Advance Your PM & BA Skills at PW&WCBA 2015 in Orlando

It's that time of year again, the holidays have passed and we're in the middle of those dreaded winter months. We've got the remedy to get you out of that cold weather rut. 

ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts, the premier conference for advancing collaboration through practice, is back in Orlando this March. Continue your professional and personal development (with the added benefit of warm weather & sun!) with best practices and lessons learned from leading PMs & BAs from Starbucks, The Boeing Company, Daimler Trucks North America, Canadian Blood Services and more.

PW&WCBA East
March 23-24, 2015
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
Lake Buena Vista, Florida

View the full agenda:  http://bit.ly/1yqPkaZ

Featured Session:
Redefining a City: Kim Schaefer, Director of Communications, DOWNTOWN PROJECT

Las Vegas is a city that evokes a very specific public perception. By helping to revitalize a Downtown neighborhood that has been in a state of decline for many years, The Downtown Project is helping to redefine the image of the city itself. Rather than a place where what "happens here stays here" the company is working to create an environment of entrepreneurship, learning, collaboration, innovation and creativity that it hopes will inspire communities around the world. Kim Schaefer, Director of Communications, The Downtown Project will share what it takes to not only manage such a project, but also how to lead the various teams in making a new Downtown Las Vegas. 

Join us at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort in Orlando to advance your collaboration, leadership, and project management & business analysis skills.

Mention code PWEASTBL & Save $100 off the current rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1yqPkaZ

Best,
The PW&WCBA Team
@Project_World
#PWEAST
pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

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ESI’s Top 10 Project Management Trends of 2015

ESI International, a project management training company, recently released its top 10 trends in project management for 2015. This year’s trends reveal that project managers (PMs) will be impacted by many changes this year including more hybrid environments, an increasing demand for talent management, and a growing need to align project outcomes with organizational strategy.

In 2015, the PM’s role will continue to evolve, according ESI VP of Marketing and Strategic Intelligence Mark Bashrum. Improving interpersonal skills, learning the discipline of strategic execution, and becoming well versed in change management practices should be on every PM’s list of New Year’s resolutions.

“All too often people talk about strategy and execution independently,” said Bashrum. “In the coming year we will see a heightened focus on managing the critical links connecting the two, as more organizations begin to view strategic execution as a core discipline.”

ESI’s top 10 trends for project management include:

Lofty Expectations: PMs need to become adept at managing gaps between the constraints of cloud-based platforms and the business’ expectations.

Out-of-Whack: Talent management within the PM community comes back into focus.

Fuel for the Hybrid: As the pace of change continues to accelerate, hybrid project methods will become the norm.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short: The ability to find and hire top PM talent is dwindling.

Bottom’s Up: Organizations must build bottom-up processes to link project outcomes to organizational strategy.

Ignore Them at Your Own Peril: Project managers will continue to be ignored and not get the coaching and mentoring they are screaming for.

Run!: Project managers continue to sacrifice project transparency as they flee from conflict and avoid difficult conversations.

Change is Coming: The disciplines of change management and project management continue to merge as PMs become responsible for delivering project and business outcomes.

Knocking at the Door: Project management and business strategy better align to the benefit of the organization.

Culture Shock: Organizational culture becomes a bigger consideration in risk management practices.

“The impact on project management is substantial,” he added. “Project managers, who are typically held accountable for delivering project outcomes, will now also be responsible for how those deliverables impact the business. This will require a retooling of their skillsets, but in the end it elevates the PM’s role as a critical enabler of business strategy, and that’s a very good thing for project managers who can make the jump.”

About the Author: Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR’s blogs including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, Digital Impact, STEAM Accelerator and ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc.

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PW&WCBA East Agenda Just Released

Due to overwhelming demand, we're happy to announce ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts will return to the East Coast in March. Join us at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort in Orlando, March 23-24, 2015.

The 2015 program brings you some of the best presentations from the Seattle conference, plus new and exciting best practices and case studies from the project trenches. Designed for all training levels, PW&WCBA boasts a robust agenda and most importantly, delivers tangible lessons you can implement as soon as you return to the office. Plus, new this year, we're leaving sessions open to bring you the latest in project management and business analysis!

PW&WCBA East

March 23-24, 2015

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

Lake Buena Vista, Florida

Download the 2015 agenda here: http://bit.ly/1wQdNFT

As always, PW&WCBA delivers the actionable insights you need:

• Simplifying Project Management
• Practical Tools & Tactics to Enhance Delivery & Change Management
• Strengthening Your Soft Skills & Strategic Leadership
• Leveraging Visual Thinking in Project Management
• How to Win at the Game of Office Politics
• Optimizing Presentation Impact & Stage Presence
• The True Value of an Agile Process for You & Your Organization
• Creative Problem Solving

And much more!

Download the agenda for full program details:  http://bit.ly/1wQdNFT

Mention code PWEASTLI & Save $100 off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1wd1Ue4

We hope to see you in Orlando as we accelerate development at the rate of change.

All the best,

The PW&WCBA Team

@Project_World

#PWEAST

pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

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Top PW&WCBA Blog Posts of 2014

We’ve published a lot of inspiring and thought-provoking posts this year about project management, business analysis, leadership and more, so we wanted to take a moment to look back on the most popular posts of 2014. Here are the topics our readers enjoyed the most this year:

Leadership Lessons: Paul R. Williams: Paul R. Williams, Leader of Project Management, PAi, talked to us 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. To read the full post, click here.

Here Comes The Boom! An NFL Champion Illustrates Key Business Analysis Skills: As business analysis practitioners, we certainly appreciate the analytical style of Richard Sherman and his LOB brothers.   In addition to conducting a sort of pre-game analysis, we too must be able to conduct game-time analysis and make adjustments, where needed.  For example, it is important for practitioners to understand stakeholders early on. Whether by talking to the actual stakeholder, consulting with other practitioners who have worked with them, or some other method, we need to understand certain things about our stakeholders, including (but not limited to) the stakeholder's view of the problem or opportunity at hand, expectations of a solution, and anticipated level of involvement with the initiative. To read the full post, click here.

Leadership Lessons to Live By: In virtually every industry that exists today, leaders must set aside more time to reflect and assess their thinking, capabilities, and strategies. It is crucial that they evaluate how their leadership brand is being perceived by others and whether or not it requires a tune-up.  We highlighted some key leadership lessons that you should live by. To read the full post, click here.

The 5 Best Free Project Management Tools: There are effective free project management tools out there - some are more robust than others, but all of them provide ways to collaborate and complete projects quicker. We found five of the best free project management tools that may make your job easier. To read the full post, click here.

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. To read the full post, click here.

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.  We put together the top four criteria to choose the best fit of methodologies at the right time for the right customer. To read the full post, click here.

Women in Leadership: Jo Miller: Jo Miller, CEO Women’s Leadership Coaching Inc. sat down with us to talk about women in leadership. Today, women make up over 50 percent of the workforce, are entrepreneurs, hold key leadership positions and serve on board of directors. Miller will give us her insight into the challenges women face in the workplace, how to overcome these obstacles and become a more empowered leader. To read the full post, click here.

Leadership Lessons: Dr. Alicia Aitken:  Dr. Alicia Aitken, managing director Asia Pacific, Human Systems International (HSI), sat with us to talk about the ins and outs of leadership in today’s competitive business landscape. According to Aitken, being authentic makes great leader stand out in a crows these days. Today’s world is full of leadership models, business school taught methods and processes. Leaders stand out by being authentic and true to who they are and who they are leading. To read the full post, click here.

About the Author: Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR’s blogs including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, Digital Impact, STEAM Accelerator and ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc.

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Become a Better Leader and Secure Your Organization’s Future

"Companies with high leadership qualities were six times more likely to be among the top 20 financial performers of all organizations."

Want to do your part to launch your organization into the top 20?

We are excited to announce that NACCM and the Windsor Leadership Group have partnered together to bring you a truly unique learning event: Creating Magic through Leadership & Service Excellence. This learning event offers the skills and insights you need to further develop your leadership skills (based on best practices from Lee Cockerell's Disney Great Leader Strategies - used to train over 7,000 leaders at Walt Disney World!) and secure your organization's spot at the top.

Visit the website for more information:  http://bit.ly/1uNqK3D

Facilitator William Greenwald, Founder & Chief Neuroleaderologist, Windsor Leadership Group will lead attendees through self-exploration, Disney-based leadership and service case studies, hands-on learning exercises and group experiences in the Disney theme parks. This experiential journey will lead to personal discovery, authentic leadership development and the ability to design and sustain high performing leadership teams and service cultures.

New Registration Savings Just Announced! We're happy to extend a special $500 savings for you to join us at Creating Magic. Register by Wednesday, December 17th to lock in your special savings

Your registration includes:

·         2 days of experiential learning at Hollywood Studios and Epcot Theme Parks

·         3-day Disney Park Hopper Pass

·         Breakfast, lunch and snacks each day

·         A signed copy of Lee Cockerell's book, Creating Magic 

·         Optional Pre-Workshop Tour: Half Day Disney Backstage Tour of the Magic Kingdom

·         Discounted room rates for those wishing to extend their stay before or after the event

·         And more!

Download the full event details or check out the agenda here: http://bit.ly/1uNqK3D

"William's energetic presentation style and mastery of storytelling make my books come alive. I highly recommend this workshop for anyone aspiring to create a little magic in life, both personally and professionally.” - Lee Cockerell Register by Wednesday, December 17th to lock in your special savings of $500. Register today: http://bit.ly/1uNqK3D

Cheers,

 William Greenwald & The Creating Magic Team

#CreateMagic15

@NACCMevent

Customers1stblog.iirusa.com

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How to Avoid Project Management Failures

These days, project management can be a touchy subject, especially when it comes to project failures. But, knowledge, strategy and precautionary tactics can help project managers avoid serious project management pitfalls.

Here’s what leaders in the industry shared with Fierce CIO recently about tips for avoiding project management pitfalls.

Don't expect immediate results.

"If you're a tried and true waterfall type of project management shop and you go in and change to an agile shop, that's a big change… in principles and also asking a lot of people to partake in that change. Some folks are resistant to it, especially if there's not an immediate payoff. The immediate impact will actually be less effectiveness, maybe less efficiency, but you have to hold true to the fact that long term, it's going to pay off." - Randy McGraw, SVP of technology and operational services at service provider West IP Communications

Have a project leader to provide feedback.

"You may know the technology and service inside and out--but it is still important to have someone on your side who can actively participate and provide insight and things of nature change management." - McGraw

Don’t let deadlines run your project.

"Let's focus on the right solution [first] and then figure out how to get it done in the time frame we have to. Whether we have to [divide it], phase it, or defer some work. Taking that approach of what's the right end game and making sure you set your project and your approach up to get you there ultimately is most important…Help people from falling into those pitfalls of time-driven decision making." - Kevin Riley, CTO of Sonus Networks

Approach project management one step at a time.

"When you do these projects, they can be very complex [and] you can get caught up in looking at the full body of work and all the details, and it becomes hard to wrap your head around the plan.” - Riley

Stay detail-oriented and streamlined.

"Make sure you minimize details, but also make sure your plans around those [finite number of] details are perfect."  - Bill Scudder, CIO of Sonus Networks

Avoid bureaucracy. 

"I try not to have a lot of bureaucracy around project management because I think that can actually slow things down." - Scudder

Provide feedback throughout the process.

"We do start with a process where we have an exec review board for large project.  We call it the IPAC. IT project approval board.  They come and present the problems they're trying to solve, the resources they need, etc.  If they're stuck, we also do a traffic-light review… so we have a funnel of large projects that go through that.” - Scudder

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Register for the Free ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts Webinar Series

As a thank you for being a member of our ProjectWorld & The World Congress for Business Analysts LinkedIn group, we’d like to invite you to join us for the following complimentary presentations in our PW&WCBA webinar series:

Building Metrics that Tell the Complete Story – Going Beyond Earned Value Management

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

Join Dwayne P. Myers, I&DS Rotorcraft Project Manager, Boeing, in a presentation that takes a deep dive into Earned Value Management. He’ll reveal best practices and lessons learned in understanding and explaining the numbers, as well as where variances meet the stakeholders.

Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/217800313 Cyber Security Thursday, December 4, 2014 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Join Silvanus David, Programme Manager – IT Infrastructure Projects, in a presentation about how cyber security is a shared responsibility, and each of us has a role to play. Emerging cyber threats require the engagement of the entire society - from government and law enforcement to the private sector and most importantly, members of the public. Today in cyberspace, the nation faces a myriad of threats from criminals, including individual hackers and organized criminal groups, as well as technologically advanced nation-states. Government, non-governmental and private sector entities, as well as individuals, families and communities must collaborate on ways to effectively reduce risk. Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/346620408 After Action Reviews – Capturing Lessons Learned  Tuesday, December 9, 2014 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST Join Wayne Kremling, Senior Project Manager, Everett Program Planning & Control, Boeing, in a presentation about how capturing and leveraging lessons learned should be a strategic goal of all enterprises.  By putting action to this strategy organizations can avoid repeating mistakes and take advantage of opportunities.  Many projects or organizations conduct lessons learned meetings at the end of a project.  The problem they run into is that the value of the lesson is not leveraged.  A change in processes or tools is needed as an outcome of these reviews so that the value of the lessons can be realized. Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/176980225 BAs and PMs Unite to Avoid Projects Destined to Fail Wednesday, December 10, 2014 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST Join Robin F. Goldsmith, JD in a presentation about how project managers often get blamed for failure of projects that no project manager could save.  Frankly, many projects are destined to fail from the beginning. Managing such projects is a disheartening effort to minimize failure rather than an uplifting quest to success. The problem stems inevitably from widely-accepted but mistaken project and requirements models.  In this eye-opening presentation, Robin Goldsmith shows how appropriate business analysis is essential for initiating projects that can succeed. Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/264834208

We hope you’ll join us! Interested in presenting during one of our PW&WCBA webinars? Contact Kacey Anderson at kanderson@iirusa.com. Cheers, The ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts Team @Project_World Pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

It's about building solid relationships

“Great works and great folly may be indistinguishable at the outset.” That is one of the quotes from Dr. Adam Steltzner that has stuck with me from Project World 2014. He was talking about coming up with a radical idea for a Mars rover landing using the "sky crane" and his team was thinking outside the box to come up with a solution with tight tolerances and no room for failure.

I was thinking about the many things I had learned while attending the 3 day event and trying to find ways to change my approach to teaming. I belong to an organization that is dependent on our partners to help deliver to the customer. Sometimes our projects fall flat because we didn’t build the essential
relationships that would have led each of our teams to cooperate and succeed in delivering to the
customer.



Dr. Steltzner used his example of taking people from different locations that had a competitive
relationship and changed that into one of cooperation. He had 7000 people from 36 countries over
a span of 10 years to meet their business goals. They couldn’t have succeeded without building
relationships. Certainly, this required a lot of effort. They would fly to different locations to meet face
to face if that was an option instead of having a virtual meeting. They would have to be willing to have their ideas figuratively torn to pieces because ideas win, not people.

The corporation exists in the human capital. Keeping that in mind I will be finding ways to appreciate the people that I partner with so we can begin growing our pie instead of fighting over the pieces.

The Nitty Gritty of Agile Advanced PM Training

Thinking back on The Nitty Gritty of Agile Advanced PM Training. This was presented by Nanette Brown on behalf of EBG Consulting. She is a product developer with over 24 years of industry experience.

We were encouraged to get up and interact early on about how experienced we were with Agile. Implementing Agile is based on 2 factors: Do Agile and Be Agile. It’s like yin and yang, two parts of a greater whole.

Agile is about bringing value to customers through developing the right software that meet their needs. What you want to avoid is having a process be enshrined or ossified because that is the opposite about what Agile is about.

A group of us at the table had a chance to share some of our experience in our business and the challenges that we have. We heard from some Boeing representatives and Johnson & Johnson. We all experience changing requirements at the last moment and the utilization of Agile can help with these sudden changes.

Our focus during the presentation was on Scrum and XP Values

I had learned a lot of useful tips that I will be bringing back to my team.

Some Basics of Project Management

Being a relative newbie to the world of project management I thought that I can get a better understanding of the challenges and skills that come with managing a project successfully by asking my trusty colleague Lisa. Lisa has taken the lead in many of our team’s projects over the years. Under her direction we have been successful so who better to ask. One topic that I was interested in was what she thought the biggest challenge was in managing a project. She said that, “My biggest challenge is managing the project and not managing the work---trusting team members to carry out their tasks as expected.” This challenge rang true with me because I have performed the role of employee involvement team facilitator before and that challenge is identical. You want to manage the project (or process) and not the work. Leave that step to the team members. Perhaps a helpful mantra? Nevermind, just keep your hands off the work.

ProjectWorld Tackles PM/BA Best Practices

ProjectWorld 2014 officially launched on Monday, September 22, tackling some of the biggest issues for attendees.  The topics trending at the conference are Agile, Communities of project, multiple projects, leadership, business analysis and more.  The speakers were dolling out “nuggets” of wisdom and sage advice that attendees could take back to their organizations and put to use right away.

 

Many attendees who signed up for the special field trip to Starbucks were in for a big treat to learn insights on project management best practices.  Hope to interview a few attendees to share some insights.

 

Tuesday morning, will kickoff with opening remarks from William Greenwald on Leadership and following keynote speakers, JoMiller and Meta S. Brown share insights on Women’s Leadership and Big Data.  Also, another special field trip to Boeing will occur later today for those attendees who signed up.

 

Attendees can follow the twitter steam #PW14 to catch up on the latest tweets for the event.   Stay tuned for more insights as I’ll share some of the powerful messages coming out of this conference to help attendees tackle their biggest organizational issues.


Reference:
Leadership Insights from William Greenwald

Leadership Lessons: The Biggest Challenges Facing Leaders Today

I recently interviewed Mary Ann Bender of Allstate and Betsy Ballentine – Project Manager at Russell Martin & Associates, to talk about the ins and outs of leadership in today’s competitive business landscape. Both women are speaking at next week’s ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts conference - the premiere conference brand that delivers executive level program quality with an enhanced focus on collaboration between project management and business analysis disciplines.

Here’s what Mary Ann and Betsy had to say:

IIR: What is the biggest challenge facing project leaders today? How can they be overcome?

Bender: Budget continues to be a challenge in some cases; however, based on my experience the biggest challenge is the fear of availability issues or business impact due to the project or changes to the environment.

So, have a good change management process in place, clear and customized communication per business area, do a presentation of success measurements to officers and directors helping them understand how the project is helping the company and the businesses and if the project has cost savings, those must be presented too.  Divide the metrics and reports per business unit and make it as a healthy competition between them.

Ballentine: Multi-tasking is the biggest challenge. Constantly changing focus means that project managers are never getting any velocity on their projects. New highly-matrixed, job-sharing times demand leaner, more resilient tools. Get REAL!

Mary Ann and Betsy will be speaking at PW&WCBA in Seattle, WA taking place September 22-24th. 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/1r4E6sC

Leadership Lessons: William Greenwald

In our next episode of the Leadership Lessons interview series brought to you by ProjectWorld &World Congress for Business Analysts, I sat down with William Greenwald of Windsor Leadership Group to discuss how to stand out in leadership,  what it takes to be a great leader, and the biggest challenges facing leaders today.

Today, ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts is the premier conference for advancing collaboration through practice. This year, PW&WCBA has not only changed locations but also drastically changed how the program is delivered- more than ever focused on practicality and tangibility, through visionary speakers, and focus areas that matter to you and your role and help accelerate future success.  At PW&WCBA, you will have the opportunity to join industry thought leaders as they re-examine how to identify opportunities and track their success, understanding what it means to be an effective leader in a virtual and multicultural world, and explore the future role of project managers and business analysts with the corporation.

Greenwald whole-heartedly believes in Gandhi's quote, "Be the Change that You Want to See.” According to him, too many leaders worry about uncontrollables or trying to change others such as peers, bosses, and spouses.

“Great leaders lead themselves before others...hence, by simply taking responsibility for your own behavior and being an exemplary role model in your corporation, community, and family, you will, by default, STAND OUT.”

Greenwald recommends that all new leaders start every conversation (at home and at work) with: "How can I serve you today?” This will begin to build a strong foundation of Servant Leadership that will ably guide decades of success as a great leader.  

Check out my full interview with William here: http://bit.ly/1rAY9MQ

If you’d like to hear more from William, don’t’ miss his sessions, “Creating Magic: Leadership and Service Excellence” on Monday, September 22nd at 10:45 am and “Story to Stage: The Art Behind the Science of Presentation Excellence” on Wednesday, September 24th at 2:00 pm. ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014 is taking place this September 22-September 24, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. For more information and to register, click here: http://bit.ly/1wf3eOV

About the Author: Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR’s blogs including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, Digital Impact, STEAM Accelerator and ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc.  

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Will you be joining us at ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts?

In less than one month, hundreds of project management and business analysis executives will gather in Seattle to tackle some of their most pressing challenges from the project trenches at ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts. Will you be joining us?

PW&WCBA

September 22-24, 2014

W Hotel

Seattle, Washington

• PW&WCBA provides a 3-day experience designed for all training levels,  with a robust agenda and tangible lessons that can be implemented when you return to the office.
• Full Agenda Addressing Project Pain Points : Designed to meet the needs of YOUR industry, including a new Project Scheduling Lab, a focus on Leading High Performance Teams and Becoming a Person of Influence.
• In-Depth Workshops: This year there's even more workshop sessions to get hands on with topics, including Agile PM Training, Requirements Management Best Practices, Cyber Security, Emotional Intelligence and more. 
• 40+ Speakers sharing best practices and lessons learned from deep in the project trenches. Find out what works (and what doesn't!) from the best in the industry. You'll hear from Allstate, Bank of Montreal, Erie Insurance, IIBA, Kindred Healthcare, Microsoft, Quest Diagnostics, Starbucks & more. 
• A Look into the Future of Project Management & Business Analysis: PW&WCBA will prepare your team not only for the changes taking place in project management and business analysis, but also what's coming. The 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/CDUs to maintain your certification: that's more than half of the credits needed in just THREE days!
• 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 a networking reception and the opportunity to sign up for group dinners to continue the conversation after the conference day ends.

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

Attendees to date include:

Visa Disney PMI AIG New York Life Insurance Allstate Insurance Centene Corporation Russell Martin & Associates Banfield The Pet Hospital Citizens Bank Solea Software Solutions ALLData El Paso Water Utilities Hampton Affiliates University of North Texas Health Science Center Hilti Inc McKee Foods Corporation ARGO Data Goodyear University of Connecticut Lonza Biologics Women's Leadership Coaching Inc New Directions Behavioral Health Federal Depositors Insurance Corp Kathleen Hass & Associates Inc ECMC Watermark Learning NyeCo Inc State of Wisconsin Reliance Home Comfort Microsoft The Boeing Company Starbucks Coffee Company Bank of Montreal International Institute of Business Analysis Federal Reserve Bank WEA Insurance AT&T Neiman Marcus Honda R&D Robert Bosch EBG Consulting Kindred Healthcare Inc ESI Fujitsu America Callisto Integration Edwards Lifesciences LLC Quest Diagnostics WEA Trust University of Regina Tyco Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco NASA Mars Science Laboratory T. Garanti Bankasi A S Stage Stores Clark County SITA Windsor Leadership Group LLC Human Systems International Plan Administrators Inc Washington State Department of Retirement Systems Insperity Canadian Blood Services The Pasha Group Buffalo State College Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Travelers Companies T-Mobile Continental Mills

Have you been following our Leadership Lessons Blog series? Head over to our blog to read up on our recent interviews with industry leaders themselves: http://bit.ly/1tcIZTB

PW&WCBA 2014 presents you with new opportunities to accelerate professional and personal development at the rate of change. Join us and make yourself more valuable to your organization.

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

All the best,
The PW&WCBA Team

@Project_World

#PW14

Top Five Skillsets for Business Analysts

Business Analysts are in high demand today and having the right skill sets may set you apart from other candidates vying for the same jobs. Whether you are a seasoned or new business analyst you will need basic and advanced skill sets to advance in your career.

Below are five of the most transferable business analysis skill sets:

1. Communication Skills
2. Interpersonal Skills
3. Technical Skills
4. Research and Analytical Skills
5. Organizational Skills

Considering business analysis as a career? Read more detail on what the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) recommends regarding the transferable skills necessary to be successful.

Business analysis can be a very rewarding career and you can get more information at the website and by joining the International Institute of Business Analysis. Joining as a member provides you with access to A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (the BABOK Guide) and the underlying business analysis competencies lists.

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