Much action since my April post: I presented a seminar at PMI's MegaSeminars World in June, in Orlando - excellent sessions, although PMI reports attendance down due to the economy.
In May I presented a case study called "When Agendas Override Objectives" at South Central Wisconsin PMI Professional Development Day.
I am currently holding down my day job managing four IT projects, as well as a full load of teaching for UW-Platteville, Lakeland College and UC-Irvine.
Coming up - The week of October 12 will be busy for me, as I will present a paper at the PMI North America Global Congress in Orlando, then fly to San Diego to present at a PMO Summit.
In November, I will present Assessment and Recovery of Troubled Projects again for PMI - this was a well-attended seminar in Orlando in June - people had good feedback. So come down to Scottsdale in November for a late fall return to some warm weather.
I am awaiting word in August on my paper for the Asia-Pacific Global Congress in Melbourne - hoping to return Down Under and see Melbourne-based friends from my 2008 visit to Sydney.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
NEW PDD April 23 - Project Management Commoditized??
I attended the Northeast Wisconsin PMI Chapter's Professional Development Day on April 23. NEW PMI is a great chapter (I'd say that even if I wasn't a founding officer) and they consistently get great presenters at their PDDs.
This year, highlights included Dr. Ginger Levin, my favorite professor (and now colleague) at UW-Platteville. Tom Mattus of SSI Inc did two presentations, both of which were interesting and fun to be a part of.
Jack Ferraro's closing presentation was interesting, if not alarmist. In a nutshell, Jack told us that project management is becoming commoditized. I can see his point, and he had some solid supporting data and premises. But, I think he's mostly wrong. Here's why:
You can certainly break many PM functions into components and hand them over to specialists. But except on massive projects where things like scheduling, risk management, procurement management, etc are full-time jobs unto themselves, why would anyone want to?
For most organizations, it makes sense to have these PM functions as well as the project leadership in the hands of one person who has only their employer's interests in mind when performing. Outsourcing key PM functions puts them in the hands of someone with a conflicting fiduciary duty - their loyalty is to their company, not yours.
That's why, when you contract or outsource to another firm, they can have an "engagement" or "delivery" manager, but their is only one PM - yours.
Jack did make a solid point - leadership is where it's at - the most respected PMs are able to bring teams together and lead. The magic happens not with perfect MS Project schedules, elegant WBSs, but with successfully led projects. So far, no one has been able to commoditize leadership in project management. I think that's Jack's ultimate message, and he's right on.
This year, highlights included Dr. Ginger Levin, my favorite professor (and now colleague) at UW-Platteville. Tom Mattus of SSI Inc did two presentations, both of which were interesting and fun to be a part of.
Jack Ferraro's closing presentation was interesting, if not alarmist. In a nutshell, Jack told us that project management is becoming commoditized. I can see his point, and he had some solid supporting data and premises. But, I think he's mostly wrong. Here's why:
You can certainly break many PM functions into components and hand them over to specialists. But except on massive projects where things like scheduling, risk management, procurement management, etc are full-time jobs unto themselves, why would anyone want to?
For most organizations, it makes sense to have these PM functions as well as the project leadership in the hands of one person who has only their employer's interests in mind when performing. Outsourcing key PM functions puts them in the hands of someone with a conflicting fiduciary duty - their loyalty is to their company, not yours.
That's why, when you contract or outsource to another firm, they can have an "engagement" or "delivery" manager, but their is only one PM - yours.
Jack did make a solid point - leadership is where it's at - the most respected PMs are able to bring teams together and lead. The magic happens not with perfect MS Project schedules, elegant WBSs, but with successfully led projects. So far, no one has been able to commoditize leadership in project management. I think that's Jack's ultimate message, and he's right on.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Been a long time...
Wow - I haven't posted since mid-December. This coincides with the start of some Tectonic changes in my personal life and the ramp-up of a lot of volume in my professional life, so it all adds up.
An update: I am currently teaching courses for UW-Platteville, Lakeland College and UC-Irvine Extension. I am developing a new course for an interesting new PM program at UC-Irvine focused on project management for the life sciences.
I presented on effective time management for managers of multiple projects at NEW-PMI a couple of weeks ago, and will be presenting at Madison PMI's Professional Development Day in April. Got an invitation last week to present at the PMI North America Global Conference in October, which is sweet!
Doctoral work is on hold for a few weeks while I focus on teaching, course development and challenging project work at my primary job. I'll hopefully be back with something insighful here very soon!
An update: I am currently teaching courses for UW-Platteville, Lakeland College and UC-Irvine Extension. I am developing a new course for an interesting new PM program at UC-Irvine focused on project management for the life sciences.
I presented on effective time management for managers of multiple projects at NEW-PMI a couple of weeks ago, and will be presenting at Madison PMI's Professional Development Day in April. Got an invitation last week to present at the PMI North America Global Conference in October, which is sweet!
Doctoral work is on hold for a few weeks while I focus on teaching, course development and challenging project work at my primary job. I'll hopefully be back with something insighful here very soon!
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