of the final report; and, the information will be shared with asapm. For those who would like more context before responding to Tom's survey, see this preliminary explanation at the asapm website. Thank you for your support.
Program Manager Survey: Your Participation Requested
If you are a Program Manager, please participate in this survey on leadership in program management. There are two parts of the survey. The first part asks questions about the nature of programs the program manager managed. The second part assesses program manager’s leadership style. The research findings will help program managers to adjust their leadership styles to the different program context, and will help top management to choose an appropriate program manager for the particular program. Go: http://survey.usbe.umu.se/research/tomas.blomquist/index.php?sid=5
This is part of the research of ESC Lille, France PhD candidate Jingting Shao. If you qualify as a Program Manager, please complete the survey by 20th December, 2009. The information obtained from you will be held in strict confidence. No reference will be made to specific individuals or names of organizations. To thank you for your participation, you will have the opportunity to receive the research findings. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the survey author at:sjt1107@gmail.com. Thank you very!
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10. More asapm and IPMA-Related News
Wanted: Social Networking Gurus and Moderators
asapm and IPMA have been so successful with our exploration into the Web 2.0 realm that now we need to add volunteers to moderate each of them. Following the example of Thomas Keenan, our experienced and successful volunteer moderator of the asapm LinkedIn site, we are looking for people who are already engaged in the sites, familiar with the strengths, weaknesses and features of each, and who have an interest in "stirring the pot" to keep participants engaged, and occasionally guiding junk-posting miscreants back to socially-acceptable practices.
The sites for which we are solictiing Moderators are:
* asapm Members Only, running on Ning
* The IPMA Family, running on Ning, with photos on Flicker
* IPMA on Facebook
* IPMA on LinkedIn
Put your collaboration skills to work, by volunteering to moderate one of these sites. Note that Facebook tends to attract a younger audience, while LinkedIn is a bit more attractive to networking professionals. Note too, that our very own Collaboration Guru, Les Squires, will continue to be available for guidance and assistance for these sites. To record your interest, please send your name and the site you are interested in to Stacy Goff, asapm President, or Veikko Valila, IPMA Secretary General. You should cite the experience that qualifies you for such a role, ideas you would suggest to make the sites more interactive and useful, and the IPMA Member Association of which you are a member (the asapm Members Only site Moderator must be an asapm member).
Cisco Systems Posts Collaboration Platform PM Job
The Collaboration Platform Project Manager will work to manage Cisco Collaboration Platform engagements to ensure on-time and on-budget delivery and integration. The project manager will be
expected to leverage best practices from both PMI standards and Cisco Collaboration Platform delivery processes to ensure successful client delivery. The function requires a project manager who can manage complex business analysis, multi-technology integration and operational alignment across regionally diverse teams. Interested? See the posting on our website.
IPMA Young Crew Newsletter
Andreas Perez-Madsen,
IPMA Young Crew Chair, invites you to download the latest YC newsletter. The highlights are:
Recommended Blog Post: How to Recover From Project Failure
asapm member Rose Johnston forwarded us this blog post (click the bold title above) from an interesting company she follows. The company, Adaptive Path, specializes in improving the user experience with new technology. While we are much more in favor of preventing problems through better project planning and dialogue, this article has some great insights for those times when proper planning still does not prevent the occasional threat of failure. Thanks Rose!
First Call For Papers, IPMA 2010 World Congress
The 24th IPMA World Congress will be held in Istanbul, Turkey during 1-3 November 2010. The congress organizing team, along with IPMA, have announced their "Call for Papers" for the 2010 World Congress, which should be one of the biggest events in the project management world next year. Presenting in an IPMA World Congress should be the pinnacle of your PM career! The theme for the 24th IPMA World Congress on Project Management in Istanbul next year will be "Challenges & Opportunities." The 24th IPMA World Congress 2010 shall incorporate research, development, practical nature as well as case-oriented streams that identify the changes that need to be made to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities brought about by new realities in the world economy. Our friends at PMForum scooped us on this, so to find out more, see this link.
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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.
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