PMFORUM Discussion Center

Need Help Picking A Good School!

Richard — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:14:36 GMT

I am currently trying to select a school to go to receive my Master Certificate in Project Management. I am working in another industry right now so all my schooling will have to be online. Two online schools have interested me and they are Villanova University and University of Phoenix. Is there anyone here that has taken courses from one or both of these schools and what do you think of what you learned from them? Are their programs good? Villanova claims to have a 97% pass rate of PMI Certification. Phoenix has no numbers they say.

Forum: Finding information

Tools for Project Optimization and Better Resource Allocation

ExecutiveBrief — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:31:23 GMT

Some days IT executives earn their salaries and then some: multiple deadlines for simultaneous projects, staff with different skills, competing schedules and priorities, and multiple unforeseen variables.

The question each day is which project gets which resources to make sure all projects get completed on time and within budget.

Whats the best way to allocate resources across projects? How can you ensure you stay on budget and meet established deadlines? Read up on the latest tools designed to make your job easier in this article: How Pie Charts, Mr. Spock and the Big Picture Can Optimize Your Projects: http://www.executivebrief.com/article/how-pie-charts-mr-spock-and-the-big-picture-can-keep-your-projects-on-time.

Forum: Featured papers

All participants welcome for Research Survey for Project Management

pchambiras — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:19:04 GMT

Hi everyone,

My name is Paul and I am currently studying a Masters in Project Management at the University of Sydney. For my Research subject, I am requesting that interested respondents please participate in a survey for my Dissertation subject. Following is a brief outline of my research:

Current research on Portfolio/ Program Management and business strategy is abundant, voluminous, and descriptive. However the relationship between these two business disciplines is not as apparent in business and research literature. This purpose of this survey is to assist with research that aims to investigate how effective Portfolio/ Program Management principles have been established in an organisation, how it has been managed, and what have been the explicit benefits in realising an organisations short/ mid to long term strategic business plan(s) using Portfolio/ Program Management practices.

The URL to the survey is at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=nxFxgI27s4KkGwy3lyYYvA_3d_3d

Respondents can either click on this URL/ link, or copy and paste it into a browser. The survey will only take approx 10 minutes to complete, and it will greatly assist me with my research into Portfolio/ Program Management, and the relationship to Business Strategy. Please answer all of the questions as honestly and forthrightly as possible. All responses will be treated with the utmost strictest confidence.

Kind Regards,
Paul.

Forum: Viewpoints

Questions for Project manager

ayien8 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:52:07 GMT

hello everyone, i have here a questionnaire for project managers. this is my school project. i need a project manager to answer this. please do help me.. it's ok if you can just answer AT LEAST questions.. please do include also your name and company you are working at. thanks.!!

How did you get into project management?

If you had to rate the job of project manager on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how would you rate it?

Briefly explain the reason for your rating. What do you enjoy most and what do you like least about being a project manager?

Did you have any training or special talents or experiences that qualified you to be a project manager?

What do you feel is the most important thing you do as a project manager? On what task do you spend the most time each day?

What is a project milestone?

Kindly give an example of your leadership involvement where teamwork played an important role.

What are some of the positive and negative risks youve encountered on projects? Please describe any notable successes and failures and what youve learned from them.

What are some of the tools, software or otherwise, that you use, and what is your opinion of those tools?

You are going to be the project manager for a web-based application, which is targeted towards Insurance. Your gut feeling is that it would take 5 resources and 8 months to deliver this application.

What kind of resources you will hire for this project?
If you are asked to deliver the project in 6 months. Can you accelerate the development and deliver it in 6 months? What will be your approach?
11. What are some steps a project manager can take to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of a team? How does a new project manager gain the respect and loyalty of team members? Can you share any examples of situations you faced related to this topic?
12. Name five signs that indicate your project may fail.
13. What metrics would you expect to use to determine the on-going success of your project?
14. What type of performance problems have you encountered in people who report to you, and how did you motivate them to improve?
15. Your three month project is about to exceed the projected budget after the first month. What steps will you take to address the potential cost overrun?
16. Give me an example of a stressful situation you have been in. How well did you handle it? If you had to do it over again, would you do it differently? How do you deal with stress, pressure, and unreasonable demands?
17. What suggestions do you have for working with sponsors and senior managers? Can you share any examples of situations you faced related to this topic?
18. Do you have any suggestions for future project managers, such as any specific preparations they should make, skills they should learn, etc?

Name:

Place of Employment as a project manager:

Forum: Finding information

Legal Project Management - conferences, courses?

jinlee71 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:31:20 GMT

Can anyone recommend a good conference or seminar for project management as applied in the legal field? I'm specifically looking for a brief (1-3 days) seminar, anywhere in the world, or on-line, that would be appropriate for in-house attorneys who manage various litigations and legal projects. Thanks.

Forum: Finding information

EVM Survey

hemashalini — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:07:33 GMT

EVM Survey

You are cordially invited to participate in this survey on Earned Value Management (EVM), a study sponsored by Project Management Institute (PMI). The objective of this survey is to develop a clear understanding of current EVM practice and future trends in different countries and industry sectors. For more information about this survey and the research team, please visit the project web site.

Participation in this study is voluntary. The survey will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. The final survey summary report will be emailed to you upon your request. All information you provide will be submitted anonymously and used for research purpose only.

Click here to take the survey

If you have any question about participating in this survey, please contact Dr. Lingguang Song at lsong5@uh.edu.

Please feel free to share this survey with others by click here.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Forum: Viewpoints

EVM Survey

hemashalini — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:05:07 GMT

EVM Survey

Click here to take the survey

If you have any question about participating in this survey, please contact Dr. Lingguang Song at lsong5@uh.edu.

Please feel free to share this survey with others by click here.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Forum: Finding information

Advertising: Where does the Account Service person leave off and the Project Manager pick up?

Neecoal — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:26:09 GMT

If we use the Project Management definition listed below, where would you make the division between Account Service/Planning and the Project Manager?

Project management includes developing a project plan, which includes defining project goals and objectives, specifying tasks or how goals will be achieved, what resources are need, and associating budgets and timelines for completion.

Forum: Viewpoints

Advertising: Project Management or Producer?

Neecoal — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:21:12 GMT

For years the Advertising industry has considered its people to be "Producers" rather than "Project Managers". I myself have a hard time distinguishing between the two.
I tend to think of Producers as dealing with the execution of the deliverables. But I think of the Project Manager as involved in the entire project life cycle.
I would appreciate any thoughts you all have on this topic.

Forum: Viewpoints

303: HOW TO BUILD A CHANGE CONTROL SYSTEM IN A SHAREPOINT PMIS

alwaysjsy — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:41:39 GMT

Wednesday, January 28 300 Series
1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

303: HOW TO BUILD A CHANGE CONTROL SYSTEM IN A SHAREPOINT PMIS

By Dux Raymond Sy
In any project, it is critical to establish a change control process for tracking changes. This class will show how beneficial SharePoint can be for automating this process. You will learn how to leverage the benefits of a change control system, automate change requests and approvals utilizing SharePoint Workflows, and create a basic change control system out of the box.

For more details: http://www.sptechcon.com/classes.html

Forum: Finding information

W-7: LEVERAGING SHAREPOINT FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

alwaysjsy — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:40:46 GMT

Tuesday, January 27 | Afternoon Session
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

W-7: LEVERAGING SHAREPOINT FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
By Dux Raymond Sy
Inefficient communication among stakeholders, poor document management practices and undefined project collaboration standards can compromise project success. Previous attempts to address these problems using Microsoft Project Server and similar tools have proved to be quite complex and costly, and have met with limited success.
Never fear: SharePoint provides a framework that can empower organizations to create a standards-based project management information system (PMIS) with formal project management methodology. In this workshop, youll learn how SharePoint can be used to build a SharePoint-based PMIS, create and customize a SharePoint site for effective project collaboration, and monitor and analyze the project schedule and milestones in a SharePoint site.

For more details: http://www.sptechcon.com/classes.html

Forum: Finding information

How Tough it Will be to Get Back After a Break?Kindly Reply

sajag — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:43:34 GMT

Dear All,

I have over 7 years experience in Software Industry and have been rated highly on performance throughout my career. Unfortunately, I had to take a break due to a near fatal accident last year in September. I am alright now and want to move on.

I was the lead engineer and have been offered management role before the accident. After coming back in this August, I have been certified with PMP and have been cerified with MS Project 2007 program. I have a strong technical background. However, I am not really sure - how many will agree to offer me a Project Management Role this time?

It is morally a very downward feeling and do not know how it is going to impact my career. I do not know:

- Will be offered a Project Management Role - what will be my chances?
- Shall I mention it clearly in the resume (It will hurt my chances, but not putting it will be unethical) - Does industry consider an absence of 1 year too long
(I was bedridden, but was active via my personal projects online)
- How to put it forward in the interview and convince my employers that I am a deserving candidate

Will be really grateful for replies.

Thank you,
Sajag

Forum: Finding information

Culture Shift Toward Project Management

Renshaw — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:44:46 GMT

I would like to enquire from members guidance and advice of attaining a culture shift toward project management. Currently I have seen what I thought was a good case in respect of the Siemiens organisation adopting an approach described as PM@Siemiens.

The context is the Middle East region and I thought to explore and research in respect of approaches to attain a robust project & programme management culture within large private sector organisations and Govenmental bodies. In this respect if you could offer recommendations in respect of articles or URL links such would be appreciated.

Kind regards

Richard

E-mail richard.renshaw@kbr.com

Forum: Finding information

Quick Quide to Project Management

proj_man — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:17:49 GMT

Hi,

I'm currently publishing a small hut, A Quick Guide to Project Management, it's mainly aimed at beginners. This hut is considerably smaller than the other (currently available) huts, so it's more or less an quick introduction to Project Management.

I think it's a good reading material for prospective PMs.

Forum: Featured papers

SharePoint Presentation at the PMI Global Congress North America 2008

alwaysjsy — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:58:49 GMT

Description:
Dux Raymond Sy (author of SharePoint for Project Management") will be  
presenting "Ways to Leverage SharePoint for Project Management  
Success" at the PMI Global Congress North America 2008 on October 19,  
2008 in Denver Colorado.

Participate in this engaging presentation as you uncover the benefits  
of SharePoint in addressing critical project management challenges in  
the areas of project communication, document management, change  
management and project team collaboration.

Date:
October 19, 2008

Location:
Colorado Convention Center

More Details at:
http://bit.ly/xH5zw

Forum: Finding information