PMI Global Congress Atlanta Wrapup

I just returned from the PMI Global Congress and I believe it was the best one I have attended (this was my eighth conference). During the Global Congress I attended several different awesome presentations covering a wide array of topics. Each presentation offered valuable information to help me do my job better.

I highly recommend you attend one of PMI's Global Congresses (next year's congress is in Denver, CO). Attending the PMI Congress is a great way for a project manager to earn PDUs (professional development units), which are required to maintain your PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) designation with PMI.

I have been a big supporter of the TenStep family of products and I rely on several of their methodologies to do my job. As usual, Tom Mochal and company from TenStep were at the Congress talking about their new products and training services. Check out Tenstep's website and look over their latest methodology called ProcessStep. Another great project management methodology vendor is Method123. I use and own some of their products and they make great tools and templates.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) has been busy over the past year, and during that time they have released a few new project management related standards. They are:

Practice Standard for Project Configuration Management – This standard defines processes and tools to help develop a project configuration management system.

Practice Standard for Earned Value Management – This standard helps the project manager objectively identify where a project is and where it is going. EVM methods cover project scope, schedule, and costs.

Practice Standard for Scheduling – A guide to help the project manager build effective schedules, and additionally help to provide quantifiable processes to determine the maturity of a schedule.

Also, PMI has made updates to existing standards, which are:

Project Manager Competency Development Framework – 2nd edition

Combined Standards Glossary – 3rd edition

Government Extension to the PMBOK Guide – 3rd edition

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – 2nd edition

There were many vendors at the show and I heard there may have been over 4000 attendees. PMI membership is growing fast and interest in the project management profession is at an all time high. If you have not yet earned your PMP certification now may be the best time to seriously consider earning this valuable credential.

The PMI Global Congress is a great place to network with other project managers. I met some great people at this year's conference and plan on keeping in touch with all of them. Your best project management learning experiences will usually come from talking with and listening to other project managers.

Until next time.

ProjectSteps Has a New Look

I'm going to Atlanta, GA at the end of the week to attend the annual PMI (Project Management Institute) North American Global Congress. I always look forward to attending this event and this year is no different. If you are a PMP (Project Management Professional) it is a good place to earn some of your required PDUs (Professional Development Units) to maintain your PMP certification with PMI. Besides earning PDUs, it is a great forum to learn about the state of project management and current "best" practices in the project management industry.

By the way, if you are attending this year's Global Congress drop me an e-mail and maybe we can meet for a beer. You can reach me at sfseay(at)yahoo.com or sseay(at)scgov.net.

Finally, this week brings a new look for the ProjectSteps blog. Do you like it, hate it? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Have a good week and don't forget to have fun!

Don't Be a Victim of Politics

Politics and projects go hand in hand. Team conflict, competing agendas, stakeholder dysfunction, resource constraints, and a myriad of other challenges exist and will send your project careening out of control if not managed properly.

What is a project manager to do? Here is a list of things to keep in mind when managing projects in a highly politicized environment:

Learn to negotiate from a position of strength

Do everything you can to educate those around you about Project Management. Stress the benefits and overcome the objections by pointing to your successes.

Master the art of influence.

Understand that masterful politicians are sometimes helpful to you and your project, but can also be detriment to your project's success.

An effective executive sponsor can help minimize political time wasting events that slow project progress and increase project budgets.

Recognize that conflict on your project is inevitable and necessary. How you respond to conflict will determine how successful you are.

Mastering the art of negotiation is a critical skill for project managers.

Negotiate up front how much power you will have as project manager, how and where it can be used, and when it applies to securing needed resources for your project.

Realize that for the most part internal politics wastes time and is usually not something that people enjoy.

Team commitment and loyalty will help to minimize project politics.

Don't fight a political system you don't understand and can't influence. Leave that to the experts. (Hint: get these experts to support your project if possible).

A good communications plan will help to lessen the politics on your project.

Every project usually has at least one "politician" in the organization that is out to either sabotage it, or will try to ensure that it isn't fully implemented.

Recognize that change (which is what projects are all about) scares some people and your project's deliverables can lead to a loss of power or influence for certain individuals or departments. Anticipate this and have a plan to deal with the behaviors that will surface.

Successful project managers need to learn to "swim with the sharks" and not get bitten. They need to be determined, focused, and act professionally and ethically. Project managers must know how to relate to people and manage relationships by being effective leaders and by applying the right balance of negotiating skills, motivational techniques, team building, and optimized communications.