Click here and sign-up to receive allPM TODAY in your inbox every month!

In this Issue:

*allPM Co-publisher, Judy Umlas

*From the Co-publisher's Desk, Frank Saladis, PMP

*Project Management Events

*allPM August Poll Results

*Column: Positive Leadership in Project Management - Eighth in a Series - Leadership Lessons from the Future, by Frank Saladis, PMP

*Feature:Top Ten Time-Savers in MS Project 2000, by Eric Uyttewaal, PMP

*Column: The PMP ® Credential- Sign of the Experienced Project manager or the Experienced Test Taker?, by Frank Saladis, PMP

*Column: Understanding the PRINCE2 Processes – Part One, by David Whelbourn

*Column: Five Steps to a Winning Business Case, by John C. Goodpasture, PMP

*Column: Implementing and Measuring Project Management Practices; A High Level Overview, by Charles Ludwig

*Column: Rethinking the Development of Project Managers, By Ken Brown

allPM Newsletter Co-publisher, Judy Umlas

Which three letters would you rather have after your name, Ph.D. or PMP? That is actually a fairly serious question, since “PMP” is being perceived throughout the world as such a hot ticket to greater career success and to the better management of projects in all industries.

That’s why PMI® Certification--Tips for the Final Lap is the topic for the September 2003 Tips of the Day. You have been hearing from the experts--those that took the test and passed, as well as getting daily study tips and other prep tools that will help launch or enhance your PM career. Let us know when you pass your test, and we will celebrate you in our new “Made it to PMP®!” listing. Be sure to look for it shortly! Also, if you are already a PMP, let us know and we will add your name to that list.

This month you will also learn more about leadership, this time Star Trek® style, from Co-Publisher and avid “Trekkie” Frank Saladis. All of this is “leading” up to the Leadership Webinar Series that Frank has been developing as he has been writing his monthly articles on this crucial subject. The program, Positive Leadership in Project Management, will provide a thought-provoking look at what leadership is from many perspectives, and encourage emerging leaders to assess their personal styles and consider ideas that may improve their effectiveness.

Effective leadership is something project managers are expected to provide to their teams and to their organizations. There are many forms of leadership and its true definition remains open to interpretation. We do, however expect leaders to achieve success, to meet objectives, and to instill pride in an organization. That’s why we feel it is both worthwhile and timely to have a four-part live, interactive webinar led by Co-Publisher Frank Saladis on Leadership, which is being produced by International Institute for Learning, starting in January, 2004. allPM.com members will receive a discount, and price, date and time details will be provided in the next newsletter.

You will also be seeing some more of those valuable “People Skill Tips for Project Managers” tips that many of you have read, by Dr. Ginger Levin and Dr. Steve Flannes, the authors of the book People Skills for Project Managers. This “softer” side of Project Management can have extremely significant results toward the successful completion of our projects, and we hope you will benefit from their good advice and deep understanding. Click here to read about “Communications Shortcomings: All of Us Have Them” and I know we can all benefit by taking this article to heart.

Dave Whelbourn is giving us another article in the series on PRINCE2, which we hope you will find interesting and valuable. This one is on “Understanding the PRINCE2 Processes” and it focuses on the first three of eight: Starting Up a Project, Initiating a Project and Directing a Project. He will cover the others in a subsequent article.

If any of you are still thinking about attending the PMI® Global Congress September 20 – 23 in Baltimore, Maryland, take a look at the worthwhile programs and sessions by clicking on the PMI® ad on our home page, and then registering online. We do appreciate it when you support our sponsors – it’s good for all of us! We hope to see you there at the show. In fact, any of you who will be there, please stop by the International Institute for Learning/allPM.com booth, #811. Access to allPM.com via a demo computer will be available, so feel free to bring your colleagues who aren’t familiar with it over to see it. Also, I wanted you to know that anyone that drops by the booth can enter the grand prize raffle: a weekend for two in NYC, a Broadway show, dinner, accommodations and – if an allPM member or visitor wins – a great New York lunch with your Co-Publishers, Frank and Judy!

Now please do me a BIG favor: would you be kind enough to tell me what YOU would like to see and hear about on this website – what topics are of greatest interest to you? We try to give you what we THINK you will like and also benefit from, but it’s not a foolproof system. As you hopefully know by now, we are very responsive to your suggestions and requests, and we LOVE to hear from you. Don’t forget to drop me a line, to judy.umlas@allpm.com! And please, please, please tell me about your areas of expertise that you could possibly contribute to all of us! We desperately need PM experts in government, healthcare and many other areas not so readily available who could write about their own “lessons learned” or best practices in those areas.

The award for the PM Tip of the Month for September goes to Howard R. Hollander of Lockheed Martin Corporation in Syracuse NY! Visit allPM.com to view his excellent tip on earned value management on. An autographed copy of Dr. Harold Kerzner’s book Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling is coming his way! Thanks, Howard, and we invite the rest of you to submit your tips to tipseditor@allpm.com. You could be a winner, too!

By the way, I haven’t received any Project Management Poems in a while – are there any more poets out there? I hope to hear from you. I loved having the stereotype of project managers as non-poetic chipped away at by some of you. Please keep chipping!

One other “by the way”: one of our members, Jovica Riznic, has asked allPM.com to sponsor a contest for students at Project World’s Student Forum in Ottowa, Canada. Students are being asked to write white papers on project management, and allPM.com will give awards to the winners and also publish the two winning papers in our newsletter! We are pleased to be encouraging the next generation of Project Managers, and hope you will support them along with us by reading and commenting on the winning papers. The event takes place in October, so hopefully you will see the announcement of the winners and their papers in the November newsletter.

Best of luck to any of you taking your PMP exams this month. Be sure to let us know you have passed, and hopefully that experience will add to your continuously growing PM skill and ability set.

Judy Umlas
Judy.Umlas@allPM.com

From the Co-publisher's Desk- Frank P. Saladis, PMP

This month our focus at allPM.com is on the credential known worldwide as the PMP ®, Project Management Professional. Developed by the Project Management Institute ®, the PMP® is a designation that proclaims not only knowledge about the profession of project management but the experience and ability to apply that knowledge to meet project objectives. The PMP ® credential actually goes beyond the ability to manage projects. It is also a sign of leadership, commitment to the profession, and value to an organization. It takes a lot of effort to achieve and even more to maintain it. There are about 60,000 PMPs ® worldwide but the number is growing rapidly as more and more project managers see the value in attaining the credential.

But what is the value? As a PMP ® myself and in the business of assisting others to attain the credential, I have a few thoughts to share about its value. First, it means a dedication to a profession that is still trying to find a strong foothold in the business world. It means learning and understanding, then using skills that will help an organization achieve its strategic goals. It isn’t about getting tasks done or getting from point A to point B. It’s about working with people, motivating teams, making sound decisions, and understanding customer needs. It requires strength and flexibility and a willingness to face enormous challenges on a daily basis.

Just as a project is a unique event, the PMP ® is also a unique person. No two are the same. The environment of the workplace, the geographic location, culture, and politics can all have an impact on how a project is managed but the PMP ®, a true professional, will work through the issues using sound judgment, tried and true methodologies but with common sense and an understanding that each project requires special handling and that methodologies are not “one size fits all.” Those who achieve the credential belong to an ever growing society and alliance that continues to develop new and better ways to meet the demands of today’s business environment.

PMPs ® are innovative, creative and look to reduce red tape and bureaucracy while building high performance project teams. I know this sounds very much like a sermon, but for many people who have studied and passed the exam and are now managing projects, it really is true. They are serious about their work and their accomplishments. allPM.com is serious also. We know that project management is an evolving profession and new tools and skills will be needed to meet new challenges. allPM.com and the PMP ® are parts of the high performing teams that get the job done. We salute the PMPs ® of the world and invite you to continue to partner with us for success, knowledge and the advancement of the profession. Rock on!

Frank P. Saladis, PMP
Frank.Saladis@allpm.com

	Partial Listing of Upcoming Project Management Events For a complete listing of events, or to add your own event for free, please visit the Online Calendar at allPM.com PMI Global Congress September 20, 2003 http://allpm.com/ads/adclick.php?n=a16a05f2 Projektmanagement Zertifizierungs-Programm September 22, 2003 http://www.iil.com/germany/default.asp MSP 2002 Blue Belt Professional, Rochester, NY September 25, 2003 http://www.iil.com/iil_coursedesc_cart.asp?selectCatid=456 KC Mid America Chapter Professional Development Symposium September 29, 2003 http://www.kcpmichapter.org Project Management Certification Program in Denver, CO September 29, 2003 www.iil.com

	August Poll Results What is the greatest barrier to keeping your projects on time? A. Management 50.68 % (37) B. Budget 10.96 % (8) C. Project team members 31.51 % (23) D. Technology, or lack there of 6.85 % (5) Total votes: 73 ********** September's poll question is**: Are you planning on becoming a PMP within the next 12 months? A. Yes B. No C. I am already a PMP If you have not already done so, please stop by allPM.com and add your opinion today.

	Column: Positive Leadership in Project Management - Eighth in a Series Leadership Lessons from the Future Written by Frank Saladis, PMP Make it So! If you are a Star Trek ® fan, these are the familiar words of a very unique leader and captain of the Starship Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard. As a fan myself, I have always thought of the Star Trek ® series as an imaginative and creative look at the future, filled with ideas and some very interesting examples of leadership. “Make it so” is a phrase frequently used by Captain Picard after a suggestion is offered by a crew member or officer about how to get out of a serious situation or to improve operating efficiency. The phrase has also managed to become a book title: Make It So-Leadership Lessons from Star Trek, The Next Generation by Wess Roberts, Ph.D., and Bill Ross. 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 former President of the NYC PMI� Chapter.

	allPM Today Tips Feature Top Ten Time-Savers in MS Project 2000, by Eric Uyttewaal, PMP Tip #10: Some steps we do over and over again. For example, I often zoom the timescale such that I can see all task bars by just paging up and down. I created a macro in my GLOBAL template that does this when I press a key combination. Start the recorder by choosing Tools, Macro, Record New Macro, a dialog appears in which you can indicate which shortcut key you want to reserve for the macro (only combinations of CTRL + A, E, J, L, M, Q, T or Y are available). Choose the “Y” for this macro and click OK. The recorder now records all your menu actions and keystrokes, so be careful. Click on the menu items View, Zoom and select Entire Project. Click OK; the timescale is now adjusted. Let’s turn off the macro recorder by choosing Tools, Macro, Stop Recorder. After you zoomed the timescale in on the details, you can press CTRL + Y to see all task bars again with Page Up and Page Down. You can record macros for all those menu sequences that you tread down often. Other examples of macros you can create with the macro recorder are: display the Project Summary task, display certain toolbars, print your weekly report, or quickly update your project. Eric Uyttewaal (BS, Engineering; MS, Business Administration; PMP) is Director, Microsoft Project Certificaton, International Institute for Learning, Inc and author of "Dynamic Scheduling with Microsoft Project � 2000." This tip appeared in the 7/2001 MPUG eZine.

	Column: The PMP ® Credential - Sign of the Experienced Project Manager or the Experienced Test Taker? Written by: Frank Saladis, PMP The Project Management Professional (PMP ®) credential awarded by the Project Management Institute ® is intended to indicate that an individual who has successfully passed the four hour exam has proven his or her experience and knowledge in the profession of project management. There are approximately 65,000 project managers who have achieved the credential and many more take the exam each month. Considering the number of project managers, program managers, and project leaders in the worldwide business environment, this number seems to be rather low. I can’t substantiate the number, but I have heard that there are about 3-5 million copies of Microsoft Project ® in circulation and I know there are many thousands of other types of project software in use in just about every type of business. 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 former President of the NYC PMI Chapter.

	Column: Understanding the PRINCE2 Processes – Part One Written by: David Whelbourn Two previous articles introduced the PRINCE2® project management methodology and its history, mirroring the development of PMI’s PMBOK Guide. To recap, the PRINCE2 Project Management Methodology uses a combination of three aspects: Eight well defined Processes that provide the framework to manage the project Eight detailed Components that are used by and support the processes Three Techniques used to support the Components and Processes. This article is the first part in a two-part review of the PRINCE2 processes and how they interlink during a project to provide a comprehensive project management methodology. Where the PRINCE2 components and techniques support the processes, they are listed. The Eight Processes are: Starting Up a Project (SU) Initiating a Project (IP) Directing a Project (DP) Planning (PL) Controlling a Stage (CS) Managing Product Delivery (MP) Managing Stage Boundaries (SB) Closing a Project (CP) This article will review the first three processes in this list. David Whelbourn is the Co-Lead of the Quality Team on PMI's OPM3 (Organizational Project Management Maturity Model) and a volunteer on their Program and Portfolio Management Standards project. He is also a Programme Manager with over thirteen years experience in project management after serving twelve years in the British Army. He has over five years experience in managing projects with PRINCE2 within Information Technology Projects combined with Rapid Application Development. He is a certified PRINCE2 practitioner and has implemented PRINCE2 in three companies, tailoring it to fit their culture and structure.

	Column: Five Steps to a Winning Business Case Written by: John C. Goodpasture, PMP Making a successful business case for your new project is the winning way to ensure a good beginning for your team. As a project manager, how often have you been asked to “work the numbers” and provide a basis for a compelling project? Often, if you are a project manager with responsibility to help your sponsor and your company make decisions about which projects are the right ones to do. The PMBOK® provides the body of knowledge for “doing it the right way”. In this article, you will learn about the five steps of a methodology that you can take away and use everyday for identifying, selecting, and justifying a new project or a significant change in scope to an ongoing project. Projects with a solid business case return value to the business, to their sponsors, and to the stakeholders and customers. Meeting scope, staying within budget, and getting done on time are the tactical elements that deliver the value. This being so, it is self-evident that successful project managers are those that effectively make the connection between project accomplishment and business value. [Goodpasture, 2001] John Goodpasture, PMP is a program manager with broad practical experience in executive management, project management, system engineering, and operations analysis. As founder and chief consultant at Square Peg Consulting, he specializes in customized application and delivery of project management techniques, business process analysis, and education of project practitioners. John can be reached at 770 650 6405 or by email at john.g@sqpegconsulting.com, www.sqpegconsulting.com

	Column: Implementing and Measuring Project Management Practices; A High Level Overview Written by: Charles Ludwig Abstract As technology advances and the business climate becomes more competitive, standard processes must be implemented to manage projects successfully. This article provides a high level overview of how to obtain corporate goals by implementing and evaluating best practices project management. The companies that can successfully implement best practice project management techniques will be the outstanding leaders of tomorrow. Where does it all begin? The corporate mission statement provides a high level description of the goals of the company. Every person working for the company should know what the mission statement means and how their position helps accomplish the mission. The corporate mission should be reflected in the mission statements of each division or department. Usually these mission statements are more specific to the product or service the particular department provides. Charles Ludwig is President of Master Plan IT, a consulting firm specializing in Project Management Best Practices. He may be reached at cludwig@MasterPlanIT.com . You can also visit the website at http://www.MasterPLanIT.com .

	Column: Rethinking the Development of Project Managers Written by: Ken Brown Does or did your organization grow the existing staff of IT related PM’s by promoting those with proven technical talent and an affinity towards leadership? This is a very common approach with some very good and some very bad results. The division of technology and business within an organization is normally very distinct, especially at the grass roots level. Individuals generally start out their careers within either business or technology environments and begin the process of working their way up the ladder based on their achievements. The problem with this silo approach to personnel development is companies who recognize IT as having strategic value invest in projects requiring the integrated expertise and organizational alignment from both silos. Ken Brown has seventeen years of Information Technology experience including consulting, management and development. The bulk of his career has been in management, where he enjoyed participating with the development of organizations, processes, teams and individuals. He recently brought a team together to develop a new company, 20smackers LLC.

� 1998-2003 International Institute for Learning, Inc. All rights reserved. Please do NOT reprint or host on your Web site without explicit permission. However, if you found this newsletter helpful, we grant you permission, and strongly encourage you, to e-mail it to a business associate or a friend. "allPM", "allPM.com", "ALL Project Management", and "The Project Manager's Homepage" are trademarks of International Institute for Learning, Inc. PMI�, PMP�, and PMBOK� are registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc., registered in the United States and other nations.