*allPM Co-publisher's Letter, Judy Umlas

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

*allPM July/August Poll Results

*Theme of the Month: Creativity Techniques - How to get going when ideas get stuck! By Matthias Groh, PMP

*PM Poetry™: The Customer Service Life Cycle by David Brandon, PMP

*The Power of The Pen Lives On With CLEO™! By Laura B. Moore, PMP

*Creating a Metrics-Based Culture for Project Success by Dr.Ginger Levin, DPA, University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Project Management Consultant Parviz F. Rad, PhD, PMP

*Tip: Excerpt from the recently published book, This isn't Excel, it's Magic! By Bob Umlas, Microsoft® Excel MVP

*Managing Project Performance: A Proposed Model (Part 3 of 3) by Mark "Doc" Dochtermann, (PMP, CISSP)

*The Zen of PM: Agility and the Balance between Formality and Flexibility By George Pitagorsky, PMP

*PM Crossword Connections™ - Having Fun While Learning the PMBOK® Guide: "Only Human", by Frank Saladis, PMP

Past Issues- Archives

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I write to you, my dear, nearly 30,000 colleagues who feel like friends to me, with a heavy heart. Since our last newsletter, there has been Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, with their resulting devastation and their uprooting of hundreds of thousands of people. The horrific stories still continue to come to the surface to haunt us, and the huge number of lives that will be forever, permanently changed are still coming into focus. The management team of allPM.com and of its parent company, International Institute for Learning, have made efforts to mitigate the effects of the disasters, efforts of which I am deeply proud.

From sponsoring a competitor's company, based in New Orleans (booth and all), to be at PMI's Global Congress in Toronto, which they otherwise could not have attended; to bringing a representative of the grass roots disaster relief organization, AmeriCares (www.americares.org) to collect money from Congress attendees for Katrina victims with the full support of PMI; to working with Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org) to find ways to have project managers contribute to their ongoing home building efforts globally; to starting a not -for - profit company, Small Companies United for Global Disaster Relief - Making A Difference in a Big Way™; to sending truckloads of much needed supplies to relocated families; we have tried to pitch in, in as many different ways as we could think of. And of course what we are doing is not enough. But it is a beginning, and we know that many of you are doing what you can do to help.

We at allPM.com support your efforts, and if you know of specific situations in which our global community of project managers could make a difference, please let me know about it by writing to me at judy.umlas@allpm.com. Maybe there is some way for us to pool our resources and make a difference in an even BIGGER way than we could individually.

I also take the risk (what would this newsletter be if I didn't take some risk each time?) of telling you all that my heart is also heavy with the near and impending loss of my dearest friend, Barbara, to a terminal illness. She has done amazing things in her life with global communities, and she always thought that the opportunity I had to reach out to all of you throughout the world was an awesome one. Many a time, as we took our long walks together, I would speak with great enthusiasm about our latest allPM.com interactions, and our breakthroughs in newsletter publishing. She has been a great inspiration to me on a spiritual and action-taking level, and in expressing my deep caring for people. So knowing me and my somewhat unique style, you have known her and her wonderful influence, and I want us all to celebrate her life, her light and her contributions to this world. Thank you for allowing me to do this. It makes me feel wonderful and peaceful to take this liberty, knowing it is probably "safe" to do so with our great and compassionate community. It also brings home for me, and hopefully for all of us, how each hurricane victim is someone's Barbara.

So now on to this edition of allPM Today! First of all, our new theme of the month is Creativity in Project Management. Isn't that perfect for us!? Matthias Groh, PMP and Six Sigma Master Black Belt, gives us an excellent article on Project Management Creativity Techniques - How to Get Going When Ideas Get Stuck! Frank Saladis also gives us some good input in his longer than usual Co-Publisher's letter, including using "a whack on the side of the head" as an "unsticker!" I warned him that he was starting to sound like me with my long letters, but he does have some good solid information in the letter below!

We have Part 3 of the widely read series by Mark "Doc" Dochtermann, PMP - Managing Project Performance, a Proposed Model and this article focuses on PM tools that support this model. It is extremely informative, and I think you will get great benefit from it.

I am very pleased to publish an article submitted by a member of allPM.com, Laura B. Moore, PMP. It focuses on one of the lesser used, but extremely powerful tools for PM success. The article is called The Power of the Pen Lives On with CLEO™ and CLEO stands for Clarity, Linear, Exact and Owners. Read it to find out how this can make your projects more effective.

Then we have another in the popular series of articles by George Pitagorsky, PMP on The Zen of PM™, this one called Agility and the Balance Between Formality and Flexibility. It is extremely poetic as well as hard-hitting - a wonderful "balance!" In fact, we have found George's articles on The Zen of PM to be so well-read that we will be publishing a book of them in 2006. We will keep you posted. Also, if you would like to attend a free webinar on this fascinating subject led by George Pitagorsky, click here: http://www.iil.com/free_resources/zen_of_project_management.asp

Now for an honor that is related to another excellent article by Dr. Ginger Levin, this one in association with Dr. Parviz Rad, PMP. Because of her frequent contributions to allPM.com and the quality of what she contributes, we are designating Dr. Levin as allPM.com's seventh MVP (Most Valuable Professional). Ginger, we thank you deeply for the precision and the elegance of all of your work, and are delighted to include in this month's newsletter your fine article, in association with Dr. Parviz Rad, Creating a Metrics-Based Culture for Project Success. Congratulations to Dr. Ginger Levin for achieving the MVP designation!

We are delighted to include a very clever PM Poem by David Brandon, PMP this month, called The Customer Service Life Cycle. It is great fun, and I have to tell you all that we are getting close to being ready to publish the next edition of Project Management Poetry™, so those of you wanting to be included had better get me some great PM poems fast!!! This one will be a real BOOK, not just a "booklette," so you will be (more) famous (than you already are) if your poems are included. Get creative, in honor of this month's theme, and start writing. Rhyming is not necessary.

We have another puzzle in Frank Saladis' great series, PM Crossword Connections™ -- Having Fun While Learning the PMBOK® Guide. This one is called "Only Human" and it focuses on Human Resources as a knowledge area. Have fun with it.

And speaking of Frank and his creative contributions, I must give you an update on International Project Management Day, an initiative that he has started! The November 3, 2005 date set for the first International Project Management Day is receiving attention from organizations in every part of the world. The PMI St. Petersburg, Russia chapter has scheduled a special round table event to recognize project managers and to discuss the value of project management. Project managers in Brazil, Australia, and France, to name a few, are also planning special events for the day. In the United States, several PMI (R) chapters are planning to recognize the project managers in their communities by mailing thank you cards and scheduling recognition events for Nov. 3. Project sponsors in many organizations have marked the date on their calendars to send a special email thank you to their project managers for the work they do. An article about the value of project management, written by Lew Ireland has been added to the website at www.internationalpmday.org. A listing of events and participating organizations will be posted on the web site during the week of September 26. allPM.com, IIL and PM Forum are sponsors and IIL's contribution will be to hold live webinars on November 3 in three time zones with a variety of PM gurus, to build awareness and recognition of project management and its value. Watch the home page of allPM.com for further details.

Lastly, we have a "knock your socks off" Excel tip, one of 85 such tips in the recently published book, This isn't Excel, it's Magic! by Microsoft® Excel MVP Bob Umlas. Those of you with pretty solid Excel knowledge will be astounded by the tips in the book, which is hot off the presses from IIL Publishing. Anyway, I have persuaded the Publisher to give allPM.com members a 20% discount (see ad in the newsletter sidebar) and you can get this by clicking on it and using the discount code. Oh, and guess who the newly appointed book Publisher is - yup! Yours truly! This is beyond fun!!!

It has been really wonderful to share on so many different levels with you in this newsletter. I am so proud to be getting to know more and more of you personally, so I do get a clear sense of who you are and what contributions you are capable of making in this world. Thank you once again for the opportunity to express myself on so many of these levels. I wish you a gorgeous new season as we move into Fall in this part of the world, and I wish us all the opportunity to truly make a difference wherever we are. Until the next time....

© 2005 allPM.com

Judy Umlas Co-publisher allPM.com
Judy.Umlas@allPM.com

"Project Management: Art, Science or Bull?" That was the title of a publication distributed by Primavera several years ago. It was a booklet that provided in a very unique and informative way, the value of project management and how it may be perceived by people who are not actually involved in the discipline. Since our allPM.com topic this month is creativity in project management, I immediately recalled the Primavera publication because it was so creative. There are many different perceptions about project management and certainly some people do believe it is an art form, while others believe it is very methodical and scientific in nature, and there are those really don't think much of it at all and consider it to be just "bull" or basically that its all done with smoke and mirrors. In Dr.Harold Kerzner's book Project Management—A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling, Eight Edition, there is a passage on page 4 that states:

"Project management is the art of creating the illusion that any outcome is the result of a series of predetermined, deliberate acts, when in fact it was just dumb luck."

That passage, according to Dr. Kerzner, reflects the opinion of people who really do not understand what project management is about. I do think that luck has something to do with managing projects since it is associated with chance, but another quotation that relates to project management is, "Chance favors the prepared mind." Louis Pasteur. This more closely relates to project management. Project managers have to be prepared to think on their feet, assess situations, make changes, revise plans, and act on unexpected developments. There is also a need to be prepared to try new ideas and to be innovative in managing costs, schedules and in negotiating for resources, time, and other project related issues. This is where the ART of project management comes into play.

Project management is not just about start and finish dates, managing the critical path, and keeping customers satisfied. It's about being creative every day. I once asked a group of people why they enjoyed being project managers. An interesting response was, "It's like coming to a new job everyday. There is always something different happening." This meant to me that they were willing to face new challenges without hesitation. It meant that they had confidence in themselves to address, handle and resolve any situation that may be encountered. I think it's safe to say that many of the issues project managers face every day are not documented, and the activities associated with those issues sometime happen with split second thinking. This fast thinking is a sign of creativity and a key success factor for project managers.

Considering that project managers are faced with unexpected situations everyday (despite the very best risk management plans) and are asked to provide quick solutions, we can conclude that creativity and innovation belong in the project manager job description. Creativity combined with an understanding of the "Art" of project management will enhance the core competencies essential for success. This means understanding the scope of work, assessing problems, communicating to the team, creating the appropriate sense of urgency, encouraging innovation, and including the right amount of motivation.

If you think about any amusement park, especially Disney World, Universal Studios and others, you can begin to truly understand the need for creativity in project management. Every thrill ride or simulated event like the earthquake in Universal Studios or the 3-dimensional shows at Disney theme parks begins with creativity and imagination. At the planning table the project manager and team "imagine" what the end product will look like and create the plans to achieve their goals. You could say that creativity is essential in the planning process.

To unlock your creative mind try the book "Creativity for Leaders" by Gary Fellers. He suggests that we can be most creative when we become aware of "present mindedness." This means focusing on today and not allowing the stress of past issues or future issues to inhibit our ability to be creative. A relaxed state of mind becomes a creative mind and allows us to see many possibilities that had been hidden by our logical thought process. Another source for enhancing creativity are the books by Roger Von Oech—"A Whack on the Side of the Head" and "A Kick in the Seat of the Pants." Both books are designed to stimulate new ideas by removing mental blocks and seeing things from different perspectives. Getting "whacked" means experiencing something that forces you, for a moment, to try a new approach or think from a new viewpoint. Project Managers probably get "whacked" several times during the project life cycle and having a creative mind can really help keep things moving.

Project managers generally would not be successful without some degree of built-in creativity and innovation. We do need to combine that creative thinking with science, which equates to the core processes and methodologies of project management. Without these, creativity becomes uncontrolled energy that may not result in an actual deliverable. We do need creativity, but it must be harnessed to some degree by methods.

Regarding the "bull" part of project management, I suppose there is some creativity associated with that, especially if there is an attempt to dazzle sponsors and other stakeholders with statistics and numbers. My advice is to stay away from too much of that. Use an appropriate blend of creativity and science to achieve objectives. A little "bull" now and then may be needed, due to the political environment many project managers face -- but don't let it become a guiding principle.

At allPM.com, creativity is a driving factor. We look for new ideas every month. We want to stay on the edge of project management innovation. We know that project managers are demanding and that their time is valuable. Therefore, creativity is embraced at allPM.com and our energy is focused on you, the reader and member. We encourage all of our readers to send us ideas, articles and suggestions. Where else can you find project migraines, thought stimulators, great articles, tips of the month, and a true sense of commitment and passion for member satisfaction like that of our very own Judy Umlas?

Make sure you encourage innovation among your project teams and look at the issues you encounter from several perspectives. As author Roger Von Eoch said, "An idea is a very dangerous thing when it's the only one you have." He encourages people to "Look for the second right answer." allPM.com can be the gateway to the second right answer. Engage!

© 2005 allPM.com

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

Estimating tools:

create more work    9.68% (6)
reduce work    3.23% (2)
improve plans    64.52% (40)
accelerate planning    22.58% (14)

Total votes: 62

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If you have not already done so, please stop by allPM.com and add your opinion today.

Have you been in project situations that appeared non-resolvable? Have you struggled to find ways to solve some of the seemingly difficult problems? Have you found yourself at a point during a project's life cycle from where you had no idea how to proceed? You are not alone! Schedule constraints, resource conflicts, scope changes, etc. can often leave people thinking that there's no way out. But you need to find a way, a smart and quick way to proceed in your project in these situations.

This is where creativity techniques come to play. Creativity techniques can help free the mind and enable you to come up with real innovative solutions. In the Tips of this month, I'll introduce you to some of the latest creativity techniques and give you guidelines on how to create an environment that encourages creativity.

© 2005 allPM.com

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I was okay when the project first began,
My customer and I had a vision and plan.
As the project entered the Initiate phase,
We were still on track and reaping great praise.
My customer thinks he's in the driver's seat.
I think that's why the scope stays incomplete.
I stated, "The scope is clear in the charter!"
and I think to myself: Now who could be smarter?

The project now enters the Planning Phase,
and I think, How can we already have project delays?
I'm almost done with the project plan
But my customer has such a small attention span.
My customer already wants that "one more thing."
"But that's not in scope," I begin to sing.
I tell him I won't do it. I will not. I can't.
"It isn't in scope!" is my favorite chant.

The customer and I have another dispute,
This is harder than I thought - this noble pursuit.
The project team thinks that this project is great,
Until I tell them their tasks are all late.
When my customer finds something that seems very strange
He comes to me wanting yet another big change.
The schedule is vague and the budget is tight,
My customer and I are in a scope fight.

That's why I created ways to manage my scope.
It's detailed in the Plan. You see, I'm not such a dope.
Submit a change request and then make your case.
(You know he can get mean when he's up in your face.)
I hate these requests I'm supposed to Control.
No wonder my project's so far in the hole.
The Change Control Board defers the request,
But this small request is just the first test.

Finally, this project is about to close.
The customer and I are coming to blows.
"I need this change!" the customer cried.
But I am relieved. "Request Denied."
Remember, it all started with a signed project charter.
I'm a hero if on schedule, if not I'm a martyr.
This repeatable process may kill other men.
But I've done this before. And I'll do it again!

© 2005 allPM.com

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The power of the pen, or rather, the keyboard in most cases, continues to be one of the most valuable but least acknowledged items in our project management tool box. All the knowledge in the world is useless if it cannot be obtained and/or recalled with accuracy. To that point, incorrectly recalled "knowledge" can be very harmful to a project.

I can think of two scenarios recently where documentation, or the lack thereof, caused extra work and some serious delays on deliverables. In one case, I was filling in for a co-worker who was traveling for 10 days overseas. The project was short-term and urgent and required the project manager to keep at only minimal documentation. This resulted in the sub-team forgetting conversations and methodology that had occurred, and requesting an analysis of information that, if the methodology had been well-documented, would not have been needed. This expended at least eight hours of resources that could have been used elsewhere, thus impacting the timeline of another project utilizing the same resources. With this case, there seemed to be a collective forgetfulness in the sub-team, and being new to the project, there was no way for me to know that they had previously found a work-around to the analysis requested.

© 2005 allPM.com

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Introduction

It has long been recognized that sound measurement practices are integral to basic management activities such as project planning, monitoring, and control. Metrics are ever present throughout all phases and facets of project management. As more organizations adopt a management-by-projects approach, there is an increasingly heavy reliance on measurement practices that facilitate informed decision making, using indices that guide product and process improvement. Metrics need to be integrated into project life-cycle processes to support project selection, project execution, workforce improvement, and portfolio management. Metrics can provide indicators of organizational project management maturity, growth, and sophistication. Metrics also can quantify the adequacy of the organization's vision, the quality of each project deliverable, and the progress of projects, processes, and products.

This paper describes the purpose of metrics and presents a description of metrics in three categories: ones involving project things, project people, and the enterprise. The paper then focuses on processes and procedures that an organization must embrace as it establishes a culture focused on metrics to support an organization that is friendly toward projects. The paper concludes with a set of guidelines that project professionals can use in their own organizations to set the stage for a culture focused on metrics and one that is friendly toward projects.

© 2005 allPM.com

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Probably the easiest way to not display errors like #VALUE! Or #DIV/0! In an already existing worksheet is to use Conditional Formatting. Here's how:
1. Select all the cells you want to hide these error values in.
2. Use Format/Conditional Formatting.
3. Change "Cell Value is" to "Formula Is".
4. Enter =ISERROR(A1) (assuming A1 is the active cell).
5. Click the Format button, select the font tab, and assign a white font!

Tip excerpted with permission of IIL Publishing.

© 2005 allPM.com

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This is a three part article that provides the reader with a proposed model for assessment and review of key areas that can offer significant potential for improving how we define and track the performance of our projects.

Part 1 -	In the first part of this article we discussed the critical need for a common "language" across the organization to help provide a common understanding of the "work" that is to be performed in a project (i.e. the What). We also examined a proposed framework for resource planning and management in context with various planning and optimization windows that we encounter in our schedules (i.e. the Who and the When). Click here for part 1
Part 2 -	Last month we took a look at how we go about producing the "product" of the "project" in a defined, managed, and repeatable manner. We also examined a set of processes/standards to Monitor and Control a project so that project performance can be measured and observed regularly to identify variances (i.e. the How and the How Much). Click here for part 2
Part 3 -	This month we will conclude with an examination of some of the Project Management tools that are in use among today's Project Managers. We will also explore a set of proposed competencies as they relate to teamwork, knowledge, and skills of the project team.

This article is directed primarily toward managers of the Project Management Office (PMO) and those individuals who are planning on implementing tools and processes to support an enterprise-wide project management discipline.

© 2005 allPM.com

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The Buddha spoke of tuning a stringed instrument. Too tight and the string breaks, too loose and there is no music. Our processes are instruments that need to be tuned for optimum performance.

Agility
Agility is the ability to move with speed and grace; to be nimble.

What is the minimal activity to get the job done well? When we can answer that question we have the base for an agile process - a process that is quick and graceful because it has no excess and one that does what it is designed to do because there is no insufficiency.

© 2005 allPM.com

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(Click here or the image above for a larger, printable crossword in a new window. )

Only Human

Across

Down

© 2005 allPM.com

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Click here to view/print the crossword solution: http://www.allpm.com/Crosswords/September2005answers.htm