PM Training Blog

Agile Project Management ... It's Project Management ... with Dancing Shoes

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:22:14 +0000

May 18, 2012

Some long-time practitioners rightly are concerned that the new emphasis on agile methods might erode project management discipline. Our take is to think of it as "project management plus" - an addition, never a replacement.

If you’ve seen the April issue of PM Network, you may have noticed our PM College ad celebrating the launch of our Agile Project Management courses.

For High-Performing PMOs, the Training's the Thing

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:22:43 +0000

February 20, 2012

The new State of the PMO 2012 research report, slated to be released later this month, shows that the best PMOs do the most training. We aren't surprised.

In the mountain of data generated by the State of the PMO research study, there's a good bit of evidence that companies are feeling the pinch. Many PMOs have cut back slightly on services, more are feeling the heat from the executive level, and all are scrambling to perform better and measure that performance.

20Q: To Hire or to Train?

Joni Brown-Irons — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:42:48 +0000

January 09, 2012

New to the organization ... or new to project management? One size of training does not fit all.

Q: Do you have any thoughts around what should be taught to someone interested in PM versus someone hired into that PM role?

20Q: Why are External Trainers Preferred?

Crystal Busch — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:37:33 +0000

December 22, 2011

Our question and answer period continues, as we work our way through the many queries submitted during our last webinar. Today: What's up with the trend on using external rather than internal trainers?

Q: Why are companies not training their employees with internal staff?

A: "There are many reasons as to why companies use external staff for training, as was revealed in our State of PM Training research study, But three stand out to me the most: Instructional expertise, money, and curriculum expertise.

20 Questions, Continued: The Strategic Project Manager?

Gary Carlson — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:15:17 +0000

November 18, 2011

As we continue answering webinar attendees' questions, we address the growing strategic role of the project manager.

Q: Is there a demand and a growing availability for strategic project managers, i.e. those who interact with C-levels to plan for company direction, initiation processes, should we do this project, etc.?

20 Questions, Continued. PM in the Construction and Engineering Field?

Maria Kelly O'Hara — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:48:08 +0000

November 11, 2011

Project management has deep roots in the construction industry.

Q: Is PM Training being used by companies in the engineering and construction management organizations?

Inspired! A Few Observations from the PMI Congress

Deborah Bigelow Crawford — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000

October 25, 2011

Malcolm Gladwell's keynote presentation at the PMI Congress encourages us to make the most of lean times by recycling ... ideas, that is.

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20 Questions, Continued. Tips for Culture Change

Gary Carlson — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:16:11 +0000

October 14, 2011

What does it take to change corporate culture? Change management and training, training, training.

Q: In addition to training what would you recommend to use as a catalyst to shift from an existing culture to a project management culture?

A: First, your management must absolutely be on board to support a shift in paradigm when moving into a project management culture. If there is any sense that management doesn't support PM culture, they will always get a cult following of others who resist change.

20 Questions, Continued. Where Does the PMO Belong?

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 19:30:11 +0000

September 26, 2011

With this post, we continue answering the many questions people submitted during our last PM College webinar,"Is Project Management Training Worth It?"

Q: Typically, where in an organization do you find the PM0 fitting? Does it make sense to have it as a standalone department to serve all areas?

Will Mobile Learning Replace Classroom-based Training?

mary — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:03:29 +0000

August 02, 2011

PM College launches a smartphone app ... a pocket companion to classroom training.

Smart phones are everywhere. It’s likely that most of you reading this post have one already or you’re considering getting one because everyone around you is raving about an app or functionality that they just can’t seem to live without. Certainly, younger people embrace mobile devices – they don’t remember a time without them. I must admit, while I’m not that young, I love my smartphone and its uncanny ability to help me further blur the lines of business and personal utility.

20 Questions ... About PM Training Trends Series

Deborah Bigelow Crawford — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0000

July 31, 2011

Question No. 3 in our series ponders the effect of economic factors on the PM training market.

(Note: The questions and answers in this series were generated during our last PM College webinar, viewable here.)

Question No. 3:

What impact are you seeing from the GFC (global financial crisis) on the investment in Project Management training?

20 Questions ... About PM Training Trends Series

Joni Brown-Irons — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:34:18 +0000

July 15, 2011

Question No. 2 in our series of queries posed by webinar participants explores the changing industry profile of PM organizations.

Q: Are there certain industries that value PM training over others? For example, do tech firms value training over retail project managers?

20 Questions ... About PM Training Trends - The Series Kickoff

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:25:05 +0000

June 24, 2011

This is the first in a series of posts in which PM College and PM Solutions subject matter experts respond to questions asked - but not answered - during our June 9 webinar on The State of Project Management Training.

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The Value of Training: A Hot Topic in the Business Press

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:40:20 +0000

June 01, 2011

New PM training study garners the attention of the business press.

PM College must have its finger on the pulse of business; rarely has so much interest been shown so quickly when one of our research reports is released. The new PM College-sponsored benchmark study, The State of Project Management Training 2011, described by Debbie Crawford in our last post, came out on May 24 and has already been noticed by CIO Magazine and by Chief Learning Officer.

New PM Training Research Results Address Pressing Questions

Deborah Bigelow Crawford — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:56:33 +0000

May 18, 2011

New research shows that PM training is successful in addressing business needs.

So many questions arise when an executive or project manager is asked to address training needs. Do your staff or team members need training? And of what kind, exactly? What will is cost … and more important, will it be worth the cost? How much is enough? What’s the best way to train your people?

The whole issue can be mind-boggling. Often, training needs are put aside “until we have time to think more about these issues.” Unfortunately, that time can be hard to come by.

Tips on Engagement in the Virtual Classroom – Part II

Marty Ohlhaut — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:12:46 +0000

April 30, 2011

More great tips on the virtual learning environment

I’ve taught a couple more on-line classes (sometimes called: Instructor-Led Virtual Classes) and have a few more thoughts to add to my original list.

My main new observation is about the importance of active participation – always critical in the classroom, but even more so in virtual ones. I’m doing minor restructuring of class content to provide more exercises for the participants. Some of my thoughts:

Earned Value Management: Getting Value from the Start

Paul Lombard — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:31:26 +0000

April 11, 2011

Five tips for successful Earned Value Management implementation.

In a recent blog post I asked readers to share their organizations’ project management future goals and aspirations. The responses were varied and interesting – please keep them coming! Not surprisingly, one area of interest is Earned Value Management (EVM).

Political Skills and Project Recovery

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:51:05 +0000

March 31, 2011

What skills help a project manager deal with the political stresses around a failing project?

During last week's webinar on project recovery (you can view or download the webinar and related materials here), presenter Kent Crawford fielded a question from a participant about how to deal with organizational politics during a project recovery.

Sneak Preview: New Research Study to Examine the Value of PM Training

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:38:58 +0000

March 14, 2011

PM Solutions Research teams with PMCollege to ask some basic questions about training trends and value.

PM College has just kicked off development of a new research study, "The State of Project Management Training." The purpose of the research will be to:

Had A Project Turnaround? Thank A Project Manager

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:35:41 +0000

February 28, 2011

New research shows that properly trained project managers can save their companies millions by acting to turn around troubled projects. But that isn't the whole story...

If your company has asked whether the money spent to properly train project managers is really worth it, here's a research statistic you may want to publicize:

92% of companies that have recovered failing projects cite the importance of the project manager's role in the turnaround.

Where to Next? – The Challenge of Your Project Management Future

Paul Lombard — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:11:19 +0000

February 14, 2011

Project management thinking needs to see around the curve to anticipate where the business is going, instead of remaining reactive to the business environment.

I read with interest the recent articles discussing “The Daily,” an iPad-based subscription news “service” launched by Rupert Murdoch. I found this initiative to be interesting because it is the latest in a long line of attempts to discover a viable, subscriber-supported business model for the news industry.

Tips on Engagement in the Virtual Classroom

Marty Ohlhaut — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:06:33 +0000

January 31, 2011

Six suggestions for making the virtual class an engaged and talkative group of fellow students.

As corporate cost controls get stiffer, and corporate education budgets shrink accordingly, internet-based education is likely to increase, maybe exponentially. Whether you regard this as good news or bad news, it appears to be the wave of the future.

Granted, for many of us the internet experience may not be as comfortable as the face-to-face environment, but there are several things instructors (and students too) can do to enhance the learning and knowledge exchange online.

Allaying the Fear of Competency Measurement, Part Two

Joni Brown-Irons — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:33:47 +0000

January 17, 2011

Steps 3 - 5 of a plan for communicating about competency assessment.

In my last post, we discussed the reasons why the term “competency assessment” strikes fear into the hearts of project managers, and began to lay out a five-step plan for overcoming these fears. Let’s continue:

STEP THREE: Establish a Baseline. A competency assessment helps to tell us what you already know, so we don’t waste your time and our money. Competency assessment helps identify the strengths, opportunities and challenges that leads to targeted training solutions. Baselines also help to establish where you are and where you are going.

Allaying the Fears Raised by Project Manager Competency Assessment

Joni Brown-Irons — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:24:58 +0000

January 05, 2011

"Why do they want to measure my competency? Did I do something wrong?" Unfortunately, this is a common reaction when a competency measurement program is announced. How do you achieve the real goal - better project management - without setting off the fire alarm?

When you first mention competency assessment, fear can spread throughout the team: Why are they measuring competency? What if I don’t measure up? What should I do to prepare? What will happen to me if I am NOT competent?

Vendor Management: Undocumented Assumptions Increase Risk

Bill Athayde — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:11:06 +0000

December 17, 2010

We can all recall times when differing assumptions have wreaked havoc with personal or project plans. Why, then, don't we always take the time to have stakeholders list their assumptions about the project?

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