allPM Today May/June 2011, Issue 124, Judy Umlas, Editor

May/June 2011, Issue 125, Judy Umlas, Publisher

President and Chief Executive Officer of IIL
E. LaVerne Johnson

Senior Executive
Director of IIL
Dr. Harold Kerzner

View IIL’s Digital 2011 Learning Catalogue

In this Issue:

*allPM's Letter from the Editor, Judy Umlas

*allPM May/June Poll Results and New Poll Question

*Article: Metric #1
By Harold Kerzner, Ph.D., PMP

*Getting Started with Agile
By Marsha B. Hughes, PMP, CBAP, CSM, CSP

*Agile – Making It Work
By Dr. Thomas Grisham

*Agile Leadership: Rebel with a Cause
By Steven P. Blais, PMP

*Agility and the Freedom to choose
By Wolfgang Wendl, CSM, PMP

*Project Management: Then, Now and Yet to Come
By Charanya Girish, PMP

*Ask Harry: Preparing for PMP Certification – Part 1
Applying for the PMP®
By Harry Rever, PMP – Director of Six Sigma

*Positive Leadership In Project Management – Creating the Energy to Lead
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

*Applying the ‘Productive Lazy’ approach to Project Communication
By Peter Taylor

*Risk Doctor: Ticking the Right Boxes
By Dr. David Hillson, PMP, FAPM

Past Issues- Archives

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May/June Theme: Agile Project Management

A Word from Your Publisher — Judy Umlas

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is Spring now, here in the United States, and it therefore seems like a great time to be focusing on Agile Project Management in this issue of allPM Today. It’s a great time because you have to be “agile” to “spring” forth into action (forgive my play on words)! It is also the time that PMI is launching its Agile Certification after finding that, as stated in PMI Today, April 2011, “the use of Agile practices in project management has doubled in the last two years!”

Read more >>

March/April Poll Results

How well does your organization understand cloud computing?

a) Clearly understands the concept and application - 42.22%
b) Understanding but continuing to review the concept - 15.26%
c) Very basic understanding. need more information - 15.26%
d) No understanding or not really sure what it is - 26.67%
The May/June poll question is:

To what extent is your organization using agile project management?

1. What is agile project management?
2. I think we use it, but have not myself
3. We use it but have not had success
4. We use it but only on select projects
5. We use it extensively and successfully

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

Article: Metric #1
By Harold Kerzner, Ph.D., PMP

There is a new word being introduced into the project manager's vocabulary, namely "infographics." Infographics is the displaying of critical project management information onto dashboards so that the client and stakeholders can make informed decisions. This information may appear in a real time format rather than periodic updates. This is the future of project management.

Getting Started with Agile
By Marsha B. Hughes, PMP, CBAP, CSM, CSP

“Confront the difficult while it is still easy. Accomplish the great task by a series of small steps.” The Tao te Ching
Are you interesting in using an agile approach on your project, but don’t know how to start? Agile1 project startup activities occur in what is often referred to as “Iteration Zero”, the short timeframe before the first iteration starts.

Agile – Making It Work
By Dr. Thomas Grisham

The Dream
Liam: Good morning Arjani; thank you for coming on such short notice. We are delighted that you could make time to help us with this new project. As you know, the CEO and Chairwoman of the Board are the impetus behind the idea of creating a new cell phone with 100% of the applications driven by eye movement. They both know this will give our company a big leap ahead of the competition if we can roll out a prototype within six months.

Agile Leadership: Rebel with a Cause
By Steven P. Blais, PMP

Command and control. If you want to be successful in business, you have to control every element of the environment, anticipate risks, have contingency plans ready for all eventualities, closely manage, monitor and motivate your resources, and create and follow a step-by-step plan. To do this successfully, you need command authority to act decisively and react quickly. This is the military model of command and control management.

Agility and the Freedom to choose
By Wolfgang Wendl, CSM, PMP

When starting to talk to members of a future agile team, we generally first need to define what we mean by the term “Agility.” What do people associate with that hype Word “agile”? Fast, flexible, smart, slim, lean, responsive, easy are frequent statements but so are unstable, chaotic, unstructured, overly transparent.

Project Management: Then, Now and Yet to Come
By Charanya Girish, PMP

Project management is not something new. Projects have been in existence and have been managed for as long as people have sought to achieve things. During the yester years they were not identified as projects. instead they were looked upon as a collection of activities that needed to be completed; activities that had time, resource and financial constraints.

Ask Harry: Preparing for PMP Certification – Part 1
Applying for the PMP®
By Harry Rever, PMP – Director of Six Sigma

So, you’ve decided to get your PMP certification? Excellent! Becoming certified as a Project Management Professional is no easy decision. Not only do you have to meet the application requirements;you also need to pass the test and that, my friends, is no easy feat. But, with a little planning, a little perseverance, and a little strategy, you can certainly be successful. There are essentially two aspects to becoming a PMP.

Positive Leadership in Project Management – Creating the Energy to Lead
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

True leaders seem to have an endless supply of energy. They accomplish a great deal, keep their followers engaged and loyal and somehow always appear to be ready for the next challenge. They are calm during a crisis, are decisive and confident, and always have a word of appreciation for their team members. Where does this energy come from? What fuels the drive of a leader? Depending on how you define “leader” there are many answers.

Applying the ‘Productive Lazy’ approach to Project Communication
By Peter Taylor

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something’. Robert Heinlein

By advocating being a 'lazy' project manager I don't intend that we should all do absolutely nothing. I am not saying we should all sit around drinking coffee, reading a good book and engaging in idle gossip whilst watching the project hours go by and the non-delivered project milestones disappear over the horizon.

Risk Doctor: Ticking the Right Boxes
By Dr. David Hillson, PMP, FAPM

In some businesses and projects, risk management is described as an exercise in “ticking boxes.” This phrase means that people just follow the steps in the risk process, but with no real commitment or energy, and no belief that it will actually make any difference. The term “box-ticking” is always used in this negative way, as a bad thing to be avoided. But perhaps ticking boxes could be useful if we do it differently.

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