Project Management Best Practices

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One of the key professional responsibilities of a project manager is contributing to the project management knowledge base. What does this mean?

In a nutshell, don’t keep your knowledge and experience locked in your brain. Share it!! 

• Share knowledge
• Research
• Build the capabilities of colleagues (i.e., teach, mentor, provide opportunities for your colleagues and your team members to build experience and knowledge)
• Advance the profession (engage in activities that will improve the overall PM profession; engage in activities that will promote the profession)
• Step up, at your own organization, to champion the value of project management. That is, playing a key role in the growth of PM within your organization
• Always record “lessons learned” at the end of a project or project phase; contribute to your organization’s organization process assets (OPAs). These 2 activities contribute to PM knowledge base and will help your colleagues during future projects
• Participate in PM forums, conferences and PMI chapter meetings
• Write articles

PMI expects PMPs to stay engaged with the profession.

During my time at PMI’s Global Congress in Orlando, one of the questions that came up repeatedly was “how can I get started on the PMI-RMP Certification? What materials should I be using to prepare myself for the exam component of the certification”

Here’s what I learned.

The four PMI standards you should be focusing on are:

1) The Guide to the PMBOK 4th Edition, particularly Chapter 11 (Project Risk Management). Because risk communication represents 27% of the topics on the exam component of the PMI-RMP credential, you should be comfortable with Chapter 10 (Project Communication Management) as well.

2) The Standard for Program Management, 2nd Edition, particularly Chapter 11 (Program Risk Management)

3) The Standard for Portfolio Management, 2nd Edition, particularly Chapter 5 (Portfolio Risk Management)

and especially:
4) The Practice Standard for Project Risk Management, 1st Edition, 2009.
PMI writes: “The Practice Standard can be used by project management practitioners to validate the risk management process being employed in a specific situtation, project or organization. The Practice Standard for Project Risk Management is consistent with the current release of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) — Fourth Edition.” 

You can supplement your study with books such as:

Risk Management: Concepts and Guidance, 3rd edition by Carl L. Pritchard. Pritchard was the Team Lead for Chapter 11 of the current PMBOK Guide.

Risk Management, Tricks of the Trade for Project Managers by Rita Mulcahy. This is a practitioner book with plenty of exercises to develop and reinforce your risk management skills.

Linkedin.com has a PMI-RMP group and a PMI-RMP study group, both hosted by Annette Suh, PMI-RMP

If any of you out there do go through the process of earning this credential, please keep me apprised of your progress and share your experience with the process with the rest of us.

Clearing Up Some Misconceptions About the PMBOK Guide

Listening to PMP candidates, project managers, and students of management and project management,  I’ve learned that there are some misconceptions about what the PMBOK Guide is. Some think that it’s intended as a textbook on project management. Others think that it describes some kind of project  management methodology. Yet others have the notion that it’s meant as a study guide for the examination component of the PMP credential. Some even think that the PMP exam is on something called “PMBOK” (whatever that is) and that the Guide to the PMBOK is a study guide or textbook covering the topic of “PMBOK.”

I’d like to clear up some of the misconceptions.
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I get this question a lot and find myself answering it over and over again, on message boards, blogs and in person. In doing so I’ve come to realize that a large number of PMP aspirants do not understand what the PMP credential is nor do they have have a sufficient knowledge of what is covered on the exam component of the certification process.

First of all, unlike I.T. vendor “certs” and other commercial “certifications”, where the only requirement to earn the “cert” is the ability to pass an exam, the PMP credential is a professional credential. The credential is competence based and, as such, is best described as a credential as opposed to simply a certifications. The credential infers a candidate’s ability to actually perform professional tasks (e.g., Project Management) at a given level. Unlike vendor “cert” exams, the exam component of the PMP credential is more than simply knowledge based. It encompasses both knowledge of the subject and the necessary skills to apply that knowledge.

In addition to passing a rigorous exam, the PMP credential requires a certain minimum amount of documented (and verified) experience in the profession, a certain level of education (both formal, academic education as well as professional training), adherence to a professional code of conduct, and a commitment to on-going continuing education and contribution to the project management community.

Having said that, what does the examination portion of the PMP certification process cover? Is studying the PMBOK sufficient to succeed on the exam?

The short answer is that, if you are pursing the CAPM credential, then the PMBOK can be enough. This is because the CAPM exam is only based on the material on the PMBOK. Nevertheless, I would strongly recommend supplementing your study with at least one study guide and with a good exam question test bank.

As far as the the exam portion of the PMP certification process is concerned, the exam covers a lot more than just the material in the PMBOK Guide.

If you are pursing the PMP credential, then you need to prepare for questions from other areas (i.e., non-PMBOK Guide) as well.
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High-level View of Project, Program, and Portfolio Management

In part 1 of this series, we defined the P3MO as an acronym for “Project, Program, and Portfolio Management Office.” It’s based on the concept of a PMO (project management office)  elevated to cover project portfolio management as well as project and program management. In part 2 we will discuss the relationship between the three components of the P3MO: project management, program management and portfolio management.

Project management ensures the successful completion of initiatives and their associated deliverables within the time, scope and cost parameters agreed to by the end-users of the product, service or result. The project manager manages stakeholder expectations and communication between all team members and stakeholders.

P3MO Relationship Venn - Click on image to enlarge

Program management provides overall leadership and vision to the project management process. The program manager is responsible for delivering value to the community of stakeholders.

Portfolio management aligns the portfolio of projects and other work with the objectives of the organization and ensures that the work delivers value to the business.

The relationship between projects, programs and portfolios

Portfolios are made up of projects, programs and other work. (Other work includes on-going operations, ad-hoc activities and other “business as usual” work.)
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My experience at PMI’s 2009 North America Congress was excellent and, as always, well worth the trip. I met and exchanged ideas with some of the top practitioners, researchers, consultants and authors in the project management industry.

There is no doubt about it. The benefits realized from a sound and well-organized project management methodology based on globally recognized project management standards have been well established. These benefits cannot be overstated. Organizations that make full use of the power of a project-focused environment gain a competitive advantage over those organizations that do not leverage this power. They also gain a competitive advantage over those organizations that publish an “official” project management standard but make little or no attempt to implement it or to make it a part of organizational policy. *

One of the hot project management topics at the Congress was the P3MO (project, program, portfolio management office). Another was that of “value driven project management”, the topic of Harold Kerzner’s closing session speech and the topic of his new book, co-authored with Frank P. Saladis.  An integrated project portfolio management environment (i.e., a P3MO) with a focus on driving business value represents the state-of-the-profession thinking right now. I can personally confirm that this approach is beginning to emerge out in the field. At my most recent client, a global life insurance company doing business on three continents, my colleagues and I recommended exactly this approach and delivered guidelines for achieving this. **

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