Project management audio blog featuring monthly interviews with the most seasoned and recognized practitioners, thought leaders, project managers, and executives on industry-specific business problems to help C-level executives achieve success.
Many project-centric organizations continuously struggle with scheduling projects and communicating ideas and objectives across their project teams. In today’s competitive economic climate effectively collaborating project details across your organization can provide you the edge you need to deliver superior service to your clients. In many cases organizations have scattered teams across multiple locations and regions further complicating the dynamics of an organizations portfolio of projects and resource pool. With that in mind, companies are looking to on-demand technologies, like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), to quickly address their ability to better organize project schedules and the collaboration of project details across dispersed project teams.
In this episode, we will examine how improving scheduling and collaboration with project management software can help service companies deliver superior customer service, achieve productivity gains, and ultimately gain competitive advantage.
To do this, I’m sitting down with Mark Rogers, the localization project manager of ENLASO.
For those not familiar with the company, ENLASO provides enterprise language solutions including translation, localization, and interpreting services. Its core multilingual solutions include: Technical Documentation Localization, Web site Localization, Software Localization, Multicultural Marketing, Multimedia Localization, Localization Testing, Consulting and Training, and Language Technology Engineering. In serving clients, ENLASO uses a rigorous linguist selection process and customer-focused account management methodology.
Today Mark will share how ENLASO not only improved visibility, communication, resource planning, customer service, and productivity but also gained competitive advantage by moving from an ad hoc system of spreadsheets, usually not synched, to Clarizen’s on-demand project management software.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Collins Avenue” 2. Interview with project manager – “Investigation” 3. The closing of the episode – “Elysium”
Creating a Project Management Office (PMO) requires a large commitment on the part of an organization in centralizing and streamlining its project activities. Often the creation of the PMO overshadows the actual maintenance and success of its function. In fact, 25% of PMOs typically fail in the third year of their existence. Given this reality, its important for organizations to design a PMO that is built to last. Meaning, PMOs require to have the right infrastructure and buy-in in order to succeed. Implementing a Project Portfolio Management (PPM) methodology that accurately aligns an organizations corporate objectives with its active projects is what keeps the PMO machine going. Without the fuel driven by sound PPM best practices a PMO's chances of success hang in the balance.
In this episode, we will examine how to create a project management office and more importantly, how to successfully maintain it through an effective project portfolio management (PPM) strategy. To do this, we will look at PMOs in a service organization and a manufacturing company.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In Part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Kris Reynolds, who has over 10 years of project management experience and has led numerous projects in healthcare and software application development. He is the Director of the Program Management Office at Macrovision, formerly TV Guide. His PMO was named one of the Top 20 Outstanding project management organizations in the October 2007 edition of PM Network magazine. Kris is a frequent author and lecturer on project portfolio management, PMOs, and project management, and currently serves as president of the Project Management Institute (PMI) PMO Local Interest Groupof Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tonight Kris discusses how his organization created a PMO to develop and indoctrinate a consistent project management methodology and project management discipline.
In part 2, I sit down with industry insider, Beth Partleton who has more than 30 years of project and portfolio management experience in manufacturing and construction. During her illustrious project management career, she was the Director of Strategic Projects for Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; she was a founder, charter member, and president of the Milwaukee/Southeast Wisconsin PMI Chapter; she was Chair of the PMI Educational FoundationBoard of Directors and lastly she served on the Board of Directors for PMI’s Manufacturing specific interest group. Today she will be sharing her insights and war stories around the importance of PPM to maintain a successfully operating PMO.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Greasy Wheels” 2. Interview with Kris Reynolds – “Half Moon Bay” 3. Interview with Beth Partleton – “Glide” 4. The closing of the episode – “Electric Rodeo”
Good project management means a detailed understanding of the role stakeholders play in the organizations they serve. Like most industries, the non-profit sector has it own set of rules that require careful attention when managing projects that drive its organizations. Further complicating matters, not for profit organizations are faced with an additional element outside of "the on time, within budget and within specification" mantra. Non profit organizations need to ensure that their projects adhere to their altruistic ideals while managing a mix of professional and often a group of volunteer stakeholders that are passionate to the cause they represent.
This podcast will examine how to manage stakeholders in non profit projects while serving the greater good.
Today, we sit down with industry insider, Michael Kamel, who has nearly a decade of experience in engineering and project management. Currently he is the President & Chairman of the Board of Directors of PMI Montreal, and also sits on the board of directors of the Management Consulting Division of the Academy of Management. Michael works as a Manager in Strategy & Operations for Deloitte Consulting in Montreal where his practice covers the domains of strategic planning, strategy deployment, innovation strategy and project management. Today he will be sharing his insights and war stories on managing projects and stakeholders in the non-profit sector.
We would also like to remind our listeners that it is not too late to sign up to receive a free copy of our upcoming Industry Report on new product development.
The industry report will provide project managers, engineers and executives insight into the technology and tools to develop, manage, design, and produce products from idea generation to commercialization.
If you would like to get a free copy of the report, which will be published in January, click here and complete the registration form today.
Thanks again to our community, please keep the war stories and suggestions coming.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Perspectives”
2. Interview with industry insider – “44th Street”
Often Project Management Offices (PMOs) are setup in response to an increasing volume of projects that are in desperate need to be managed, prioritized and tracked so that they deliver on the expectations of the corporations they serve. Whether these projects drive the organizations operations or are core to the services delivered to customers, aligning their outcome with corporate goals is key to their success in the eyes of both internal and external stakeholder at hand.
With this in mind, Project Portfolio Management (PPM) as a discipline is the governance framework of choice most PMOs embrace in order to efficiently and effectively manage the limited resources and long list of tasks on multiple projects residing at any given time within an organization. This careful balancing act between resources and projects PMOs seek to achieve, requires the necessary visibility PPM can provide so that prject leaders can strateigcally align their success with corporate goals.
In this episode, we examine how project portfolio management provides the necessary visibility into projects that impact an organization’s success by examining a manufacturing company and a media company.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In Part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Beth Partleton, who has more than 30 years of project and portfolio management experience in manufacturing and construction. Beth recently retired from Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she worked as the Director of Strategic Projects and was responsible for creating Miller’s project management office and for developing a better link between portfolio management and Miller’s corporate strategy. During her illustrious project management career, she was a founder, charter member and president of the Milwaukee/Southeast Wisconsin PMI Chapter; she was Chair of the PMI Educational Foundation Board of Directors, and lastly she served on the Board of Directors for PMI’s Manufacturing specific interest group. Today she will be sharing her insights and war stories around managing project priorities in a manufacturing environment.
In part 2, the Technology Corner, I sit down with Kris Reynolds, Director of the Program Management Office (PMO) at Macrovision, formerly TV Guide. Kris has over 10 years of project management experience and has led numerous projects in healthcare and software application development. His PMO was named one of the Top 20 Outstanding project management organizations in the October 2007 edition of PM Network magazine. Kris is a frequent author and lecturer on project portfolio management, PMOs, and project management, and currently serves as president of the Project Management Institute (PMI) PMO Local Interest Group of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tonight he discusses how his organization improved resource management, capacity planning and moved away from putting out fires to managing projects, all by switching from a system of spreadsheets, word documents and the ad hoc standard of the day to Daptiv PPM.
Special Announcement: Based on feedback from our audience, PM War Stories is partnering with the PMI Montreal Chapter to create and distribute the Product Development and Design Industry Report
The industry report will provide project managers, engineers, and executives insight into the technology and tools to develop, manage, design, and produce products from idea generation to commercialization. Examining key software vendors in project portfolio management, new product development and product life cycle management, the report will provide in-depth analysis of the state of the market.
Additionally, it will feature thought leadership, best practices and customer success stories in key verticals, such as aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer goods, electronics, industrials, life sciences, process manufacturing, financial services, publishing, and many others, to help project managers, engineers, and executives succeed.
Anyone interested in receiving a free copy of the report, which will be published in December, should complete the registration form today.
Many thanks to our audience, please keep the war stories and suggestions coming.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode - Torn Jeans 2. Interview with industry insider - East Ender 3. Technology Corner - Highlight Reel 4. The closing of the episode - Electric Rodeo
If there is any type of organization that can best demonstrate the value of project management, it would be professional service organizations (PSO). Projects are the lifeblood of professional services. From the recruitment of the the right talent to the implementation of strong and sound project management leadership, PSOs understand that the difference between their offering and those of their competitors are rarely on the technical skill sets they can deliver but rather on the reilability to deliver a project on time, within specification and on budget. At the end of the day it is the strong project management soft skills of aligining projects with clients goals, ensuring stakeholder buy in, and leading a project team that ensures a PSO's success.
In this episode, we will be exploring the unique needs of professional service organizations, the value of project management and the relevant technologies that can impact their success.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Francois Bruneau, who has nearly 25 years of experience in project management and information technology. He is president and founder of JGF-IT Consulting and serves on the board of directors of PMI Montreal. During his career, Francois has managed projects locally and internationally in health care, the public sector, national defense, telecommunications, manufacturing, finance, and aeronautics. In this episode he will be sharing his insights and experiences in demonstrating strategic leadership as a project manager.
In Part 2, the Technology Corner, we sit down with David Hofferberth, Managing Director at Service Performance Insight. David has over 20 years experience and currently specializes in technologies that enable peak performance of people and service organizations. David’s research analyzes the services economy, with particular emphasis on white-collar productivity issues. Tonight he discusses how developing maturity roadmaps can help professional service organizations improve business processes.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Values Are My Own” by Dregnote 2. Interview with industry insider – “Value” by Jimmy Targosz 3. Technology Corner – “Maturity” by Melting Paper Snowflakes 4. The closing of the episode – “Third Time” by To A Generation
Setting the priorities of a portfolio of projects presents a daunting task for project managers and PMO leaders. When developing priorities, project managers are constantly battling the influences of internal and external stakeholders that can negatively impact one's decision making process. As a result, effectively managing and setting project priorities requires the ability to objectively measure the true value of the projects in relation to an organizations goals.
In this epsiode we will be talking to industry insider, Alison Mills Long who has over 18 years of project management experience with the last 7 years on the business side bringing up a PMO from scratch at a large credit card company. Alison will be sharing her insights and war stories regarding how to prioritize a portfolio of projects.
Music Notes 1. The opening of the episode – “Risk” by humanize 2. The closing of the episode – “Priority 1” by Bruce Johnson
Uncertainty is inherent to all projects. Good project managers have developed their own strategies to both manage and mitigate project uncertainties that can have either a positive or negative impact on a project's outcome. To further complicate matters, project managers must face overlapping or conflicting views of risk by both the business side and the project team. What separates the good project managers from the bad is the ability not to only plan for project uncertainities, but the ability to manage risk across the entire organization.
In this episode we will examine the evaluation and management of project risk in its appropriate context, as well as how professional services organizations can mitigate risk when selecting an enterprise resource planning system or ERP system.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Dr. Wilhelm Kross, who is a recognized expert in the fields of risk- and project management. Currently he is President of the PMI Frankfurt Chapter and a Senior Vice President with Marsh GmbH, a subsidiary of Marsh - the world's leading insurance broker and strategic risk advisor. During his career, Dr. Kross has focused on IT mega-projects, crisis and turnaround management, and operational risk audits and management assignments in more than 30 countries. In this episode he will be sharing his insights and experiences in the management of complex and troubled projects while mitigating risks.
In Part 2, the Technology Corner, we sit down with David Hofferberth, who has over 20 years experience in the information technology industry. David is the Managing Director at Service Performance Insight, covering the services economy, with particular emphasis on white-collar productivity issues. His area of specialization is the technologies that enable peak performance of people and service organizations. In this episode he discusses how ERP technology can provide business benefits and how to make effective ERP purchase and deployment decisions.
We hope you enjoy the show and encourage you to send your questions, issues, and war stories.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Country” by The Videos 2. Interview with industry insider – “Risk your life” by Flipper Dave 3. Technology Corner – “Integration is InteGREAT” by Csub1 4. The closing of the episode – “PSA” by DynaMic Produktionz
One of the biggest challenges IT departments face is their struggle to deliver projects on time and within budget. But with today’s focus on getting the most out of resources and budgets, IT has to rein in projects more closely than ever before. That challenge has led many IT organizations to turn to project management offices (PMOs) as a way to increase IT efficiency, cut costs, and improve on deliverying projects in a timely fashion and within stringent budget requirements.
In this episode we will continue our examination of the business side of creating a PMO from the ground up for IT projects and highlight a consultant’s best practices approach in PMO creation for an IT organization.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, the Technology Corner, we sit down in our second session with Elissa D'Onofrio. Elissa has more than a decade of experience in project management and information technology. She is the director of the program management office and project delivery at Aviall, a leading solutions provider of aftermarket supply-chain management services for the aerospace, defense and marine industries and a subsidiary of The Boeing Company. Tonight Elissa will be sharing with us her insights of creating a program management office at Aviall to instill a project management discipline, manage IT projects and develop a continual prioritization review process for projects.
In Part 2, we will be continuing our conversation with industry insider, Bruce Moore, who has over 25 years of project management experience in IT, aerospace, manufacturing, energy, government, transport, finance, and healthcare. Bruce is the global managing principal for RCG Information Technology. Tonight he will share best practices and lessons learned in creating a PMO for Aviall’s IT group.
We hope you enjoy the show and encourage you to send your questions, issues, and war stories.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – "Priorities" by RockMan Glenn 2. Intro to Technology Corner – "Priorities Lost" by State Street SnaKES 3. Intro to interview with industry insider – "Predictable Outcomes" by NED ZED 4. The closing of the episode – "Predictable Streets" by Mike Murphy’s Music
The Program Management Office (PMO) can be defined as the organizational group, staffed with skilled professionals, that provides services in core and supporting areas during the planning and execution of a project. As a group that services a portfolio of projects within the organization, the PMO is faced with the challenge of managing conflicting agendas, balancing different project objectives and aligning the portfolio with the corporate strategy. Consequently, building a PMO from the ground up demands a radical change in how an organization manages its projects.
In this episode we will be examining the business side of creating a PMO from the ground up at a services company and overlay it with a consultant’s best practices approach in PMO creation.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, the Technology Corner, we sit down with Elissa D'Onofrio, who has more than a decade of experience in project management and information technology. Elissa is the director of the program management office and project delivery at Aviall, a leading solutions provider of aftermarket supply-chain management services for the aerospace, defense and marine industries and a subsidiary of The Boeing Company. In this segment, Elissa will be sharing with us her insights and war stories of creating a program management office from scratch at Aviall.
In Part 2, we will be talking to industry insider, Bruce Moore, who has over 25 years of project management experience in IT, aerospace, manufacturing, energy, government, transport, finance, and healthcare. He is the global managing principal for RCG Information Technology. In this segment he will share best practices and lessons learned in creating a PMO generally and the specific experiences at Aviall.
We hope you enjoy the show and encourage you to send your questions, issues, and war stories.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – "Wake Up" by Jimmy Targosz 2. Intro to Technology Corner – "Airplane" by Black Eyed Dog 3. Intro to interview with industry insider – "Fortitude (Remix)" by Techtonic 4. The closing of the episode – "Montreal Sessions 1" by whuzzaah
As Project Managers and PMO leaders, we are here to help. Sometimes, however, the people we are providing services to do not see it as help. Let's face it. They are not always nice or cooperative. It's a battle sometimes. And it can even be a battle with your own self.
Project managers must work around resistant individuals. When faced with negative tactics or passive aggressive behavior, see it for what it is. More importantly, we must respond in healthy and creative ways. It is never a good idea to back down, but it is equally important not to retaliate, no matter how tempting.
In this episode we will be examining the business side of creating a PMO from scratch at a large credit card company and how an educational media company, used communications software to fuel its growth and connect world class experts with people who want to improve their knowledge and abilities.
This show is divided into 2 segments:
In part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Alison Mills Long who has over 17 years of project management experience with the last 6 years on the business side bringing up a PMO from scratch at a large credit card company. She will share her insights and war stories regarding implementing change and structure as well the rewarding experiences in using soft skills to get the job done (see Alison's recommended reading list below).
In part 2, we will be talking to Rafe Furst, CTO of Expert Insight in our Technology Corner segment. Rafe is a successful entrepreneur and business leader, having formed Pick'em Sports in 1996 and later selling it to a public company in 1999. He has done cutting-edge research in Automated Software Development and is an experienced web developer and marketer. Rafe is responsible for online and IT strategy and development at Expert Insight.
We hope you enjoy the show and encourage you to send your questions, issues, and war stories.
