Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Find Out What’s New at PW&WCBA This Year

Have you heard the news?

PW&WCBA 2014 is making a move to Seattle. And the location isn't the only thing that's changed. We've added more in-depth workshop options (including Agile PM Training, Requirements Management Best Practices, Cyber Security, Emotional Intelligence and more!) and ALL NEW offsite learning sessions at the headquarters of Boeing and Starbucks!

PW&WCBA
September 22-24, 2014
W Hotel
Seattle, Washington

But have no worries, ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts still has the PM & BA foundations that you've come to expect:

·         3 Days Jam-Packed with Session Addressing Your Project Pain Points: We've heard your needs and have designed the 2014 program around YOUR specific challenges. PW&WCBA covers it all - including a new Project Scheduling Lab with Russell Martin & Associates, a focus on Leading High Performance Teams from NASA and Becoming a Person of Influence from Women's Leadership Coaching.
·         40+ Speakers sharing their best practices and lessons learned from deep in the project trenches. Find out what works (and what doesn't!) from some of the best in the industry. You'll hear from: AIG, Allstate, Bank of Montreal, Erie Insurance, IIBA, Kindred Healthcare, Microsoft, Quest Diagnostics, Starbucks & more.
·         A Look to the Future: PW&WCBA prepares you not only for the changes taking place now in project management and business analysis, but also what's coming. IIBA's Kevin Brennan and Clark County NV's Ricki Henry will share What the Future of Business Analysis will look like, while Kathleen B. Hass explores what the New Project Leadership Model looks like.
·         36 PDUs and CDUs to Maintain Your Certification. That's more than half of what you need in just one place!
·         Unparalleled Networking. PW&WCBA Connect allows you to see who's attending the event and begin networking before you arrive in Seattle. Plus, we've added 2 networking receptions to continue the conversation and learning after the conference day ends.

And that's just the beginning. Download the conference brochure for the complete agenda: http://bit.ly/X57epm


Check out the 2013 Executive Summary for a recap of last year's event: http://bit.ly/1zJL238

Join us at PW&WCBA 2014 and invest in yourself and become even more valuable to your organization.

Mention code PW14BL & Save 15% off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/X57epm

We hope to see you in Seattle!

All the best,
The PW&WCBA Team
@Project_World
#PW14
pwwbcablog.iirusa.com


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Agile State of Mind


Are you wondering how to choose which project management method to deliver a successful project? Organizations today have to be more competitive in the marketplace so choosing the best practices and methods for your organization and projects is important. Agile is a set of values and principles, not a pre-defined process with obvious areas of limitation. Waterfall is a model based on development method that is linear and sequential.

Here are four criteria to choose the best fit of methodologies at the right time for the right customer.

1. Time to market projects – Agile adoption has replaced waterfall in organizations in the delivery of small, yet frequent pieces of functionality where requirements are expected to evolve, change is embraced, competition in the marketplace is a key concern, and critical to delivery of the latest technology. I.e.: medical device manufacturing, military/aerospace.

2. Status quo – Waterfall is a better choice for organizations that are not flexible, have clearly defined requirements, frequent interactions with end users and other stakeholders is a constraint or when there is risk of key developers quitting the project midway.

3. Success criteria – The success of a project that is defined by delivering business value will benefit from agile methodology. The success of a project defined by measured by KPI of the IT organization would be better suited with a Waterfall methodology.

4. Organizational Project Portfolio – Organizations that have a diverse portfolio must be both risk adverse, innovative and take some risks to be competitive.  Choosing a hybrid approach to use a blend of both methodologies would be beneficial. Planning, requirements and team communication are areas in which organization are designing custom best practices/ methodologies that fit their culture.



Action Items to Help You Get Started:

> Choose your methodology wisely; make sure your project team can adapt to the change and lead using the right best practice methodology or a hybrid approach.

> Focus on team member selection – Resources on an agile team can thrive by co-locating in common areas or resources can struggle due to intense and constant interactions which may create stressful team dynamics.

> Leadership Support – all projects need great sponsors, buy in from the business for implementing IT standards and methods and support for product service delivery using a big bang approach to smaller iterative delivery cycles.

Ultimately, a hybrid approach of traditional waterfall and agile elements make be your key to success. A hybrid approach can help an organization leverage talent and deliver business value early and often for software development projects.

ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014, is taking place in Seattle, Washington September 22-24th at the W Hotel. The 2014 program is designed with courses for all training levels, a robust agenda, and most importantly tangible lessons which you can begin implementing the day you return to your office, making you even more valuable to your organization. PW&WCBA offers attendees 36 PDU/CDUs - that's more than half of the required credits necessary to maintain your certification in just one place.

To learn more or register for the event, click here: http://bit.ly/1jtZtxB
- See more at: http://www.iirusa.com/projectworld/speakers.xml






Thursday, July 17, 2014

Big Data and Project Management




Today, organizations are taking strategic risks to add business value through innovative big data initiatives. Big data is a blanket term for any collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using available data management tools or conventional data processing applications. Tom Davenport, author of “Big Data at Work” has worked with many companies and he’s uncovered key principles around five key areas to be successful at big data projects. He discusses these principles in his article in Harvard Business Review.

These five key areas represent a combination of internal organizational resources, standards, processes, methodologies and/or best practices:

1. Technology
2. Good change management
3. Clear business objectives
4. People
5. Good Project Management

These five key areas represent the foundation of most information technology projects. It may surprise some people that Davenport suggests that out of the five; Project Management done well may give your organization an edge if you have the agility to implement and be successful at these high risk big data projects.

This year ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts has three top speakers discussing big data:

>  Benchmarking Risk Management: What Good Looks Like Dr. Alicia Aitken, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Human Systems International
>  Cyber Security Silvanus Moses David, Program Manager, SITA South Africa
>  Project Scheduling Lab Lou Russell, CEO, Learning Facilitator, Russell Martin & Associates

Want to learn more about this topic and network with PM and BA professionals like yourself? Don’t miss ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts 2014 in Seattle this fall. For more information about this event, click here: http://www.iirusa.com/projectworld/pricing-info.xml







Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Go Behind the Scenes at Starbucks for PM Best Practices at PW&WCBA 2014

Have you ever wondered how a company like Starbucks handles complex projects in a world-wide organization?

ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014 is revealing those best practices.

PW&WCBA
September 22-24, 2014
W Hotel
Seattle, Washington

Jan Asbjorsen, Program Manager, Law & Corporate Affairs, Starbucks Coffee Company will lead attendees on A Behind this Scenes Look at the Starbucks Corporate Headquarters. In addition to a private tour of the Starbucks world headquarters, attendees will hear from a cross-departmental panel of project managers (including store development, IT, retail operations, law and more), as well as walk away with a checklist of things to consider when determining how to size your projects, tools, organizations, success factors, etc. 

Download the brochure for full details: http://bit.ly/1nwdqM0

Plus, you'll also hear:
·         From Leading a High Performance Team to Landing on Mars - Adam Steltzner, Lead Landing Engineer, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover Project
·         Benchmarking Risk Management: What Good Looks Like - Dr. Alicia Aitken, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Human Systems International
·         Becoming a Person of Influence - Jo Miller, CEO, Women's Leadership Coaching, Inc. 
·         Big Data: Getting Past the Hype - Meta S. Brown, Author, Data Mining for Dummies
·         The Past, Present and Future of Business Analysis - Kevin Brennan, CBAP, PMP, Chief Business Analyst, Executive Vice President, IIBA
·         How to Best Take Advantage of Cloud Computing - Ben Armstrong, Principal Program Manager Lead, Microsoft
·         Debugging the Myths of Agile - The True Value of an Agile Process for You and Your Workplace - Bryan Winsko, Agile Project Manager, PMI

Download the brochure for the full PW&WCBA 2014 program:  http://bit.ly/1nwdqM0

Mention code PW14LI & Save 15% off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1mh6EJY

We hope to see you in Seattle!

All the best,

The PW&WCBA Team
@Project_World
#PW14

pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Leadership Lessons: Paul R. Williams

I recently interviewed Paul R. Williams, Leader of Project Management, PAi, to talk about how PMOs add value to the organization. Today, PMOs are a strategic imperative for the C-Suite to deliver projects aligned with key strategic initiatives. Project Managers are in high demand today; Williams will give us keen insight into recruiting, training and retaining key program staff.

Williams is speaking at the upcoming ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014 conference in Seattle. He will be presenting a session entitled, “Leveraging Visual Thinking in Project Management.”

Check out what Williams had to say:

IIR: As a leader in your organization how do you promote IT and the PMO to the C-Suite?

Williams: I like to position the PMO to the C-Suite as a “Strategic Execution Team.” In other words, it is the role of the PMO to plan and execute the key strategies identified and sponsored by the C-Suite (and their direct reports). This only works, however, when the PMO has sufficient access to senior leadership and visibility to the strategic roadmap.

IIR: What are some of the challenges you face as a leader in your organization?

Williams: Resource management. It seems there’s always too much work and not enough, or the right kind, of people to get it done. Very few organizations have a good handle on resource supply vs. demand management so there is a tendency to over commit to what can get done. Poor resource management results in too much “work-in-progress” which has a tendency to show up in project status meetings as scheduled work that is constantly being pushed ahead. Organizations need to drastically improve upon how much actual resource capacity exists at a given time, what the high-confidence demand estimates are for that timeframe and how to reconcile any differences.

IIR: Training and retention of project management staff is important; how do you support the personal development of your project staff?

Williams: I like to encourage my project management staff to achieve a certain amount of continuing education hours, regardless of their certification requirements, within their performance plan. This lets them know that the organization considers their professional improvement as a core value. As a frequent writer and speaker on project management topics, I also encourage my team to get involved in the greater PM community and share their voice and ideas.

IIR: In PMI’s 2014 Pulse of the Profession; it suggests organization will be more successful if they focus on people, process and outcomes. How do you lead your PMO to demonstrate your success?

Williams: Organizational success begins and ends with people who focus on the outcome. The process is only the instruction manual or roadmap, but success happens when dedicated, educated people focus on exactly what needs to get done. Successful Project Managers ensure they understand exactly what “done” looks like for the project and then works backwards from there to ensure a successful outcome.

IIR: What four tenets does your PMO organization promote to demonstrate the value of project management in your organization?

Williams:
> Trustworthiness: Project Managers are essentially windows into the reality of the project, both good and, especially, bad. They report based on facts, ensure all voices are heard and are not afraid to have the “courageous conversation.”
> Accountability: Project Managers “own” the projects they manage and are expected to collaborate with whoever is needed to ensure the project’s success.
> Fiscal Responsibility: Project Managers are responsible for the effective and efficient management of the organization’s financial investment in the project’s desired outcome and/or benefits.
> Leadership: Project Managers are leaders of the organization. They think strategically, resolve conflict, make difficult decisions and have the organization’s best interests at heart.

IIR: What advice would you give to someone who wants to manage a Project Management Office?

Williams: A PMO Leader is the sum of many parts: HR rep, financial guru, wordsmith, negotiator, facilitator, peace-maker, arbiter, decision-maker, process wonk and sympathetic ear. While having expert knowledge of project management discipline is certainly a pre-requisite, most people who actually lead PMOs are those who have mastered the soft-skills of being a leader, not a “follow the playbook” manager. Understand the needs, wants and challenges of all areas of the organization to become a valued, trusted business partner.

IIR: A visual thinking concept is a form of communication; tell us about some key tools and techniques you would recommend for projects managers?

Williams: In my presentation on this topic, I’ll explore some of the best visual thinking tools that project and business analysis professionals can apply in their work such as mind mapping, storyboarding, Kanban boards, as well as, the effective usage of charting, dashboards and info graphics.

IIR: Project Management has become increasing important to organizations over the last 20 years; from your point of view what are still some of the challenges for practitioners?

Williams: There are many people who still don’t understand the tremendous positive impact that professional project management can provide for organizations. Some still see us as meeting schedulers, note takers or task list creators, while others see the role in a more negative light such as governance overlord, process cop or task master! It is up to all of us in the project management profession to reverse these stereotypes by acting with integrity, providing education about our roles and duties, demonstrating the benefits of our involvement (both quantitatively and qualitatively) and leading responsibly.

IIR: Social media has made a big impact in the last 5 years; what tools do you use and recommend for project managers?

Williams: I use a number of sites, multiple times per day, to keep up with the latest news, ideas, blogs, etc related to project management, leadership and overall news. Zite is my “go-to” blog and news aggregator that keeps me informed on all of my important topical areas of interest. Twitter is my lifeline for real-time news and insight to what my peer group thinks is important to share. LinkedIn is where I stay connected to those important to me, my career and my profession. There are a few project management related mobile apps available, but I’m still waiting for the “killer” PM app…maybe I’ll write one!

Williams will be speaking at ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014, taking place in Seattle, Washington September 22-24th at the W Hotel. The 2014 program is designed with courses for all training levels, a robust agenda, and most importantly tangible lessons which you can begin implementing the day you return to your office, making you even more valuable to your organization. PW&WCBA offers attendees 36 PDU/CDUs - that's more than half of the required credits necessary to maintain your certification in just one place.

To learn more or register for the event, click here: http://bit.ly/1jtZtxB





Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Go Behind the Scenes at Starbucks for PM Best Practices at PW&WCBA 2014

Have you ever wondered how a company like Starbucks handles complex projects in a world-wide organization?

ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014 is revealing those best practices.

PW&WCBA
September 22-24, 2014
W Hotel
Seattle, Washington

Jan Asbjorsen, Program Manager, Law & Corporate Affairs, Starbucks Coffee Company will lead attendees on A Behind this Scenes Look at the Starbucks Corporate Headquarters. In addition to a private tour of the Starbucks world headquarters, attendees will hear from a cross-departmental panel of project managers (including store development, IT, retail operations, law and more), as well as walk away with a checklist of things to consider when determining how to size your projects, tools, organizations, success factors, etc. 

Download the brochure for full details: http://bit.ly/1jlRmZL

Plus, you'll also hear:
·         From Leading a High Performance Team to Landing on Mars - Adam Steltzner, Lead Landing Engineer, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover Project
·         Benchmarking Risk Management: What Good Looks Like - Dr. Alicia Aitken, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Human Systems International
·         Becoming a Person of Influence - Jo Miller, CEO, Women's Leadership Coaching, Inc. 
·         Big Data: Getting Past the Hype - Meta S. Brown, Author, Data Mining for Dummies
·         The Past, Present and Future of Business Analysis - Kevin Brennan, CBAP, PMP, Chief Business Analyst, Executive Vice President, IIBA
·         How to Best Take Advantage of Cloud Computing - Ben Armstrong, Principal Program Manager Lead, Microsoft
·         Debugging the Myths of Agile - The True Value of an Agile Process for You and Your Workplace - Bryan Winsko, Agile Project Manager, PMI

Mention code PW14LI & Save 15% off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/U1vWFa

We hope to see you in Seattle!

All the best,
The PW&WCBA Team
@Project_World
#PW14
pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Silver Bullet to Project Success – Sponsor, Project Manager and Business Analyst


Are organizations looking for that silver bullet to avoid another project failure?   Could these roles in your organization be the silver bullet to cure a major prevailing problem?  Let’s look at a snapshot of each role to better understand how the role and key tenets help sets the stage for project success.


Role

Key Tenets

Sponsor: Your role has always been identified as a key role for project success; it’s time to elevate your commitment to provide necessary guidance for the project manager and business analyst.


Support, coach/mentor, communicates with stakeholders, escalates issues to senior management, remove barriers and approves resources for the project

Project Manager:  Your role is shifting from project management to project leadership.  It’s time to step out of your comfort zone to coach sponsors, lead change, effectively manage your projects through the entire lifecycle and lead distributed global teams.


Leadership, coach/mentor, define project scope, communication with project team, stakeholders and sponsor, stakeholder expectation management, soft skills

Business Analyst: Your role is taking a front row seat where you belong alongside your business partner; the project manager.  BAs can really help move the needle forward to align projects for success.


Engagement with business, business analysis tasks i.e.: define solution scope and business requirements for alignment with business and project objectives
Pairing these three leaders together in partnership will help ensure your project will be successful throughout the lifecycle to completion. In a nutshell, the executive sponsor, PM and BA; all play leadership roles;

>The Executive Sponsor owns the project and is responsible for benefits realization to create value for the business case, 

>The PM leads the team and delivers the solution and,

>The BA ensures that the solution meets the business need and aligns with business and project objectives.  
ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014, is taking place in Seattle, Washington September 22-24th at the W Hotel. The 2014 program is designed with courses for all training levels, a robust agenda, and most importantly tangible lessons which you can begin implementing the day you return to your office, making you even more valuable to your organization. PW&WCBA offers attendees 36 PDU/CDUs - that's more than half of the required credits necessary to maintain your certification in just one place.


To learn more or register for the event, click here: http://bit.ly/1jtZtxB 


Related References: