*allPM November Poll Results

*Personal Risk Management by Dr. David Hillson PMP FAPM

*Positive Leadership in Project Management - Business Savvy and Project Management by Frank P. Saladis, PMP

*The Global State of Project Management Training and Education by Joseph Zerby, EdD; Michael Price, PhD, RA; John Cable,RA, PMP; Manon Deguire

*Ten Things Walt Disney Taught Me About Project Management by Paul R. Williams,PMP

*Talk to the Hand By Sheilina Somani, PMP

*Powerful Project Management: A Balanced Blend of Art and Science by Matt Klein

*The Zen of PM™: Engagement Management by: George Pitagorsky, PMP, Senior Enterprise Solutions Advisor, IIL

*PM Crossword Connections™ - Having Fun While Learning the PMBOK® Guide: "CONTRACTUALLY SPEAKING" (PROCUREMENT), by Frank Saladis, PMP

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In any event, I have missed all of our members (we had a December/January newsletter, so we haven't gotten to interact on a grand scale since November), and I now want to belatedly wish each and every one of you a very happy new year! Our Co-Publisher Frank P. Saladis, PMP joins me in this wish. So hopefully, we are off to a great new year, with both ongoing and new allPM.com content and resources that make your jobs and lives easier, better and more fun.

This month our theme is Extreme Lessons Learned. Dr. Al Zeitoun, PMP sees this topic as critical for the success of our projects. He says as his introduction to our daily tips on this important subject, "Lessons learned are underutilized in corporations across the globe. This month's allPM.com tips of the day will address the barriers to successful lessons learned and the cultural changes that are necessary to enable stakeholders to see the positive side of the lessons, as well as the concrete benefits they provide. These tips include How Tos that will help you create the commitment and discipline necessary to make this part of the daily projects' outcomes." His charming article, A Tale of Two Companies, clearly makes the point and is very readable to boot, so read it!

By the way, we will be publishing our 2006 allPM.com Editorial Calendar as soon as Co-Publisher Frank Saladis puts the finishing touches on it (i.e. soon). You can submit articles to us on any of the monthly themes or on other topics of interest to you. This month we have an article submitted by allPM.com member Matt Klein that started with a simple email exchange between us, and I think you will enjoy and benefit from it. It is entitled, Powerful Project Management: A Balanced Blend of Art and Science. In it he comes up with "Seven Critical Project Problems," and then gives you "Matt Klein's Super Seven Leadership Skills for Project Success." Make sure you print them out and tape them to your desktop! Now you members and visitors should remember that you can get PDUs for writing articles that get published on allPM.com. Here is what the PMI®'s Web site says about how many you can get (quite a few!) and what qualifies (being published by allPM Today!): "Author or co-author of an article pertaining to project management published in a nonrefereed journal. (e.g. PM Network®) 15 PDUs per article (author); 10 PDUs per article (co-author)." So go to it with your articles for allPM.com!

Speaking of PMI®, we have a very exciting and extremely informative article by PMI authors Joseph Zerby, Michael Price, John Cable and Manon Deguire: The Global State of Project Management Training and Education, which provides a snapshot of the scope and nature of project management learning throughout the world within both the professional development and academic settings. Statistics on training organizations, students, types of delivery, regional variations, and topics of study are presented. Your organizations will definitely benefit from the helpful overview. Our thanks to PMI for giving us permission to publish this article, and also for its much appreciated sponsorship of allPM.com. Members and visitors, please show your appreciation by clicking on the ad in this newsletter and availing yourselves of some very valuable information and resources.

Another allPM.com member, Paul R. Williams, PMP, submitted a delightful article, Ten Things Walt Disney Taught Me About Project Management. I'm sure you will enjoy it and find it worthwhile. Co-Publisher Frank P. Saladis, PMP writes another in his series on Positive Leadership in Project Management, this one on Business Savvy and Project Management. He makes a convincing case for projects being financial investments and that they should be recognized as key elements in the strategies for achieving business excellence. Soft skills expert and enthusiast Sheilina Somani, PMP writes an article on the need for manners and respect among PMs, Talk to the Hand. The article was inspired by the best-selling book by Lynne Truss and reminds us of things we should pay attention to on a daily basis that will make our overall PM efforts more successful. Risk Doctor David Hillson starts the new year with an unusual briefing on personal risk management that has value for all of us.

We also have another crossword puzzle by Frank Saladis that covers one of the nine knowledge areas of the PMBOK® Guide, this one called Contractually Speaking, which is on Procurement. For those who get easily frustrated, answers are included, though hidden. Have fun!!!

Now this Zen of Project Management material by George Pitagorsky, PMP is really catching on! In fact it is catching on so much that free Webinars are being offered on the subject, and George will be starting a weekly column of ZenPM tips for us. Please watch for those to start next month. In the meantime, please enjoy his article this month, The Zen of PM: Engagement Management. Also, if you are interested in participating in the next ZenPM Webinar, go to www.iil.com and click on "free webinars."

One of allPM.com's members, Crispin ("Kik") Piney, PMP actually was so inspired by George's latest webinar on ZenPM that he wrote some ZenPM Haikus for our PM Poetry™ column! Wow! What will this lead to next? Kik has written PM nursery rhymes for us in the past, and this is a new endeavor for him. Thanks, Kik! Keep up the good work.

Speaking of PM Poetry, we are really eager to publish a "serious" book of PM poems. We published a "booklette" of them last year and they were a great hit. So I need about 30 more PM poems to make the book a reality. Come on, guys! Please try your hand and spirit on one or two, or five as Kik has done!!! You will get a credit and a brief bio in the book and they will make wonderful holiday presents next year for your colleagues... and your mother!

So as the new year becomes the older year, know that I think of you every day and wonder how Frank and I can add value and meaning, ease and grace to your projects and to your lives.

Until the next time....

Extreme Lessons Learned

"That could have gone better!" This is a statement many us have made more than once. We know we have the experience, we have done the same type of work before, we know how to do it and we still don't get it right. Why? It's relatively simple in many situations: no application of lessons learned. If you ask any organization why many project managers don't document and share their lessons learned, the usual answer is "I don't have time. I need to get started on my next project." The useful information gained through the experience of the previous project or projects is placed on a virtual shelf to eventually fade into a distant memory.

We can't always learn from the past, but there is sufficient value in sharing lessons learned to invest some time in it. We have all heard the saying "If you don't do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" Lessons learned helps us to do things better the next time, prepares us for risk, and even helps us with our creative thinking. Consider lessons learned to be part of your risk management process.

The definition of lessons learned is: validated working knowledge derived from project successes and failures that, when reused, can significantly impact an organization's processes (from an article by Rosina Weber and a team of specialists. Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence). This definition is self-explanatory. There is value in reviewing and sharing lessons learned.

In the project environment, lessons learned can be considered extreme. This means that the actual situation, the lessons learned from dealing with the situation, and the actions taken to resolve the situation can all have a very significant effect on the project team and the performing organization. The customer may also be affected in many ways. Extreme lessons learned are the result of extreme situations and extreme actions. They are not your average, everyday project crisis like the loss of a key resource or a slipped date on the critical path. These are situations that, if not acted upon immediately, will result is devastating consequences. Extreme situations require snap judgments and strong wills. There is a need to assess data rapidly and to make things happen. How does one gain that skill? Lessons learned!

A good source of information about extreme projects and extreme lessons learned is the book by Doug DeCarlo, Extreme Project Management, Jossey-Bass. DeCarlo describes an extreme project as one in which: requirements changed overnight, the project has new technology never used before, the schedule is half the normal duration, there is no quality of life during the life cycle of the project, halfway through the project, the customer decides he wants something else. Sound familiar? This is where extreme lessons learned come from. Project managers have experienced these situations before and have developed methods to deal with them. The lessons learned form the basis for thinking through the solution required. In the extreme project environment, solutions are needed in very short periods of time.

Another example of extreme lessons learned is the information gained through experience that resides only in the mind of the person who has the experience. Think about what most people learn in school: a lot of information and generalization about what the real world is like. Experience, however, comes from actually doing something. The lessons learned come from the experience of doing. Many lessons learned can't be shared easily through documentation and presentations. Sometimes the expert just has to show you how to do it. Extreme lessons learned are the contribution of the experts and we should learn to respect their knowledge.

allPM.com focuses its attention on providing our readers with lessons learned. Sometimes the information we provide is extreme and controversial, but that's what projects can be. So, use the advice of the experts, document and share lessons learned whenever possible, and show your team and other associates how to get it done better. Share the knowledge. You will be extremely satisfied with the results.

What is the most frequent and major risk facing Project Managers today?:

Lack of / inadequate authority or control   48.90% (111)
Lack of / inadequate scheduling and or funding   16.30% (37)
Lack of / inadequate / inappropriate resources   34.80% (79)

Total votes: 227

Introduction

This article is about two completely different types of organizations, one with the culture supportive for lessons learned and the other with a completely opposite environment.

The Value of Lessons Learned

Lessons learned are life changing possibilities. They give life meaning and value and allow individuals and organizations to truly reach their potential in the short life span these entities have in this unique universe. Our story is going to take us into the hallways of two kinds of organizations where we will meet the project managers of two similar kinds of projects, yet with quite different supporting cultures and approaches to how these projects are handled and managed. So let's get started.

© 2006 allPM.com

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Al Zeitoun (Ph.D., MS, PMP) is Senior Executive of Project Leadership Resources for International Institute for Learning, Inc. Dr. Zeitoun's extensive global project management experience encompasses engineering, construction, manufacturing and product development. He received a research excellence award and continues to have his papers published and presented at various PMI(R) global conferences. He has led and chartered PMI(R) chapters and SIGs worldwide and is on the board of the Global Accreditation Center and the ID Chair of PMI(R).

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PM Poetry™ The Zen...and Haiku...of Project Management by Crispin ("Kik") Piney, PMP

To solve each problem,
Balance your analysis
With intuition.

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Too much perfection
Disrupts creative spirit:
Build progressively

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The more you hang on,
The less you feel for others.
Learn to let go.

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If you control all,
You undermine your team's trust -
They work like machines.

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Nurture peace of mind;
Link up to your surroundings.
Success will follow.

© 2006 allPM.com

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After many years managing international IT projects within large corporations, Crispin ("Kik") Piney, B. Sc., PMP is now a freelance project management consultant and trainer . At present, his main areas of focus are risk management, change management, and time and cost control, for which he has developed advanced training courses which he delivers to international audiences of participants from various industries. He has also carried out work for PMI on a volunteer basis as Design Cell Leader for the creation of an Organizational Project Management Maturity Model as well as participating actively in the teams developing the Third edition of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge for the English and French language versions. He has acted as coordination architect for the forthcoming PMI Program and Portfolio Management Standards.

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Personal Risk Management By Dr David Hillson PMP FAPM

Available in multiple Languages!* Read this article in: French Chinese German Spanish *Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader

A common definition of risk is "Any uncertainty which, if it occurs, will have an effect on achievement of one or more objectives." This generic definition allows us to apply risk management to a broad range of activities, wherever we can define distinct objectives. This includes personal risk management, identifying and managing uncertainties that could affect achievement of our personal objectives.

As with any other application area, personal risk management can be applied at different levels of detail. The key lies in how well we are able to specify our personal objectives. At the highest level we might say that our aim is to be "happy, healthy, wealthy and wise", and we can identify and manage strategic personal risks which might affect these broad goals. This might require us to address big issues such as our key personal relationships, diet and exercise regime, or investment and pension policies.

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Dr. David Hillson (PMP, FAPM, FIRM, MCMI) is an international risk management consultant, and Director of Risk Doctor & Partners ( www.risk-doctor.com ). His speciality is risk technology transfer, assisting organisations to develop in-house risk processes, and he is a popular conference speaker and author on risk, winning several awards for his papers. He is recognised internationally as a leading thinker and practitioner in risk management, and his recent emphasis has been the inclusion of proactive opportunity management within the risk process, which is the topic of his latest book "Effective opportunity management : Exploiting positive risk", published in 2003 by Dekker of New York.

David is an active member of the global Project Management Institute (PMI) and was a founder member of its Risk Management Specific Interest Group. He received the 2002 PMI Distinguished Contribution Award for his work in developing risk management over many years. He is a Fellow of the UK Association for Project Management (APM) and a Fellow of the UK Institute of Risk Management (IRM), as well as being a member of the Chartered Management Institute.

To provide feedback on this Briefing Note, or for more details on how to develop effective risk management, contact the Risk Doctor (info@risk-doctor.com), or visit the Risk Doctor website (www.risk-doctor.com).

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Positive Leadership in Project Management - Business Savvy and Project Management by Frank P. Saladis PMP

By definition, the word savvy means "to understand" or "to be well informed and perceptive." Another definition is "to have a practical understanding or shrewdness." A banker or investment manager should be "financially savvy." A CEO or a CFO should be "business savvy" if he or she expects to achieve organizational objectives and to be considered successful. In the business environment, success is generally based on how well money is managed. This means making the right decisions about where to invest capital, how to keep costs low, and where the best returns can be expected.

Besides making decisions about finances and costs, a project manager is also a business manager and leader. Leadership skills play an important part in the development of the business savvy project manager. He or she must be able to see a very broad horizon and also think about what is beyond the horizon in terms of financial reward, risk, and uncharted territory. Businesses need people who can manage the company financial assets effectively and determine where the most beneficial returns on investment may be found. In other words, businesses of any type need business savvy managers. In his book "The Business Savvy Project Manager" the author, Gary Heerkens, targets the project environment as an area where possessing business skills and knowledge is essential to success.

© 2006 allPM.com

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Frank P. Saladis (PMP) is Senior Consultant with International Institute for Learning, Inc. He has been involved in the development of standardized Project Management Guidelines (PMGs) for the AT&T Corporate Information Technology Services (Corporate ITS) organization and is the author of the Project Evaluation Review Process (PERP). He is the President of the NYC PMI Chapter.

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The Global State of Project Management Training and Education By Joseph Zerby, EdD; Michael Price, PhD, RA; John Cable,RA, PMP; Manon Deguire

Abstract

This paper provides a global snapshot of the scope and nature of project management learning within both the professional development and academic settings. Statistics on training organizations, students, types of delivery, regional variations, and topics of study are presented. Using data collected primarily from the Project Management Institute's Registered Education Provider program, the paper reports that in 2004 approximately 500,000 individuals participated in some form of project management training or education offered by over 1000 training organizations and educational institutions, and that the demand for training will increase in 2005-2006. Of particular interest is the dramatic growth in degree programs worldwide, which has grown from less than 10 in 1994 to over 185 in 2005.

Introduction

A measure of the growth and acceptance of systematic project management is the degree to which training and education opportunities are available worldwide. For the purposes of this paper, discussions will focus on 1) an overview of project management training and professional development as found within the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) program and similar programs being administered by other project management associations; 2) the growth of academic degree programs related to the field of project management, and accreditation of these programs; and, 3) the knowledge areas learners are currently pursuing.

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Michael Price Michael Price is Manager of Accreditation Programs and Academic Affairs for the Project Management Institute (PMI.) Since 1998 he has directed PMI education and professional development initiatives including the development of the PMP Continuing Certification Requirements and the Registered Education Provider program. Before joining PMI, he led the development of the American Institute of Architects' Continuing Education System, and, from 1989 to 1995, he conducted research on learning patterns of professionals as a W. K. Kellogg Fellow with the Research Center for Continuing Professional and Higher Education. He holds a doctorate in adult and higher education from the University of Oklahoma, and is also a registered architect.

Joseph Zerby Joseph Zerby has been with the GOC Headquarters Staff for six years. He presently serves as the Accreditation Programs Administrator, and is responsible for both administering the GAC Accreditation Program, and development of quality assurance standards for the R.E.P. Program. Prior to his present duties, he served as Coordinator of the PMI Professional Development Program (PDP). Prior to joining PMI in 1999, he served for 16 years at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia where he worked as a Petroleum Chemist, Laboratory Manager, and finally Manager of Education and Training for 30 Navy laboratories worldwide. Zerby holds a B.S. in Biology/Chemistry from Widener University, Chester, PA; M.S and M.B.A degrees from Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA; and a Doctorate in Education from Widener University, Chester, PA.

Manon Deguire Manon is a Managing Partner of Valense Ltd., a PMI Global Registered Education Provider, which offers consultancy, training and research services in value, project and programme management fields. She has 25 years work experience in the field of Clinical and Organisational Psychology in Canada , the UK and Europe and has extensive experience in teaching, as well as in project and programme management. She has held a full-time academic post at McGill University (Montreal) for 8 years. During this period she was responsible for the Clinical Training Program of the School of P&OT, Faculty of Medicine (120 affiliated hospital departments). She is presently an Adjunct Professor with the Lille Graduate School of Management and conducting research on Decision-Making in Complex project and program Environments and in knowledge management. Manon is a member of the PMI ® Registered Education Provider Advisory Group, Director-at-Large (Professional Development) of the PMI ® EdSIG, a member of the Academy of Management (AoM) and of the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI). She works both in French and English and has extensive experience with individual and group coaching and facilitation.

John Cable John Cable is currently Executive Director of the Graduate Project Management Program at the Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland. In 1999 John initiated the graduate program in project management and an undergraduate Citation in Project Management in 2002. John is also vice-chair, chairman elect, of the Project Management Institute's Global Accreditation Center Board of Directors and a member of the science council of NASA's Center for Project Management Research. John was also an invited member of GSA's Project Management Working Group that formulated recommendations on establishing a project management framework for the Federal Government. Prior to joining the University, Mr. Cable was a Research Fellow in the Logistics Management Institute's Facilities and Engineering Management group. John is a graduate of Clemson University and Catholic University and is a doctorial candidate in Project Management at the University of Maryland. He's a licensed architect and is certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as a Project Management Professional (PMP). John is currently managing research on project performances metrics for the National Academy of Science and is doing research on effective project performance reporting techniques.

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Ten Things Walt Disney Taught Me About Project Management By Paul R. Williams, PMP

Often times, the study of project management concept and practice concentrates primarily on the academic, filled with complex charts, graphs, formulas, and page after page of bibliographic reference. What if, instead, the focus was on the most simplistic definition of a project? Better yet, what if that definition was one a dreamer like Walt Disney could wrap his creative mind around? At its heart, a project is a new or unique undertaking, which meets a business need, is temporary in nature, and is structured in such a way as to ensure delivery of the goal within the targeted time, budget and quality constraints. Or, in the words of Walt Disney himself, "If we can dream it, we can do it."

Lesson One: Pay fantastic attention to detail.

"When we consider a project, we really study it…not just the surface idea, but everything about it. And when we go into that new project, we believe in it all the way. We have confidence in our ability to do it right…and we work hard to do the best possible job." – Walt Disney

© 2006 allPM.com

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Paul R. Williams, PMP is an IT Operations Project Manager with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a Fortune 500 Company, located in Appleton, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is responsible for providing project management solutions in support of Thrivent Financial's technical project initiatives. Mr. Williams is also an author and speaker regarding "Creativity in Business" topics and is a 2000 Graduate of the Disney Institute's Program on Managing for Creativity and Innovation.

He can be contacted at the following e-mail address: prwpmp@yahoo.com

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Talk to the Hand By Sheilina Somani, PMP

I am delighted to learn that I am not the only one bemoaning the absence of manners in today's world. We are too busy to behave; too busy living our lives, developing our solutions and expending our energies on critical activities. It's official!!

Here in the UK, the author Lynne Truss has recently launched her latest book Talk to the Hand. Her first book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves injected some much-needed warmth and delineation around poor punctuation. However, this latest book is, in my opinion, a masterpiece of reality penmanship! I have been bewailing the loss of courtesy and manners for many years now and was delighted to see huge swathes of the British newspapers devoting time and space to poor manners.

© 2006 allPM.com

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Sheilina Somani, PMP is recognised as a Senior Project Management Instructor, having delivered over 100 classes in more than thirty countries around the world for many of the Fortune Top 100 Companies. She is an International Speaker, Webinar Presenter, and writer of articles and papers on project management, people skills and the richness of diversity to celebrate and learn from.

She is a Palme D'Or Winner, Soft Skills Track PMI European Conference, Cannes, France 2002. Sheilina is a Certified NLP Master Practitioner, and has enhanced skills in successful facilitation/leading in: Coaching, Mentoring, Team Building, Planning, Risk Management, Change Enablement and Management; Training and Seminars across all aspects of People, Project and Program Management.

Introduction

The purpose of project management is to provide a structured framework for endeavoring to ensure that project goals are realized. It is a discipline with its roots in ancient times. From the construction of the pyramids to a NASA space shuttle launch, project management skills have been employed. But powerful new tools and techniques have been developed to refine the process in just the last 50 years. The most important tool is leadership, and developing the techniques to apply this tool will enable the project manager to inspire and guide teams to reach project goals.

Practicing the discipline of project management can be complex. This is due to the polysemic (changing definitions and meaning) nature of the concept. Project management is a science, with its formal methods, processes, tools, certifications, metrics, and industry standards. Experts insist that it is also an art, where a good corporate project leader is fully engaged in the project vision, and in the organizational politics and people. In fact, the art of leading the people in the project is far more important than the science of the technical tools of the trade.

© 2006 allPM.com

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Matt Klein has worked as an engineer and project manager for a major airline with twenty years experience in leadership, quality improvement, corporate safety and ergonomics instruction, managing major commercial aircraft modifications, as well as conducting enterprise-wide Information Technology upgrade projects. In addition, he has a BS degree in technical management, and holds an FCC Radiotelephone license, a California Real Estate license, and has worked as a health/fitness instructor certified by the American College of Sports Medicine. The following essay is an excerpt from his upcoming book, "The Angel on Your Shoulder Pocket Guide to Project Management (So You Can Get the Monkey Off Your Back)". Contact Matt at mattpklein@hotmail.com

© 2006 allPM.com

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George Pitagorsky, (PMP), is Senior Enterprise Solutions Advisor for International Institute for Learning (IIL). He is an expert in project management, and process improvement and facilitator. George authored IIL's Project Management Basics™, a multimedia interactive browser based course, and has authored or directed development of all of IIL's core PM courses. He has written numerous articles on Project Management, organizational development, conflict resolution and personal development subjects. George is the author of IIL's IT Project Management System, a multimedia product, and co-creator and director of IIL's The Unified Project Management Methodology (UPMM™), Web PM knowledge tool. He is a meditation teacher with over thirty years of experience inYoga and meditation practice and co-creator of both the Conscious Living and Working Wisely workshops.

"CONTRACTUALLY SPEAKING" (PROCUREMENT)

Click here to view/print the crossword solution: http://www.allpm.com/Crosswords/January2006answers.htm