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-topics/communication/ http://pm411.org/2012/01/02/podcast-episode-081-5-steps-to-create-a-successful-pmo/ http://pm411.org/2012/01/02/podcast-episode-081-5-steps-to-create-a-successful-pmo/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:20:53 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=2600 http://pm411.org/2012/01/02/podcast-episode-081-5-steps-to-create-a-successful-pmo/feed/ 14 best practices,how to create a pmo,pm411,pmo,process,project management,project management office,ron holohan Today I give you 5 steps to help you create a successful Project Management Office in your organization. Today I give you 5 steps to help you create a successful Project Management Office in your organization. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 12:18 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/2010/11/27/podcast-episode-066-5-myths-of-weekly-status-reports/ http://pm411.org/2010/11/27/podcast-episode-066-5-myths-of-weekly-status-reports/#comments Sun, 28 Nov 2010 01:31:09 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1756 http://pm411.org/2010/11/27/podcast-episode-066-5-myths-of-weekly-status-reports/feed/ 10 myths,PDU Podcast,project,status report,Templates Usually when I talk with project managers struggling with team communication, I get a litany of excuses why weekly status reports won't work on their team. - So, today I do my best to help debunk 5 of the myths around publishing weekly status reports ... Usually when I talk with project managers struggling with team communication, I get a litany of excuses why weekly status reports won't work on their team. So, today I do my best to help debunk 5 of the myths around publishing weekly status reports and provide you with some tips on how to get the most out of them. There is even a free template available to get you started! Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 15:38 http://pm411.org/2010/10/12/podcast-episode-064-9-steps-to-work-less-and-do-more/ http://pm411.org/2010/10/12/podcast-episode-064-9-steps-to-work-less-and-do-more/#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:18:46 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1714 http://pm411.org/2010/10/12/podcast-episode-064-9-steps-to-work-less-and-do-more/feed/ 5 do more,get-it-done,guy,podcast,stever robbins,work less I recently talked with Stever Robbins of the Get-It-Done Guy Podcast about his book Nine Steps to Work Less and Do More. Stever is a successful entrepreneur who loves productivity in the service of personal fulfillment. A veteran of nine startups, I recently talked with Stever Robbins of the Get-It-Done Guy Podcast about his book Nine Steps to Work Less and Do More. Stever is a successful entrepreneur who loves productivity in the service of personal fulfillment. A veteran of nine startups, including FTP Software, Intuit, and HEAR Music, Stever is a graduate of Harvard Business School and MIT. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 36:33 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/2010/02/09/what-we-can-learn-from-undercover-boss/ http://pm411.org/2010/02/09/what-we-can-learn-from-undercover-boss/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:39:23 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=941 http://pm411.org/2010/02/09/what-we-can-learn-from-undercover-boss/feed/ 7 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/2009/10/05/announcing-mindjet-catalyst/ http://pm411.org/2009/10/05/announcing-mindjet-catalyst/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:01:39 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://1927122623 http://pm411.org/2009/10/05/announcing-mindjet-catalyst/feed/ 6 catalyst,mindjet,mindmanager,mindmapping,online collaboration,pm 2.0,project management 2.0,scott raskin,virtual teams Today I am extremely excited about a major product announcement from Mindjet, the makers of MindManager mindmapping software.  In today's podcast I talk with Mindjet CEO Scott Raskin about a new collaborative Project Management 2. Today I am extremely excited about a major product announcement from Mindjet, the makers of MindManager mindmapping software.  In today's podcast I talk with Mindjet CEO Scott Raskin about a new collaborative Project Management 2.0 tool from Mindjet... Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 18:04 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/2008/08/07/the-bigg-success-show-five-tips-for-more-effective-status-reports/ http://pm411.org/2008/08/07/the-bigg-success-show-five-tips-for-more-effective-status-reports/#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:49:15 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=300 http://pm411.org/2008/08/07/the-bigg-success-show-five-tips-for-more-effective-status-reports/feed/ 1 Communication,PM Podcasts,status reports,stoplight reporting,Templates Recently I was interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts, The Bigg Success Show, and I provided George and Mary-Lynn with 2 Tips for More Effective Project Status Reports. - Below I provide three additional tips for a total of five tips that will hel... Recently I was interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts, The Bigg Success Show, and I provided George and Mary-Lynn with 2 Tips for More Effective Project Status Reports. Below I provide three additional tips for a total of five tips that will help you write status reports that people will actually read! Tip #1 - Know your audience! Ask yourself these questions: Who will be reading your status report?  Team members? Management? Your customer? What level of detail does your audience require?  Don't make your audience dig through lots of details to get the information they really want. How frequently does your audience need updates - Daily, Weekly, Monthly? Tip #2 - Focus only on the exceptions! Look at just those issues that have changed since your previous report.  This will give your audience just the information that has changed since last report.  This will also help keep your report short and concise. Tip #3 - Make your report easy to read! Allow your audience to easily scan and find those details that interests them the most Use "Stoplight Reporting" on bulletpoints to communicate progress: - Green means everything is going according to plan. - Yellow means this particular item needs to be watched. - Red means that action is required. - Use Blue to indicate a particular issue has been resolved since the last report. Use short bullet points instead of paragraphs of prose to communicate information. Use tables to list the status of items like milestones, budget information, or product material cost. Tip #4 - Stay consistent! This means staying consistent in how you present your information as well as when you distribute your status reports. You want to stay consistent in how you present your information so your audience knows exactly where to find the information they need each time they read your report. Keep the sections in your report consistent. - Use a table of Project milestones with Planned completion dates and actual completion dates. - Provide a bulleted list of accomplishments since last report. - Provide a bulleted list of upcoming events and goals for the coming week or month. - Provide a bulleted list of current issues or risks - Provide a a table or list of links to other project documents like previous status reports, your project charter, your project budget, and project background information. Publish your status report consistently - Send it out on the same day by the same time every time. - If you send it out on Friday's by 4pm, always send it out on Fridays by 4pm. - With many mail clients, like Microsoft Outlook, you can even schedule the exact time when your status report is sent out.  However, mail clients have not figured out how to time travel, so you can't send out a status report in the past.  So if you are going to be late publishing a status report, send out a short email to your audience letting them know when they can expect it. Tip #5 - Ask your audience for feedback! Ask how could your status reporting be improved? Are your readers satisfied with the information you are providing? Could you provide any additional information? Is the frequency in which you publish your status reports adequate? Or Is it published too frequently and your audience has added you to their spam filters? You can download a free Status Report template, along with some other great templates, from www.pm411.org/templates. And be sure to check out The Bigg Success Show - it is published daily and provides some really great motivational ideas and techniques for your personal and professional life! 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 5:38 http://pm411.org/2008/07/01/podcast-episode-033-project-management-presentation-skills-part-2-of-2/ http://pm411.org/2008/07/01/podcast-episode-033-project-management-presentation-skills-part-2-of-2/#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:33:17 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=222 http://pm411.org/2008/07/01/podcast-episode-033-project-management-presentation-skills-part-2-of-2/feed/ 0 presentations,speeches,visual aids In today's second of two podcasts in a series on project management presentation skills, we conclude our discussion with Joe Friedman, of the consulting group Zehren-Friedman Associates, Ltd. - Show Commentary In Part 1 of 2, In today's second of two podcasts in a series on project management presentation skills, we conclude our discussion with Joe Friedman, of the consulting group Zehren-Friedman Associates, Ltd. Show Commentary In Part 1 of 2, Joe and I discussed why people tend to become anxious when it comes to public speaking, how to overcome the jitters of speaking in front of a group, and the steps to take to prepare for an informational or persuasive presentation.  In Part 2, Joe and I continue our discussion on presentation skills with discussions on visual aids, basic delivery tips, answering questions during a presentation, and being prepared when interviewed by the media.  These suggestions can help you become better at project management presentations as well as day-to-day speaking with others. Visual Aids Once you have put your content together as we discussed in Part 1, you need to determine what visual aids you want to use during your presentation.  As part of the planning process you need to determine what is the best method of getting your message across - will you be sitting, standing, using presentation handouts, or maybe a demonstration tool to help make your points during the presentation?  You also need to determine if your environment will allow you to use the method that aids you in the most effective way.  For example, if a particular room does not have the capability to allow you to demonstrate how you can blow up a car using only a match and a piece of string, you may need to find another room (or a nearby fire station). Frequently people create their visuals, especially PowerPoint slides, so that they can be "read" later by the attendees of the presentation or those folks that were unable to attend.  The problem with this approach is that the visuals now contain so much content that it is difficult to effectively present it.  The slides become too "wordy" with multiple sentences instead of bullet points, causing the audience to focus on reading your slides while you present rather than listening to your presentation.  Worse yet, presenters frequently end up reading each of the wordy bullet items to the audience, while adding redundant paraphrasing that causes monotony and overkill on points.  Can you say "Hello snooze-ville?" The solution to having overly wordy slides is to keep your visuals extremely simple.  If you need to provide supporting information, provide it as a separate appendix to your presentation rather than part of your presentation. Joe recommends the "five-by-five" rule:  use a maximum of 5 bullet points with no more than 5 words per bullet point on a slide.  Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson also features some easy-to-apply techniques to help you clarify, visualize, and present your ideas using PowerPoint that stresses minimizing the amount of words on a slide.  By giving your audience a relevant graphic and limiting the number of words per slide you will be able to help them remember the message of your presentation better.  Also, stay away from the dancing baby graphic that eveyone seemed to love in the early '90's.  No presentation exists that can be improved by using that! Three Delivery Tips Here are three simple delivery tips to remember for your presentation in order to have the biggest impact on your audience: Stand up straight Look at one person at a time Speak loudly Once you master these three tips, you can focus on all 9 skills of presenting which focus on: Movement Stance Hands Gestures Eyes Volume Speaking pace Animation Non-words ("ums", "ahs", "errs" "like," etc.) You should practice your speech using pauses instead of non-words.  Also, practice using pauses instead of "ums" or "errs" during meetings, on voice mail messages, and with friends.  I personally would also like to recommend practicing elimination of non-words to those of you that like to talk to yourselves on the train or bus. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 32:12 http://pm411.org/2008/06/09/podcast-episode-032-project-management-presentation-skills/ http://pm411.org/2008/06/09/podcast-episode-032-project-management-presentation-skills/#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:01:20 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=219 http://pm411.org/2008/06/09/podcast-episode-032-project-management-presentation-skills/feed/ 1 presentations,speeches     In today's first of two podcasts in a series on project management presentation skills, we welcome backJoe Friedman, of the consulting group Zehren-Friedman Associates, Ltd. Joe holds a BSBA and MBA from Ohio State University and has over 25 ...     In today's first of two podcasts in a series on project management presentation skills, we welcome backJoe Friedman, of the consulting group Zehren-Friedman Associates, Ltd. Joe holds a BSBA and MBA from Ohio State University and has over 25 years of sales, sales management and training / consulting experience.  With many years providing sales and management training programs at Northeastern Illinois University, First National Bank of Chicago, and The Executive Technique, a firm specializing in presentation skills training, Joe teamed up with David Zehren in 1993 to create Zehren-Friedman Associates, Ltd.  Their 13-person firm is entering its 18th year in business and specializes in teaching the "persuasive arts" of selling, presenting, negotiating and influencing.  Clients are in a wide variety of industries, from banking to healthcare to printing to advertising to services to manufacturing and everything in-between.  Joe is responsible for client development, program delivery, people development within the firm, and holds the title of CFO. Show Commentary People generally dislike public speaking because it tends to make us nervous; no one wants to look foolish, which creates even more us even more nervous.  With communication being 90% of a project manager's job, the ability to effectively communicate in front of an audience is a necessity. Ways of Overcoming Nervousness There are several things you can do as a speaker to help overcome nervousness. Be prepared! There is no substitution for preparation to help reduce nervousness prior to a presentation. By practicing your presentation, you will reduce the likelihood of tripping over your words and improve the chances of getting your point across to your audience. Understand that nervousness is natural and to be expected. Everyone gets nervous before a presentation to some degree. When it comes to nervousness, you actually are the one in control and you can decide whether you "use it, or whether it uses you." Try talking a little bit louder than you normally would. This will help "burn off" some of the nervousness and allow you to come across as more confident. Speaking louder than you normally would at the beginning is also a easy psychological trick to pull on your brain since if you hear yourself better, you will quickly hear the power in your voice and start to relax. Look at the entire audience one person at a time. Speak to the group, but make eye contact one person at a time just as if you were talking to each person individually. Most of us are more comfortable with one-on-one dialog than speaking in front of a group. Frequently when we are nervous, instead of focusing on conveying our presentation to each individual in the audience, we quickly scan the audience as we speak, and start wondering how our audience perceives us. Then the worry begins and we start making up stories about what the audience must be thinking about us. By not focusing on connecting with each individual, we start to spend too much time thinking about "us" rather than about conveying the content of our presentation. Then we start getting nervous. By spending 3-5 seconds "speaking to each person" in the audience we can come across as more comfortable and become less nervous at the same time. Preparing for Your Presentation Although content is the most important part of you presentation, style closely follows it.  If you don't deliver the content well, we will likely fail in persuading or informing our audience based on our content. The following are the recommended steps in preparing for a presentation: Understand the time requirements that you have been given. Once you know the amount of time you will be given for your presentation, prepare just enough to cover one-half of the time allotted. When we speak live, we are more likely to elaborate or go into side tangents than what we typically plan for up front. By cutting your content in half, Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 30:03 http://pm411.org/2008/05/17/are-you-influencing-or-manipulating-your-team/ http://pm411.org/2008/05/17/are-you-influencing-or-manipulating-your-team/#comments Sun, 18 May 2008 03:11:45 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=210 http://pm411.org/2008/05/17/are-you-influencing-or-manipulating-your-team/feed/ 0 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/2008/04/12/having-a-robust-governance-process/ http://pm411.org/2008/04/12/having-a-robust-governance-process/#comments Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:35:32 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=199 http://pm411.org/2008/04/12/having-a-robust-governance-process/feed/ 0 http://pm411.org/2008/03/23/the-front-fell-off/ http://pm411.org/2008/03/23/the-front-fell-off/#comments Sun, 23 Mar 2008 07:26:29 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2008/03/23/the-front-fell-off/ http://pm411.org/2008/03/23/the-front-fell-off/feed/ 0