PMP Experience Log

I'm getting ready to take the PMP in a little while, and so I've recently gone through the exercise of documenting all of my PM experience to meet the requirements for the PMP application. There are several helpful websites and templates that I found. I looked at a few of them, and ended up creating my own custom version of an Excel spreadsheet for use in documenting my time in PM.

If you want to check it out, click the image below to download it.

Master Plan

In the April 2007 edition of PM Network, there is an article titled "Master Plan: IT executives need to develop an eye for project managers" that I would like to comment on.

The article is mostly based off a study done by Gartner Inc., in Stamford CT, USA. One sad but true statistic stated that 20-30% of IT executives "have a 'dismissive attitude' toward project management". Those are the same execs that suffer "from poor quality, late delivery and unrealistic project costs." I can related to this information from my personal experience, and would venture a guess that when you move into executives in operational areas, the dismissive attitude towards proper project management increases. The majority of IT execs seem to have seen the light and made the realization that there really is value to be delivered by well run projects by individuals who have the right skills to do so in a formal manner.

If I had to guess at a percentage, I would say that more like 40-50% of operational executives have a dismissive attitude towards formal project management, although the number seems to be decreasing. There are still a majority of director and above level people who seem to not perceive value in formal project management. I see the trend towards realizing project management adds value as positive reinforcement for my decision to enter the discipline.

But I digress. Back to the article in PM Network, I found a few points insightful and worth sharing here. First, the report by Gartner classifies IT project managers in 4 categories:

1. Novice - Some project experience, lacks formal training
2. Apprentice - Some project experience, shows initiative towards managing projects, has sought out and attained some formal training, ready to manage a low-risk project.
3. Journeyman - 2 years of project management experience or more, formal training in scope and risk management, advanced scheduling and best practices.
4. Master - 5+ years successfully managing projects, usually PMP or other certification attained.

Only 15-20% of project managers are in the Master group. I would place myself either in the high Apprentice or just barely Journeyman category. I've had a good amount of formal training and several years of managing projects, albeit projects managed without knowledge of the discipline of project management.

I feel the categories above are a bit tenuous, as I have met project managers who by the definition above would fit into the Master category, but do not display what I would refer to as Mastery skills in managing projects. The last box in the article goes into five characteristics of masters that I feel are much more accurate:

1. Diplomacy - ability to manage the business relationships effectively
   
2. Strategic Vision - ability to see the big picture and eliminate "silo paradigms"
   
3. Policy Responsibility - seek process improvements and question existing policy constraints
   
4. Collaboration - cross-functional leadership skills
   
5. Risk Management - advanced risk management goes beyond a risk management plan checklist

I would like to add a few to this list:

1. Effective Planning - see my previous post on Alpha Project Managers and how they spend twice as much time planning as non-alphas.
2. Superior Communication - Again a reference to Alpha PM's - This goes with diplomacy and collaboration, but everyone knows the successful project management comes mostly from excellent communication.
3. Decisiveness - the ability to make tough decisions quickly and stick to your guns
4. Conciseness - the ability to drop pretenses and execute. Many junior project managers I know seem to throw around a lot of jargon in meetings to try and wow those not educated in the discipline. Masters I have worked with drop the unnecessary, speak on the client's level, and get to the point.

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Traits of Alpha Project Managers

In the February issue of PM Network, the PMI's monthly magazine, there is a great article titled "Are you an Alpha?" It's about Andy Crowe's book, Alpha Project Managers: What the Top 2% Know That Everyone Else Does Not".

This is awesome content, especially for an aspiring project manager like myself. 8 key areas were identified where alpha project managers shine:

1. Attitude and belief
2. Communication
3. Alignment with the organization
4. Approach and organization - twice as much time planning as non-alphas
5. Priority management skills
   
6. Issue Management
7. Relationships and conflict
8. Leadership

I already knew the majority of this based on my experiences, reading, and just talking with project managers. The one thing that blew me away was that alpha project managers spend twice as much time on planning as non-alphas, although both think it's about the same importance.

So why do the alphas get to spend twice as much time planning? Is it because they are good enough at handling upper management and sponsors to assert the need for it, while lesser project managers fold when their time is cut back? Or is it more that non-alpha project managers just want to dive into the doing too early? If you're reading this, leave a comment and tell me what you think.

PMI Member Forum Response- Critical Chain

I responded to a question on the PMI member forums that I wanted to share:

Subject: Critical Chain Project Management

Does anyone have experience with this PM approach/toolset. I have run across some people proclaiming it as the savior of project management (unfortunately, the biggest proponent I met seemed to think that a Project Plan is all there is to Project Management and expressed enough negativity regarding PMI and the PMP designation that I found it hard to give credence to the validity of his information).

I am interested in any validation of its effectiveness beyond anecdotal evidence.

RE: Critical Chain Project Management
Posted by Joshua Nankivel on 01/18/2007

I personally have not had the opportunity to implement critical chain on anything except very small projects. I can give you some good resources however, citing individuals and organizations that have had success with critical chain project management.

1. The PM Podcast Episode #57. - I don't recall specific examples Alan cited on the show, but I might be wrong. You may be able to contact Alan Elder at the email address listed on Cornelius' site directly for some direction.
2. The Critical Chain Yahoo Group - has a lot of active contributors who utilize critical chain on a daily basis
3. This whitepaper from Boeing can be downloaded upon request, I requested and read it and it's a really great overview of how critical chain was used in a real project. Very well written.
4. More case studies
5. Yet another case study

I would add that I have run into some people/articles that seem to be overly confident in critical chain. I think it has great potential, but it's only a piece of the puzzle. I look forward to using it myself on larger projects in the future.

Also, one of the things I post fairly frequently about on my blog is critical chain project management. If you're interested in critical chain even the broader scope of project management in general, I'd (of course) suggest it!

Cheers!

Josh Nankivel

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