allPM Today February/March 2010, Issue 116, Frank P. Saladis, Editor

February/March 2010, Issue 116, Frank P. Saladis, Editor

President and Chief Executive Officer of IIL
E. LaVerne Johnson

Senior Executive
Director of IIL
Dr. Harold Kerzner

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In this Issue:

*allPM's Letter from the Editor, Frank P. Saladis, PMP

*allPM November Poll Results and New Poll Question

*Theme of the Month: Thinking Positive About Risk Management

Don’t Risk It
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

*Making Assumptions is Risky Business
You Know What They Say when you Assume …
By Harry Rever, PMP – Director of Six Sigma, IIL

*Ten Reasons to Trash your Risk Management Plan
By George Bridges, MS, PMP

*Complex Projects – A Contrarian approach
By Carl Beleck, PMP

*Embedding Project Risk Management (PRM) into Project Management Processes
By Marc Desrumaux, PMP

*Consolidating Project Risks: Issues & Tips
By Marc Desrumaux, PMP

*How to Analyze your Stakeholders
By George Bridges,MS, PMP

*Positive Leadership in Project Management – Value, Success and Twelve Factors for Effective Project Leadership
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

*Risk Doctor: Optimism, Pessimism, Realism & Risk
By Dr. David Hillson, PMP, FAPM

*PM Crossword Connections™: Take a Chance: Is your project at risk?
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

Past Issues- Archives

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Theme of the Month: Thinking Positive About Risk Management

From the Editor's Desk— Frank P. Saladis, PMP

Our theme for this issue of allPM newsletter is Risk Management. Specifically, we have selected “thinking positive about risk management” as our main focus of discussion. The idea behind our theme, “thinking positive,” is that we should practice a proactive approach to managing and responding to project risk. By actively discussing risk during project kick off meetings, status meetings or when engaged in the project selection process you are thinking in a positive and value-adding manner.

Read more >>

December/January Poll Results

What area of organizational business objectives is most impacted by projects?

a) Profitability - 45.76 % (54)
b) Management performance - 11.86 % (14)
c) Competitive performance - 18.64 % (22)
d) Productivity - 22.03 % (26)
e) Social responsibility - 1.69 % (2)
The February/March poll question is:

How often is the "right person" selected to manage your organization's projects?

a) 95-100% - the right person is nearly always select
b) 75-95% - the right person is selected in most cases
c) 50-75% - there is a good chance it is right person
d) <50% - unlikely that a qualified PM is assigned

If you have not already done so, please stop by allPM.com and add your opinion today.
Test your PM knowledge. allPM will be posting sample PMP test questions and answers daily. Don’t miss out - visit allPM today.

Don’t Risk It
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

I think it is fair to say that risk management is a subject that does not receive the attention it deserves. In today’s extremely uncertain world economy, the need for a solid risk management strategy should be at the top of the list of business priorities. The key stakeholders in any organization should be the main advocates of risk management and should be insisting that every department and every employee practice at least some very basic activities that will help to reduce exposure to risk situations.

Making Assumptions is Risky Business
You Know What They Say when you Assume …
By Harry Rever, PMP – Director of Six Sigma, IIL

The incredibly annoying “know it all” coworker; the boss who thinks he is right because, well, he’s the boss; or the self-important “technical expert”; what do they all have in common besides being boorish, irritating and maybe even a little condescending? They assume. They assume they know the answer or what might be causing the problem.

Ten Reasons to Trash your Risk Management Plan
By George Bridges, MS, PMP

Do you have a Risk Management Plan (RMP)? If you do not, then this article is not for you. If you are managing a project of any size and you have not developed a Risk Management Plan, then your project is most likely already in trouble.

Complex Projects – A Contrarian Approach
By Carl Beleck, PMP

There has been much discussion, and a number of books and articles have been written, about “complex” projects over the past few years. There has also been some controversy around the knowledge and skills needed to manage these projects (e.g. is the scope of the PMBOK® Guide sufficient to address such complexities?).

Embedding Project Risk Management (PRM) into Project Management Processes
By Marc Desrumaux, PMP

Introduction:
Many PMs or project team members find Project Risk Management a cumbersome if not frustrating extra-effort. Most of time they do not take the pain to imagine how their staffcould perform riskidentification, qualification, etc. We advise them to have their team membersstay inside the framework of their duties. Here below are some tips & tricks.

Consolidating Project Risks: Issues & Tips
By Marc Desrumaux, PMP

Many projects have hundreds of work packages, with corresponding owners (W/PO) that need to be involved in the overall Project Risk Management activities. They most likely do not have access to or have an understanding ofKPI relevant for top management. What to do then when you need to involve more than 10 people in PRM?

How to Analyze your Stakeholders
By George Bridges,MS, PMP

The word stakeholder is very popular today. In this article we address how to categorize our stakeholder in order to facilitate ongoing elicitation and communication of project information. In addition we will describe how stakeholder analysis can serve as the basis for input to our requirements communication plan.

Positive Leadership in Project Management – Value, Success and Twelve Factors for Effective Project Leadership
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

The definition of project success depends on whom you are asking. In other words, “project success is in the eye of the beholder.” In the book, “Value Driven Project Management”, authors Dr. Harold Kerzner Ph.d and Frank P. Saladis PMP, define project success as being achieved when planned business values are met including Internal Value, Financial Value, Future Value, and Customer Related Value.

Risk Doctor: Optimism, Pessimism, Realism & Risk
By Dr. David Hillson, PMP, FAPM

The former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said that “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” This exposes an interesting link between pessimism, optimism and risk attitude.

PM Crossword Connections™:
Take a Chance: Is your project at risk?
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

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

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