allPM Newsletter Co-publisher's Letter, Judy Umlas
I was recently asked how we at allPM.com put together such an extraordinary newsletter each month. I was humbled by the compliment and had to scratch my head and pause and really think about it. It is almost like giving birth eleven times a year (we usually do a December/January issue so I'm off the hook for one month), with all of the associated pain and joy. So this month, I thought I would take you "behind the scenes" to see how the articles and other interesting pieces develop, where they come from, and how it all comes together at zero hour. I won't tell you about the terror, the aggravation, and my state of irritability that occurs the week before the newsletter is due (my colleagues will kill me for writing this, but I have told them to leave me alone when I get my monthly "condition" which I have had the audacity and cheekiness to call "allPMS"!). But it is all worth it when I get feedback from you telling me how much you benefited from or just enjoyed the newsletter.
So if you will indulge me, I will now take you through this month's edition of allPM Today and show you how it developed. I think it will give you an inside look at a challenging but incredibly satisfying "project" that hopefully will continue to bring you great value, resources and even fun! My ulterior motive in sharing this process with you is also to motivate you to contribute more to our wonderful community of project managers across the globe. You will see that a select few of you are already doing that, and I know that there are many of you just dying to contribute something that will make a difference in the professional and personal lives of project managers!
Our lead article of allPM Today is always on the theme of the month, which this month is Financial Accountability for Project Managers. If you have been visiting our home page (www.allpm.com), you have been seeing the PM Tips of the Day on this subject. The themes/topics are usually ones that some subject matter expert is passionate about and wants to write about. Normally they are proposed and written by IIL trainers, since allPM.com is owned and operated by IIL and I therefore have a little bit of influence on them. But if one of you wants to write a feature article plus 20 tips plus a poll question on a subject of interest and value to project managers, please feel free to propose it to me. This month's feature article is by Ardi Ghorashy, PMP and it is fairly technical - so take your time with it - but of great importance.
Next we have a feature formerly called Communications in the Workplace and which we are now calling Communications Toolbox. The first title "belonged" to allPM.com member Kate McLeod who did a superb job with it for over two years. She recently stepped into a very challenging job in the Canadian government, though, and will not have time to write regular columns. We wish her well and look forward to an occasional piece from her. In the meantime, we have the good fortune to have a wonderful replacement, Laura Moore, PMP. She is a Senior Project Manager in the telecommunications industry, and once had either the good fortune or the bad luck to tell someone she respected that she enjoyed writing and would like to be published. The person, herself a contributor to allPM.com, referred her to me and the rest is history. Laura has written a couple of great pieces for us and I personally think they are very down to earth, readable, and full of good advice. So Laura has been (gently) persuaded to write either a monthly or at least bi-monthly piece for us. This month's is called Inspiring Creativity in Your Project Teams. I think you will find her articles to be eminently clear and valuable.
Now how, you may ask, did we ever come to publish an article such as Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro: A Project Management Case Study. Well, I was fortunate enough to receive a postcard from the PMI Chapter in Westchester, New York which listed Kerry Wills, PMP as a presenter on this fascinating topic. I tracked him down and not only was he willing for all of you to read his very thrilling, exciting account of his adventure, the PM principles applied and the lessons learned from the expedition, but he is now sending in other articles for our consideration. They sound like winners, too, so stay tuned!
I received an email one day from Chad Lewis, who had heard about allPM.com but was not himself an official project manager. An engineer now specializing in cross-cultural communications, he wondered if we might consider an article on this subject. Would we!?! Of course, and when I received his tentatively submitted submission, I thought it would be very helpful to all of us involved in working with people from other cultures, and we present his timely article, Addressing Communication Issues When Managing Multicultural teams in allPM Today. Chad, thanks for stepping forward to ask if this would be of value to us.
I have had the good fortune to have as a colleague Dr. Ginger Levin, one of allPM.com's carefully chosen MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals). The primary reason she was chosen for this honor is her ongoing contributions to our newsletter and website, along with other colleagues of hers that she has referred to us. Ginger truly seems to enjoy being published in allPM Today - she almost always hears from colleagues or students of hers congratulating her for her fine work when we publish her White Papers or articles. And I must add my congratulations to her and to her often contributing colleague, Dr. Parviz Rad for the important works they supply to us. This month they have given us a rich, meaty, and skillfully written article, A Formalized Model for Managing a Portfolio of Internal Projects. I truly love their work - I never have to change more than one or two punctuation marks, if that. Other authors take a bit more "input."
 This month we are launching a new and unusual series, weekly ZenPM™ Tips by George Pitagorsky, PMP. If you ask how something this unusual developed, it began with knowing George and his two passions: Project Management and the spirituality of Zen. Putting them together seemed like a really out of the box idea, and George started writing articles for us at allPM.com which have developed into webinars, an all-day course and a soon-to-be-released book which is being published by IIL Publishing, New York. Since we now publish a new PM Tip every business day, we thought it would be great to add ZenPM tips at least weekly.
According to George, ZenPM™ Tips are bits of advice to help project managers, at any level, manage their complex world more effectively. These tips cut across all areas of PM knowledge and highlight the complex interplay among processes, people, and tools. They recognize the critical importance of personal capability and motivation, team work, and organizational factors as the foundation for performance excellence. The Zen approach seeks to perfect performance while satisfying the need for self-actualization. George tells us to work from our center, accept paradox, uncertainty, continuous change and the need for responsible and responsive action to manage expectations and achieve goals and objectives. If you focus on these weekly ZenPM tips, you will undoubtedly achieve a greater sense of balance in both your personal and professional lives. Our thanks to George for creating such a remarkable "product."
And then there is Frank Saladis, PMP - my esteemed colleague and co-publisher. I have to tell you that I love working with Frank. This month he contributed another article in his ongoing series, Positive Leadership in Project Management, this one on Leading Project Managers and Teams to Higher Levels of Competency and Effectiveness. I complimented Frank so much on this article that he asked me for a raise. I said he would get one, as long as it was on top of the "salary" he is already getting. Just so you all know, Frank's "salary" is in satisfaction. Not getting a cent from this work, he makes the time for us to write important articles and create original PM crossword puzzles, among his other worthwhile contributions. Frank, my hat's off to you and I send a round of virtual applause from all of you for Frank and his ongoing efforts. Oh, and Frank would like to know - now that he has done one crossword puzzle for every one of the nine knowledge areas of the PMBOK® Guide, what other topics you would like to see crossword puzzles focus on. Suggestions, please!
Project Management Poetry™ - whoever heard of such a thing!? Well for those of you who haven't been with us very long, it all began in April, 2004 when I quoted a line from the T.S. Eliot poem, The Wasteland in my letter, beginning the missive with "April is the cruelest month." Then I told all of you that you project managers probably didn't like poetry, but if you proved me wrong and you did enjoy them, to please send me your favorite poems. Not only did you send me your favorite titles, but you started writing PM Poems. The very first one that we published was by Nikitas Kalantjakos and it was called The Rime of the Project Manager, a takeoff on The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel T. Coleridge. Since that first poem, we have published at least one PM poem a month and even made a Project Management Poetry™ booklette. We are now working on a full-fledged book, so you still have a chance to be a published PM poet if you submit them to us in the next few months!
This month we have four more PM Haikus by Everett Rodriguez, Sr. Manager, Information Technology of FedEx Ground. He had written an
e-mail to me in which he said, "I spent about 1/2 hour last night and whipped out a few Haiku poems. After this burst of writing, I hit severe writer's block and that was it. Thanks for providing a creative outlet for the writer in me who is trapped in the body of a white-collar senior manager." Don't you love it? Great job, Everett! I hope we continue to be your creative outlet whenever you need one!
So that, in "long" (as opposed to "in short"), is how we put together this month's "extraordinary" (we hope) allPM Today newsletter. We guarantee that it will be at the very least be "extra-ordinary," or out of the ordinary. And oh, the pain and the joy of this monthly project. I have such respect for all of you who deal with projects of all sizes and shapes - from developing software to building bridges -- on an everyday basis. You are all fantastic! Now please send me a line or six telling me how you responded to this month's newsletter. You know I'm in it for the feedback and the two-way communication, as well as for the satisfaction of creating a hopefully invaluable resource for all of you. Have a great, productive, happy and peaceful month! Until the next time....
Judy Umlas Co-publisher allPM.com
Judy.Umlas@allPM.com
From the Co-publisher's Desk - Frank P. Saladis, PMP
 Project Finances. Many project managers do their best to avoid the subject. There is a belief that "someone else" will take care of that. "My job is to get the project completed. I don't do finance." The fact of the matter is that all project managers should be involved in the financial aspect of a project. This includes the business case development, project selection process, project cost estimating, and project cost control. I know that many project managers are not required to create the project budget, but there should at least be a method for tracking costs. Someone should know how much was spent delivering a product or a service. It's just good business sense.
I don't believe a project manager has to be a CPA or possess extremely fine-tuned skills in accounting and finance, but a project manager should at least understand the connection between a project's cost performance and the organizational objectives. Most managers and executives will agree that a strong grounding in financial management is not only beneficial but essential, especially for those who seek higher levels of managerial responsibility and position.
Project managers fundamentally manage projects to ensure they are completed "on time, on budget, and within specifications." But there is more to effective project management than those three elements. Decisions must be made regarding tradeoffs about cost and, in some cases, spending more than what was planned to open the doors for greater profitability and opportunity later. Managing project finances is closely associated with risk management - looking for opportunities as well as threats. A financially savvy project manager can see opportunity hidden in what appears to be a very risky or seemingly undesirable situation.
Finances often drive organizational decisions and the project manager should be prepared to explain the project financial picture to the sponsor and/or executive at any time. Those project managers who are capable of making decisions that ultimately result in greater organizational profitability are destined to achieve greater rewards.
At a minimum, a project manager should be able to develop a project budget, considering all factors from human resources to overhead. This includes inflation, changing material costs, changes in contractual wages, and the effects of the economic environment. The project manager should also be capable of tracking costs, identifying variances, and developing solutions to correct plan deviations.
The tools used are familiar to all project managers - WBS, cost estimating methods, baselines, BAC, EAC, Earned Value, identification of variable costs, direct costs, and indirect costs. Understanding the total life cycle costs as well as the project life cycle costs is also extremely important. During the project planning process, the project manager should, with the assistance of the project team, develop a project cost accounting system - a method for tracking costs throughout project execution and closure. There are a number of tools available to accomplish this.
I think every project manager should think "financially" during the project life cycle. During the International Project Management Day Webinar hosted by the International Institute for Learning, a guest speaker commented that "the language of the executive is money." That comment should become embedded in the mind of every project manager. Money drives organizational decisions. Make that a project manager's main "enterprise environmental factor."
Use allPM.com as your key to managing projects. We provide you with a greater understanding of the project management practice through the words and advice of your peers and from subject matter experts. Consider allPM.com as your "intellectual project management" treasure chest. We bring you ideas, knowledge, and tools to keep your project financials right on target. Best of all, there are no costs!
Frank P. Saladis, PMP
Frank.Saladis@allpm.com
January Poll Results
When do the Project Managers in your organization conduct Lessons Learned on their projects?
a) At the end of the Project - 45.32 % (92)
b) Throughout the Project - 33.99 % (69)
c) Never - 20.69 % (42)
Total votes: 203
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The February poll question is:
Which of the following financial skills in project management do you need to develop most?
a) Project selection
b) Project cost management
c) Mid-course evaluation
d) Post implementation
If you have not already done so, please stop by allPM.com and add your opinion today.
Theme of the Month: Financial Accountability for Project Managers by Ardi Ghorashy M.Sc., PMP
As project managers, we are well-accustomed to the word accountability. But what constitutes this accountability? In the course of a project there are numerous situations where the need for accountability is the driver for the project managers' decisions and courses of action. The decision and the courses of actions project managers take demonstrate their awareness and sensitivity to what is important in a firm as well as their experience and maturity throughout the project. These include accountability for team performance, overall project success, organizational change management, financial management, risk management, strategic alignment, and quality.
In this article I would like to examine what Financial Accountability can include. This is becoming more and more an important skill for project managers because (1) project managers are being viewed as managing part of a business rather than just a project, (2) as organizations work to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the need for project controls and audit requires project managers to understand the financial aspects of their projects more thoroughly, (3) project managers are being brought on board during project initiation rather than after the project is initiated far more than ten years ago, and (4) with a sound knowledge of finance, project managers can make more viable and objective contributions during all phases of the project, including initiation. There are four key areas where the financial aspects of a project can present themselves as accountabilities:
© 2006 allPM.com
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With 24 years of experience in business operations consulting services, Mr. Ghorashy specializes in Project Management, methodology and PMO consulting, and new product development processes. Mr. Ghorashy has trained over 5,000 managers worldwide in project management, risk management, MS Project, leadership, portfolio management and finance in industries as diverse as banking & trust, insurance & reinsurance, manufacturing, telecommunication, software development, and retail. He is currently Managing Director of IIL Canada.
Mr. Ghorashy holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from University of Manchester and UMIST respectively in Engineering with three years of postgraduate research work for the UK Atomic Energy at Imperial College, London. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and a member of PMI, PDMA, IEEE, CSTD/ASTD, the Toronto Board of Trade, and Toronto Product Management Association (TPMA) and IEEE.
Mr. Ghorashy enjoys gourmet cooking and long distance running; lives with wife Melissa and four children in Unionville, Ontario. Traveling is no longer on the list of his hobbies.
Inspiring Creativity in Your Project Teams by Laura B. Moore, PMP
I have at times caught myself thinking that if it weren't for the personnel problems, the project would be going along fine! It is inherent in project management that relationship building occur, and that we work through issues with team members who may not be completely cooperating with the plan. Then again, it is also very important that we take time to listen. If we shut them down, thinking they're not following the plan, we may lose out on some insightful approaches to our project that take us far beyond where we thought we could be.
© 2006 allPM.com
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Laura Moore (PMP, M.A. Social Psychology) has an eclectic background that includes not only project management, but clinical research and social work as well. Currently, she works as a Senior Project Manager in the telecommunications industry and does, what her team calls "guerilla project management", that is, taking urgent, high impacting issues and resolving them within a matter of days. Laura lives in California with her husband Lorin, and their two amazing daughters Lily Faye and Layla Blue.
Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro: A Project Management Case Study by Kerry R. Wills, Director of Portfolio Management, PMP
Introduction
Reaching almost twenty thousand feet high, Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest point in Africa. In Swahili, Kilimanjaro is translated as the "Mountain of Greatness." In 2000, my brother and I decided to climb this great mountain. We spent months preparing including understanding what we would need to summit, designing our approach, getting the right equipment and training for endurance. We then spent one week executing the plan up the mountain. Since these are the same steps required in managing any project, I decided to write a case study on Project Management best practices in the context of planning and executing our journey up the mountain.
Planning
Like most big projects, we had an almost unattainable vision; to summit the tallest mountain in Africa. We had fixed resources (our own money) and a fixed timeline.
© 2006 allPM.com
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Kerry Wills has worked as a Consultant and Project Manager for Fortune 500 clients on multi-million dollar projects for over ten years. During that time, he has worked in several capacities; as a Program Manager, Project Manager, Architect, Developer, Business Analyst, and Tester. Working in each of these areas gives Kerry a deep understanding of all facets of a project. Wills is also a member of Mensa and has a unique perspective on project work, resulting in several patents, published articles, and international speaking experience. He has a wife and two kids and lives in Connecticut.
A Formalized Model for Managing a Portfolio of Internal Projects by Parviz F. Rad, PMP, PhD, CCE, PM Consultant and Ginger Levin, PMP, DPA, University of Wisconsin-Platteville and PM Consultant
Introduction
Proper execution of projects is pivotal in organizational success and financial growth. There have been cases that large sums of money were spent on projects that did not produce a profitable product or service for the sponsor of the project. Therefore, there is a need for formalized tools for optimizing the investment of the enterprise in the full suite of all projects. This formalized methodology must govern the diversity of projects so that both long-term and short-term needs of the organization are met through these project investments. Even if a portfolio management process is not fully formalized, and therefore not consistently effective, it does help organizations become aware of their project expenditures and the benefits they get from such expenditures. If there is a large number of projects, and if a formal selection process does not exist, project selection will become subjective, ad-hoc, or even political. Under these circumstances, different levels of an organization might even begin to subscribe to different and conflicting objectives.
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Dr. Ginger Levin and Parviz F. Rad
This paper is an adaptation from a book by Parviz Rad and Ginger Levin titled “Metrics for Project Management Formalized Approaches,” published in 2006 by Management Concepts.
Dr. Ginger Levin and Dr. Parviz F. Rad, PMP are the co-authors of the book The Advanced Project Management Office: A Comprehensive Look at Function and Implementation. Dr. Levin can be reached at ginlevin@aol.com and Dr. Rad can be reached at project.management@comcast.net.
ZenPM™ Tip of the Week #1: Impatience by George Pitagorsky, PMP
Impatience is the root of anger and anxiety. Lose your patience and you lose your peace, creating needless stress and conflict around you. Many PMs are patient, but even they are faced with sponsors, clients, and peers who are not.
Impatience arises from unmet expectations. Counter it with acceptance, mindfulness, and compassion. First, accept things as they are. From there, you can more clearly see how to change them - if indeed change is possible. With mindfulness, observe the arising of the reactiveness we call impatience. And out of compassion for your fellow beings, redirect that energy to nourish relationships and effective action.
© 2006 allPM.com
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George Pitagorsky, (PMP) , is Senior Enterprise Solutions Advisor for International Institute for Learning (IIL). He is an expert in project management, and process improvement and facilitator. George authored IIL's Project Management Basics™ , a multimedia interactive browser based course, and has authored or directed development of all of IIL's core PM courses. He has written numerous articles on Project Management, organizational development, conflict resolution and personal development subjects. George is the author of IIL's IT Project Management System, a multimedia product, and co-creator and director of IIL's The Unified Project Management Methodology (UPMM™), Web PM knowledge tool. He is a meditation teacher with over thirty years of experience in Yoga and meditation practice and co-creator of both the Conscious Living and Working Wisely workshops.
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Positive Leadership in Project Management - Leading Project Managers and Teams to Higher Levels of Competency and Effectiveness by Frank P. Saladis PMP
Managing a project is a challenging job and it takes a person with a very wide range of skills to become an effective project manager. The project manager position also requires high levels of energy to sustain that effectiveness while managing and leading a project team. Most project managers will agree that the title "project manager" is actually a dual role - Leader and Manager. As Vijay Verma explains in his book "Human Resource Skills for Project Managers," - PMI ®, project managers have several roles:
© 2006 allPM.com
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Frank P. Saladis (PMP) is Senior Consultant with International Institute for Learning, Inc. He has been involved in the development of standardized Project Management Guidelines (PMGs) for the AT&T Corporate Information Technology Services (Corporate ITS) organization and is the author of the Project Evaluation Review Process (PERP). He is the President of the NYC PMI Chapter.
Project Management Poetry™: Haikus by Everett Rodriguez
A chill down my spine.
Their cold, steely eyes - fierce glare!!
Project Auditors.
Atkins diet? No!!!
Snickers, Marlboros, and Tums.
The PM diet.
Every project team
has at least one member who
should be fed to sharks.
The project is over.
Happy sponsors, happy team.
Contented PM.
© 2006 allPM.com
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Everett Rodriguez has 25 years of experience in Information Technology covering a variety of roles including application development, systems and business analysis, and project management. He has been with FedEx Ground, formerly "RPS, Inc." for the past 18 years and is currently the Senior Manager of the Project Management and Business Systems Analysts group within the Information Technology department at FedEx Ground in Pittsburgh, PA.
Addressing Communication Issues When Managing Multicultural Teams by Chad Lewis
With the growth in globalization, managers increasingly need to work in culturally diverse groups. The good news is that people from culturally diverse backgrounds will bring fresh ideas and new approaches to problem solving. The challenge, however, is that they will also bring different understandings and expectations regarding group dynamics and communication. The question becomes how a manger can effectively work with a team, being attentive to the diversity while still creating the structure required for success.
There are many tools that can help create a productive multicultural team. One of the most important tools is good communication skills. Why is this important? In short, because it is forever. Once something is communicated, we can qualify it, we can contextualize it, but we can never undo it. Further, good communication skills are primary in establishing, cultivatin, and maintaining strong working relationships.
© 2006 allPM.com
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Chad Lewis is an engineer with a graduate degree in Intercultural Relations (cultural anthropology). He lectures on Intercultural Communications, Cultural Adaptation and Cross-Cultural Team Building in Boston. He has traveled extensively and has worked in the United States, Italy, Austria and Japan. He also leads the cross-cultural work for the Boston chapter of Engineers without Borders.
PM Crossword Connections™ - Lead the Way by Frank Saladis, PMP
Lead The Way
(Click here or the image above for a larger, printable crossword in a new window. )
Across
4 arrange, set up
7 Maslow's second level
9 what objectives should be
10 XY developer
11 ability to cause action
12 pay attention to
15 assign to someone else
18 team phase where real work begins
19 can be swayed or influenced, bendable
21 let's you know "how you're doin"
24 internal drive
25 person who does the right things
28 phase with greatest team conflict
29 developed the hierarchy of needs
30 given for great performance
31 performing well together
32 can make decisions
33 effect or sway
34 clear idea of what is wanted
Down
1 reach a decision together
2 sharing of information
3 how to get where you want to go
5 first phase of team development
6 high level or long-term approach
7 assist, help, provide back up
8 high levels of this are needed by a leader
13 person who does things right
14 coercive power
16 to empower
17 where you are going
20 what is anticipated
22 creative thinking
23 power by position
26 phase of greatest accomplishment
27 Herzberg factors
© 2006 allPM.com
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Click here to view/print the crossword solution: http://www.allpm.com/Crosswords/February2006answers.htm
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