Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Training Tip Tuesdays: PM…What? - Developing an Enterprise Project Management Training Curriculum

Join us at ProjectWorld on November 17th at 2:30 for a special presentation by Ted Veterano, MBA, PMP, CGEIT, Senior Program Manager, Kindred Healthcare. During this presentation he will address challenges that organizations face in making sure that they are properly grooming and developing project managers within the organization. Additional challenges exist when the project management function expands to new functions within the organization and when
project participants and stakeholders need to develop skills to maximize their contributions
to project efforts.

Some key takeaways you can expect to get from this presentation are:

• Real Life Approaches & Lessons Learned from Developing a Project Management
Curriculum
• How to Address the Challenges Posed by Non-Traditional Project Management
Resources
• Sustaining and Improving the Project Management Training Curriculum

Don't miss the chance to see this presentation at ProjectWorld this November 16th- 18th at Anaheim, CA. Hope to see you all there!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Free Web Seminar - Navigation Tips for Exploring the IIBA BABOK 2.0

Date: Wed, Oct 7, 2009

Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Have you ever gotten lost when traversing through the IIBA® BABOK® 2.0? How quickly can you find pathways through the Guide? How easily can you trace your way from one key element to another? Whether you are new to the discipline of business analysis, someone studying for the CBAP® or even a seasoned business analysis professional, navigating through the BABOK® can be a daunting task.

In this webinar we’ll explore a variety of pathways through the BABOK. Your navigator for the session is requirements guru Mary Gorman, a four year veteran of the IIBA Body of Knowledge Committee.

IIBA® International Institute of Business Analysis®
BABOK® Business Analysis Body of Knowledge®

What you will learn:

  • Visualize the underlying foundation of the BABOK® (knowledge areas, tasks, techniques and requirements models)
  • Trace foundation elements throughout the BABOK®
  • Apply analysis modeling techniques to navigate the BABOK®
Speaker:
Mary Gorman, CBAP™, Senior Associate at EBG Consulting, assists teams to build the right product through exploring, analyzing and confirming their requirements. Mary has over 25 years experience as a consultant, mentor, trainer, facilitator, process engineer, developer, and analyst. In addition to serving on the IIBA Body of Knowledge Committee, Mary also helped create the certification exam for the Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP™).

Register below, mention priority code M2120W3BLOG
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/974065696.

This web seminar is presented to you by:

CIO is critical to project management process

A recent article at CIO Insight looks at the important role that CIOs play when it comes to project management. With project demands higher than ever, and not enough time or staff to properly manage them, proper project management is critical. CIOs can work with the project management team to come up with milestones to properly implement and also work with top management to ensure that the projects stay on schedule. Read the full article here.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Training Tip Tuesdays: Training and Orientation for the PM New Hire

Join us at ProjectWorld on November 17th at 2:30 for a special presentation by Randal Clark, PMP, LSSBB, Sr. Project Manager for Clinical Systems, Memorial Health Systems. During this presentation you will gain real world insight into what the cost of poor attention to the first 90 days can cause, including a brief overview of four years of watching the results of non-compliance to Best-Practice. Also from a unique angle of one PMs View for the ideal first 90 days of
Orientation. You will gain:
  • Practical Templates for PM Orientation/Training
  • Practical Appreciation for investing in the Human interface
  • Team Building Exercises, Veterans vs. New Grads
Don't miss the chance to see this presentation at ProjectWorld this November 16th- 18th at Anaheim, CA. Hope to see you all there!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Project management group selected to build new building for Army

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, Project Management Solutions Group has been chosen to build a new behavioral medicine facility in Illinois. It will be housed at the VA Medical Center in Marion, Ill. Read more about this new project here.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Training Tip Tuesdays: Surfing the Sigmoid Curve: Engagement and Retention of the Best Employees

Join us at ProjectWorld on November 17th at 12 for a special presentation by Vera Teller, Director Systems and Programming, Trader Joe’s Companies. In this presentation, Teller will speak on to keep best employees within the organization engaged even with the struggle in the current economic climate. This presentation explains the Sigmoid Curve developed by Charles Handy. Knowledge of the Sigmoid Curve will help you retain your best employees within the organization. According to Handy, the energy to change is the driver when a disaster is upon us. Instead of reacting to employee loss, plan and develop retention techniques that will keep your best employees engaged.

Don't miss the chance to see this presentation at ProjectWorld this November 16th- 18th at Anaheim, CA. Hope to see you all there!


Friday, September 11, 2009

New Two-Part Hot Topic Session Just Announced – MGM Mirage, Safeway, Inc. and Grange Insurance

We hope that you’re planning to join us for the 2009 PW&WCBA November Event. Among the great speakers and companies in attendance, we’re pleased to announce a brand new hot topic session.

To find out more information about the PW&WCBA November event, please visit our event site. Save 20% off your registration when you use code PWWLINKEDIN

Event Site: http://bit.ly/3SEPCx
Brochure: http://bit.ly/HGV9X
Registration: http://bit.ly/13rRpD

Featured speakers:
San Retna, VP, Safeway, Inc.
Sarma Tekumalla, AVP, PMO & Procurement Grange Insurance
Mike Gosnear, Director, MGM Mirage

Part 1: Monday at 9:15 during the Annual PMO and ITPM Forum

Keynote: Project Portfolio Management (PPM) – Views from the management trenches

PPM leaders from three leading organizations – including Safeway and MGM Mirage - share their PPM journeys. This panel will be highly interactive, with continuous Q&A from the audience. Bring along your questions!

Key issues include:

What problem was PPM targeted to solve?
What were some key benefits and learnings?
What are the next opportunities?

Part 2: Wednesday at 11:30 during the General Session

Panel – Lessons Learned in Resource Management & Change Impact Management

Following their first day’s session, the PPM leaders will drill down into two core PPM areas –Resource Management and Change Impact Management. For each of these areas, they will explain how they got launched, what approaches were implemented, and the impact and lessons learned along the way.

Key issues include:

As prioritization is an emotive arena, how can one reduce the friction cost?
What approaches to resource optimization had the greatest success?
How does one better manage the impact unleashed by the project changes (processes, organizational, technology, etc.)?

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Training Tip Tuesdays: Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategy & Goals


Join us for on Wednesday, November 18th at 9am for a special keynote presentation by James A. DiMarizo, CIO, Mazda North American Operations. In this presentation, DiMarizo will speak on how aligning IT with corporate goals and strategies may be the key to survival. IT teams who are good "service providers" cam be replaced with lower cost alternatives. But teams with align with the business in order to achieve the strategies and goals are valuable "partners." Alignment includes all aspects of IT from project prioritization to organizational structure. This session will cover:
  • What is the culture needed to align with business
  • How can the IT organization structure inhibit or help the alignment with business
  • When to discuss business plans instead of projects




Thursday, September 3, 2009

ProjectNews September Newsletter: The IT Key to Your Organization's Future Success

Challenge:
Right now, most IT executives are reducing spending to only the critical costs for day to day operations. Smart, effective IT leaders know that now is the time to prepare for the future, for when the economy turns around. But how can you prepare your organization now for success once things turn around?

Stakeholders:
CIOs and strategic decision makers within your organization

Overview:
According to Bob Riddell and Eric Ullman, IT Consultants with Alvarez & Marsal Business Consulting, there are 6 key areas to evaluate for success.

1. Evaluate applications that are being used in your business. Make sure that they are providing the level of service you need. If you need to, this is the time to look at lower cost options, or consolidate your current business applications.
2. Assess your current IT asset utilization. Are you using all of the services you are contracted for? Are you making the most of your network and server capacity? If not, now may be the perfect time to negotiate rates for new services and contracts.
3. Solidify your governance process. Take this time to review your organization's project approval process and make certain that your team members can create and successfully evaluate business cases.
4. Train your team to increase their skill-level. Take this time to add to your IT team's skill set. Define the skills that your organization needs and train or hire the right people to get the job done.
5. Review IT's value to your business. Figure out the level of IT processes and services that your organization actually uses - Are you spending enough or too much? Now is the time to do the research and review the value of IT to your business and make adjustments.
6. Create a plan that mitigates future risk. Success is a result of constant planning and assessment. If an IT project is not progressing in the way that it was expected , have a contingency plan as a back-up.

Overview:
Moving forward CIOs need to work together with their business leaders and IT executives to streamline and simplify the way projects and jobs are completed, to ensure project efficiency and success. By taking the time to assess your plans now, you are leaving your organization open to profitability when the economy turns around.


Conclusions based on the August 11th article, "Six Ways to Prepare for a Better Future" from www.baselinemag.com.

Visit the ProjectWorld homepage to find out more about the event and subscribe to the ProjectNews newsletter.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Reminder: Free Webinar Next Week, Creating the Vision and Making it Real: How to Leverage Project Management for Results

Join us Thursday, September 10
2-3PM EST
Priority Code: G1M2120W2BLOG

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/907235425


Want to enhance competency and performance in strategic thinking, strategic planning and project management? This program is specifically designed to promote the understanding and practice in the “Business Circle of Life”. Starting with strategic planning and concluding with plan execution, participants will learn how to take a step back, define their strategy, and make it real through successful execution. This program is ideal for business leaders who are responsible for creating and executing a business plan, but who are unsure how to do it.

What you will learn:

• Strategic Thinking: How to Assess the Environment
• Strategic Planning: How to Set the Direction
• Defining Targets: How to Set Goals and Establish Performance Measures
• Making the Plan Real: How to Leverage Project Management for Results

About the speaker: Lisa DiTullio

Lisa is principal of Lisa DiTullio & Associates, a practice dedicated to introducing project management as a business competency, enabling
organization to improve decision-making, instill accountability, and enhance communications.

She is the editor of ProjectBestPractices, a quarterly newsletter from ProjectWorld, a regular blogger for the Silicon ValleyPM and ProjectConnections sites, and a contributor to PM Network Magazine. She’s also the author of Simple Solutions: How "Enterprise Project Management" Supported Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's Journey from Near Collapse to #1. Her second book, Project Team Dynamics: Increased Speed, Enhanced Performance is due out the end of this year.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Training Tip Tuesdays: The Journey to Formal PM and Portfolio Management

Join us on Monday, November 16 at PW&WCBA 2009 for a presentation by Michael Schertz, Senior Project Manager of Learning and Training Development at Boeing.

Currently, the PM team within LTD managed by Michael, addresses approximately 1000 to 1500 projects with life cycles of less than 200 hours. These projects touch all functional areas across the Boeing enterprise and requirement alignment to specialize programs and project management across the company. This is done with a PM team that is entirely virtual and with over 70% of the developmental work being outsourced to vendors, requiring the PM team to scope the requirements well, but craft statements of work quickly and effectively. This presentation will cover our journey of bringing Project Management and Portfolio Management to Boeing's Learning, Training and Development organization.

ProjectWorld & WCBA, The Premier Conference Brand For Advancing Collaboration through Practice