Welcome to the asapm March, 2011 Newsletter!Welcome to the asapm March, 2011 Newsletter!
This March 2011 edition of our Opt-in Newsletter is from asapm, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. We are IPMA-USA, the USA member association of the International Project Management Association. Enjoy!
In This Issue
1. Project Managers Are Change Agents: President's Message, by Stacy Goff
2. Monday, March 14 is International Construction Management Day
3. 5th Annual UTD PM Symposium Call For Papers Extended to March 15
4. Managing Projects on a Global Scale by Curt Finch, CEO, Journyx
5. aPRO Update: Is aPRO For You? Update by Tim Jaques
6. asapm Board Member Nominations Open Until Late June
7. PM Podcast Episode 159: The Project Manager Blues
8. Final Call for Papers, Due April 1 for 25th IPMA World Congress in Australia
9. Yet Another Article Double-Play by Byatt, Hamilton, & Hodgkinson
10. asapm Director of Member Services Brent Hansen Generates PMCoPs Interest
11. IPMA News: 1Q Newsletter; Nepal IPMA Awards Training, Nepal PM Conference
1. Project Managers Are Change Agents: President's Blog, 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 a teaser from this month's blog posting; click the bold linked heading to see the posting.
Four Forces Converge To Accelerate PM Competence
For over 25 years, this writer has campaigned for improved project and program results, through increased PM competence. Our audience has not been limited to pm practitioners, but includes every project and program stakeholder, from team members, to resource managers and sponsors, functional managers, executives, and beneficiaries of projects. And we have seen massive success in those organizations that respond to the clarion call for increased role-competence, and PM performance. Or, as we call it at ProjectExperts®, PM Per4mance (the 4 stands for Project, Program, and Portfolio Performance).
Now, converging forces suggest that the era for PM competence is approaching. Four recent events are a “heads up” for all PM practitioners in the USA, and around the world:
In this posting, we briefly explore these four converging forces... More
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2. Monday, March 14 is International Construction Management Day
IPMA, the International Project Management Association, and asapm, IPMA-USA, reminds all construction managers, project and program managers, executives and team members that Monday, March 14 is International Construction Management Day. This declaration is an outcome of a conference in April 2010, where the participants decided that the time has come for the Construction Management industry to stop, reflect on our achievements, and to re-energize for the future. For more information, see the News, and link to the Press Release at the IPMA website. Or, see the Breaking News story about International Construction Management Day at PMForum.
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3. 5th Annual UTD PM Symposium Call For Papers Extended to March 15
The Call for Papers has been extended for the 5th Annual UT Dallas Project Management Symposium. This year's event, one that asapm and IPMA participate in every year, is one of the best regional project management events in the USA (in our opinion). With a theme this year of Project Management--Driving Success in a Complex World, the Symposium will be held August 11-12, 2011 at the University of Texas at Dallas, in the School of Management, Richardson Texas. The conference is being sponsored by the Graduate Program in Project Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, in cooperation with the PMI Dallas Chapter and PMForum. The 2 Day Project Management Symposium will focus on topics important to organizations, industries and the economy.
One of the best ways to participate in this event is to present a paper. Accepted presenters receive free admission to this great Symposium. If you live in the region, or want to schmooze with asapm and IPMA representatives, while attending one of the best regional conferences going, come join us in Dallas! We are discussing the possibility of having a special asapm-IPMA dinner during the event. Preparing your Abstract is easy: Review the speaker tracks or streams, come up with a topic, write several paragraphs about it, add your bio, and submit by Tuesday, March 15. See the Symposium website for the speaker tracks and Abstract Submission Guidelines. If you have any questions, due to the short timeframe, contact us!
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4. Managing Projects on a Global Scale By Curt Finch, CEO, Journyx
There are no longer many physical obstacles to performing global projects. Instantaneous global collaboration, inexpensive resource transportation, and near-global access to knowledge have expanded organizations’ horizons and consumer markets. At the same time, however, these now-hurdled obstacles present new challenges to the global project manager: though distance is now surmountable, what happens when project team members speak different languages, for example? We may have instantaneous communication, but this doesn’t necessarily translate into instant comprehension.
So where does this current level of interconnectedness leave the modern global project manager? The internet and globalization are too young to have expunged regional differences, yet they make collaboration between these regions too profitable to ignore. The following obstacles are real threats to conducting good business, but can all be hurdled using a combination of new technology – the tools which have brought us this far along – and old tactics – the tried and true elements which constitute business as we know it. Though new generations may not experience these same complications as we do today, they currently pose a threat to conducting smooth business ... More
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5. aPRO Update: Is aPRO For You? Update by Tim Jaques
Want to create a new revenue stream conducting organizational assessments in project management? Become an aPRO Recognized Assessor. aPRO is an exciting new organizational PM performance assessment tool that is designed for rapid assessments and relevant results. Unlike other, more expensive organizational competency assessment tools, asapm has made aPRO low cost and easy to integrate into your current suite of offerings. The standard is free to use, which your customers will appreciate.
As a Recognized Assessor (RA), you will have opportunities to lead organizational performance assessments for your customers. The aPRO tool will enable you to deliver and effective project management assessment for virtually any organization. The assessment will provide immediate areas of improvement, and if that organization wishes to certify their results, they will have an opportunity to do so.
To become a Recognized Assessor, you attend and pass the one of the aPRO program team's training events. The 2011 RA training schedule includes:
To register your interest in becoming an aPRO Recognized Assessor, contact the aPRO team today!
18 New RA Candidates Trained: asapm recently delivered the aPRO Recognized Assessor course in Atlanta, GA. In concert with TenStep, asapm delivered aPRO Recognized Assessor training to more than 18 TenStep Global Partners. Participants were engaged and eager to apply the aPRO offering back in their businesses.
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6. asapm Board Member Nominations Open Until Late June
Are you interested in advancing the practice of project and program management in the USA?
One way to get engaged is to take a big step forward, and run for office as one of the asapm Board of Directors.
The asapm Board positions that are up for election in 2011 are Secretary-Treasurer, Director of Marketing, and Director of Member Services. Click the links for those roles to see the responsibilities of each position. Each year, approximately one-third of the asapm offices open for nominations. We are also soliciting volunteers to serve on the 2011 asapm Elections Committee, working with asapm Vice President Trevor Nelson. For more information, or to find out about nominating yourself or someone else (with their permission), please contact Trevor.
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7. PM Podcast Episode 159: The Project Manager Blues
Many of our members and friends know Frank Salidis, either from his asapm efforts, including the Project Success Dialogue series event last year, or from his great presentations at conferences. And, you should all be familar with Cornelius Fitchner's PM Podcast--one of the best possible ways to stay current in your pm practices, without leaving your office. And now they combine to bring you The Project Manager Blues, in episode 159 of the PM Podcast. By the way, our congratulations to Cornelius, who has recently earned his USA citizenship!
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8. Final Call for Papers, Due April 1 for 25th IPMA World Congress in Australia
The Final Call for Papers for the 25th IPMA World Congress in Brisbane, Australia next year has been announced. The 25th IPMA World Congress on Project Management, with the theme "Project Management - Delivering the Promise", will be held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia during 9-12 October 2011. For information, visit www.ipma2011.com.au.
The 25th IPMA World Congress team invites abstracts and proposals from authors and experts around the world. Seven main Congress themes are offered, with each to have its own stream during the event. Project and programme management leaders worldwide are encouraged to participate actively in the Congress by submitting an abstract for either a peer-reviewed or non-peer reviewed paper, on one of the following topics:
1 Social and corporate responsibility, incorporating The Environment, Sustainability, Community Engagement and Ethics - Examining the potential and experiences of PM to assist social objectives.
2 Practitioners and the occupation, incorporating Competencies, Professional Development, Recognition and Reward and Empowerment - What PMs do, how we do it. How we are seen by other professions, our relationships to industry.
3 Clients and stakeholders, incorporating Benefits realisation, identification and expectations, Return on investment, Risk Reduction, Quality Delivery - Insights into forming, maintaining and improving relationships with clients and stakeholders..
4 Practices and methods incorporating, Benchmarking, Best Practice Governance, Best Practice Methodologies, Tools and Techniques - What are the techniques, practices and tools that can be employed to achieve success?
5 The Future incorporating Academic Research, General Research, Trends, Possibilities - Academic, both student, postgraduate and industry focused on understanding current and future issues for the discipline. What major opportunities exist in the future and where can we make significant improvements.
6 The Australian Experience incorporating Case studies and practical experience - Reports from the front line from implementations inside Australia, including public, national, local and personal experiences with the use of low, high, complex, advanced or complicated management to deliver projects.
7 The International Experience incorporate Case studies and practical experience - Reports from the front line from implementations outside and inside Australia, including public, national, local and personal experiences with the use of low, high, complex, advanced or complicated management to deliver projects.
Timeline for acceptance of abstracts and papers is:
Mark your calendar for the above dates, and for the Congress event, October 9-12, 2011. The 25th IPMA World Congress is being organized by the Australian Institute of Project Management, the Australian member association of IPMA. The Chairman for the 25th IPMA World Congress is AIPM leader David Hudson, who has a full team organized and prepared to deliver an outstanding event in Brisbane. Visit http://www.ipma2011.com.au/.
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9. Yet Another Article Double-Play by Byatt, Hamilton, & Hodgkinson
The Color-coded Portfolio – Where is the Balance?
Regardless of whether you are a seasoned project manager or you are embarking on your first project, the use of“color indicators” or “symbols” to indicate the health or status of a project (or a program or portfolio) is most likely something you will relate to. We have touched upon it in a previous article titled “What Makes a Good KPI Framework”. The use of colors and symbols for project dashboards, project health, and project portfolio reporting is commonplace today in project and portfolio management. Whether or not you use traffic signal lights (i.e. Green, Amber, and Red) or other colors, the symbolism is the same. As an example, in the Green, Amber, and Red scenario, ... More
Cultural Awareness: Tailoring Your Presentation to the Audience
It is generally accepted that communication is 90% of a Project Manager’s job. As we have covered in an earlier article (Managing a Virtual Team), the basic theory of communication involves a sender, a receiver, a message and a medium. Another article that we published focused on “the challenges of virtual communication,” and explained how the inability to see body language and its relationship to a person’s vocal tone, facial expressions and hand gestures make it very difficult to judge the effectiveness of communication. This is especially noticeable when cultural and generational differences are factored into the equation ... More
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10. asapm Director of Member Services Brent Hansen Generates PMCoPs Interest
asapm Director of Member Services Brent Hanson has taken asapm's concept of Project Management Communities of Practice to a new level. Originally established by Donna Fitzgerald, in her term as Director of Education, a Community of Practice is a many-to-many collaboration on a specific topic, with peers interacting. This contrasts to the one-to-many chapter meeting format, where everyone listens to someone who knows a bit more (hopefully) than the audience. asapm ran a string of successful PMCoPs sessions, and they were so successful that other pm organizations have now adopted them. Yet another achievement of the USA's PM thought leaders! Thank you Donna!
Brent instituted these most-recent PMCoPs sessions in his own organization. Here is his report on his progress: "The Salt Lake City PMCoP is growing at a rate of over 25% per month based primarily on word of mouth in the community. We are having people from outside the organization asking to attend as word is spreading. We have the sessions recorded and they are being viewed all over the world. Yesterday, I heard from a guy in Ghana, Africa about the value a session on requirements development had on him. Current projections put this organization at well over 100 members this year. Outside vendors are also knocking at the door and volunteering to present at monthly events. This is truly grassroots with no internal funding."
We will have more from Brent in our next newsletter. Meanwhile, if you are interested in setting up an asapm PM Community of Practice, contact Brent Hansen!
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11. IPMA News: 1Q Newsletter; Nepal IPMA Awards Training, Nepal PM Conference
As part of your asapm "two memberships in one" benefits, here is the latest news from IPMA, the world's first project management professional association, and the first with a full suite of competence-assessed, role-specific certifications.
IPMA Q1 Newsletter
In this issue, we celebrate the 2010 IPMA Research Award Winners, and announce the call for the 2011 awards, to be celebrated in Brisbane, Australia this October. We hear of the magnificent recent achievements of the LACC (Latin American and Caribbean Countries) program, and our hero, Jesus Martinez--Almela (Spain), and a feature story on a new regional company that is affiliating with our Hungary member association. We celebrate the pma (Austria) Project Award winner (Siemens-City), a Latvia Conference on Leadership and Management Competences, the 18th Global Symposium in Delhi, and a repeat of our earlier acknowledgement of Shailesh Nepal as IPMA's newest IPMA Young Project Manager of the Year.
PMAN, IPMA-Nepal Continues To Advance PM Practice
Speaking of Nepal, in addition to celebrating their IPMA Young Project Manager, this country, on the slopes of the Himalayas, are achieving new heights in project management. They are holding an IPMA Awards Assessor Training next week in Kathmandu. This is a key step in acknowledging organizations in Nepal that demonstrate excellence in project and program management. On 27-28 May PMAN also hosts Nepal's First International Conference, Project Management For Results (see the call for papers). This event will include global and local experts in project and program management, and IPMA Executive Board members will present in their areas of responsibility. A key part of ExBo participation is not only to support our strong and growing Nepal member, but also to honor Shailesh Nepal, mentioned above as IPMA's Young Project Manager of the Year.
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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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