All project managers use the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide to prepare for the certification exams in order to become a Project Management Professional (PMP). This book presents a set of standard terminology and guidelines for project management.
It was first published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as a white paper in 1983 in an attempt to document and standardize generally accepted project management information and practices. The first edition was published in 1996.
The PMBOK Guide is process-based, meaning it describes work as being accomplished by processes. This approach is consistent with other management standards such as ISO 9000 and the Software Engineering Institute‘s CMMI. At the beginning of 2013 the Fifth Edition was published as the latest release.
Summary of Changes
This article will give a summary of the changes made in the latest edition. At the end you will also find a link to a video from IIL explaining what to expect in the newest edition.
As an overview the following changes were made:
One new knowledge area (Project Stakeholder Management)
Seven new processes
Two moved processes (Distribute information, Report performance)
Nine process name changes
Eleven new process definitions
Many changes to the Glossary definitions
Chapters are now called sections
The biggest change is to split Project Communications Management into two parts, namely Project Communication Management and Project Stakeholder Management.
There is an increased discussion of Project Management Offices or PMO’s, as well as project life cycles and phases. The Chapter 3 Project Management Processes has been moved to Annexure A1.
For a complete overview of all the changes made to the PMBOK, please view the following video:
The demand for skilled project managers is at an all-time high as organisations continue to focus on higher productivity and greater customer satisfaction with minimum resources. Project management is a booming profession that is only going to get bigger in the years ahead.
Once you decide that you want to become a professional project manager, or you’re already doing the work and you want to formalise your credentials in order to be acknowledged as a project manager, you have a few choices. You can pursue a degree or diploma in project management, offered at multiple universities and institutions, and/or you can become certified by becoming a Project Management Professional (PMP), a title awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
In order to obtain the certification, you need to complete a log book as evidence of your experience and you need to pass an exam. To study for an exam while working full-time can be a challenge.
Here are three excellent resources from Cornelius Fichtner to help you prepare and pass the PMP exam the first time (there are people who have to sit more than once before they pass).
The PM StudyCoach™ is a 10-week long self-study coaching course in which you will receive and learn what it is exactly that you have to study week after week.
The benefits of this course are that it helps you to stay focused, to apply best practices, to make studying a routine. It also keeps up your study morale and it guides you to a proven plan. The coaching sessions are in MP3 format and it provides activity checklists.
Now that people can surf the net with the use of their phones, laptops, androids and other gadgets that fit their lifestyle, you no longer require thick sets of paper for flashcards. With eFlashCards™ you can do reviews while in the elevator, during your break time, or waiting for the bus. They run on your iPod®, BlackBerry® and most other smartphones.
The benefits of the FlashCards are that they make repetitive learning fun and fast. More of your senses are engaged in the learning process. You can study anytime and anywhere .The digital flashcards can be downloaded for your iPod, Blackberry, Windows mobile device or smartphone and they include all the chapters of the PMBOK® Guide 4th Edition.
This offers you the opportunity to take 9 computer-based sample PMP® Exams before heading out for the real thing.
The benefits are that you practice under test conditions, learn to manage your exam time effectively, to gain confidence and most importantly that you are ready to take the exam. With 1800 realistic PMP exam questions and detailed explanations for all answers, you can make certain that you pass the exam!
If you have more questions about following a career in project management, you are welcome to email me at:
Recently I attended a Virtual Conference hosted by the International Institute of Learning (IIL). A presentation by James C. Brown about how a PMO can make a difference was very insightful. Today I want to share some of what I have learned from him about Project Offices and the value that they bring.
PMO Perceptions
Often there are many perceptions about Project Management Offices (PMO’s) in organisations. They are considered to be ‘Report Generators’, ‘Process Creators’, ‘Infastructure builders – building and maintaining costing, time-keeping and scheduling tools etc’, ‘Dashboard/Scorecard experts’, ‘Organisational home of Project/Program managers’, ‘process police’ and so on.
In reality a PMO is and should be much more than any of the above. Let’s take a closer look at what the goal of the PMO should be.
Goal of a PMO
According to James Brown and the research that he has done, the goal of a PMO is the following:
“The right information at the right time in the right hands.”
For a PMO the commodity is information. How a PMO manages and communicates that information to others so that they know where it is, have it at the right time, and it’s pertinent to them to use it, interact with it, and make decisions with it, is the key to success.
When you want your PMO to deliver real value, you need to make Portfolio Management your goal. This would include:
Strategy development
Revenue planning and budget development
Functional resource management
Project execution
And how all of the above relate to one another.
James Brown states that for a PMO to be successful, the PMO needs to make life easier for the stakeholders by providing data that they need for decision making and making visible what projects have done for the organisation at any given time.
Types of PMO’s
Traditionally there are 3 types of PMO’s:
Auditing – responsible for auditing methodologies and compliance with quality and standards.
Enabling – to improve the maturity and effectiveness of project leaders
Executing – actively engaged in implementations, responsible for facilitating and doing project work.
The ultimate vision, according to Brown, is to be a bit of all these types, but being flexible depending on the needs of the organisation. For a PMO to survive it should become agile, which means it must learn to adapt and overcome challenges.
Some critical success factors for successful PMO’s are:
To support the vision of the Leadership team (innovation, cost savings, growth etc)
Focus on value delivered from a stakeholders point of view
Support decision management with data that matters to stakeholders
To improve forecast capabilities
To provide near real-time data that is always accessable
Subscribe to RSSfor more project management articles in future.
Please share in the comments section if your organisation has a PMO and what your perception is of the value that your PMO delivers.
This article is aimed at students who consider internships to expose themselves to more career opportunities, for example in project management. Also discover 5 tips for best performance on internship programs.
As a college student, you may want to take on a business internship. This is a type of on-the-job training that prepares you for your future career, whether this is in project managementor any other field. Suitable internship opportunities can give you a better feel for project management and what it entails, especially if you happen to find an internship program that allows you to use your creativity, initiative and ability to guide others.
Why Should an Internship Interest You?
Just as a student studying Education needs experience in teaching, business students need internships offered by businesses. However, future employers also look for graduates with some professional experience out of the classroom. They look for candidates that take initiative and do more than just the coursework necessary to get their degree – and a project management internship could give you this experience.
Where to Find this Type of Internship
While many businesses offer specific internship programs, many of these don’t deal with project management, as this can be a delicate and complicated process. If project management is your aim, then you could look for this type of internship in the non-profit sector. It is easier to find a non-profit with internship positions for students that pertain to getting a certain project or process completed.
If you take on an internship offered with the sole purpose of completing a certain project, be sure you understand what the project goal is and the company’s expectation is. Ask all the questions you need in order to understand the expectations of the project sponsor and what defines project success. This will allow you and the team to develop the plan and to verify the goals.
Identify the project success criteria, how each of the tasks will be accomplished and tracked, and the time frame for when these will be achieved. This is part of the Planning phase of a project.
#2- Identify Team Responsibilities Early On
Once you have a plan you can determine what you and the team are responsible for. Whatever your project is, remember that this is not an individual study. A project team is a working unit, sharing one goal, but each member has its own responsibilities. If you take on the role of project manager, you need to identify the skills and talents of each individual team member and put those skills to work (much like your sports team coach does).
#3 – Identify the Project Milestones
With the help of your team members, you should identify the project milestones. Remember that each project has four phases; initiation, planning, execution and closure. Evaluate the process of the project against these phases and place time limitations on each of these.
#4 – Project Communication
One of the most critical parts of project management is to communicate regularly with stakeholders like management and team members. Keep everyone informed of the process and keep communications open, honest and as concise as possible.
#5 – Test the End Result
Before delivering the end results you should review, and if possible, test the results to make sure they are correct and according to expectations before delivering the finished product.
Conclusion
Many students are apprehensive about entering an internship program, and some even more so when it has to do with project management. So it’s important to realize that any company that gives you an internship position and project to manage, won’t give you any project that they don’t feel you are completely capable of handling.
As an intern you won’t receive a critical business project to work on. Even so, any project offered to you offers you a great opportunity to gain experience in the field. It offers you the opportunity to learn how project management teams really work and what is expected of you.
About the author: Jennifer Moore, an experienced business and tech writer, once worked on many training-team business projects for large corporations such as General Motors, John Deere and Trico. She frequently contributes to Degree Jungle, a research resource for college students and young professionals.
Non-profit organizations have special needs when trying to manage the resources to meet their goals. Unlike for-profit organizations, they primarily rely on a “staff” of volunteers, and the majority of their funding comes from grants and donor funds. Project software must have special characteristics to help non-profits meet their goals.
Here are just a few selection criteria that non-profit organizations can use when choosing the right project management software for them.
Ease of Use
A large staff of volunteers may not have much technical expertise or feel comfortable learning complicated software systems. Any project management software that you choose, must be easy to use and learn. Basecamp is one example of an easy-to-use program that allows you to track projects and tasks in an online system.
Ability to Handle unique Accounting needs
The software program, Serenic Software, offers a market-specific success kit for NPOs that helps with maintaining a current, accurate, and transparent picture of your financials.
Ability to Manage Volunteers
After fundraising, recruiting and managing volunteers is one of the biggest tasks that non-profits face. Project software should make that job easy by allowing you to monitor all your volunteers in one database. Podio is one useful system that allows you to collaborate with your team, monitor tasks and projects, and monitor your recruiting efforts.
Free or Low Cost
Non-profits are always working on a budget, and being at the whim of grants and donations makes it especially important to find ways to cut costs. There are a few options for free or low-cost project management software, likeBasecamp, and Huddle. Explore these options to find one with the best features to meet your needs. Cost shouldn’t be the only factor, even though it’s an important one!
Project software can help you to better track your goals, manage the work of your volunteers, manage recruitment, track grant application and expenditures, and much more. It is important to keep these criteria in mind when shopping for project software, including trying to find some free or low-cost options to meet your budget.
What other criteria did you use when selecting project management software for your non-profit? Share your picks in the comments!
Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives in South Africa. Recent studies have revealed that South African consumers have a very high motivation (70 percent versus, for example, 40 percent in the UK) to follow brands on social networks. We use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking services to converse with friends and colleagues and to share photos, videos, and important moments in our lives.
Worldwide, Facebook enjoys 80 million unique visitors per month, YouTube 800 million and Twitter 160 million, according to DoubleClick Ad Planner. In South Africa, users spend on average seven hours a week on social networking sites, with MXit and Facebook being the most popular sites.
Against the back-drop of these statistics Project Managers need to seriously consider the integration of social media with their project management tools. Let’s look at ways to do that and to evaluate if the use of social media tools can drive project success. Some aspects of security and confidentiality will also be covered.
In a previous article: “10 Ways to Integrate Social Media with Project Management” we referred to a number of different social media tools available to project managers which can be used for project delivery. Many social media tools are more widely adopted by project managers than we think.
Social Media adoption
Many social media tools like collaboration tools, instant messaging, podcasts, webinars and social networks are already used widely for project delivery.
Podcasts and webinars are especially used for further training of professional project managers, PMP’s, who gain professional development units (PDU’s) for attending. Project management training companies, like Roeder Consulting, hosts a webinar every month presenting project management topics, as well as inviting host speakers, with the audience being able to claim a PDU per session. Attendees are also invited to become members of their LinkedIn group. This has grown them a large following and keeps them front of mind for training needs.
Social media tools which may be considered more during project delivery are blogs (project information distribution to virtual teams), Wiki’s and RSS, to subscribe to feeds relevant to your project or to information that will help develop project managers who are reporting into a Project Support Office (PMO).
Security and Confidentiality
By nature social media implies collaboration, mutual trust, and a strong sense of common purpose. With social media your company and project needs a policy the same way as you need a policy for the use of email or the internet. Ensure that employees and team members know about the policy and follow an education program to ensure compliance with regulatory and legal guidelines.
Security concerns around the open flow of communication using social media tools can be addressed by using access controls to manage the flow of data. Give usernames and passwords to only those people who need to log in. Access control administration can be delegated to a PMO or a project support officer. Have a process for requesting access to the tool. For third parties requests, access may be limited by assigning permissions to certain “views” only. Some social media tools have an audit trail facility with which you can track changes.
Include social media tools in the company backup processes and business continuity plans. Another consideration around authorized software is to allow only social media tools that are supported by your IT department in order to not make you vulnerable to viruses and other security threats.
With proper consideration, project managers and their teams could adopt appropriate social media tools and by following the proper channels to put approved social media tools in place, this will enhance successful project delivery.
BIO: Linky vd Merwe is a certified project management professional (PMP) and Founder of Virtual Project Consulting. She has been a senior project manager at Microsoft Consulting Services South Africa for the past 4.5 years. She likes to blog about project managementand integrated online communication marketing. Her mission is to provide project management best practices advice and to recommend resourcesto aspiring and existing project managers.
Project managers use various tools like email, tele-conferences and video-conferencing on a daily basis, but are we embracing the new technologies available now? Are we making best use of the tools we now have? With project teams spread out over the globe, virtual teams working from different locations, are we making best use of our new communication methods?
Have a look at this presentation from Trevor Roberts to see what I mean.
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Source: The Project Manager, Author Louise Worsley
This article is about the important aspect of leadership and what type of leadership role the project manager should adopt.
In projects, the leadership role of the project manager must be focused on ‘action’ leadership while the sponsor must take the ‘visionary’ and political leadership positions for the project to have any chance of success. This will be explained by looking at the Pentagon model of project leadership.
Pentagon model of project leadership
The pentagon model of project leadership suggests five distinct leadership roles. These do not operate in isolation, but are necessary elements contributing to the leadership of change. Individuals may take on several of these leadership roles, or more than one person may contribute to one area. However, an absence or failure of leadership in any one of these key areas will put at risk the entire project or programme.
Ethics and the personal responsibilities of the project manager
The professional bodies in project management all have a code of ethics for project managers. The PMI’s code of ethics is summed up as:
As practitioners of project management, we are committed to doing what is right and honorable. We set high standards for ourselves and we aspire to meet these standards in all aspects of our lives—at work, at home, and in service to our profession.
The Association for Project Management identify that project managers have personal responsibilities that go “beyond those immediately implied by their contract with employers or clients”. This is expanded upon further and two statements are particularly relevant to this discussion. The project manager should:
act in the best interests of their employer and clients in all business and professional matters, having regard to wider public interest concerns and those of any employer or colleague;
declare and appropriately manage all matters which are, or could be construed as, a conflict of interests.
On complex projects, project managers are inevitably faced with conflicts of interest. The most important personal attributes for successful project managers relate to having the integrity (and in some cases bravery) to expose these concerns, and the tenacity to engage as vigorously as required with all stakeholders to seek out the best possible solutions. Managing conflict, in the sense of identifying and finding negotiated solutions to often complex competing stakeholder agendas, is part of the day-job for project managers involved in politically sensitive projects.
Louise Worsley is Director of PiCubed and lectures on the UCT executive development programme. You may contact her at: info@pi3.co.za
Please share your thoughts about Leadership and Project Managers in the comments section below.
How many times have you sat through a presentation, and thought:
“He just lectured, and I don’t remember much of what he said” or
“She raced through her slides without looking at the audience” or
“He said he’d take questions during the Q&A at the end, he ran out of time, and never took our questions!” or
“She had a live Twitter feed listing all kinds of comments, but she didn’t stop to take our comments, and we were right there in the room with her!”
All the above scenarios happen every day when Project Managers (and even some professional speakers) give presentations. In each case, the presenter is working hard and trying to do their best to do what they set out to do. But what they all have in common, is that the presenter didn’t succeed at making the presentation interactive.
That’s because they have succumbed to the #1 presenter’s pitfall –delivering “all lecture” (even though they may think that they’re not, because they’re employing other media like video or Twitter feeds).
There are many ways to make presentations interactive, from hands-on exercises… to high-tech games… to Second Life Simulations.
All these can be good, but they’re often NOT necessary, and in many cases can make the participants feel uncomfortable or pressured into “forced participation.”
What’s the answer to this common pitfall?
In my many years of training Presentation Skills classes, I have seen one simple technique always gets great results:
Coming up with good questions to ask your participants in the session, and then making good use of the Q&A.
What Makes For A “Good” Question?
Any question is a good one if it helps the presenter get people thinking, and advances your theme, topic or agenda.
Here are 3 specific tips:
Your questions should be challenging enough to stimulate your participants, but NOT so challenging that no one can answer
Should serve as a “bridge” or “connector” between the topic you just covered and the next one you’re about to cover
Usually best to use what trainers call “open-ended” questions, as opposed to “closed-ended”, for example:
“Who’s familiar with this kind of product?” (One or two people might raise their hands, but everyone else will feel left out. It’s considered closed because it’s a “yes or no” question, which actually can shut down discussion)
Open-ended example: “Has anyone used this product, or a similar product, and can you tell us what you liked about it, or how it helped you?” This is wide-open – everyone who answers will have a different story. Plus, it’s inviting, and will make people eager to share their experience.
CONCLUSION
Coming up with a few good questions and building them into your presentation can make a world of difference. You just have to want to hear from your participants, and be open to adjusting your presentation to their responses.
Also, for those who feel nervous about presenting (most people!) asking your participants questions can help make you more relaxed, because it helps you focus on them, not you!
About the Author:Jeff Furman, PMP Instructor, Presentation Skills Certification Trainer and author of
The purpose of this post is to share with you a balanced approach to project planning. Recently I finished a big project in the Government sector which was awarded a gold rating for project excellence. It was successful above all expectations and I thought it worthwhile to share some valuable lessons learned around planning excellence and what has worked well to make the project so successful.
Above and beyond doing the standard project planning activities, there are three steps you can take towards planning excellence:
1. Continuous planning (always be planning)
After scope agreement and sign-off, the project schedule needs to be developed, or if it existed from a pre-sales phase, it needs to be refined.
What the team members need to know about the project plan, and more specifically about the project schedule, is: ‘what they are responsible for and by when’. In order to gain commitment, I normally expect the team lead to verify the activities, durations and dependencies and by doing this, to take ownership of the deliverables of the project.
Then as the project progresses, the project manager always needs to be looking one to two months ahead. Always be planning and continuously track against the plan or update where required based on Change Requests or risk mitigation activities.
2. Consistent communication practices (always be communicating)
Through experience I have found that weekly project meetings work best for any size project that is longer than 2 months in duration. The normal progress items need to be discussed, including:
Progress made
Actions outstanding
What is due in the next week or two
Risks, issues or dependencies
Other matters relevant to the specific project
Regular team meetings, whether in person, or virtually, keep the project team informed and committed to the outcome of the project. It also enables the project manager to receive adequate feedback on a regular basis and to do proper progress reporting to stakeholders.
3. Team alignment is important (always build relationships)
Due to the fact that the project team was widely dispersed and from different companies (partners were sub-contracted in to assist with the work), a good on-boarding process is important. Every team member needs to be clear about the Goal and objectives of the project, as well as the expected outcome and business benefits. In addition to this they need to be clear on their roles and responsibilities, the project schedule and how every member fits into the team.
Team synergy, cooperation and trust is achieved through regular team builds at the project beginning, after major milestones and at closure with the key stakeholders (like the customer). A team working together as one team, no matter whether from different companies or in different locations, the project manager needs to maintain good relationships and manage the person and not only the task.
The gold nuggets to take away are:
Continuous planning
Consistent communication practices
Team alignment
Good relationships with all team members, because you manage the person, performing the task and not the task itself
For a balanced approach to project planning I recommend that you as the project manager should use your project management skills (technical skills), but at the same time be a leader who facilitates team members to share your responsibility to ensure a successful project outcome (people skills).
On 9 August 2011, I will be a guest presenter on a Webinar from Roeder Consulting called:
“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything”
Please click on the link to register for thefree Webinar, and earn a PDU for attendance.
This article is about Project Management software that is listed on the Project ManagementResources page. MindGenius Business is a mind mapping software that was designed specifically to meet business needs and help visualise solutions to challenging tasks. It can be used for planning, project management, brainstorming, and strategy on all shapes and sizes of projects.
These can range from global supply chain change management projects to mini-projects such as working out the operational requirements for an office move to a new building.
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) can be developed to identify all tasks that need to be completed.
An overview of WBS map structure
You can then use the Gantt chart view to visualize and manage the time line, working back from the required go-live date to work out timings and milestones.To monitor task progress, comments may be added to the WBS tasks and the % completion record can be used in conjunction with filters to allow viewing of outstanding tasks. The MindGenius map can be updated daily and reviewed weekly by the implementation team to manage and control the project.
In addition to the Gantt function, the ability to export easily to Word and other Office packages is also useful for communicating with colleagues who do not have access to MindGenius.
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It was first published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as a white paper in 1983 in an attempt to document and standardize generally accepted project management information and practices. The first edition was published in 1996.
