PMcrunch

It has been said many times by many people that the only constant in life is change. As project and program managers, we know that we must accept and recognize this fact in our day to day activities. Much has also been written about resistance to change. As we start this new year, it is a good idea to think for a bit about change and our approach to it.

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In today’s fast-paced environment, human resources and talent management are of prime importance and concern in virtually all organizations.  The pace of change makes matching job skills with assignments very challenging.  Many organizations have responded with a "learning function" within the organization.  Let’s look at how this trend and how you can ensure the strong project [...]

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As Project Managers, it is our charge to maintain high ethical standards. Strong ethical standards are a key ingredient of great leadership. The responsibility of ethics leads me to think about 2 immediate dilemmas or challenges:

Do we ask ourselves whether or not we are doing the right thing?
Do our team members and stakeholders ask themselves that same eithical question?
These 2 questions cover the basics of ethics, but there is a broader organization challenge we must consider to ensure these ethical questions are being handled.

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It can be very helpful for PMP candidates to have a PMP Mentor, or someone who is PMP certified and can assist on a moment’s notice when the student is stuck. A PMP mentor can provide a high level of comfort and assurance that a candidate is on the right path to passing the PMP certification exam.

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How does the emergence of Web 2.0 collaborative capabilities and networks effect the organizational landscape, and how does that effect project and program managers? I think the key to answering this question is to look at what is happening to interpersonal relationships, power centers, and influence within organizations to see how this is changing as a result of this emerging development. I find that we can gain insights into this by observing from the following point of view: a. Organization charts are the way the organization is “supposed” to be, and b. Web 2.0 collaboration reveals relationships, and hence organization structure, as it really is. Let’s explore…

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I read a pretty comprehensive article on gantthead about leadership, it it raised a lot of issues – directly and indirectly. The article did not seem to address whether leaders can be made, or are they just born. The reality, in my opinion, is in between. I think everyone can become a leader in some way, but people cannot readily be leaders in every situation. People have natural tendencies and natural characteristics, and they need to play on them. As such, we can adapt to situations, but there are some situations in which an individual will thrive, while there are others where they will not. As such, a person may have natural leadership ability in some venues, but absolutely none in others. For example, a union leader demonstrates leadership ability within the union setting, but may be totally out of place in a corporate setting, where a different type of leadership is needed.

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Here are some quick pointers on leadership development and soft skills training:   Any training assumes that a person has a strong foundation of values, beliefs, habits, etc.  These are critical to ensuring the person internalizes the training correctly.  This is why continuous personal improvement – building good habits, developing healthy attitudes, strong character, and [...]

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