You may be wondering why anyone would plunk down $54 to purchase a dictionary of project management terms.  After all, you can google terms or use the online PM dictionaries available at PMHut, Project Auditors, or Visitask.

Your time is valuable!

There are too many books out there.

PM Bookshelf posts present you with a core of books that are worth your time to buy and read.

I wondered too when Christine Hohlbaum contacted me on behalf of ESI International and offered to send me a review copy of J. LeRoy Ward’s new third edition of the Dictionary of Project Management Terms.  Here’s what I found.

Impressions

• The book itself is lightweight and comfortable to hold.  It’s bound in what used to be called “imitation leather” and feels like it could withstand a lot of abuse.
• Good typeface choice.  Text is easy to read.
• The definitions are clear and concise.
• It begs to be picked up and browsed.

Why You Might Find This Useful

• Wonderful reference for the PMP exam.
• Could reduce the learning curve significantly for new project managers.
• Answers questions you might not know you have.
• Easy to carry with you.
• Gives you a reason to look away from your computer when Workrave reminds you to take a break.  (If you are not using Workrave, please contact me – we need to talk!)
• Impress project team members with your knowledge.
• Looks good on your desk.

Summary

If you are a new project manager, or think you might want to be a project manager, you would do well to purchase this book.   More experienced project managers will also find value.

In future you can look forward to other quick summaries of books which can improve your abilities as a project manager or IT leader.

Originally posted 2008-12-02 12:24:42.

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PM Bookshelf – Dictionary of Project Management Terms Third Edition by Ward is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

Barbara Mauro and a few others have had questions about getting PDUs for articles and other documents published online.  These questions have shown up on LinkedIn Project Management discussion groups and the #pmot (project managers on twitter) group.

This morning I spoke with a PMI representative, who confirmed that project management articles published online can be submitted for PMP Professional Development Units (PDUs). The same applies to templates and white papers.

If you happened to be audited, you would need to be able to verify where and when the item was published.

The guidelines talk about “scholarly articles”. It’s up to you to determine whether you would consider your submission “scholarly”. If PMI has any issues or questions with a particular PDU submission, they said they will contact you directly.

While not as definitive and clear as we might like, this does provide more guidance than we had before. Hope it’s helpful.

Alec

P.S. An excerpt from our conversation is below.

Quote——-
“…It doesn’t matter if it is published online or in print. If it is a scholarly article you can submit it as category 2B.”

PMPs would claim credit for the category 2B option if he or she has authored or co-authored an article pertaining to project management in a non-refereed journal.

A non-refereed journal would be a journal in which scholarly articles have been written by specialists in a particular field. Unlike refereed journals, the described articles are not evaluated by a panel of experts before acceptance for publication.

Sole authors can claim 15 PDUs per article
Co-authors would claims 10 PDUs per article
End Quote ———-

Image via Wikipedia

Originally posted 2009-04-17 12:30:03.

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PMI: Project Management Articles Published Online Can Be Submitted for PDUs is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

Here are the 10 Keys:

1. Develop a consistently positive attitude.
2. Make wise choices.
3. Believe in your abilities.
4. Be a master at setting goals and achieving them.
5. Have a clear vision of what success means to you and to
   your project.
6. Develop steady, positive habits.
7. Show persistence.
8. Over-communicate.
9. Be transparent.
10. Do what you say you will do without exception.

What do you think are the most important skills or qualities needed in a really good project manager?

Many beginning project managers focus on the use of tools or techniques.  While specific knowledge is important, it’s no guarantee of capability in a PM.  If you read my earlier post, Are you a Project Manager from Hell, you have some idea of how a person can be exceptionally knowledgeable and still be a walking organizational disaster.

Below are ten qualities, the development of which, will stand you in good stead throughout your career.  A good shortcut in developing these is to model them for others.

If you could choose just one to focus upon for the rest of the week, which would it be?

1. Develop a consistently positive attitude.
2. Make wise choices.
3. Believe in your abilities.
4. Be a master at setting goals and achieving them.
5. Have a clear vision of what success means to you and to your project.
6. Develop steady, positive habits.
7. Show persistence.
8. Over-communicate.
9. Be transparent.
10. Do what you say you will do without exception.

In future blog entries, I’ll elaborate on each in more detail.

Have a great week.

Alec
(Image by nasty days on flickr)

Originally posted 2008-08-11 08:00:00.

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10 Keys to Being a Wildly Successful Project Manager is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

Twitter Tweets – Week 12 (March 2009)

Do you twitter?

Twitter, a microblogging platform,  allows you to send and receive free short messages of up to 140 characters.

Tweets can be private (called direct messages) or public.  Twitter is 21st century CB Radio.

Here are selected project management and career twitter tweets from the last few weeks.

How can you use these?

• Look for project managers to follow @ravenyoung @sreejith_gce
• Scan the topics (Project Management Tools, Efficiency and Productivity, etc.) for subjects of interest to you
  
• Read some or all of the twitter tweets!
  

Take a look – you might find something that could help you on your project, with your career, or in your life. Have a great week. -Alec

Project Management Tools

1. Agile and Scrum? Brief review of Pivotal Tracker Project Management Tool by Andy Volk http://is.gd/opzqabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
2. @wefrahm have you looked at deskaway project management software? Looks promising http://www.deskaway.com/8:18 AM Mar 18th from web
3. New guest post by Paul O’Brien – Free Project Management Tool – Delivery Status Grid http://is.gd/neBA Clients and executives love it.10:17 AM Mar 13th from web
4. Free Project Management Tool – Paul O’Brien’s Promise Keeper. Dare you to use it and not improve your project metrics! http://bit.ly/Vd6N36:10 AM Mar 9th from web.

Efficiency and Productivity

1. Are you losing 28% of your productivity every day in “switching cost”? Myth of multitasking on cranky middle manager http://is.gd/o0CW4:53 AM Mar 19th from TweetDeck
2. Reading How to increase the value of your mind maps by up to 80 percent by @chuckfrey Refactor! http://is.gd/n5VN4:47 AM Mar 18th from TweetDeck
3. How Bill Gates is said to take notes http://is.gd/ntHn3:51 PM Mar 15th from TweetDeck
4. Five best (paper) note taking tools from Lifehacker http://is.gd/1N7a12:57 PM Mar 15th from TweetDeck
5. Reading Malcolm Gladwell’s The social life of Paper http://is.gd/nszv Do you take paper notes?11:57 AM Mar 15th from TweetDeck
6. Reading How to Take Notes Like an Alpha-Geek by Tim Ferris – http://is.gd/vTz – How do you organize your notes and information?11:45 AM Mar 15th from TweetDeck
7. reading: 8 ways to use twitter more effectively @mintblogger http://is.gd/mHBx9:11 AM Mar 11th from TweetDeck

Career

1. Seth Godin – what to do when you have slack time? http://is.gd/mvtv12:25 PM Mar 20th from TweetDeck
2. get help for your project – 6 Free Project Management Forums http://is.gd/nBdJ by @alecsatin5:26 AM Mar 17th from web
3. Shawn just added Making Project Management Better PM blog to the ICPM. http://tinyurl.com/ckjlll Thanks @TheICPM9:44 AM Mar 13th from web
4. reading: How to use twitter to job hunt http://is.gd/kUAi Thanks @ravenyoung Happy Friday the 13th everyone – Alec5:23 AM Mar 13th from TweetDeck
5. @ravenyoung @sreejith_gce It is good to see sreejith here. PM Karma is good stuff http://pmkarma.blogspot.com/8:57 AM Mar 10th from TweetDeck in reply to ravenyoung
6. Will Monster.com help your Job Search? I ask Jeff Taylor on CNBC On The Money tonight @ 10pm ET http://tinyurl.com/8s8lan2:50 PM Mar 6th from web

Quips and Quotations

1. For every complex problem there is a solution which is clear, simple and wrong! Jurgen Appelo on @projectshrink http://is.gd/oeSY11:53 AM Mar 20th from TweetDeck
2. RT @LimConsulting People don’t want a business opportunity; they want someone to lead them to success! So true.9:33 AM Mar 16th from web
3. @sreejith_gce: You’re in good company. Most of us are learning twitter as we go. Maybe twitter is learning itself as it goes along.8:55 AM Mar 10th from TweetDeck

News and Views

1. RT @RobertLGoodman @Hakicoma Google forced to black out Street View photos http://tinyurl.com/ce64ca6:22 AM Mar 20th from web

Blogging

1. Iris blog improvement program (now in beta) gives excellent advice. http://www.visionarybloggin… THX @easton10:59 AM Mar 7th from web
2. @SHurleyHall the wordpress Thesis theme and support are excellent. You won’t be disappointed. http://diythemes.com/thesis/4:10 AM Mar 18th from TweetDeck in reply to SHurleyHall

Video Podcasts

1. If you ever liked Jacques Cousteau – take a quick break and watch Sylvia Earle’s short video podcast on TED http://is.gd/k6AHabout 21 hours ago from TweetDeck
2. RT: @ptcraven @alecsatin this is Dean Kamen o TED, incredible http://tinyurl.com/5a8oy2 truly so. Thanks again Paul.12:32 PM Mar 16th from web
3. RT: @ptcraven and then there is this remarkable woman http://tinyurl.com/b8krtj – Fantastic!9:33 AM Mar 16th from web
4. @ptcraven BTW I am so grateful for TED. Did you see this one by Larry Brilliant on pandemics http://is.gd/nyal6:35 AM Mar 16th from TweetDeck

(Photo credit: Shovelling Son)

Originally posted 2009-03-22 10:33:43.

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PM Twitter Tweets? is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

Over the past few weeks I’ve been wowed by business people who have really got customer focus right.  As
project managers, we can learn a lot from their example.  When was the last time you:

• Identified cost or time saving options for your customer?
• Anticipated your stakeholders‘ needs?
• Went out of the way to make all stages of their project easier for them?

Being a customer focused project manager means that you make a regular practice of putting yourself in your customer’s place.  You make it a point to determine what would make  them successful, happy or even less irritated.

It does not mean that you disregard project management basics such as delivering to agreed scope and requirements.  Adding extra functionality outside of some sort of process will very quickly MAKE EVERYONE UNHAPPY.

Toni Emory

Toni Emory is General Manager of the 415 Madison Avenue Regus Group office in Manhattan.  The Regus Group provides virtual office (hoteling) services.  I called Regus to see about using their business lounge near Grand Central to do some blog writing between clients.  When on the tour it became clear that the lounge wouldn’t suit this purpose (no real tables), Toni took extra time to (a) listen to what I was trying to accomplish and (b) explain how her company could meet the need.

You might say that this is nothing more than good sales or marketing.  Perhaps.  But then she went further and provided me the use of one of the best offices for the day at no charge.  She made sure that the chairs and lighting were comfortable.  She then sent in her technical support person Ornan Charles who stayed with me while my laptop booted until he was sure that I could use the phone and access the high speed internet.

It turned out to be wonderfully productive day.  So productive in fact that I worked through lunch, reaching into the in-office mini-bar for water and treats.  At the end of the day when I went to pay for the snacks, Charles insisted that they were on the house.

How did I feel after these interactions?  Like a million bucks.

Crystal Misner, Kerri Baird and John Henry

Crystal, Kerri and John make up the Printing for Less Mustang team.  I’ve been using Printing for Less for more than 5 years.  Even though they are an internet company, they are easily and quickly reachable by phone or email.  Their standard customer service is so far above what I’ve gotten used to from most other businesses that I’m sometimes almost embarrassed at how well they treat me.

Recent example:  I needed printing of a Microsoft Publisher 2003 file.  There was no easy way I could find to transfer this file to a more standard package without destroying the existing formatting.  I called for help, expecting a large cost and week turnaround.  A proof was ready to go that same day at no extra charge.

When it was time for shipping, they provided an unexpected free upgrade to overnight Saturday delivery.  The printing arrived two weeks before I needed it.  It was professionally done and without error.

How did I feel?  In the hands of competence.

Application to Project Management

When you think about these examples, think about your situation.  No matter what the structure, at some level your work comes because someone, somewhere believes that your organization can do the project work that they need done to meet a particular business need.

If in the end you can provide them with the type of feeling experience that Toni Emory, Crystal Misner, Kerry Baird and John Henry consistently do for their customers, you will provide a tremendous service.

Your customers are asking these questions regularly:

• Who will I go to?
• Who will I recommend?
• Who can I rely on?
• Who gladdens my heart to work with?

Make sure that when they do, you are the one that comes into their mind.

P.S.  I’m writing about these companies not because they asked me to (which they didn’t), nor because I receive any money or other benefits from doing so (I don’t).
(Image by louisiana)

Originally posted 2008-11-04 11:19:58.

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Redoubled Customer Focus and Project Management is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

PMI (Project Management International) has just released a press release announcing that research is showing project management salaries are increasing despite the recession. The text of the press release is included below.

If the research is correct, this is very good news for project managers who continue to pick up the slack in organizations left overly lean by layoffs and downsizings.

Are you earning more than you were in 2008? More than in 2005?

Research Shows Project Management Salaries are Growing, Despite Recession

— Demand for skilled project managers shown in PMI® Project Management Salary Survey—Sixth Edition—

Newtown Square, Pa., 19 April 2010 — Amid a global economic climate plagued by high unemployment and a continued lack of organizational resources, the Project Management Institute (PMI) has good news for job seekers and organizations alike. According to the PMI® Project Management Salary Survey—Sixth Edition project managers, instead of suffering income losses like so many other professionals, are actually earning more than they were two years ago, before the worst of the recession hit.
How much more depends on location, experience, and certification level. Of the nearly 35,000 project manager practitioners who responded to the survey, 51 percent reported an increase in their total compensation, with the global median salary reaching $90,260 USD. Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential holders earn upwards of $10,000 USD more in certain countries than non-credential holders, with median salaries in the United States, Australia and Germany now exceeding $100,000 USD.

“Though the lessons learned from the downturn won’t be quickly forgotten, these numbers indicate that organizations are starting to get back on track and return to their pre-recession plans,” said Gregory Balestrero, president and CEO of PMI. “In addition, they show that organizations are still willing and able to pay for top project management talent. This is great news for project managers who are looking to extend their careers with new skills, individuals who may be interested in a career change and those who are coming out of school and considering what job would best suit their future goals.”

Created and conducted by PMI’s market research team, the PMI Project Management Salary Survey – Sixth Edition, provides a comprehensive look at compensation in the global project management field, measuring salaries across eight major position description levels in 19 countries. This latest edition of survey results, conducted in 2009, reflects a greatly increased sample size for more accurate data. Surveyed countries include Australia, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, the UAE, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Singapore, South Korea, Mexico, India, Taiwan, and China.

Reports Available in Full or By Country

This latest research from the world’s leading professional membership organization for project managers is available in its entirety or in individual country reports on the PMI Marketplace. The full report of the salary survey features:
• The responses of nearly 35,000 practitioners in 19 countries
• Cross-tabulations of salary data by 8 positions and 13 demographic variables
• Reported salary increases over the past year
• Expected salary increases for the next year
• Information on benefit packages, work environments and available global project management career paths

The individual country reports feature:
• Country-specific cross-tabulations of salary data by 8 positions and 13 demographic variables
• Reported salary increases over the last year
• Expected salary increases for the next year
• Information on benefit packages and available global project management career paths.
PMI members can search for region-specific salary information via a query function on www.PMI.org.

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Project Management Salaries is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

Risk Management is one of those project management areas that get more lip service than practice. There’s a perception that risk management is hard, complicated, takes a lot of time, and is boring.  While some risk management implementations can be all of these things, the risk management you choose to follow on your projects just needs to be “good enough”.

What is Good Enough Risk Management

Let’s invoke the 80/20 rule¹ in our definition. For small to medium IT projects, good enough risk management is simply this:

• Create a log of risks at the beginning of the project
• Rank each risk as follows:
  • Likelihood of it occurring (0 – 99%)
  • Impact on project scope, cost, time or quality if it occurs (0-99%)
• Prioritize the log by severity (likelihood X impact)
• Create mitigation strategies for risk items with greater than 50% severity
• Review the risks with the project team regularly throughout the project

Following this “good enough” risk management approach will put you in the driver’s seat of your project, and will reduce surprises for you on your project.

Note that the most important part of this risk management strategy is the thinking part.  If you rush through the creation of the risk items without really thinking about what you’re doing, you will likely miss some or all of the most important risks.  On the other hand, if you include too many risks, the ones that will “bite you” can hide in all the detail.  Finally, if you do this exercise in isolation from your project team, you will almost certainly miss important items.

Free Risk Management Log Template

Here is a basic risk management log template you can use freely.  If you have others that you would like to make available to other readers at no cost, please contact me.  I’ll add them here.

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Free Project Risk Management Template is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

1. For most things, 20 percent of the effort will provide you with 80 percent of the positive results.

Have you ever being managing a project and have something go horribly wrong only to have it followed by more problems one after another?

If you are an experienced PM, you most certainly have.  We all have at one time or another.  Now, I am not talking about your run of the mill project issues that get into the way of progress.  I am talking about when all bets are off and you are in triage while trying to get everyone thinking clearly and planning on top of it all.

The focus here is not only on fixing the project issues, but also digging yourself out from under to maintain effectiveness.  Situations can get stressful and you can quickly become your own worst constraint.  Ultimately, there are two primary ways in which a PM (or anyone) can react in these situations.  The first is to get stressed, mad, or anxious.  The second is to calm your mind, ride the wave, and get into the groove.  I suggest the later.  Not just for everyone on the project.  But, primarily, for yourself.

Control

Project managers are expected to control.  Regardless of issues.  But, control is a manifestation and we need to admit that we really hold no control over anyone and thus, anything.  The only thing you can control is yourself and how you show up in the situation.  So, if you feel like things are spinning out of control, they really are not spinning any more than when you think things are going well.

Rhythm Is About Pace

Pace is our ability to set the accelerator and keep it going.  Not only for the project team but also for ourselves.  I hate to harp on this fact.  But we are the ones out in front and if we begin to lag so will everyone else.  Then we can slow down more followed by the team decelerating.  I am reminded of a conductor of an orchestra. Did you ever notice how the conductor is not moving his hands to the music but actually anticipating what will come next? This is because the performers react to his actions.  It is the same when you are a leader.

Rhythm Is About Enjoyment

There was a reason you got into this profession and even though you are probably looking for a way out, don’t.  This is really a ride of emotions for everyone involved.  Try to maintain a sense of humor, respect, and remember that, just like the ocean, the waters may be choppy on top, but down deep it is slow and grounded.  Keep grounded and remember that the chop is temporary.  Ride the wave and let go and have fun.

Rhythm Is About Repetition

Pop songs are a formula.  They are that way because people like it that way.  They are comfortable with knowing the there will be verse, chorus, and four beats to the measure (excellent for dancing).  My point is that when something is working on the team, don’t abandon it while putting out fires.  Keep some routine.  This extends to yourself as well.  Take time out every day to do a little bit of what you would normally do when chaos is not the normal state.  It will remind you of calmer times.

Rhythm Is About Focus

You will want to get the team thinking like surgeons and not like when you play the child’s game of operation.  Everyone will scramble.  But, efforts must be executed surgically so as not to increase the chaos.  Do whatever you have to to maintain the integrity of the team and focus.  Work off site, get everyone together (difficult if located in other countries).  If you are managing a virtual team, get everyone engaged in all day open phone lines or net meetings.  Whatever it takes.  I have also heard of people putting up signs and caution tape around cubicles to ward off onlookers, solicitors, or pesky coffee klatchers.  Unplug phones, do whatever you have to.  You are large and in charge and need to eliminate any external distractions from getting the job done.

Jason Edleman, PMP is a Project Manager interested in eastern philosophy, psychology ,and its application within the western business model and personal life.  Jason currently blogs at http://www.turningiris.com and his nw http://www.alltroo.com. When not managing projects, Jason is focused on being a father and husband.

Creative Commons Image: yewenyi

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Finding Rhythm in Project Chaos is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

For every PMO that delivers on its initial promise, there are two that hobble along, never really achieving much in terms of bottom-line benefit to customers, project managers, stakeholders or the business itself.

It’s pretty easy to eliminate most if not all  benefits of a Project Management Office.  Which of the following hold true for your PMO?

1. Make sure to set up a climate of fear. Emphasize the penalties of non-compliance.  Use the stick and not the carrot.
2. Make sure to locate the program office as far away from the project managers as possible. Extra points if you make communication hard by limiting the use of online collaboration software and other tools.
3. Do not include project managers in decision-making. Take a heavy handed approach.  Issue pronouncements whenever you come up with a novel way of doing things.
4. Metrics over people. Make sure that the project managers understand that success means not more than 10% schedule and cost variance.  Qualitative measures should never enter into any equation.  Come to think of it, what are qualitative measures?  Don’t bother me with irrelevancies.
5. Leave vision to Oprah and Deepak. This is IT.  We’re here to deliver.  PMs should focus on getting the work done.  They don’t need to know about business goals, objectives, and customer needs.  Just read the documentation and get to work.
6. Discourage and eliminate contact between project managers. Make sure that all communication is rigidly defined, regimented and as unpleasant as possible.  Set meetings at inopportune times and force people to attend who have little to offer or gain by being there.
7. Do not define standard processes and templates. If you have processes, provide them only when absolutely necessary.  Do not give training.  If you must provide training, allow only a small fraction of your personnel to attend.  Do not include any contractor staff in training.
8. Establish your PMO as an entity unto itself. Provide minimal alignment up to higher management or down to the needs of the project managers.
9. Focus on irrelevancies.
10. Implement ITIL, SDLC, EVM, Project Server or any toolset without first establishing a firm foundation of project management best practices throughout your organization.

There you have it.  Ten steps to ensure that all your efforts will end in mediocrity.  Coming soon – the ten steps to ensure that your PMO will be a bright light to lead your organization to great project management success.

As always, wish you well.
Alec
(Image by trueblood on flickr)

Originally posted 2008-08-07 08:00:00.

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10 Ways to Destroy the Effectiveness of Your Project Management Office (PMO) is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process

6 Tips for Email in the New Decade

Ron Holohan, PMP of the PM411 podcast interviewed me recently on the subject of effectively managing email.  If you’ve yet to hear PM411, you’re in for a treat.  Ron’s project management podcast is interesting, informative and a lot of fun.

Some of the topics covered in our spirited talk include:

• What’s wrong with the way I’m managing my inbox today?
• How can we make our email more organized and efficient?
• Are there ways to make Outlook and GMail work better?
• How do I find an email I sent to my boss 6 months ago?
• As a PM, is there a recommended way to organize inbox and email folders?

Listen in to the PM411 podcast here.

P.S. I don’t really have 12,322 unread email messages in my inbox – though Somewhat Frank did when he captured the image!
Creative Commons Image: Somewhat Frank

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12,322 unread email messages. Help! is a post from: Alec Satin on People, Projects and Process