Welcome to the asapm February, 2012 Newsletter!Welcome to the asapm February, 2012 Newsletter!
This 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. asapm PPM Symposium Speaker Update, March 5, 2012, Arlington, VA
3. Please Participate In This Survey: Learning Best Practices and Project Success
4. Examining PM Insights of Agile and Traditional Success Factors for IT Projects
5. asapm-Sponsored Event: Resource Planning Summit, April 15-17. Baltimore, MD
6. More About Jobs, PM History, and Very Interesting Links About Sponsors
7. The Campaign for Real Sponsors, by Peter Taylor
8. More @ IPMA Events, Young Crew Highlights, Research Newsletter
9. Working on Projects with Suppliers and Vendors, by Byatt, Hamilton, and Hodgkinson
10. Featuring Tim Herd in Our Series on Leadership
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 heading to see the posting.
The Importance of Effective Speaking
Last month we wrote about The Importance of Writing Well. This month, we gently approach the topic of Effective Speaking. This is not to be confused with dialogue between persons–that is yet another topic. Instead, this topic involves speaking in front of groups. Actually, that really makes this multiple topics, because different audience sizes require very different skills. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Effective Speaking has received a lot of recent attention. In part, this is because our USA President is perceived by some to be an excellent orator. In addition to political settings, we have observed many other situations where the ability to speak in a clear and compelling way is an asset to the initiative, whether that initiative is a project, a program, or any other Change Agent venue ... More
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2. asapm PPM Symposium Speaker Update, March 5, 2012, Arlington, VA
asapm is pleased to announce that we have completed our PPM Symposium Speaker selection. Dr. J. Davidson Frame, Academic Dean of the University of Management and Technology, will speak on the topic, Black Swans or White? Exploring the premises of the unmanageability of high impact, low probability events. His session, in the PM Practitioner stream, examines the premises of Black Swan events to see the extent to which they are truly unpredictable and unmanageable.
Through the analysis of recent, high-visibility Black Swan events (including the Toyota car-acceleration event of Winter/Spring 2010; the Fukushima tsunami and nuclear plant disaster of March 2011; and the China Bullet Train crash of July 2011) he shows how risk identification, diligent risk impact analysis, careful risk response planning, and diligent risk monitoring and control can help you handle Black Swans, as well as more conventional risk scenarios, in the management of projects.
Editor's Note:
In the 1970s and early 1980s, we did not have today's variety of useful books on Project Management. There were a few great ones, including Analysis Bar Charting, by John Mulvaney (published by asapm co-founder Bob Youker in 1969), The Mythical Man Month (1975), by Frederick Brooks, Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects (1976), by Russ Archibald, and the "big green book," The Implementation of Project Management (1981), edited by Linn Stuckenbruck. In the last half of the 1980s, J. Davidson Frame introduced a fresh look and broader insights about Project Management with his 1987 Managing Projects in Organizations. Gee, maybe we'll bring our dog-eared copies of his early--and recent--works to the asapm PPM Symposium for a personal autograph! A long-time PPM contributor who is still going strong, we really look forward to Dr. Frame's session!
Why Attend?
This one day Project and Program Management Symposium will explore tangible methods and tools for maximizing a projects ability to deliver. Bringing together experts from around the world, asapm has deliberately kept this interactive symposium small to ensure that attendees have ample opportunity to participate in the dialogue.
The March 5 date is now very soon, so we recommend rapid registration. See the Symposium website section, with all the latest information. Or, go directly to the Symposium Registration site. Want to share the asapm PPM Symposium information with your friends? Download the Symposium flyer. We hope to see you Delivering the Promise!
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3. Please Participate In This Survey: Learning Best Practices and Project Success
asapm and IPMA advance the practice of Project and Program Management in many ways. One of them is by supporting research, through relevant and meaningful surveys. These are usually developed by Masters or Doctoral students, and sometimes by alliance partners. Today we have another survey, this one from Don McKay, an asapm member. The information below says it will require 15 minutes; our experience was that it required less than that. Please participate, to help advance the state of our practice! Thank you!
Colleagues,
as project managers we continuously seek better methods to improve project success. In the spirit of continuous improvement the goal of this research is to determine if a relationship exists between organizational learning, project learning, and project success in IT organizations. If a relationship is demonstrated, IT organizations may be encouraged to invest in learning capabilities. Project Knowledge Management is an emerging field. As IT project leaders, your collective experiences will contribute to a better understanding of the potential that this emerging field offers. Thus, you are invited to participate in a short survey.
The survey, based on the literature and validated by a panel of 10 experts may suggest ideas that your organization can use to improve knowledge sharing among IT project teams. Moreover, your support will help me to complete this research.
Following brief instructions and after providing your consent you can take the survey. Your responses to the survey will be strictly anonymous, all results will be summarized, and you will not be asked to identify your projects or organization. The survey contains 38 questions and will take about 15 minutes to complete.
To take the survey, please use this shortened link: http://goo.gl/288AY. Please note the URL is case sensitive if you type it into your browser. You may take the survey any time between now and February 29, 2012.
About Me
I am a doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University with over 30 years experience in project management including 12 years managing IT projects. You may reach me at dmckayii@nova.edu if you have any comments or questions.
I am grateful to asapm and IPMA for posting this survey. I look forward to sharing the results with you. Thank you very much for your participation and help.
-- Donald McKay
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4. Examining PM Insights of Agile and Traditional Success Factors for IT Projects
Speaking of Surveys, the extract below is part of the research report from a survey that asapm supported last year. The research outcome for the author, Michael J. Doherty, included his doctorate. Congratulations Michael! The 34 page research report, in turn, is a condensation of Michael's 300 page dissertation. See Dr. Doherty's 37 page research report.
Executive Summary: Two dominant research views addressing disappointing success rates for information technology (IT) projects suggest project success may depend on the presence of a large number of critical success factors or advocate for agile project management as an alternative to traditional practice. The purpose of this Q methodology study was to use views of experienced project managers to explore the contribution of success factors and management approach to project success.
This study used a sample of 519 project managers with experience leading or working on IT projects and employed a two phased research approach by employing a frequency analysis of project manager preferences for the entire sample followed by a Q analysis from a random subsample of project managers to uncover dimensions of their subjective opinions and identify clusters of project manager participants who shared common viewpoints.
The frequency analysis showed a clear preference for traditionally worded critical success factors over agile critical success factors and tended to support prior research investigating critical success factors for IT projects such as the importance of clearly stated and measurable goals and objectives and a strong commitment from upper management to provide resources, authority, and influence for the project. ... More
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5. asapm-Sponsored Event: Resource Planning Summit, April 15-17. Baltimore, MD
Dick Rutledge is not only a master of event organization, he is also great at getting the word out about his unique events. The latest information about his Resource Planning Summit (RPS) involves success stories inspiring repeat success stories. See this link to the RPS website; study the intriguing graphic from the 2010 RPS, Then read the article to see how this graphic, and the 2010 presentation, has inspired one of the 2012 speakers.
Resource Planning Summit 2012, will be one of the best USA PM events of the year. And because managing beneficial change works better with a team,this year Rutledge has changed the pricing. When you register at the regular rate, you can also bring a second member of your organization. See the Resource Planning Summit registration page for details. And, see the Resource Planning Summit LinkedIn page for ongoing commentary.
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6. More About Jobs, PM History, and Very Interesting Links About Sponsors
Reminder: Ohio Company Seeks Manager, R&D Project Management Office
From the job posting...
We are currently seeking a Manager, R&D Project Management to join our North America R&D team at our world headquarters in Perrysburg, Ohio. This position has responsibilities to create, direct and manage O-I’s Research and Development project management office. This office will be responsible for managing and executing the R&D program portfolio. This position requires extensive interaction with all research and technical disciplines within R&D and from outside the company; and with the R&D governance team.
The Origins of Modern Project Management
Stumbled-upon by Rose Johnston while researching IPMA's earlier name, INTERNET, This paper, by Patrick Weaver, of Mosaic Project Management Services, was originally presented at a Scheduling Conference in Vancouver, BC, in 2007. Great find, Rose!
What Is the Role of the Project Sponsor?
From the APM LinkedIn group (APM is IPMA-UK); a LinkedIn account is required. This interesting discussion ties to a recent GAPPS standard development effort mentioned below. And, while decorators like to arrang things in threes, so, apparently do project managers. See yet another mention of Project Sponsors in item 7, below, from one of our favorites, Peter Taylor.
PM Podcast Episode 193: Duncan Speaks About the Draft GAPPS Standard For Project Sponsors
At Cornelius Fitchner's PM Podcast, Duncan's explanation of the Draft Project Sponsor performance criteria is not just for Certification, it will be useful for improving project (and program) success, too! We'll try to get access to this draft of an important new, emerging standard. See the GAPPS website for more information about GAPPS, the only independent provider of Performance Competence-based Certification Standards. Both asapm and IPMA are members of GAPPS.
Even More About Project Sponsors
This probably is not the last word on this suddenly popular topic. Author Peter Taylor is conducting a survey to gain some insight in to the state of project sponsorship today. Of course, knowing Prolific Peter, there will probably be a book resulting from this. We will see the results in June or so. Peter identifies three ways you can help:
1. Complete a short survey on SurveyMonkey
2. Go to this Project Sponsor website and share your project sponsor stories
3. Share all of this with your project contacts
Thank you! Peter 'Be Lazy' Taylor
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7. The Campaign for Real Sponsors, by Peter Taylor
Critical to any projects success is having a good project manager we all know but after that then it is pretty important to have a good project sponsor; but, like the saying goes, ‘you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your relatives’ and the same is true of project sponsors.
The job specification
But what exactly is a project sponsor supposed to do? Well, the responsibilities for project sponsors typically include:
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8. More @ IPMA Events, Young Crew Highlights, Research Newsletter
IPMA Expert Seminar, February 2012 in Zurich
It is not too late to sign up for the IPMA 2012 Expert Seminar in Zurich, Switzerland will be on the topic of "Future Trends in Project, Programme and Portfolio Management". The two-day event will be held during 16-17 February 2012 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. And it's not too late to sign up; an asapm member signed up just last week! Gee, Steve, maybe you'll write us a report! To see full programme or to register, visit www.ipma-expertseminar.com.
University of Texas, Dallas, Symposium Call For Papers Ends March 12
One of the best regional PM Symposiums in the USA is this event, sponsored by UTD, the Dallas PMI® Chapter, and by PM World Today. asapm has participated in this event for the last 3 years, and every year the event is great. Those whose papers are accepted receive free admission. And why is this listed under IPMA events? Because, in addition to asapm's involvement, we have had IPMA leaders providing keynotes for the last three years. We encourage you to submit your abstract, and attend! Are you quiet and shy like we are? You can also sign up for a very reasonable price.
Reminder: Call for Papers for 26th IPMA World Congress, October 2012 in Crete, Greece
The call for papers has been announced for the 26th IPMA World Congress on Project Management, with the theme „Integrating Project Management Standards", that will be held on the Mediterranean Island of Crete, Greece during 29-31 October 2012. Project management researchers, professors, students and teachers, as well as executives, practicing professionals and professional leaders are now invited to submit abstracts for scientific papers, professional presentations, panel discussons, workshops and special sessions for the Congress.
Think Different: Here's to the Crazy Ones. Sounds like Project Managers to Us!
Posted by Goga Blažević, Croatia Young Crew President; this YouTube video is great!
IPMA Young Project Manager 2012 Applications
Speaking of Young Crew, the Young Project Manager award will be opening for applications soon;p watch the asapm or ipma.ch websites..We highlighted 2011 Young Project Manager winner Alexandre Rech, from Brazil, in last month's newsletter; the press release about his achievement explains the process.
IPMA RMB (Research Management Board) Newsletter Posted
The December, 2011 edition of the RMB Newsletter features a wide range of Research Awards, as reported by IPMA correspondent Jouko Vaskimo, and a special report on an IPMA Research Project.
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9. Working on Projects with Suppliers and Vendors, by Byatt, Hamilton, and Hodgkinson
At some point in their lives, many projects need the expertise of external third parties to ensure that certain activities are carried out. Much research and advice is available in the practice of supplier and vendor management, ranging from procurement techniques to establishing Key Performance Indicators and Metrics management. In this article, we point out a few key elements that the three of us usually find important when working on a project with suppliers and vendors. As a project manager, it is important that you embody the philosophy you want your team to adopt with suppliers and vendors – it sets the tone for success.
What is a supplier or vendor?
This is a broad question. For the purposes of this short article, we are covering third parties (suppliers, vendors, contractors, subcontractors, consultants) who provide a product and or contracted to perform agreed works on a project.
Seven factors to consider for working successfully with suppliers and vendors on a project
Various levels of sophistication for project supplier and vendor management exist. The type of practice you will expect to use will depend to a large extent on the size and complexity of your project and your organisation. Within large organisations, it may be necessary to go through a supplier/procurement management team and adhere to strict processes to contract for the services or goods required for a project. In smaller organisations, the process may be handled by one person or a small team ... More
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10. Featuring Tim Herd in Our Series on Leadership
Now that most organizations and PM practitioners have figured out that the so-called "Soft Side" is key to project success, what are we doing about it? In addition to practicing those skills, we have an author, Tim Herd, who will share a regular series on Leadership. We are publishing two of his articles per month, until we catch up with his current series.
Recreation and re-creation
Run with this idea: The greater our connection to nature, the healthier and happier we are.
According to accumulating research, time spent in green outdoor spaces by children fosters creative play and relieves attention deficit disorders. Among adults, the rejuvenation derived from such outdoor pursuits as trailing a tiny ball through the byways of a golf course—or the hours teasing trout with an artificial fly—are well known. Aerobic activities of jogging, walking, and swimming contribute directly to our physical health. But perhaps surprisingly, studies show that the amazing therapeutic benefit of the outdoors extends even to office-bound cubicle workers with a mere view of trees, shrubbery or large lawns—who experience less frustration and stress than their deprived co-workers! More
Fluxing Fortunes
Change happens:
Opportunities arise:
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asapm, IPMA-USA, is the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. We are a not-for-profit organization, 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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