PMcrunch

After someone has been managing projects for some time and has achieved certification, he or she will feel more than comfortable with the basics. The big question is how can more experienced project management professionals continue to advance in skill and maturity by leveraging training. Let’s explore.

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On your project teams over time, there surely have been “pivotal performances”. Just like in a basketball game there was something that the winning team did throughout the game, that proved to be pivotal to the outcome of that game. There are things that each team member, and the team as a whole does throughout a project, that are pivotal to the projects success. The question is, how do you find those things, and how do you get your project team to turn in pivotal performances, routinely.

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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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There are many ways to earn the 60 PDUs required to maintain PMP certification. Many PMPs consider this to be a challenge. However, with proper planning (remember, we are PMPs!), earning those PDUs can become a part of your regular professional life and can be a breeze. Here’s how.

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There are many great places for project managers to network, keep up with developments in the profession, tune in to new opportunities, and find opportunities for career growth. On a more immediate basis, networking today is also full of helpful opportunities to solve current problems with the assistance of colleagues in the profession. So, in this era of social networking, I thought I would put together a post of where some of the best project management networks can be found.

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As Project Managers and Leaders, we receive a tremendous number of communications. Much of this is “noise,” and can be a tremendous distraction if we do not manage it well. If we do not set criteria to manage it ourselves, and to train others accordingly, this will all generate a stream of low-value meetings, emails, documents, and voicemails. Hidden in all that noise is the information you need to assess, decide, act - and lead. There is a clear need for ground rules - to be set by you, the project manager and team leader.

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Project Requirements Gathering is a complex and challenging activity. It is also one of the most important activities in project management, as it establishes the baseline against which the product of the project is measured. Here are some thoughts and ideas on effective requirements gathering for any project.

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Leaders know that great insights often come from the people doing the actual work. Faced with “higher level challenges,” leaders and leadership teams tend to lose touch with those doing the work. Whichever end you find yourself in this dilemma, whether you are on project team, lead a project team, or lead a program, take some time to refresh your thinking and “dismiss the hierarchy’, if only temporarily. It will help to keep motivation alive in yourself, your team, and your organization.

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“Culture” has a lot of impact on the performance of work on a project. Therefore, cultural considerations are very important when estimating the work effort. Cultures are not limited to countries or regions; they are just as important within organizations that share virtually the same location and language.

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Town meetings, traditionally, are gatherings that involve the whole population of a given area. The public is invited to partake in the meeting whether to discuss administrative or political agendas. The purpose is to acquire certain community feedbacks or suggestions on policies that is vital for the local government officials to better serve its constituents.

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