Contents
PMINJ VP Welcome
by
Pat Bonanni, PMP, PMINJ VP Finance, vp-finance(:@:)pminj.org
Happy 2012 to all!
The mission of the finance team is to oversee the management of funds
for the purposes of the Chapter as authorized by the Board. The Finance
team includes 2 directors - Joyce Nussbaum (Director of Accounts Receivable)
and Kim Hinton (our newly appointed Director of Scholarships).
We are responsible for managing all
the Chapter’s receipts, funds, and securities. An annual budget is prepared,
working with the Board members. It is used to guide the expenditures for
the Chapter. One of our primary drivers is to keep the cost of dues and
programs as stable as possible for Chapter members. In fact the $20 chapter
dues have been maintained since the chapter's inception. In other areas,
we are focused on minimizing any increase of fees to our members while
expanding services – for example remote sites for the monthly meetings.
While a lot of our work takes place behind the scenes –
you are probably familiar with the Scholarship program that was initiated
in 2007 as a way of giving back to our members. For the past 5 years we
have awarded 10 undergraduate scholarships/year to the children of PMINJ
members who have excelled in academically and also have a record of service
and leadership. To date – we have awarded 50 scholarships, with our first
class graduating in 2011. In 2011 we also introduced a Master’s scholarship.
The scholarship program is only possible due to the efforts of volunteers
who participate on the selection team. It takes dedication from the team
members – and we are always happy to have new people join the team!
The finance team is looking forward to a productive 2012. If you have
any questions – feel free to contact us using our email addresses that
can be found on the Chapter web site – www.pminj.org.
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Jim
Snyder, PMI Founder, Speaker at 20 Mar 2012 PMINJ Meeting
We are excited to announce that one of PMI’s founders, Jim Snyder, will
be speaking at our 20 Mar 2012 PMINJ Chapter Meeting. Please pencil
this on your calendars and look for upcoming announcements!
Mr. Snyder is a founder of the Project Management Institute, a Fellow
of the Institute, and a past Volunteer Executive Director, President and
Chairman of the Board. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors
of the PMI Educational Foundation, Treasurer of the Delaware Valley Chapter,
and a member of the Editorial Review Board of Project Management Journal®.
Mr. Snyder, who is casually referred to as the "Father of PMI," has been
awarded the PMI Man of the Year Award and is an Honorary Life Member of
the Institute. He is also a founding member of the PMI Delaware Valley Chapter
and the Pharmaceuticals Specific Interest Group (SIG). Mr. Snyder served
as the project manager for the construction of PMI's World Headquarters
in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA. The PMI® James R. Snyder Center
for Project Management Knowledge and Wisdom, located in the headquarters
building, is named in his honor.
A
video about the PMI Founders is available on YouTube
PMINJ
07 May 2012 Symposium Registration Open
Registration
for the PMINJ 07 May 2012 Symposium opened 15 Jan 2012. Please
join us again for what promises to be another exciting day. Watch
for registration info on the PMINJ website.
Nominations
for the 2011 PMINJ Project of the Year (POY)
Nominations
for the PMINJ Project of the Year (POY) are now being accepted! We invite
you to nominate a worthy 2011 project executed by your organization for
this prestigious award. Deadline for nominations is 31 Jan 2012.
For selection criteria
and details
Any project is eligible for consideration provided:
- It has been
accepted as essentially completed by 31 Dec 2011.
- Some or all
team members were located in the State of New Jersey, or it was coordinated
by a NJ based company, or completed within NJ.
- It has an approved
scope, schedule and budget.
- There are no
restrictions on the use of the submitted information.
- It has been
completed in accordance with generally accepted project management principles
and practices.
The winner will be
announced in February 2012. The award will be presented at the April,
2012 Chapter meeting. Further information on nomination rules and processes, and
the submission template.
Submissions should be emailed to poy@pminj.org by 31 Jan 2012.
Questions? Please email poy@pminj.org.
Event
Reports
International
Project Management Day Seminar - 03 Nov 2011
For the 7th consecutive
year, PMINJ celebrated International Project Management Day at the beautiful
Palace at Somerset Park, on 03 Nov 2011. It was a wonderful and informative
event attended by over 500 project management practitioners, several sponsors
and PMI Communities of Practice (CoP) representatives, and an engaged speaker
lineup.
The day started with an opening statement by Chapter President
Judy Balaban, followed by a welcome address to all guests and speakers
by the PMINJ VP of Symposium, Deven Trivedi. Deven explained the reasons
for an IPM Day celebration: to increase awareness of Project Management
as a profession, to promote Project Management in organizations, and to
thank project managers around the world for their hard work and perseverance.
The next four speakers lead interactive presentations focused on modern
day leadership skills required to compete in a global economy.
Speaker Angel Carol Smith introduced the morning keynote speaker,
Frank Saladis, PMP, PE, CCE, founder of IPM Day and tenured President
of the NY City Chapter. Frank began his presentation on “Architecting
the Future through Project Management” affirming the indispensability of
Project Management and reminding the audience that nothing would get done
without project management principles! The evolution of Project Management
continues and the value of Project Management is becoming more apparent
across all industries. Risk reduction was cited as one of several
value benefits of Project Management and Sustainability as a Risk Management
solution was discussed as one of the approaches that project managers can
deploy. Frank provided the audience with a view of Project Management
in a global economy. It is more than business process; it is “the way work
gets done”. The Project Manager is a leader and a value driver.
Project Integration Management, when performed with strong leadership, integrates
project deliverables with organizational goals and assures a solution-based
approach for the enterprise / client. Frank called project managers
to action by presented a formula for the future of project management: Project
Management + Strategy = Future. This inspirational presentation emphasized
that business success and project management are inseparable.
Joe Lukas, PMP, PE, CCE, the second speaker in the morning session,
provided the audience with tips on “Project Negotiations: Dealing a Winning
Hand on the International Stage”. Joe called attention to the fact
that in reality not all negotiations are principled and as such a project
manager needs to be aware of the motives around the table. Joe highlighted
three parts of the negotiation process: the ever valuable pre-meeting in
which planning for the strategic, administrative and tactical goal setting
takes place; the meeting at which the bargaining toward closure takes place;
and the post-meeting in which additional negotiations are possible.
Joe highlighted 5 common mistakes in negotiations: low aspirations / weak
negotiating skills, making low initial demands, neglecting to ask questions,
providing too much information, and reaching a quick settlement. Audience
inquiries in this interactive session lead to additional suggestions such
as using Skype for phone negotiations.
The third speaker of the day, Sherry Blair, MSSW, MA, LCWS, BCPC in
her presentation “The Positivity Pulse: Transforming Your Workplace” spoke
about the value and need for project managers to attain Emotional Intelligence.
Sherry cited positive psychology research that correlates with positive
emotions, increased productivity through better health and increased motivation.
Citing additional research from Ken Blanchard and Barbara Fredrickson,
Sherry described Servant Leadership otherwise described as Leading from
the Heart. A servant leader is able to put aside self-interests and encourages
a culture of connectivity that results in reduction of unnecessary conflict
among other benefits. A servant leader leverages communication skills
to build positive relationships, recognizes and rewards positive behavior
and avoids judgment.
John Boyens of the Boyens Group® conducted a dynamic afternoon
workshop “Avoiding the 5 Fatal Flaws of Management”. John started
by reminding the audience that 90% of management problems are “people problems”
and of these people problems, 90% are communication problems. He
proceeded with discussion of 5 fatal flaws of communicating and recommended
preferred communication approaches. For example, unclear and inconsistent
communications need to be addressed with active listening. Communications
related to change management need to clearly state the change and its benefits
as well as convey optimism for future outcomes. Properly assessing
the readiness of team members for “mission critical” tasks, including ability
and willingness to perform tasks assigned, was also identified as a key
to project success. This robust workshop also included discussion
of influencing styles with outcome-based thinking highlighted as one of
the team engagement strategies. John concluded his workshop defining
15 steps to be an effective leader: communicating early and often, managing
the team’s energy, visualizing success, holding team members accountable,
hiring people based on their potential and leveraging teachable moments.
The speaker presentations can be accessed on the PMINJ web site.
Jerry Flach, Director of Symposium, concluded the event by thanking
speakers, sponsors, project manager attendees and over 40 volunteers on
10 teams who helped make this IPM Day event a success. With final cheers
to Project Management and its practitioners, Jerry reminded the audience
that anyone interested in shaping future PMINJ events or advancing their
team building and leadership skills should consider volunteering for the
Symposium team and other volunteer opportunities via PMINJ web-site: www.pminj.org
.
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PMINJ
Chapter Meeting – 15 Nov 2011
The 15 Nov 2011 PMINJ Chapter
Meeting held at the Bridgewater Marriott was the last Chapter Meeting of
the year.
The Networking Program featured “Yes, You Are a Brand” presentation
by Ginny Devine, President of Quantum Performance Systems, LLC. This Program
was about knowing your Brand and how the value one brings to an organization
is essential to maintaining career viability in today’s work world. Ginny’s
presentation provided direction and support to inventory and identify one’s
Brand.
PMINJ Chapter Business:
The main event began with Judy Balaban, PMP, Chapter President, discussing
the following:
- Thanking the
evening’s sponsor FYI Solutions for their support of this event.
- Mentioning that
the October PMINJ Chapter Meeting hit a milestone of having as many people
at the satellite locations as at the main site.
- PMINJ is looking
to add additional satellites in Princeton and Marlton areas.
- Thanked the
participants involved in the PMINJ Holiday Food Drive.
- Acknowledged
the new PMPs and first time Chapter Meeting attendees.
Lisa Blake, PMP, VP Programs, then took the podium and added:
- Additional satellites
are being indentified in the Paramus area to replace the DeVry Satellite
and in the Ramapo College area.
- “Call for Speaker
Angels” – with the Symposium in May, speaker angels are needed to work
with the speakers that will be presenting at the 07 May 2012 Symposium.
Anyone interested should contact volunteers@pminj.org.
Introduced Ralph
Cetrulo (Sr. Account Executive) and Janine Crowley (Recruitment Team Lead)
of FYI Solutions who were the sponsors of the evening’s event. FYI Solutions
specializes in IT Solutions & Staffing as well as Project Management
Solutions for the past 27 years. - Reminded us
that this was the last Chapter Meeting for this year 2011. The next meeting
is scheduled for 17 Jan at the Pines Manor in Edison, NJ. The topic is:
The Art of Cultural Change: Making Change Stick, featuring speaker John Palinkas.
- Introduced the
featured Speaker: Henry Will, PMP.
Featured Presentation:
“Project, Program and Portfolio Metrics” – Henry Will, PMP
Henry began his presentation with an overview of Project, Program
and Portfolio Management. He conducted a quick review and pointed out
the differences of each. He then proceeded to discuss the key element
of the presentation – Metrics. How can you leverage metrics to clear
road-blocks, back up your points, and promote progress in important areas
of your projects, programs, and portfolios? In this presentation, we heard
some stories about how common issues that project managers face can be solved
using metrics. We also received some down-to-earth examples of how to measure
elements of a project in spreadsheets. In this presentation Henry demonstrated
the old saying “If you want to improve something - measure it!”
Henry interacted with the group in order to get a collaborative definition
of Metric. It was agreed that a Metric is a Measurement. We also agreed
that for us it is usually a measurement of something that needs improvement.
Group discussion of the tools commonly used to report metrics identified
Earned Value, Budgets, Dash Boards, Score Cards, Heat Maps and Charts/Graphs.
Henry indicated that metrics are key to cause a needed change.
Following a discussion around metrics, the presentation then proceeded
into some of the tools that are used to communicate metrics. Henry shared
a quote from Albert Einstein: “If you can’t communicate something simple,
then you don’t know enough about it.” Some of the metrics communication
tools mentioned:
- Milestone Chart
- Dates and Scope Changes
- Schedules
- Graphs/Charts
- Standardization
of Reporting Models
- Scorecard (Portfolio
Level)
- Scorecard Trending
Some key questions to consider with regard to metrics:
- What is the
goal? Know what you want to convey and what metrics to capture
- Who is the audience?
Executives, CXO, PMO/Business Organization, Sponsors/Client, Management,
Project Team, Client/Customer, Consumers/Users
- Who are the
stakeholders? Executives, CXO, PMO/Business Organization, Sponsors/Client,
Management, Project Team, Client/Customer, Consumers/Users
- What needs to
be communicated? Financials, Profit Percentage, Expenses, Pretax Income
(PTI), Return on Investment (ROI), Resources, Project Health (EV, SPI,
CPI), Quality (Defects, Service Level Agreements (SLAs)), RISKS, ISSUES,
etc.
- What is the
best way to communicate it at the level of the Audience? Frequency, Amount
of detail, Communication Level
Henry concluded by summarizing some of his key “Metric Tips”:
- Keep the goal
in mind and know your audience. Report what is important to them, use
metrics to increase success
- Report appropriately:
detail according to level, frequency according to level
- Communicate
concisely and effectively: charts and graphs, agree on terminology,
use a legend, use colors to enhance communications
This presentation provided a tool bag of techniques to increase the
value and effectiveness of project management communications
The evening concluded
with a special raffle of “Skullcap” Earphones presented by FYI Solutions.
The winner of this raffle was Jerry Stone, PMP.
Henry Will, PMP, is
currently responsible for a PMO at IBM, working to achieve audit readiness
for the Lender Services organization.
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Career
Networking Meeting – “Yes, You Are a Brand” - 15 Nov 2011
By Graham
Wisdom
Ginny Devine, Career Development Specialist at Fairleigh Dickinson
University, Madison, NJ, gave a great presentation to a full meeting room
at the November PMINJ Career Networking session on the topic of Personal
Branding. The concept of a Personal Brand was first introduced by
Tom Peters in a famous August ‘97 paper [1], and Ginny explained that understanding
and being able to express what it is that you do well, the value that you
bring to an employer, is a critical part of being able to market yourself
and make you stand out from the crowded job market that job seekers face
these days.
Employers have problems to be solved – and hiring managers are looking
for people who can deliver results, solve those problems. There are
plenty of candidates – a hiring manager needs to be able to quickly distinguish
what value a candidate will bring and, once interested, be able to evaluate
the evidence to back up the candidates’ claims.
Car brands clearly convey a message – Hummer, Prius, Mini – we all
know what these represent. We should seek to make our own Brand as
clear as these. A Personal Brand is made up of Attributes, Skills, and Environment.
Skills are, perhaps, the easiest to understand: skills can be acquired.
We learn skills on the job, through training, volunteering, and from our
life’s experiences. Skills are critical, and everyone lists them in
resumes, but it is the combination of skills with the other branding aspects
that represents our personal value proposition.
Environment is the context in which you have worked – a particular
industry or organizational culture (e.g., corporate vs. non-profit, startup
vs. mid size vs. large company, or consulting). Your value may be
long experience in a particular industry, or it may lie in having demonstrated
that you can be effective in a wide variety of different contexts.
Attributes are harder to define and articulate. These are your
intrinsic qualities that might feel automatic, natural and easy for you.
This is your unique way of doing things without thinking too much about
it. So you may not value these Attributes as much as you should.
But to complete your Brand, you need to identify these Attributes of how
you operate and achieve success in what you do. Think about the roles
you play on a team: do you organize, inspire, support? What do your
managers say about you? Go back and read several past appraisals and
look for common threads to help identify these traits. Write down the
3-5 accomplishments about which you are most proud, and think about these.
Another guide is your Myers Briggs personality preference – Introvert vs.
Extrovert, Sensing vs. Intuitive, Thinking vs. Feeling, Judging vs. Perceiving
[2]. Some examples of Attributes are strategic thinking, attention
to detail, leadership, and comfort with ambiguity.
So, to better define your Personal Brand, write down all your skills,
achievements, strengths, characteristics, feedback from others, and then
separate these into Skills, Environment and Attributes. Remember
that Skills can be learned, while Attributes are things that you just do
regardless of the situation. Then set about looking for evidence
for each of these Brand components in your work history, evidence that you
can describe in an interview by giving examples about where and how you
have used this aspect to achieve results. Use items in your resume
as jumping off points to these stories to differentiate yourself from other
candidates.
Ginny provided several web links during her talk so attendees could
research further, including:
1. Tom
Peters’ original article
2. Myers
Briggs style personality type questionnaire
3. Articles
on Personal Brand
.
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Project Management Articles
The Risk Doctor – Choosing The
Right Risk Tool
by Dr David
Hillson, PMI Fellow, HonFAPM, FIRM, david(:@:)risk-doctor.com
The risk process produces large amounts of data that are needed
to support analysis, reporting, decision-making and action. Tools can
help us to manage these data efficiently. But there are many alternative
risk tools, so how can you choose the right one for your needs? The following
factors should be considered:
- User base. Ask
potential users of the risk tool what they need. Consider each user group
as their needs will be different.
- Functionality.
Define and prioritize the required technical risk functions for the tool.
- Process support.
Be sure that your risk process is mature and stable, and then be sure that
the chosen tool can support your process.
- Integration.
Consider how the risk tool should integrate with other tools and processes
in projects and the wider business.
- Reporting. Define
what standard risk reports you need, as well as the ability to produce
bespoke outputs.
- Training. Consider
what training your staff might need to be able to use the risk tool properly.
- Scalability.
Decide on scalability and whether you are managing risk for different sizes
of project and at various levels across the organization.
- Support. Think
about what ongoing support you might need after you have bought the tool.
- Growth potential.
Assess how the chosen tool might need to grow with your business.
- Affordability.
Determine your budget, including purchase of the tool, possible customization,
piloting, data cleansing and entry, training, communication and roll-out.
But cost should not be the driving consideration – you will get what you
pay for and you should buy what you need.
These factors can
be compiled into a “functional requirement specification” defining what
you need from your risk tool. This categorizes requirements into those
which are essential, the ones that are preferred, and optional extras.
You might even develop a weighted scoring system based on the various requirements.
You can then use this specification to screen available risk tools
and produce a short-list of possible candidates that meet all or most of
the criteria. Invite the vendors of these tools to present their tool in
more detail. Try testing each tool using actual risk data to ensure that
the reality lives up to the vendor’s sales pitch. Invite real users to
take part in trials to give you their feedback on whether it meets their needs.
See if vendors are able to tailor their tool to meet your specific requirements.
Be ready to ask difficult questions!
A risk tool cannot guarantee effective risk management, however good
that tool may be. Having a copy of Microsoft Word will not make you a good
writer, and owning a power-drill does not mean you can build a wardrobe.
In the same way, use of a risk tool does not ensure the ability to manage
risk. But tools can certainly play a part in supporting the risk process
– if we choose the right one.
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New Certificate Holders
The following have received
their certification since the last newsletter (through 31
Dec 2011):
PMPs
Aaron Attwood
Aaron Bennett
Carrie Braverman
Karen A Briggs
Craig E. Carey
Jessica Chamberlin
Ramakrishna Chekuri
Steven Craig
Hope DeCohen
Tammy L Demm
David Docherty
Frederick L Ferry
Karen Fischbach
Patricia Ellen Gant
|
Perri Husted
Manoj Jain
Edward S. Klusman
Rajya Lakshmi Koppula
Rebecca Lam
Tom Loscalzo
Narasimman Madhavarao
Leeza Mathews
Wangyang Ni
Paul Odell
Nita Parikh
Sandeep Pathak
Delphine Patterson
|
Michael J. Pisani
Hagay Pollak
Priscilla Quattrocchi
Houda Rabah
Sreeprakash Rangarajan
Karen Reif
Leslie Romanowski
Christopher J Seymour
Jacqueline Sheehan
Claire Leslie Shields
Joseph A Sinopoli
David E. Spence
Richard C Valanzola
Stacy Winters
|
PgMP
Greg D. Geib
Martin McEnroe
Aita Salasoo
CAPM
Clair Stelus
PMI-RMP
Daniel E. Drain
Alan Markey
Pradip M. Mehta
PMI-SP
Pradip M.Mehta
PMI-ACP
None
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Article Submission
& Publication Information
Contact
the news editor, Simon Tsang, PhD, PMP, at editor(:@:)pminj.org
for newsletter related items, to submit articles and to provide
feedback!
Submit articles in MS Word, plain ASCII text, or as part
of an email. Graphic files should be high resolution (1MB+)
JPEG or GIF.
All members are invited
to submit articles, meeting review, or other items of interest
for publication.
For advertising/sponsorship inquiries, contact Raji Sivaraman
(sponsor(:@:)pminj.org) or visit:
- Newsletters
are published every other month: Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov
- Articles
due to the Editor by the 5th of the month:
- Newsletters
will be published via e-mail and on the PMINJ website by the 25th
of the month:
Credits
- Elena Kostenko –
PMINJ Quality Manager
- Laurie Policastro
– PMINJ Marketing Content Manager
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PMINJ is not responsible
for the content or quality of any advertisement included in this
newsletter. |
