Hardware 2.0 - Best software applications/tools/utilities by ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes -- A few weeks ago my blogging colleague Ed Bott posted his top 10 list of favorite Windows applications. Now find out what my favorite applications, tools and utilities are. Some are commercial applications, while others are free to download and use.
I have traveled six times now to Romania. The first purpose was to respond to a need for project management training in response to Avian Influenza. that done, the government indicated there was a dire need for a more in-depth approach. Thus, the ramining trips. So far I have trained 72 people, all government middle management types. I took the training to three cities (Bucharest, Tulcea, and Brasov) so the training would have a larger impact on regional governments, known there as counties. All of the participants brought real world problems to develop into project plans. So far, seven have been approved for funding by the European Union, two by the World Bank, and others are pending.
The lesson learned here is to not assume that since many Eastern European countries came out of a Soviet-style existance that they should understand Soviet-style planning (remember the Five Year Plan?). The problem with that old style was that it was top-downb and directed. It lacked the participantion of stakeholders and had almost no buy-in from middle managers and workers. That was also the reason they mostly failed.
I hope to continue this program next fiscal year (I am awaiting a funding response) to develop a train-the-trainer team and a risk management team. The government also asked for a recommendation on how to organize themselves to be more adaptive to projects.
All in all, a success. If anyone out there would like aome advice on planning this sort of endeavor, please feel free to contact me.
Well, I am back from my business in Romania and I must say I am very pleased. The city of Bucharest is beautiful and full of happy, active, industrious people. The government recognizes their need to move away from the old Soviet bloc way of managing and really seems to want to implement project management. The country has just be admitted to the European Union and has lots of needs. Training, global certifications, consulting - they all loom large in the eyes of your typical Romanian manager. I will be reurning to Romania several times over the next twelve months and will update you of the status of Romania's daring new steps.
I have been working with a few former Warsaw Pact countries to assist them in developing their project management skills. They are particularly interested in using these skills to develop plans for projects for which they will seek international funding and for two areas internally: emergency response management and environmental resource management.
It seems that, although they had a lot of "central planning" experience under the old Soviet system, they have little or no experience in working in a collaborative manner or in using teams effectively. This may be an over-generalization, but I rather doubt it.
I will be traveling in Eastern Europe throughout the month of January and I will post updates on this posting to give you my insight on how they are adapting to what they see as a revolutionary model.
I would also be very interested in TrackBacks or Comments regarding this posting. Have you had similar contacts and what are your experiences?
I recently completed the second of what I hope will be a long series of Project management Camps for middle school kids. This one was especially nice. All participants had parents deeply involved with project management (engineers, IT professionals, bio-scientists, etc). I had them mornings for a week (afternoons were scheduled for swimming, skating, etc). These kids really caught on! They developed two responses to a proposal to do something regarding the planet Mars. They developed charters, a solid scope statement, objectives, assumptions and constraints. They then worked through a budget and schedule. Although not everything was according to PMBOK, they did understand how it all fits together. On Wednesday of the week, I took them on a field trip to PMI Global Headquarters in Newtown Square, PA. They had a great time there learning about the profession and meeting with several of the staff members. PMI gave them each a jump drive and lots of food. On the last day they presented their plans using PowerPoint to campers, parents, and College staff. Both plans assumed humans were already colonizing the planet Mars. One group decided to build the first fast-food restaurant on mars; the other a sports stadium that would take advantage of the martian gravity to host extreme sports. Money for that project was expected to be made by selling broadcasts of the events to Earth.
Try doing this where you live. It is a magical, humbling experience and a great way to continue the profession (you can earn PDUs for it, too). Email me for copies of the campers' PowerPoints and some pictures. I can also offer tips on setting a camp in motion (contact me by commenting on this posting or directly to poplos@dtcc.edu).
I work as a "professor" in a local Community College. I put the "professor" in quotes because our institution doesn't assign titles - everybody on faculty in an instructor. I teach project management, I have found that colleges and universities love to teach project management but they rarely use project management. We have been going through a lot of changes lately and it seems that, as of now, the lawyers and the accountants are running things. Project Management could be a wonderful way to satisfy the yearning of both the bean counters and the educators. They (bean counters) argue that they can keep the college out of trouble and financially sound. What we have, though, is a situation where no changes are announced - they simply return paperwork and ask for more information - information that was not collected or developed because there was no clear plan to do so (or at least the plan was not shared with those who have to execute it). To quote from "Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is failure to communicate...". Implementing enterprise project management would allow the college to really do some planning ans (egads) assessment in a way that encourages collaboration, communication, documentation, support, and accountability. But, alas, the eschew it. I'd be interested in seeing if anyone else out there has encountered similar issues, either in academia or in industry, and learn how you have coped with it.
In a bold move, the Delaware Valley Chapter of PMI has decided to host a dinner meeting in Dover, Delaware, a spot that is geographically center in their service area (although from a population standpoint, the center is closer to Philadelphia). They are bringing with them a popular presenter, Frank Walker, who will give his well-reviewed. "Who Stole the Float?"
I expect there are a lot of members and potential members from among the hundreds of PMs on the DelMarVa peninsula who would really enjoy this presentation and the opportunity to meet with other PMs. So, all of you out there working at Dover AFB, for the State of Delaware, or for places like Perdue, ITT, General Foods, and the dozens of construction and residential developers go to the chapter web site at www.pmi-dvc.org and sign up to come. It is scheduled for June 29th at 5:30 at the Sheraton Dover Hotel next to Walmart. I'll see you there!
Pandemic
1pan·dem·ic 
Pronunciation: pan-'de-mik
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin pandemus, from Greek pandEmos of all the people, from pan- + dEmos people
: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population
It is coming. Is your workplace ready? Seems to me it is time to begin PLANNING. Since this is what we project managers do well (even though there are a fair number of PMs who move too quickly to implementing), then we ought to be out in front of this.
What can you do?
- Put together a business plan - sell your organizaion on the need
- Volunteer to help your local non-profits and service agencies - places like shelters, blood banks, volunteer fire companies, volunteer EMTs, nursing homes, senior centers, and the like. They will be center stage when the pandemic hits. And I would be willing to bet they haven't a clue on what they will do (other than shut down).
Where can you help - I have added new search items to my SEARCH list: Pandemic, Volunteering, Non-profit agencies. Use them to confgure your own search for your area. Get involved!
PMI is about to issue two new standards - one for Program Management and one for Portfolio Management. These appear to be very similar to the long-heralded PMBOK, but adapted to Programs (groups of connected projects) and Portfolios (an organization's entire collection of projects and programs). I've read both in draft form and participated in the development of the Portfolio standard. They seem to be fairly concise. BUT ...
Are these two documents the first step in developing new certifications?
Will they further dilute the prestigious PMP?
OR
Will they be used by the industry to track a career path for project managers?
Clearly, the latter is the preferred route. Long needed in the project management profession is a common career path. Maybe having standards that track to a path will help that process. As I see it,:
CAPM - for the beginner
PMP - the career professional
Program - the the sub-enterprise level PMO type
Portfolio - for senior PMs in PMOs
What do you think?
I'd like to hear your responses.
Chuck
You have joined me at the beginning of what I hope will be a long and enjoyable journey. This is my first attempt at writing a blog. So, I think it appropriate to set out what I intend to do with this blog. If you bothered to look at my profile, you found that I enjoy teaching new project managers. Therefore, most of the "stuff" I will gather here will be directed at that group. This is not to say that some old hacks won't be able to learn something here. If I have learned anything in all these decades on the planet it is that you never stop learning. Even at death you will be learning what that is all about.
I intend to place some items on this site that I use when I teach project management. I will also put out some new information (well, new in the sense that I haven't used it any of my classes as yet). I welcome comment on any and all of it. Please feel free to let me know the wickedness of my methods.
I am also looking for your help. If you have anything that you would like to have me use in my classes, please send it along.
So, welcome to Square One.
Chuck
