Welcome to the asapm January, 2012 Newsletter!Welcome to the asapm January, 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 Update, March 5, 2012, Arlington, VA
3. Collaboration and Competences in Business Development and Program/Project Management
4. Where Did the Term Stakeholder Come From? Guest Posting by Robert Youker
5. asapm-Sponsored Event: Resource Planning Summit, April 15-17. Baltimore, MD
6. More IPMA, Young Crew, Jobs, and Journal News
7. Another Double-article Feature by Byatt, Hamilton, and Hodgkinson
8. Key Performance Indicators for the PMO: Metrics for Success, by O'Brochta and Finch
9. 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 linked heading to see the posting.
The Importance of Writing Well
For years I’ve used an introductory dialogue for classroom Communication topics. It involves a tee-up, “Based on research done by the US Navy years ago, different people have different preferences in the way they receive information.” And then I write on a flipchart the following, while saying most of these words:
The key is this: While I’d write Fool, I’d say Neither. Typical American humor. In a room of 20-25 people, around half would laugh, the others would wonder why they are laughing. It is because some were listening, and others were reading.
Improving Communication Effectiveness: But this little vignette brings up a very important point: Statistically, about half of all people prefer to listen to get their information, and about half prefer to read it. Which are you? While the cited statistics say that about 5% do both equally well, the majority of all participants usually think they are part of that 5%. And the majority think their husband/wife/manager/co-worker/customer (pick one) is the last on the list above ... More
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2. asapm PPM Update, March 5, 2012, Arlington, VA
asapm members received their discount Promotional Codes this week, and all our other friends can also take advantage of the Early Bird registration discount, that ends January 15, 2012. The number of of discounted seats is limited, so we recommend rapid registration, to assure your seat. See the Symposium website section, with all the latest information. Or, go directly to the Symposium Registration site. Want to share the information with your friends? Download the Symposium flyer.
Why Attend?
Project and Program Managers and our Stakeholders face great challenges over the next 12-24 months. Projects are under fire to deliver more, integrate more effectively, demonstrate ROI earlier, and drive revenue faster than ever.
Whether you are in the private sector, public sector or not for profit arena, you face unprecedented challenges in delivering on the promise of project management.
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. We hope to see you Delivering the Promise!
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3. Collaboration and Competences in Business Development
and Program/Project Management
This paper was written by Howard Nutt; Executive Director, Business Development Institute International, and by Stacy Goff, current asapm President. It was written for and presented at the Rome 2008 IPMA World Congress. Apparently, that was a very busy time, because it never did appear (as was intended) on our asapm website. And now, as IPMA is working on an update to the IPMA Competence Baseline, the themes and ideas are even more relevant than before. Enjoy!
Leading Project-Oriented Enterprises have long understood the value of cross-functional collaboration on contracts. However, few companies have embraced collaboration and shared competences between Business Development and Program/Project Management. This paper highlights why such collaboration is essential, discusses key obstacles and opportunities, identifies important competences targeted for program/project managers, and suggests the strategic value to both Business Development and Program/Project Management.
The paper also reports on work by the Business Development Institute International (BD-Institute) and the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (IPMA-USA) to better define the role of program and project managers in Business Development and to identify relevant Business Development competences to be added to the Program/Project Management International and National Competence Baselines. Competences shared between these two professions will benefit small and large corporations around the world by helping them win more bids and better deliver what is promised under contract ... More
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4. Where Did the Term Stakeholder Come From? Guest Posting by Robert Youker
In September of 2006, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoelick used the word “stakeholder” when speaking about US/China relations. The Chinese language does not have a corollary word for “stakeholder” and the use of the word led to quite a fuss. The State Department suggested a Chinese phrase meaning “participants with related interests”.
The term stakeholder had come into common usage by the end of the last century, but where did the word come from? One possible source is the person who holds the money or stakes in a bet. Another possibility is in mining prospecting where you drive stakes into the fours corners of the property you want to claim ... More
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5. asapm-Sponsored Event: Resource Planning Summit, April 15-17. Baltimore, MD
Whenever Dick Rutledge puts on an event, we immediately take notice. The 2012 Resource Planning Summit, will be one of the best USA PM events of the year. asapm has participated in Dick Rutledge's events three times in the last several years, and have always been impressed with this Dean of the PM Conference world. Originator of the Project Leadership Conferences in the 1990s, others "went to school" on Dick's conferences, to discover the secret sauce of successful conferences. In our recollection, he and Adam Kahn (now running the ProjectSummit series) wrote the book in the 1990s on how to hold a rewarding and useful PM conference.
As our friend and asapm member Terry Schmidt says at the Resource Planning Summit's LinkedIn site, "Dick, You put on superb events, absolutely top notch, ever since you pioneered outstanding events in the Project management world. I look forward to delivering the closing keynote, Strategic Planning For Your Career And Life, and to meeting the many thought leaders who attend." Of course, Terry may be a bit biased: He is delivering the closing keynote.
And, from our Trip Report of the last Resource Planning Summit: "One of the best features, in addition to the magnificent organization of Dick's events, is the audience. Consisting primarily of Senior Managers, Product Managers, Portfolio Managers, Functional Managers, Resource Managers, and advanced Project and Program Managers, this event perfectly matches the audience asapm helps the most: The Change Agents of today's organization."
asapm will be staffing a booth at this event, and we encourage you to participate! See more about the speakers, venue and past participant rave reviews at the Resource Planning Summit website!
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6. More IPMA, Young Crew, Jobs, and Journal News
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.
Alexandre Rech, Brazil, is Young Project Manager 2011
At the end of the Global Young Crew Workshop in Brisbane, Australia, during the gala dinner, IPMA Young Crew announced Alexandre Rech, from Brazil (see ipma-brasil.org), as the winner of the Young Project Manager Award – 2011. Congratulations Alexandre! (click the title, above, for the full press release.)
IPMA Expert Seminar, February 2012 in Zurich
IPMA has announced that its February 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. To see full programme or to register, visit www.ipma-expertseminar.com.
On Deadlines
This YouTube video was posted by
Ms. Goga Blažević, President of Croatia's Young Crew.
Gestures and Body Language Tutorial
Posted by Luca Cavonne, on the IPMA Young Crew Board, this YouTube video is fun!
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.
Reminder: IPMA Journal Open Subscription Period
The International Journal of Project Management (IJoPM) is the premier, juried journal for International Project and Program Managers. Available at the same price as last year, the IPMA Journal is available to paid-up and current asapm members at a significantly discounted price. You can subscribe or renew during the December-Jamuary sign-up period by clicking the link at the beginning of this item. Sorry, but this is a members-only benefit. On the other hand, asapm membership plus the subscription is only half the price of the normal subscription price!
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7. Another Double-article Feature by Byatt, Hamilton, and Hodgkinson
Using Project and Program Management Groups on LinkedIn
We plan our articles a year or so in advance and research our topics to ensure that they will be of interest to our readership (we hope this one will be of interest to you). In conducting the research for this particular article about 12 months ago, we saw that there were over 700 Program Management and 1,200 Project Management subject groups on LinkedIn.
Recently, we revisited this research and found it had grown to over 2,000 Program Management and nearly 3,600 Project Management subject groups on LinkedIn, a 3-fold increase in the number of groups in just 12 months. In the same timeframe, membership of LinkedIn has expanded, but to a lesser degree, so the interest in and/or the demographic of program/project management with members must be increasing at a faster rate than general membership in LinkedIn. Why, then, has the proportion of groups focused on Project and/or Program management, outpaced general membership?
To understand this, let's first discuss LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com). Unlike Facebook, it is a business networking tool rather than a social networking tool. It helps professionals to keep in touch with current and past con-tacts and make new professional connections. Many recruiters and employers use LinkedIn nowadays to find viable job candidates, and employers often post job advertisements as well ... More
Implementing a PMO is a Project in Itself
When we began our collaboration on this article, we wanted to ensure that our readers didn't see it as another article on how to manage and/or define the benefits of a PMO (Program and/or Project Management Office). There are many excellent articles on this subject published by respected professionals and organizations, many of which provide very valuable information that you can adopt or adapt to your specific needs. The way in which we thought we could offer a 'niche view' was to focus on how one starts up a PMO from the perspective that it is a project in its own right.
In our own experience and in feedback discussions we have had with many project management and PMO professionals, difficulties in establishing a PMO are frequently due to the fact that some of the key tenets of treating it like a project (e.g., really focusing on senior management commitment) did not, in hindsight, receive the level of attention they warranted.
Let us first consider the two basic milestones in any project, 'Start' and 'Finish', and how they relate to establishing a PMO: ... More
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8. Key Performance Indicators for the PMO: Metrics for Success, by O'Brochta and Finch
This is part 2 of a 2-part series. Part 1 of this series focused on the codependent relationship between executives and PMOs. This 2nd article describes specific key performance indicators that a newly-established PMO can use to measure itself to ensure alignment with the needs of the organization.
The Project Management Office (PMO) is an office with the capacity to institute a wide variety of positive changes within a company. Indeed, many organizations understand the codependency between the executive and PMO, and act to establish PMOs for just this reason. Unfortunately, it is often one of the most incorrectly managed and under utilized portions of an organization. Findings presented at the 2010 Gartner ITxpo indicate that nearly half of all PMOs result in failure. The question, then, is why do such a drastic number of businesses feel that their PMOs do not deliver value?
There are a number of answers that need to be explored, but given the highly individual nature of each PMO, it is difficult to provide a definitive list of failure points. However, an issue that pervades nearly every PMO across the board is a problem of metrics. Too many PMOs do not measure their success with the appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs), and due to this failure, high-level executives can easily question the PMO’s worth, particularly the results-driven chief financial officer. The PMO, with its emphasis on measuring process and protocols, can fail to focus on KPIs that are relevant to the overall progress of the business. Because of this failure to properly document its success, many otherwise productive PMOs are being shut down ... More
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9. Featuring Tim Herd in Our Series on Leadership
Last month we started a new feature; now that most organizations and PM practitioners have figured out that the so-called "Soft Side" is key to to project success, what are we doing about it? In addition to practicing those skills, we have an author who will share a regular series on Leadership. We will publish two of his articles per month, until we catch up with his current series.
Thinking and doing and being
Olympic champions, bodybuilders and dieters, sales representatives, and all your basic goal-setters keep before them a clear picture of the desired end results even as they work toward them from afar off.
You see, our brains are gullible: they believe what they are consistently told.
The teen berated as a screw-up continues as one; the girl ostracized for being different becomes a loner; the man who confesses he has no willpower succumbs to temptation. On the other hand, the child praised for being thoughtful continues to be; a student who believes she can overcome dyslexia does; a disadvantaged young adult rises to the challenge of being a single parent. All of us act according to what we believe we are capable of doing, to the degree we believe it ... More
Currents
The Class IV rapids on the Youghiogheny River flipped me and the raft skyward. When it finally occurred to gravity to reclaim me, the raft and my pals had already moved on without me, and things came down to just me and the river. (You could say I became totally immersed in my work!) I broke my paddle on a large rock and almost did the same with my tailbone. Fortunately for me, my buddies were able to retrieve me from the swift currents and haul me back aboard before the river took me for good.
Three awesome things about water trails:
1. They move.
2. They're better with a buddy.
3. They can be navigated by almost any kind of vessel ... More
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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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