The International Community for Project Managers (ICPM)

"Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day." --Zen Proverb

As with most Zen proverbs, the quote above is both complicated and simple. The concept is beautiful in its simplicity.  You can benefit by learning something new every day.  You can benefit by letting go of memories and beliefs that are not serving you.

How is this complicated?

Question: How can you spot profitability leaks and cost overruns in technology projects before your peers – and then fix them? 

Answer: You can do it the hard way or the easy way. The path you choose depends to some degree on the consequences of failure and your budget.

 

Introduction:  Yes, History does repeat itself. One can see it repeat in every project in the organization, unless the organization learns from its experiences and leverage from those learning’s in future projects. Post project analysis (PPA) is one such task in the project lifecycle that provides an opportunity for the Project Manager (PM) to stop and reflect upon the good and bad experiences he/she had observed in the near past, on the project. An attempt has been made in this article to summarize some of the best practices observed in setting-up an effective culture of learning from past experiences, which can save companies huge sums of money.

Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie. This short sentence pretty much sums up the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (the Code). It describes the expectations that we have of ourselves and our fellow practitioners in the global project management community. It articulates the ideals to which we aspire as well as the behaviors that are mandatory in our professional and volunteer roles. The purpose of the Code is to instill confidence in the project management profession and to help an individual become a better practitioner.

Here’s the problem with being a good Project Manager…you begin to disappear when you do your job well. Think about it. Projects need Managers because without them Projects get out of control. Projects that are out of control are highly visible and end up on everyone’s radar. Projects that are in control (schedules are met, risks are mitigated, costs are contained) rarely end up on people’s radar. They just get done.

Here’s one thing you can do to make sure you don’t fade away. Hold a Quarterly Review with the stakeholders that matter. These stakeholders range from Project Sponsors and Executives in your company to those with your Client.  Review project successes, milestones that were reached, and costs that were saved. Review what was learned from troublesome projects and how those lessons were successfully applied forward. Review whatever is relevant to this group of influential people and POSITIVELY stay on their radar.

So, what are some of the things you’ve done to prevent yourself from becoming invisible as a Project Manager?

TenStep, Inc. and EarthPM share a common interest in green project management, and how project management processes may be enhanced to consider the environment.  In conversation with EarthPM, TenStep was invited to review and provide additional thoughts in support of the proposal to change PMBOK® Guide V5 to include environmental aspects.

GreenPM (green project management), coined by Tom Mochal and Andrea Krasnoff, is a concept in its infancy with a goal of incorporating an organization’s environmental aspects into project management processes. It is a model where we think green throughout our project and make decisions that take into account the impact on the environment, if any. It is a way to ingrain “greenthink” into every project management process. The point about green project management is not that we make every decision in favor of the one that is most environmentally friendly. The point is that we start to take the environment into account instead of ignoring it. You might make most decisions the same as you do today. But there might be some decisions you would make differently. We believe that the PMBOK® Guide is a natural next step for increasing awareness throughout the project management community in how to consider the environment in any project.

EarthPM is a collaboration between Rich Maltzman and Dave Shirley and is dedicated to the intersection of green and project management.

Tom Mochal, PgMP, PMP
Andrea Krasnoff, PMP
Rich Maltzman, PMP
Dave Shirley, PMP