Improve Project Success with Better Scope Management
By Avneet Mathur
Overview
The Project Management Institute Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines product scope as the features and functions that are to be included in a product or service. It defines project scope as the work that must be done to deliver a product with the specified features and functions. Project scope management is defined as the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully.
About the Author:
  
Avneet Mathur
Avneet Mathur works for Zeratec, Inc. which provides utility computing solutions to individuals and companies, as their Chief Technology Officer managing various projects for the organization. He is a Certified Project Management Professional, as awarded by the Project Management Institute. Avneet holds an MBA in General Business Administration, with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Finance, with an additional Master's Degree in Computer Science and Networking from University of Missouri, Kansas City. He also has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from the Aurangabad University, India. He can be reached at for further questions.
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The Seven Deadly Project Sins: Part 1 - Elitism
By Tim Bergmann, PMP, ABCP
Early Greek theologians originally identified eight wicked life characteristics that the individual should avoid lest they be punished in the afterlife. Christianity modified these eight elements into a shorter list that has been euphemistically labeled the “Seven Deadly Sins”. By theological assertion, the individual who practices the deadly sins or who falls into temptation from these deadly sins will be punished eternally in the afterlife.
Project Management has a group of “Deadly Sins” that the project manager can be tempted by. Punishment for practicing these sins often does not wait for the afterlife or the after-project. Punishment is many times swift and career changing.
In this narrative, I want to focus on some of the “soft-elements” of the project, some temptations that the project manager needs to be on the lookout for in order to foster success on the project.
About the Author:
Tim Bergmann
Mr. Timothy S. Bergmann, PMP, ABCP is a highly qualified project manager with three decades of experience managing a wide variety of information technology projects. Mr. Bergmann's experience includes project management, operations management, infrastructure planning and implementation, business continuity planning, customer service and business development. In 2006 he co-authored the best selling “CISA Study Guide” marketed by Sybex. Mr. Bergmann currently manages training development and delivery as Director of Education for True Solutions, Inc. in Dallas, Texas. He can be contacted at .
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Virtual Teaming Soft Skills Relevant to all Projects
By Brian Irwin
One of the most critical aspects of project management leadership is the effective use of communication to facilitate the team process. Effective communication is one of the key enablers of building cohesive teams and is critical to the successful management of key stakeholders. The probability of communication breakdown is intensified in the virtual environment. Consider for a moment that the majority of virtual project teams will never meet face-to-face. Because over fifty percent of communication is nonverbal, we lose a significant amount of message content if we cannot view the other party we’re attempting to communicate with. Significant feedback can be gathered by paying attention to body language and facial expressions while we’re communicating.
Due in large part to corporate downsizing, strategic outsourcing, and reallocation of organizational human resources due to mergers and acquisitions, virtual project teams are becoming more the rule than the exception. When we think of a virtual teaming environment our thoughts often gravitate toward globally-dispersed projects. In global project environments virtual teaming and leadership skills are an absolute necessity for the project manager and the team.
About the Author:
Brian Irwin
Brian Irwin, PMP, is President of PM Team Dynamics in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. Brian has worked in project and program management roles for more than twelve years for companies such as Gateway 2000, Hewlett Packard, and Rockwell Collins. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Management – Project Management, both from Colorado Technical University in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®). PM Team Dynamics is a project management consulting and training firm which focuses on project teaming and leadership development, troubled project assessment and recovery, and OPM3 organizational self-assessment and improvement implementations. Brian is a volunteer for the Project Management Institute (PMI®), serving a leadership role on PMI’s OPM3 2008 update team and as a team member on the Portfolio Management Standards team. Realizing that project failure is often a result of ineffective teaming and a lack of leadership and interpersonal skills, he founded PM Team Dynamics and has concentrated his efforts on increasing the human relations and interpersonal skills of project leaders. Brian has also authored a book on politics and conflict in project management which will be released in November, 2007 by Management Concepts. He is an accomplished speaker and has presented project management topics to a number of audiences. He can be contacted at .
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Managing Team Fireworks
By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
Watching fireworks light up a summer sky awakens the wonder in us all. When fireworks light up a conference room and team members are ready to explode, it can be the true test of your Project Management and leadership skills.
Healthy vs. Destructive Conflict
The first thing to identify is whether the conflict is healthy or destructive. When team conflict is enthusiastic, challenging and results in a better outcome, it’s healthy and a sign of a team that trusts each other enough to engage in debate and discourse. When the conflict is mean-spirited, personal and results in communication shutting down or barriers to success, it’s destructive, and the team needs to get to the true root of the conflict and solve it.
About the Author:
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is the founder of Cheetah Learning, and author of Cheetah Negotiation and Cheetah Project Management. The Project Management Institute (PMI®) recently selected Michelle as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the World, and only one of two women selected from the training and education industry. She was featured in the October 2006 issue of PM Network Magazine, and also graduated from the Harvard Business School’s Owner President Managers (OPM) program in March 2006. She created the origins of the Cheetah Project Management methodology as an Air Force Officer in the mid 80’s. In 1995, she prototyped the concept of accelerating learning using “virtual classrooms,” to accelerate the way people learned and applied core business skills. As a corporate research scientist in systems engineering and adult learning for a large multinational corporation, she later created and tested a one-day approach to teaching Project Management. This approach would later evolve to become Cheetah Project Management, a fast and effective way of launching projects. Today, she is the leader of the course development team at Cheetah and sets the strategic direction for the company. Using the Cheetah Project Management techniques, LaBrosse has grown the company from three employees in 2000 to more than 100 in 2006. Cheetah is now the global leader in Project Manager Professional Development. Her articles have appeared in publications such as: European CEO Magazine, Plant Engineering Magazine, Industrial Engineer Magazine, Control Engineering Magazine, Journal of the American Association for Medical Transcription JAAMT, NSSEA Essentials Magazine, ASTN Network Magazine, Radio Sales Today, Sprinkler Quarterly & Technology Magazine, The Federal Credit Union Magazine Online, Business Quarterly Online American Society of Landscape Architects, ACRP Wire Association of Clinical Research Professionals, American Council of Engineering Companies Association and more. With a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, LaBrosse has done extensive postgraduate work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Educational Studies and with the University of Washington Industrial Engineering Program in accelerating adult learning with respect to meeting core business objectives. She lives in Nevada with her family and likes to rejuvenate in Alaska where you’ll often find her kayaking, golfing or hiking.
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