ICPM

We’ve beaten Mr. Genius, Ms. Bellows, Mr. Promise and Mrs. Process.  But what chance do we have against Ms. Meetings?  She is very sweet.  As a matter of fact, she brings donuts to all of her meetings.  And she certainly has a lot of them.  Any time there is a question she calls a meeting.  She has regularly scheduled Status Meetings, Team Meetings, Progress Meetings and Recap meetings.  During testing there is a meeting at 7:00 AM to determine the daily schedule, a meeting at noon to check on status and one at 6:00 PM to review results.  Then every hour on the hour she meets with the individual areas to make sure progress is being made.  She even had a couple of meeting to determine why productivity was so low.

The first step in building a PMO is getting the RIGHT people.  Let me say again THE RIGHT PEOPLE.  Without the right people, your PMO will be built on sand and you will have people problems to add to all the other problems that you are going to have anyway.  It’s easy enough to say this, but how can you get the right people, and who are they?   Here are some suggestions on how to go about building your team with the best. 

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

1. Join PMI. It's about $150 between the national and local chapters. Then you get a $100 discount on the exam which is normally $550, I think.
2. Get 35 PDUs, or be sure you complete the PDUs before you take the exam.
3. Fill out the online app. It will break down all of your PM experience into about 50 different areas. Have your referenes updated contact info. PMI does a random audit of applicants, so fill out the info as best you can.
4. PMI responds that your application has been accepted in about a week.
5. Only then can you schedule an exam date.
6. Pass the exam.
7. Status is good for 3 years. To main status, you need to earn 60 PDU's over the 3 years. Then pay again to renew status. You don't need to take the test again.

Constraints are factors that may limit the project management team’s options, whereas assumptions are factors that for planning purposes may be considered to be true, real, or certain. Understand the differences between constraints and assumptions, and be able to recognize examples of both.