PMcrunch

PMP exam prep training is available from many sources, but a large number of candidates are seeking online, web-based PMP prep training for its cost and convenience benefits. However, online training can mean a number of different things to people, including web-based classroom training, reviewing visual material online, collaborating with other students, interacting with training, downloading material, and much more.

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There is lots of good talk about project metrics. Much of it centers on project performance. But there is another side to it, organizational metrics, related to how the project is contributing to overall organizational goals. Thinking a little differently and exploring a different perspective can provide better focus and produce more positive impact.

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There has been a tremendous amount of buzz more recently about PMOs, otherwise known as Project Management Offices. Here is what a select group of experts are saying about PMOs today.

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Thomas Edison was the quintessential mistake maker. He believed that the more mistakes he made, the more wrong answers and wrong solutions he could eliminate and, therefore, the closer he came to the correct solution to his problems. In management and on projects, on one hand, we seek to minimize mistakes but it is important to recognize when “mistakes” can actually be beneficial and produce positive outcomes. Indeed, we should not be afraid to make mistakes but rather should try to control and leverage the process. The project portfolio management process is an ideal place to formally do this.

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What does you organization “tolerate”? This is an important question to ask because you will know where you have some flexibility, and you will know where you have risks and inflexibility. You may very well also find out where your organization is lacking, and where it needs some reform in its project management practices to become a much more streamlined, and lean operating machine. A useful tool for thinking about this is the triple constraint.

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A great question that we can ask ourselves as project managers is, “Would we invest in our projects”? This is probably the single best indicator, if we are honest with ourselves, as to the health of our projects, our positions, our teams, our organizations and more. Here is a look at an investment perspective to managing projects.

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Project organizations really are not unlike other organizations. Like a small, medium, or large sized corporation, projects have specific objectives that need to be supported by its own project culture. Projects inlcude collections of people and stakeholders, surrounding a concept or idea and particular action, take on a persona. Discovering, and even more important creating, and maintaining the character of that persona, is an important job of the project manager and supporting organization.

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Software as a Service (SaaS) has been gaining momentum slowly but surely for several years now. Many people are concerned that software as a service (SaaS) provides security and availability issues, and are concerned about putting their data on posted servers. This is of interest in the Project Management community, as SaaS is very appropriate for project management applications. Here’s a little perspective on that issue.

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Project reporting is very important because it enables us to keep our stake holders informed as to the project progress, decisions, achievements, and issues. However, often reporting is done around a certain specific format that you as a project manager, or your stakeholders, may find to fall short of the information needed – or worse, provide a lot of extraneous information that does not add value. It is important to capture the essence of project objectives and map them to the reporting routine.

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The TenStep set of free templates are helpful as a very basis step to structured management of your project, and the most helpful piece was the Project Charter. Given my use in framing a relatively small project, I would also say that it has limited use for larger projects, but is still of value as a first cut for any project. That being said, my breakdown was framing a larger project into a smaller, shorter term project that would define the larder project. This could be a great way for others to use the product.

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