Project Managers, What's Your Competitive Advantage?The key is to find the commonalities between what you have done and what is needed at that next step, to shore up your qualification with perhaps some fresh training, and take that step.
CPA CPE: How to Survive Continuing Professional EducationLet's face it. Continuing Professional Education is work. And it is required to stay current and to raise your skill level.
PMP Exam Prep Strategy: Learn By DistinctionThere are lots of strategies for preparing for exams, and PMP exam prep is not exception. However, more often than not, the strategy stressed is to learn prepare for the PMP exam by looking at the subject from different angles.
Now You're a PMP! What Next?Congratulations! You have earned your PMP certification and reached a career milestone. While it is an accomplishment worth celebrating, after a short time, the question becomes 'What's next?'
The Ups and Downs of Strategies for Earning PDUsMany of us PMPs struggle with just how to earn our required 60 PMP PDUs (Professional Development Units) every 3 years. I will not repeat the strategies for personal PDU management as listed in prior articles by me - see Earning PDUs and Maintaining PMP PgMP Status Is Easy and 6 Things to Consider in Your PDU Planning - and others, but I will talk a bit about aligning your current career strategy with your PMP PDU strategy.
Project Management Training: So Many Options!Project management training comes in many types, sizes, and flavors. Project Management is very popular topic at the organizational as well as professional level today, and thus project management training has become ubiquitous to support both the organizations and individual professionals. Choosing the right project management training among the plethora of options has thus become a challenge - and project - unto itself!
Project Management Training Courses: So Many Options!Project management training courses come in many sizes, types, and flavors. As Project Management is very popular topic among professionals today, there are many PM training courses out there to help Project Managers advance their skills and careers.
Project Management Courses: So Many Options!Project Management Courses exist in my sizes, types, and flavors. As Project Management is very popular topic among professionals today, much project management training is available to help Project Managers to improve their skills and advance their careers.
Project Management Training Course Opportunities AboundProject Management is broad and popular among professionals today, and it is not hard to find an appropriate Project Management Training Course to help build your project management skills and advance your career. This article outlines some key considerations for finding the best project management training course and how to get the most out of it personally and professionally.
3 Important Financial Concepts for Project and Program ManagersProjects and programs result when a decision has been made to spend the money. More often than not, expenditures are based upon the desire to earn a good rate of return on the investment. This article talks about 3 important concepts and approaches for evaluating projects from a financial standpoint.
Playfulness and How It Benefits PMPsToday's world is full of pressure, and this is no less true for Project Managers than professionals in any other area. There is always a serious problem, a fire to put out, schedule pressure, constraints, stakeholder challenges, and more that can keep us in a pretty serious state. One of the best anecdotes for this pressures is free! We need to laugh and play!
On Certifications: How Many Does One Really Need?Undoubtedly there are some frustrations and challenges with certifications today, as there are processes, procedures, and rules to consider. However, I think that is only 'one side of the coin'. Yes, you have to work hard to get certified, and you need to make the effort to remain certified. You also need to five careful consideration and identify which certification(s) make the most sense for your career.
Mastering Task Management to Bolster Project ManagementProject managers manage..projects! Or, do they? Actually, I put forth that, at the end of the day, all project managers do is manage tasks. In fact, in a final analysis, all any manager does ultimately is manage tasks. This premise is based on the idea that, again in the final analysis, all that matters is action, and action comes in the form of performing tasks.
Overcoming Challenges: Are You On Whitewater or An Ocean Liner?As times change, professionals need to adapt. This is relatively easy for some, but very difficult for others. So the challenge for all is to determine the most appropriate strategies for dealing with turbulent times. One framework for consideration is to think in terms of the 'whitewater' approach versus 'ocean liner' approach, as these can provide good analogies for work environments today.
Obama and the World of Project ManagementWith the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States and his coming inauguration in January, many are predicting his impact in specific areas. While his priorities are shifting, and will probably continue to in the face of current critical needs, there are likely to be some continuing themes that remain consistent throughout his time in office, and they can provide some guidance as to what to expect.
6 Levels of Understanding: Evaluating Readiness to Take the PMP or CAPM ExamWhen preparing for the the PMP or CAPM exam, or any certification exam for that matter, the top challenge that everyone faces is evaluating personal readiness to take the exam. How does one assess readiness? This article discusses a cognitive framework for evaluating readiness to take the PMP, CAPM, or any other certification exam.
10 Goals for Advanced Project Management TrainingOften professional project managers find that when they go for a certification, such as the PMP certification, they are surprised at how much they learn in the process. While experience is very valuable, especially in feeling more than comfortable with the basics, there is always a great deal of improvement available to studying a structured and comprehensive approach.
How Project Managers Can Build Better People SkillsIt has been said many times that people skills are the most important to career success. However, we do see a great emphasis on 'tools', whether it is in project management frameworks, or MBA programs, or Six Sigma, or any other approaches. How can a project or program manager hone these skills, as they are so important to continued career success?
Surpassing Customer Expectations Without Gold-PlatingIf one were to undergo project management studies, they will initially tell you that you must avoid gold-plating. Overall, it is not of the company's best interests.
Finding Inspiration For A Successful ProjectStarting a project entails quite a few dilemmas. One either lacks the idea or has an idea but has no clue on how to get it started. In professional situations, more often than not the professional project manager is simply handed a project. In any case, having a good level of conviction about the project is a key enabler at the outset of a successful project.
Upper Management Skills Necessary To Survive The CrisisIn times of crisis, such as the current worldwide recession , the role that project or program managers perform is critical. The dramatic changes in the economic situation has led to quite a few people losing jobs as companies cut costs or restructure their organization. Many projects and programs have been canceled due to severe crisis. How can project and program managers cope with this crisis?
7 Tips Toward a More Effective Virtual TeamVirtual teams, software program outsourcing, and projectization are fast becoming quite common in organizations. With new advancements in technology, these have enabled companies to broaden opportunities and create more possibilities for some people to work remotely. At the same time, these offer special challenges for both project managers and members of these virtual team.
Where's the Fit? ITIL and Project ManagementIt is always good for professionals to combine the right sets of expertise. For someone involved with IT infrastructure projects, ITIL is a great complementary certification. What I find is that often the specialty knowledge drives the PRODUCT of efforts, but the project management skills drives the PROJECT that produces the PRODUCT. On solid technical teams, that second mindset is often missing.
Make a Plan to Pass the PMP Exam!Passing the PMP exam is challenging, but several hundred thousand people have done it! What is the secret? One of the keys is to put into practice the discipline, practices, tools, and frameworks that are the subject of the exam by building a plan, and sticking to it! This article discusses some keys for building an effective project plan to pass the PMP exam.
Six Sigma versus Lean: What's the Controversy? What the Difference?Many professionals ask 'What is Lean?', some ask 'What is Six Sigma?', and of course still others ask 'What is Lean Six Sigma?' As it turns out, these approaches address similar problem sets but attack them differently. Here is a look at what they are, the difference, the similarities, and the synergies.
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