http://pm411.org project management internet radio show, templates, and webtools Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:37:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 The pm411.org Project Management Podcast is dedicated to help you at your job as a Project Manager or Program Manager, regardless if you have years of experience, or if you are just starting on your journey in Project Management. pm411.org is a place where you can come to find the latest in PM tools, PM Templates, PM tips, and PMI (PMBOK) methodologies that have been found to help others. It is a place where discussions can be had with project managers from around the globe and in every industry where project management permeates in our Project Management discussion forums. It is a place where you can find the best Project Management links to other sites dedicated to our wonderful profession. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no Ron Holohan, MBA PMP show@pm411.org show@pm411.org (Ron Holohan, MBA PMP) 2007-2012 Ron Holohan Project management internet radio show, discussion forum, methodology, templates, and webtools project, management, pm, prepcast, management, manager, pmi, pmp, team, management, schedule, budget http://pm411.org/wp-content/uploads/pm411logo_itunes.jpg http://pm411.org/category/pm-links/ http://pm411.org/2011/09/12/podcast-episode-078-the-value-of-your-pmo/ http://pm411.org/2011/09/12/podcast-episode-078-the-value-of-your-pmo/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:16:51 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=2517 http://pm411.org/2011/09/12/podcast-episode-078-the-value-of-your-pmo/feed/ 2 create a pmo,pm network,pm solutions,pm value,pmi,pmo,pmo failure,pmo successes,project management office,project management solutions,shure,sm7b You can't just create a PMO and expect everyone to jump on board to support it. Especially when 50% of PMOs fail the first time around. So, In order to get the resources and budget necessary for the PMO to be successful, You can't just create a PMO and expect everyone to jump on board to support it. Especially when 50% of PMOs fail the first time around. So, In order to get the resources and budget necessary for the PMO to be successful, you need to show the value that a PMO will bring to your organization. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 15:23 http://pm411.org/2011/06/12/eliyahu-goldratt-march-31-1948-june-11-2011/ http://pm411.org/2011/06/12/eliyahu-goldratt-march-31-1948-june-11-2011/#comments Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:38:32 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=2398 http://pm411.org/2011/06/12/eliyahu-goldratt-march-31-1948-june-11-2011/feed/ 10 http://pm411.org/2011/01/14/podcast-episode-067-stop-playing-games/ http://pm411.org/2011/01/14/podcast-episode-067-stop-playing-games/#comments Sat, 15 Jan 2011 05:23:39 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1786 http://pm411.org/2011/01/14/podcast-episode-067-stop-playing-games/feed/ 6 Do you ever get tired of playing games? - No. I’m not talking about Scrabble or poker or even Dungeons and Dragons Online in which incidentally, I am a current fourth level paladin. No, rather I’m speaking about the games that we get to play every... Do you ever get tired of playing games? No. I’m not talking about Scrabble or poker or even Dungeons and Dragons Online in which incidentally, I am a current fourth level paladin. No, rather I’m speaking about the games that we get to play every day as project managers. What games you ask? Oh, you know the ones like “The Pricing Game,” “Guess the Truth,” and “Grapevine.” Well, lucky for us, Rick Morris, PMP, provides some strategies on how to win at these games. Rick Morris is the best-selling author of the book Stop Playing Games: A Project Manager’s Guide to Successfully Navigating Organizational Politics. This book, from the author of Project Management That Works and The Everything Project Management Book, dives deep into topics of gaining buy-in from upper management, accurately estimating timing and cost, controlling project communications, managing within a corporate culture, taking care of your team, and more. The Inspiration Behind the Book Frustration was one of the factors that inspired Rick to write Stop Playing Games. Frustration often occurs when project managers are ask to try to beat impossible deadlines with budgets and dates that they didn’t help set and without the authority to be successful.  Then, often we get to take the blame for when it all goes wrong! Luckily, Rick has worked with a lot of executives, both as a consultant and as a project manager, and has been able to help many see that their team leaders actually share the same goals that they have. In the end, we’re all people and we all want to be successful. By applying tips from Rick’s book, project managers can help their executives look so much better than they do today. In the long run, together we can stop playing these games and just have an honest relationship and become successful together. So, who's ready for a hug? The Current Status of Project Management Rick contends that the current status of project management is that a lot of people want a “quick fix” to improve corporate efficiency and they think that Project Management might be able to provide that, but they don’t want to put in the needed work to make the process changes to truly get the benefit of doing it the right way. One of the reasons we try to play “games” is because, just like when "Six Sigma" was new to organizations ten years ago, Project Management is new to a lot of organizations today. If you remember when Six Sigma became so prevalent, you had stories of Motorola and GE getting all these gains and successes from implementing Six Sigma. They had these results that suggested that if you brought a certified "Master Black Belt" in, your organization would suddenly become tremendously more efficient overnight. Although organizations are starting to recognize that Project Management does bring dividends, they still don’t know exactly how to help project managers do their jobs succesfully. What’s happening is they think “Oh, we just established a Project Managemetn Office (PMO), now we’re finally going to have better project predictability.” Unfortunately, the problem is that organizations don’t want to put in the effort to really change any of their processes. Perhaps they read some journal article that said, “Hey, if you hire a project manager, you can get results.” So, they go and hire a PMP. But they don't provide the time or budget to effectively plan and execute the project. Soon the top floor wants to know “Where are these results we were promised?” As a result, in many cases project managers simply end up being big paper pushers and additional money gets spent to bring in consultants to figure out that the organization's processes and expectations never got changed to allow projects to come in under budget, under schedule, and within scope. When I grow up, I want to be a Project Manager Most of us really didn’t plan to become a project manager. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 26:05 http://pm411.org/2010/09/26/podcast-episode-063-the-lazy-project-manager/ http://pm411.org/2010/09/26/podcast-episode-063-the-lazy-project-manager/#comments Sun, 26 Sep 2010 21:31:53 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1703 http://pm411.org/2010/09/26/podcast-episode-063-the-lazy-project-manager/feed/ 8 80/20 rule,pareto,peter taylor,productively lazy,the lazy project manager Recently I spoke with Peter Taylor about his book The Lazy Project Manager and what it means to be Productively Lazy. Recently I spoke with Peter Taylor about his book The Lazy Project Manager and what it means to be Productively Lazy. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 17:26 http://pm411.org/2010/07/11/podcast-episode-061-tips-for-new-project-managers-2/ http://pm411.org/2010/07/11/podcast-episode-061-tips-for-new-project-managers-2/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:30:45 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1564 http://pm411.org/2010/07/11/podcast-episode-061-tips-for-new-project-managers-2/feed/ 2 e-learning,josh nankivel,learning,networking,new pm,pmstudent,project manager Well, today we welcome back to the show Josh Nankivel who shares some tips on how to network with other more experienced project managers through a new tool he has created called pmStudent e-learning. Well, today we welcome back to the show Josh Nankivel who shares some tips on how to network with other more experienced project managers through a new tool he has created called pmStudent e-learning. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 24:37 http://pm411.org/2010/05/31/podcast-episode-060-rats-snakes-and-complex-projects-with-geoff-crane/ http://pm411.org/2010/05/31/podcast-episode-060-rats-snakes-and-complex-projects-with-geoff-crane/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:57:28 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1444 http://pm411.org/2010/05/31/podcast-episode-060-rats-snakes-and-complex-projects-with-geoff-crane/feed/ 3 complex projects,Geoff Crane,papercut,papercut edge,papercut pm,planning,Risk Management,scope I once described Geoff Crane's Papercut Edge blog like this: "Imagine if Project Management rode the scary rollercoaster and then threw up... That's what Geoff Crane's blog is like." And Geoff just so happens to also an expert on complex projects. I once described Geoff Crane's Papercut Edge blog like this: "Imagine if Project Management rode the scary rollercoaster and then threw up... That's what Geoff Crane's blog is like." And Geoff just so happens to also an expert on complex projects. Especially those projects where the exterminator needs to be called in. And lucky for us, Geoff is willing to share some of his tips on managing complex projects. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 23:44 http://pm411.org/2010/04/11/podcast-episode-058-virtual-team-tips-with-the-cranky-middle-manager/ http://pm411.org/2010/04/11/podcast-episode-058-virtual-team-tips-with-the-cranky-middle-manager/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 01:51:45 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1277 http://pm411.org/2010/04/11/podcast-episode-058-virtual-team-tips-with-the-cranky-middle-manager/feed/ 21 Communication,cranky middle manager show,monitoring and controlling,pm software,PM Video,remote team,Teams,virtual team,wayne turmel Recently I spoke with the very smart, funny, and dare I say, Cranky, Wayne Turmel about virtual teams. Wayne Turmel is the president of Greatwebmeetings.com, as well as the host of one of the world's most successful business podcasts, Recently I spoke with the very smart, funny, and dare I say, Cranky, Wayne Turmel about virtual teams. Wayne Turmel is the president of Greatwebmeetings.com, as well as the host of one of the world's most successful business podcasts, The Cranky Middle Manager Show. The BBC, ABC and BusinessWeek Online have called Cranky Middle Manager one of the best HR blogs out there. And Wayne's book 6 Weeks to a Great Webinar: Generate Leads and Tell Your Story to the World is the leading web presentation book on Amazon.com. Wayne is also a contributor to BNET. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 36:23 http://pm411.org/2010/03/28/podcast-episode-057-tom-peters-speaks-out-about-toyota-recalls/ http://pm411.org/2010/03/28/podcast-episode-057-tom-peters-speaks-out-about-toyota-recalls/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 02:21:41 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1117 http://pm411.org/2010/03/28/podcast-episode-057-tom-peters-speaks-out-about-toyota-recalls/feed/ 5 al dunlap,apple,authors,auto manufacturers,chevrolet,Chrysler,Ford,GM,google,Honda,ibm,in search of excellence I was recently joined by best selling author and Management guru Tom Peters to discuss his perspective on the Toyota recalls. Tom and I also talked about where other major companies such as Dell, Starbucks, Nike, Apple, Google, GM, IBM, I was recently joined by best selling author and Management guru Tom Peters to discuss his perspective on the Toyota recalls. Tom and I also talked about where other major companies such as Dell, Starbucks, Nike, Apple, Google, GM, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Honda fall on that elusive spectra known as "Excellence". By the way, if somehow you have not heard of Tom Peters: Simply put, Tom Peters is the last of the still living and truly great 20th Century management thought leaders and, incidentally, is more relevant in today's business environment than ever before. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 31:36 http://pm411.org/2010/03/12/how-project-management-helps-businesses-increase-success/ http://pm411.org/2010/03/12/how-project-management-helps-businesses-increase-success/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:57:31 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1073 http://pm411.org/2010/03/12/how-project-management-helps-businesses-increase-success/feed/ 2 http://pm411.org/2009/12/12/podcast-episode-051-is-the-wbs-just-bs/ http://pm411.org/2009/12/12/podcast-episode-051-is-the-wbs-just-bs/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:53:57 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=842 http://pm411.org/2009/12/12/podcast-episode-051-is-the-wbs-just-bs/feed/ 2 Communication,josh nankivel,mindmapping,monitoring and controlling,planning,pmstudent,project lifecycle,training,wbs,wbs coach,work breakdown structure Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast Newsletter delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. - Way back in Episode 004, Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast Newsletter delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. Way back in Episode 004, I discussed one of the key building blocks of a successful project, known as the Work Breakdown Structure or WBS.  However, it is pretty evident that there is still a lot of confusion in Project Management on whether we truly need a WBS on our projects, how to structure a WBS, and how to use it throughout a project’s lifecycle.  In this episode I welcome back to the show pmstudent.com blogger and WBS expert Josh Nankivel as we dive deeper into the topic of the Work Breakdown Structure. Josh  has recently published a set of training tools called the WBS coach to help those of us that need to know how to create a WBS or those of us that just need a refresher on WBS development.  So is the WBS just…  BS?  Josh and I talk about why more PMs don’t use the WBS, we discuss whether it really helps in project planning, and finally we talk about the right and wrong ways of developing a WBS. So what the heck is a WBS? The WBS is a special kind of outline for your project.  It is deliverables-based, focused on project results, and usually includes a graphic hierarchy and a WBS dictionary.  Basically, it is a representation of your project scope. However, the WBS is not a task list, organizational chart, and it shouldn’t be time phased. Why should teams use Work Breakdown Structures? A lot of project managers don’t use a WBS as a tool on their project, or they see it as just another piece of paperwork.  But the WBS is the representation of scope on your project.  All deliverables, services, outcomes of your project should be covered by your project WBS. The WBS also provides clear definition of what the project will be producing.  It provides a common language and helps to structure reporting so that there is a common understanding with stakeholders.  It also provides a strong foundation for your project. The WBS also helps with clear change control.  The WBS provides traceability if anything changes to help team members and stakeholders understand how changes impact the project. Parts of the Work Breakdown Structure The “WBS Graphic” includes some kind visual hierarchy of the scope and how the deliverables are related.  There are a lot of tools that can create a WBS hierarchy – mindmaps, Visio, and even Microsoft Word. The “WBS Dictionary” goes into detail on each deliverable of the WBS.  The key to the WBS dictionary is to first define what is included and then create the details of what that deliverable is.  Many teams also create an “exclusions list” that specifies what is not included in the project scope in order to provide additional clarity to what the team is planning on delivering. “Deliverables” can be defined as anything that is results-oriented (e.g. a system, a sub-system, etc.) Josh differs from the PMI on the definition of “activities.”  Josh sees activities as a special kind of deliverable that are service-oriented (e.g. “project management,” “configuration management,” etc.) The “work package” is the lowest level of your WBS after decomposition.  You will later want to use your work packages to do activity definition, duration estimations, cost estimations, etc. “Control accounts” track your costs and progress on a particular piece of the WBS.  However, again, tasks are not part of the Work Breakdown Structure. So, why is there so much confusion around the WBS? One reason is because the WBS is typically understated in many PM textbooks and PM classes.  Whenever it is mentioned, it is usually just presented as a basic overview rather than providing details on how to create and manage a WBS.  Also, there is quite a bit of disagreement on how to create and use the WBS.  Unfortunately, Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 50:01 http://pm411.org/2009/11/20/podcast-episode-050-wrike-and-pm-2-0/ http://pm411.org/2009/11/20/podcast-episode-050-wrike-and-pm-2-0/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:34:05 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=806 http://pm411.org/2009/11/20/podcast-episode-050-wrike-and-pm-2-0/feed/ 0 collaboration,Communication,software,Teams,wrike Today we talk with Andrew Filev.  Andrew has been managing software teams since 2001 with the help of new-generation collaboration and management applications. His best practices are based on implementation of Enterprise 2. Today we talk with Andrew Filev.  Andrew has been managing software teams since 2001 with the help of new-generation collaboration and management applications. His best practices are based on implementation of Enterprise 2.0 software in project management. Now Andrew is an expert in project management, a successful software entrepreneur and the CEO at Wrike.com, online project management software. Andrew is also the author of some influential project management articles, including works for Cutter IT Journal, Web 2.0 Journal and Agile Journal. Andrew is often invited to speak at conferences, symposiums and seminars. Andrew has given speeches on new trends in project management and on implementing Enterprise 2.0 strategies. He spoke at such events as the PMI Silicon Valley Tools and Techniques Forum, Office 2.0 Conference, Enterprise 2.0 Conference, Project Management Symposium and others. Andrew’s ideas about improving traditional project management are reflected in his popular Project Management 2.0 blog (http://www.wrike.com/projectmanagement). In today’s episode we find out more about Wrike and what Project Management 2.0 is all about.   Plus we are giving away some more freebies! Project Management 2.0 So, what is the difference between traditional project management and Project Management 2.0.  Traditional project management is focused on the project manager being the center of the team’s communication hub. It places the manager in the center of the project work, as they need to collect all the information from team members, process it, and then communicate to various project stakeholders, including upper management.  Project planning can especially be hard and time consuming since all the project information is concentrated only around a single person — the project manager.   This contributes significantly to what a project manager spends 90% of their time doing – communicating. New-generation project management tools make it possible to create a collaborative team space, and everyone involved in the project is able to contribute to the project work in this space. Project planning and communication is distributed around the whole team, and each team member has the full information on the project. Project progress is visible to everyone on the team. The project manager’s role is transformed from the traditional taskmaster to become a project visionary as they focus more on the right direction for the project development. The new-generation tools take away part of the typical traditional burden of project management and allows the project manager to focus more on leading the project team. With Project Management 2.0 collective team insight and collaboration driving a project, people and businesses are accomplishing much more than when they did with traditional project management information funneling.   With Project Management 2.0, the project management of a project is built around the work, rather than the work being forced to conform to a particular project management system.   Collective intelligence systems, such as wikis, mashups, and dekis have allowed teams to share information more easily. Now, New-generation technologies have brought collective intelligence into the project management process.   and open the way to another successful practice, emergent structures, where the one-to-many approach of conventional Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) is replaced by a many-to-many approach of work package delivery. Together, these powerful principles determine key differences between Project Management 2.0 and traditional project management: Bottom-up planning is utilized much more often and much more efficiently Tools help to communicate and reduce unnecessary burden Instead of using one work-breakdown structure that is designed before the project is started, multiple structures might be applied and they can evolve on the way. Wrike Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 29:39 http://pm411.org/2009/08/30/are-you-connected/ http://pm411.org/2009/08/30/are-you-connected/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:38:06 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=654 http://pm411.org/2009/08/30/are-you-connected/feed/ 1 http://pm411.org/2009/07/23/podcast-episode-043-interview-with-josh-nankivel-pmp/ http://pm411.org/2009/07/23/podcast-episode-043-interview-with-josh-nankivel-pmp/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:25:12 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=538 http://pm411.org/2009/07/23/podcast-episode-043-interview-with-josh-nankivel-pmp/feed/ 1 aspiring pm,josh nankivel,new pm,pmstudent.com Josh Nankivel, PMP, recently interviewed me for his pmStudent.com website, and he was willing to return the favor and he let me interview him last weekend for this pm411.org podcast. During the interview, Josh and I discuss all kinds of great stuff in... Josh Nankivel, PMP, recently interviewed me for his pmStudent.com website, and he was willing to return the favor and he let me interview him last weekend for this pm411.org podcast. During the interview, Josh and I discuss all kinds of great stuff including his past and current projects, the pmStudent.com website, the PMP and its future for project management, and even possible ideas for a great Project Management videogame! Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 27:03 http://pm411.org/2009/02/01/podcast-episode-042-pm-opinions/ http://pm411.org/2009/02/01/podcast-episode-042-pm-opinions/#comments Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:04:36 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=443 http://pm411.org/2009/02/01/podcast-episode-042-pm-opinions/feed/ 0 cornelius fichtner,jerry manas,pm opinions,PM Reviews,rita mulcahy I am here to tell you about a great new Project Management Resource called PM Opinions (www.pmopinions.com) that allows you, as a project management consumer, to read reviews from other people on I am here to tell you about a great new Project Management Resource called PM Opinions (www.pmopinions.com) that allows you, as a project management consumer, to read reviews from other people on Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 9:32 http://pm411.org/2009/02/01/what-is-your-personal-elevator-speech/ http://pm411.org/2009/02/01/what-is-your-personal-elevator-speech/#comments Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:44:43 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=422 http://pm411.org/2009/02/01/what-is-your-personal-elevator-speech/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2008/09/21/podcast-episode-036-mindmapping/ http://pm411.org/2008/09/21/podcast-episode-036-mindmapping/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:10:02 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://876225498 http://pm411.org/2008/09/21/podcast-episode-036-mindmapping/feed/ 5 mindjet,mindmapping Today I speak with Jagdish Mirani, the Product Marketing lead for Mindjet Corporation. His professional experience spans the areas of Development, Product Management, and Marketing over a twenty-five year period. - Today I speak with Jagdish Mirani, the Product Marketing lead for Mindjet Corporation. His professional experience spans the areas of Development, Product Management, and Marketing over a twenty-five year period. Prior to Mindjet he was VP of Product Management and Marketing at Business Objects (acquired by SAP). Before that, he was responsible for positioning and marketing Oracle’s Enterprise Performance Management Applications and Oracle’s future Enterprise Applications Product Line (Project Fusion). Prior to Oracle, Jagdish held various positions at Sybase, Tandem Computers and Hewlett-Packard. Jagdish holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Santa Clara University and an MBA from UC Berkeley. A mind map is described in Wikipedia as is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing. Today Jagdish and I talk about how mindmapping can be used by project managers to help plan, execute, and monitor their projects.  We also discuss: What is mindmapping, and as a project manager what can it do for me? How is mindmapping different than flowcharting or using Visio? Is mindmapping only used for planning activities like brainstorming? What mindmapping tools does Mindjet offer and what are some of its features. Mindjet offers a new web service called Mindjet Connect.  What are some of its features? Mindjet also offers a new version of their Project Management Solution, JCVGantt 3. Listeners can findout more about mindmapping and download project management mindmapping templates at www.mindjet.com. Key Links Mindjet:  www.mindjet.com Mindmanager Pro:  http://www.mindjet.com/products/mindmanager_pro/default.aspx The Mindmanager Project Manager JetPack:  http://www.mindjet.com/products/jetpack/default.aspx JCVGantt Pro:  http://www.mindjet.com/products/jcv_Gantt/default.aspx Free Giveaways! Finally, we have a special giveaway on the show today!  On October 30th, 2008 we will pick the names of 2 lucky winners that will receive a free downloadable copy of Mindmanager 7 and the Mindjet Jetpack for Project Management.  Simply sign up through the pm411.org website for the free pm411.org Project Management Newsletter or click here before October 30th and you will be automatically entered into the contest. Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast Newslestter delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented.   Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 23:41 http://pm411.org/2008/09/06/how-to-avoid-stopping-the-line-on-deliverables/ http://pm411.org/2008/09/06/how-to-avoid-stopping-the-line-on-deliverables/#comments Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:21:32 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://1448556078 http://pm411.org/2008/09/06/how-to-avoid-stopping-the-line-on-deliverables/feed/ 5 http://pm411.org/2008/04/14/episode-028-project-management-in-the-real-world-with-elizabeth-harrin/ http://pm411.org/2008/04/14/episode-028-project-management-in-the-real-world-with-elizabeth-harrin/#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:40:00 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=202 http://pm411.org/2008/04/14/episode-028-project-management-in-the-real-world-with-elizabeth-harrin/feed/ 4 blogs,books Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. I recently had the opportunity to speak with author and blogger, Elizabeth Harrin, Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. I recently had the opportunity to speak with author and blogger, Elizabeth Harrin, of London, England.  Elizabeth is the author of the book Project Management in the Real World and has nearly a decade of experience in managing projects. She is a PRINCE2 practitioner and is trained in the Six Sigma process improvement methodology. Elizabeth has led a variety of IT and process improvement projects including those involving e-commerce, communications, and managing business change.  In addition to writing books, Elizabeth also writes the irreverent and popular blog A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects. During our conversation Elizabeth and I chatted about her book, her blog, and lots of other great stuff...   like extreme ultraviolet imaging space mass spectrometers! Project Management in the Real World Elizabeth decided to write the book that she had wanted to read when she started in the field of project management.  There were plenty of books on theory and techniques, but not too many on real-life experiences.  Early in her career Elizabeth found that by working closely on teams with other project managers, she was able to learn the trade quickly from others sharing their experiences.  So, with the goal of writing a book by the time she was thirty, Elizabeth decided to get information and experiences out of the heads of varios PM practitioners and into a book.  In writing the book, Elizabeth found people rather willing to share their experiences openly. One particular contributor, who was responsible for managing the assembly of mass spectrometers for measuring ultraviolet light images from space, was focused on directly eliminating every risk his project faced.  When you are talking about a £30 million project, you cannot risk finding a problem once the spectrometer has been assembled and has been launched into space.  However, instead of addressing risks by using a "textbook" approach of looking at the impact and probability of each risk occurring, the team looked at any impact as being unacceptable.  They had to adapt to the need that the impact of every single risk had to be eliminated as long as the probability of its occurrence was greater than zero. Office Politics and Self Promotion Office politics, as you can guess, is not something that Elizabeth recommends getting involved in.  Rather, she suggests being "organizational aware;" be astute and understand the background and motivation of your stakeholders, since they are critical to how you manage your project. Transparency is something that is very important when it comes to projects.  When you and your stakeholders have open communication, it is far easier to get things done.  Unfortunately sometimes you will run into people that have their own hidden agendas or "play people off each other" to get things done.  Stay clear of playing these games.  These behaviors are not good for building team relationships or morale.  Since most project managers have indirect line manager roles, burning bridges now with your team or stakeholders through office politics will only make your job more difficult later on. Self-promotion is something that Elizabeth feels is tricky to get right.  Project managers are often times the "unsung heroes" of project delivery.  If a project is on time, on budget, on delivery often times the team gets the majority of the credit, or even worse, stakeholders may feel that the team could have been pushed even harder.  In cases where projects do not meet their deliverables, then the project manager is often blamed.  That is just one of the unfortunate truths of project management.  So, it is important to sometimes "blow your horn" by showing that you are a practitioner of project management best practices, you share knowledge with others, Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 35:39 http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/ http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:57:59 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/ http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/feed/ 1 http://pm411.org/2008/02/25/join-the-pm411org-project-management-podcast-linkedin-group/ http://pm411.org/2008/02/25/join-the-pm411org-project-management-podcast-linkedin-group/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:45:07 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2008/02/25/join-the-pm411org-project-management-podcast-linkedin-group/ http://pm411.org/2008/02/25/join-the-pm411org-project-management-podcast-linkedin-group/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2008/01/13/special-my-organizations-product-development-process-episode/ http://pm411.org/2008/01/13/special-my-organizations-product-development-process-episode/#comments Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:51:27 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2008/01/13/special-my-organizations-product-development-process-episode/ http://pm411.org/2008/01/13/special-my-organizations-product-development-process-episode/feed/ 0 Back in July, my friend Cornelius Fichtner from The Project Management Podcast, and I swapped podcast interviews.  Today's special podcast episode is a part of that interview, brought to you by the Project Management Podcast, Back in July, my friend Cornelius Fichtner from The Project Management Podcast, and I swapped podcast interviews.  Today's special podcast episode is a part of that interview, brought to you by the Project Management Podcast, where Cornelius and I discuss how the company in which I am employed as a Program Manager is organized, what processes it uses to develop products, and where I see opportunities for improvement. In my role as a program manager in my organization, I have five project managers that report to me and I help to plan, execute, and monitor/control the roadmap for the audio and accessory products that my project managers are responsible for.  I work in a Weak Matrix Organization, where team members directly report to a functional manager and indirectly report to one or more project managers.  This works fairly well, allowing project managers to focus on completing the project goals and the functional managers focused on insuring the product performance and fulfilling the project's resource needs.  I feel that I am fortunate that I work in an organization with a strong project management and development process.  Having a well-documented development process that loosely follows the methodology found in the PMBOK allows recently hired project managers get up to speed quickly at my organization. Our development is based on a phase-gated process, which I believe allows closer project monitoring and controlling, as well as giving the management the clear ability to kill or redirect a project at key "kill-points" for those projects not meeting its deliverables.  My company also uses a Project Review Board which tracks the planned milestones of a project through a weekly status report.  If the project milestones are missed by more than 2 weeks, it triggers the team to hold an interim phase review with the Project Review Board.  The Project Review board is composed of both program management representation and functional managers that can help to make decisions and clear roadblocks to get the team back on schedule/budget/scope.  This requires some discipline on the part of the project team to closely monitor and report their status on a weekly basis, but since instituting weekly status reporting and the Project Review Board teams have done a better job meeting their planned schedules, budget, and product requirements. My organization is always looking for ways of improving its processes.  One area that we are looking at is in developing a Project Management Office (PMO).  Product Development, the division in which I work, is only one area that my company utilizes project management.  My company also manages projects within its Operations, Facility Management, and Information System (IS) departments.  However, currently each of these areas really has its own project process and organizational assets - some more defined than others.  By developing a corporate-wide PMO, I believe that we will be able to better meet the needs of all areas of project management within our organization through common methodology, project tracking tools, and coordination. Another area that my company is investigating is using Critical Chain Project Management to help better utilize and focus resources assigned to various projects.  Focusing solely on the project Critical Path has not always provided successful product launches for us.  This is especially true for those projects with resources that were assigned on many other teams. One of the biggest challenges that I face as a Program Manager within my organization is keeping the sanctity of the triple-constraint.  Too often teams are asked to bring in dates without being allowed to change the project scope or project cost.  Often the thought is that teams should learn to "work smarter, not harder".  What is interesting is that we are learning to work smarter - through better enforcement of the triple-constraint and better scope management. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no http://pm411.org/2008/01/05/earn-pdus-through-pmi-by-listening-to-the-pm411org-podcast/ http://pm411.org/2008/01/05/earn-pdus-through-pmi-by-listening-to-the-pm411org-podcast/#comments Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:37:46 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2008/01/05/earn-pdus-through-pmi-by-listening-to-the-pm411org-podcast/ http://pm411.org/2008/01/05/earn-pdus-through-pmi-by-listening-to-the-pm411org-podcast/feed/ 2 http://pm411.org/2007/12/28/podcast-episode-020-e-projectmanagers-website/ http://pm411.org/2007/12/28/podcast-episode-020-e-projectmanagers-website/#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:11:55 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/12/28/podcast-episode-020-e-projectmanagers-website/ http://pm411.org/2007/12/28/podcast-episode-020-e-projectmanagers-website/feed/ 0 In today's episode I talk with Dora Tarver of the e-ProjectManagers website, a great website for Project Management templates. - Dora began her career as a Programmer / Analyst, soon becoming a technical leader and eventually a Project Manager. In today's episode I talk with Dora Tarver of the e-ProjectManagers website, a great website for Project Management templates. Dora began her career as a Programmer / Analyst, soon becoming a technical leader and eventually a Project Manager.  She is a member of PMI, has published papers, and has spoken across the country for PMI including at PMI Annual Seminars & Symposium.  Dora has over 17 years expereince in planning, building and buying software and hardware for medium and multimillion-dollar projects. Her experience includes infrastructure management, project procurement, change management, risk management, team development, time & cost analysis, business analysis, project plan development and maintenance following PMBOK and Corporate methodologies. Show Notes: http://www.e-projectmanagers.com/ - Dora's project management website where her free templates can be found. doratarver@e-projectmanagers.com - Where to contact Dora. http://www.dharmakaya.com/ - The Dharmakaya Meditation Center. http://www.freewebsitedesign.org/ - Where you can go to get your website created for free. http://www.enlightenedsource.org/ - Dora provides some internet business product reviews. Finally, be sure to look for the bonus year-end pm411.org podcast episode next week on the topic of things you and your team can do to make sure you get off on the right project management foot for 2008!  Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast delivered by email for free!  - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented.    Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 14:41 http://pm411.org/2007/12/10/podcast-episode-019-project-management-web-resources/ http://pm411.org/2007/12/10/podcast-episode-019-project-management-web-resources/#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2007 03:52:46 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/12/10/podcast-episode-019-project-management-web-resources/ http://pm411.org/2007/12/10/podcast-episode-019-project-management-web-resources/feed/ 0 In Episode 19, I have the great privilege of having two of the top providers of Project Management internet content join me in a roundtable discussion on various project management web resources. - Shawn Futterer, PMP®, In Episode 19, I have the great privilege of having two of the top providers of Project Management internet content join me in a roundtable discussion on various project management web resources. Shawn Futterer, PMP®, is a certified project management professional with a broad range of experience. He started his career in 1992 managing quality control projects for a small manufacturing company and is currently working in a PMO for a Fortune 50 telecommunications company where he supervises project managers for the North region. Over the course of his career, Shawn has managed projects of all shapes and sizes. Shawn has a keen interest in the methodologies, strategy, planning and operations. He has over fifteen years of hands-on project management experience and has led, consulted on or contributed to: process development efforts, various methodologies and multiple training programs. Shawn attributes a project managers success to their ability to provide a strategic view and a demonstrated ability to interact and communicate effectively with all levels of an organization.  Shawn runs the Project Management Learning Center as part of the TenStep Global Community. Cornelius Fichtner, PMP®, is the host of The Project Management Podcast and  The Project Management PrepCast™. The Podcast is a general PM related podcast and the PrepCast prepares listeners for the PMP® exam.  Cornelius worked as a Project Manager in his native Switzerland, in Germany and in the USA for the last 16 years. He received his PMP® credential in April 2004. He has led projects for a management consulting company, a national retailer and an internet startup company.  Currently, Cornelius works as a project manager for one of the oldest financial service providers in the USA. His passions are project management methodologies and PMOs.  Cornelius is also an instructor for the PMP® Workshop for his local PMI chapter and serves as the chapter's chair until the end of this month. He currently lives in Silverado, California, USA with his wife and their two computers. Show Notes: Web resources brought up during the roundtable discussion: http://www.maxwideman.com/ http://projectmanagementlearningcenter.com/ http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups http://forums.pmhub.net/ http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=10 http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pmfwebmaster http://www.allpm.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewforum&f=6 http://projectmanagement.ittoolbox.com/groups/career/projectmanagement-career http://groups.google.com/ http://www.kadonk.com/ (Live project free viewer) http://www.pmconnection.com/ http://podcast.amanet.org http://www.pmhut.com/ http://www.pmstudent.com/ http://www.cuttingsedge.com/ http://projectized.blogspot.com/ http://techrepublic.com http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/ http://www.gantthead.com/ http://www.techrepublic.com/ http://tenstep.com/ http://www.managementhelp.org/ http://www.12manage.com/ http://www.controllingchaos.com http://www.mindjet.com http://freemind.sourceforge.net/ http://www.openoffice.org/ http://www.projity.org http://www.e-projectmanagers.com http://www.pm411.org Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 43:52 http://pm411.org/2007/10/10/the-project-management-prepcast-pmp-interview/ http://pm411.org/2007/10/10/the-project-management-prepcast-pmp-interview/#comments Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:55:48 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/10/10/the-project-management-prepcast-pmp-interview/ http://pm411.org/2007/10/10/the-project-management-prepcast-pmp-interview/feed/ 0 I was interviewed a few weeks ago by Cornelius Fichtner, PMP®, of the Project Management PrepCast about my experience in becoming PMP certified.  He has posted the interview as one of his free PrepCast® episodes and hopefully it provides some goo... I was interviewed a few weeks ago by Cornelius Fichtner, PMP®, of the Project Management PrepCast about my experience in becoming PMP certified.  He has posted the interview as one of his free PrepCast® episodes and hopefully it provides some good tips to those of you preparing to take the PMP® examination.  Below is Cornelius' show notes and the link to the interview: All, Are you studying to take the PMP® exam? Then we have something for you. We recently did an interview with Ron Holohan (from www.pm411.org) on how he became a PMP. This interview is now available as the 89th episode of The Project Management PrepCast®. We learn how he studied, what he thinks of our PMP® Podcast and his recommendations for all PMP® Aspirants among you. Ron also wrote a review of The Premium PrepCast, which you can read here... Listen to this special Episode: http://www.pmprepcast.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=227&Itemid=28 Visit the Websites: http://www.pmprepcast.com Regards, Cornelius Fichtner, PMP® The Project Management PrepCast  Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast delivered by email for free!  - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. Full Disclosure:  We are an affiliate of the PMP® PrepCast™ and earn a referral commission in exchange for actively testing and promoting this beneficial project management tool to our readers and listeners.  The commission earned helps to offset our hosting, equipment, and publishing costs and allows us to continue to provide our readers and listeners with valuable free content.   Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no http://pm411.org/2007/10/01/podcast-episode-014-dotproject-collaborative-project-management-software/ http://pm411.org/2007/10/01/podcast-episode-014-dotproject-collaborative-project-management-software/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:36:32 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/10/01/podcast-episode-014-dotproject-collaborative-project-management-software/ http://pm411.org/2007/10/01/podcast-episode-014-dotproject-collaborative-project-management-software/feed/ 0 Today I talk with Karen Chisholm, from Melbourne, Australia, who serves as an admin for dotproject, an free, open source, web-based project management application designed to provide project layout and control functions. Today I talk with Karen Chisholm, from Melbourne, Australia, who serves as an admin for dotproject, an free, open source, web-based project management application designed to provide project layout and control functions.  dotProject aims to provide the project manager with a tool to manage team tasks, communication, and file sharing.  Within the application there are several core modules that allows the user to track work by company, project, task, and contact.  Additional free add-on modules allow additional functionality, such as importing Microsoft Project Tasks into dotProject. During the discussion, Karen and I discuss: The history of dotProject and Karen's background. How dotProject is different from other collaborative software. Some of the modules available in dotProject. What is typically involved in installing dotProject on any server. New features and applications being creating by Karen's group at the moment. And finally, how to convert user donations into goats for a good cause!  Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast delivered by email for free!  - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented.    Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 27:09 http://pm411.org/2007/09/24/leave-us-a-voicemail/ http://pm411.org/2007/09/24/leave-us-a-voicemail/#comments Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:00:55 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/09/24/leave-us-a-voicemail/ http://pm411.org/2007/09/24/leave-us-a-voicemail/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2007/08/28/pm-tips/ http://pm411.org/2007/08/28/pm-tips/#comments Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:14:20 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/08/28/pm-tips/ http://pm411.org/2007/08/28/pm-tips/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2007/06/27/review-part-2-the-project-management-prepcast/ http://pm411.org/2007/06/27/review-part-2-the-project-management-prepcast/#comments Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:28:16 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/06/27/review-part-2-the-project-management-prepcast/ http://pm411.org/2007/06/27/review-part-2-the-project-management-prepcast/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2007/05/27/the-project-management-hut/ http://pm411.org/2007/05/27/the-project-management-hut/#comments Sun, 27 May 2007 07:07:28 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/05/27/the-project-management-hut/ http://pm411.org/2007/05/27/the-project-management-hut/feed/ 3 http://pm411.org/2007/05/24/review-the-project-management-prepcast-with-cornelius-fichtner/ http://pm411.org/2007/05/24/review-the-project-management-prepcast-with-cornelius-fichtner/#comments Thu, 24 May 2007 20:22:58 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/05/24/review-the-project-management-prepcast-with-cornelius-fichtner/ http://pm411.org/2007/05/24/review-the-project-management-prepcast-with-cornelius-fichtner/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2007/05/22/hey-you-got-something-to-say/ http://pm411.org/2007/05/22/hey-you-got-something-to-say/#comments Tue, 22 May 2007 21:53:18 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/05/22/hey-you-got-something-to-say/ http://pm411.org/2007/05/22/hey-you-got-something-to-say/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2007/03/28/45/ http://pm411.org/2007/03/28/45/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:46:14 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/03/28/45/ http://pm411.org/2007/03/28/45/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2007/03/24/43/ http://pm411.org/2007/03/24/43/#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2007 07:33:15 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2007/03/24/43/ http://pm411.org/2007/03/24/43/feed/ 1 pm,pmo,project management,tools,topics Finally, our first episode of the pm411.org podcast is complete and available.  In this first episode, we cover the following topics: A little about me, your host, Ron Holohan What the pm411.org podcast and website hopes to achieve Finally, our first episode of the pm411.org podcast is complete and available.  In this first episode, we cover the following topics: A little about me, your host, Ron Holohan What the pm411.org podcast and website hopes to achieve An overview of some of the tools planned to be available on pm411.org. My hope is that The pm411.org Project Management Podcast and website will provide a beneficial tool for those of you in the project management profession. About Your Host My name is Ron Holohan and I have a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana as well as a MBA with an emphasis in Management from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. I have been managing projects for over 13 years. I started out my career doing something other than project management, as is the case with most project managers. After graduating from the University of Illinois, I started my career as an electrical engineer developing electronic room thermostats and residential furnace safety controls for a company in the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry. About 18 months into my career, while taking MBA classes at night, I got the opportunity to lead my first project team on a gas ignition control for European boilers and gas clothes dryers. In this role I led the product development team into initial production and also provided customer technical support. I grew through the ranks at my company and later managed a few engineering functional groups while still leading the design and development of particular products. In 2000, my wife and I decided to make a life-change and we moved to the Chicago area where I began working as a project manager for a company that produces professional audio equipment. This job was doubly exciting to me since not only did I get to manage projects, I got to be involved in developing audio products, which is the reason I originally decided to go into engineering.  I had been a musician and guitar hobbyist for years and now I got the opportunity to develop products that I was truly passionate about. Later I got the opportunity to manage a group of talented project managers as I transitioned into more of the program management side of developing products. Although I have a lot of experience under my belt in project management, I still find myself learning new ways of getting projects done quicker, cheaper, and better. I learn quite a bit from the successes and failures of other project managers I work with, and I enjoy providing insight to my own experiences in project management as well. I am married with two young daughters.  I’ve still managed to find time to play guitar for a Chicago-based rock band. As a musician, I’ve owned a small home-recording studio for many years and now plan to also use it to create these podcasts. How did The pm411.org Project Management Podcast came to be? I started listening to various management podcasts from iTunes in late 2006. One of the first podcasts I listened to was the lively and humorous Manager-Tools Podcast.  I also started listening to Cornelius Fichtner’s PM Podcast and Mark Perry’s PMO Podcast, which if you haven’t yet checked out, you definitely should! So in the course of listening to several of these podcasts, I decided that I might be able to also share some of the experience that I have gained over the years by hosting a project management podcast to help project managers become better at their jobs. One of my other objectives is to create a forum for shared knowledge with the global PM community, so we can learn from each other’s experiences. So topics that I hope to cover on The pm411.org Project Management Podcast include project management methodology, software and book reviews, PM best practices and tricks of the trade, the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK), team building, and other general project management topics. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 13:00