5 Minutes Podcast with Ricardo Vargas

In this podcast, Ricardo explains that the degree of risk exposure is the composition of the impact and severity of risk and that the definition of degree as high, medium or low involves the experience, culture, fears and emotions of those who are evaluating. He gives some tips on how to assess risk in an impartial manner.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the most common mistakes people make when calculating the percentage of completion of a phase or activity group in the schedule. He explains that when calculating this percentage, we need to consider the total duration of phase or group and the worked hours.

In this podcast Ricardo Vargas pays tribute to Greg Balestrero, President and CEO of PMI. He highlights Greg's dedication and commitment to PMI during his 8 years as the institution's main executive, leading the world's most important organization dedicated to project management. Ricardo also emphasizes the transition of the Institute's new executive leader, Mark Langley, who takes over as Preside...

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the opportunities for project management that will happen in 2011. He explains that in Brazil will be many opportunities in the areas of infrastructure, engineering, energy, oil and mining. Ricardo also reinforces that there is a shortage of skilled project managers in Brazil and that the highly qualified foreign competitors are coming in search of opportunitie...

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the main events of 2010 and the opportunities for project management. He explains that 2010 was a year marked by instability with the electoral process in Brazil and at the U.S. Congress and the fluctuation in world financial markets. Ricardo also talks about the growth of social networks, Wikileaks and the value of information.

In this podcast Ricardo discusses the importance of monitoring and controlling the risks. He says that the risks are "alive" and that monitoring is the only guarantee that the response will be really effective.

In this podcast, Ricardo discusses the importance of feedback during project communications. He approaches the "screen" concept regarding personality and perception and that understanding the cultural and social differences can influence the project results directly.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the Soccerex - the largest convention and business of football in the world, which was held in Rio de Janeiro between 20-24 November. He was invited to attend the event and had the opportunity to talk about some key issues for planning the 2014 soccer cup. Ricardo reminded that the works for the World Cup will be competing with the pre-salt, construction of hyd...

In this podcast Ricardo discusses the project and crisis management to seize the Alemão (German) Complex in Rio de Janeiro-Brazil, one of the most violent slums, dominated by drug dealers and gangs. He discusses the coordination of actions, speed and strategy in the successful management of the crisis.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the production of mega-events from the viewpoint of project management and uses Paul McCartney's concert that he attended last Sunday. He shows the complexity of performing a concert with 65,000 people watching and the activities needed to realize the show. Ricardo made the first version (draft) of a WBS for mega-events that is available at the downloads page.

In this second podcast of series CAPM, Ricardo talks about the test and certification process. He explains that the test has 150 questions and the CAPM credential is valid for five years, Ricardo also talks of the most knowledge areas charged in the test.

In this first podcast of the series, Ricardo talks about the importance of CAPM certification (Certified Associate in Project Management) and for whom it is directed. He explains that this certification is intended to complement the skills of the project team, but can help sponsors better understand the universe of projects. Ricardo also talks of the main functions of the professional certified in...

In this podcast Ricardo discuss the highlights of the 5th Brazilian Project Management Congress that happened in Brasilia-DF - Brazil on October 27th to 29th (#5cbgp)

In this second series about the PMI Global Congress, Ricardo talks about the presentations that have happened and major focus. He explains that the congress brought 2,800 people from 64 countries and Brazil was the fourth country with the largest representation in the congress, behind only the United States, Canada and Japan. At the event happened 80 presentations and one of the most talked about...

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the rescue of 33 mining workers in Chile from the view of project management. He comments that the expectation in realizing the rescue was very bad and the planning of the actions and setting priorities was essential for a successful rescue. In the next week, Ricardo will publish the second part of the podcast about the Global Congress

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the presentation made by Bill Clinton at the Global Congress held in Washington between 9th and 12th October. He explains that Bill Clinton watched a television for the first time when he was 10 years old and before television, he most liked to do was talk. Ricardo talks that Bill Clinton told who is the three people that he most admires and he also adressed th...

In this second podcast of the Resumé series, Ricardo talks about how to present the experience in the resumé. He explains that often the job does not explain much. You need a separate space informing activities and projects that participated, focusing on project management. He also shows the importance of spending accurate information and good and bad experiments.

In this series of two podcasts Ricardo gives some tips about how to prepare correctly a resumé for the project management area. He explains how to insert your professional background, courses and experience. He describes in detail how to put your credentials (PMP, PgMP, CAPM, etc) in order to maximize your curriculum in a selection process. Part 1 of 2 podcasts.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the compulsory change in the power socket to the new standard. He aims to analyze what he believes are the main failures in the project with respect to the reasons for the change, including the increase in competitiveness for the Brazilian industry, and the decision process based contrary of what we call global marketplace.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about projects in services. He explains that many people associate projects to major constructions and tangible products, but a training program or an improvement in the organization are also projects. He remembers that the project is to be temporary and unique and the service sector benefits greatly by using the best practices in Project Management.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the conflicts during the project life cycle. He explains that when the conflict happens in the initial phases of project, the project manager should encourage to discuss the differences and clarify the understanding of the goals, but when the conflict happens in the stages of implementation, monitoring and control means that the project is being poorly managed.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about PMI Career Framework, which is an initiative to provide organizations and professionals with the necessary support for job descriptions in project, program and portfolio management, at no cost. He explains that this PMI service has mapped the professional positions and corresponding skills related to project, program and portfolio management by taking advantage...

In this podcast, Ricardo discusses the definition of the word "project". He says that the word "project" has two meanings. The first is related to the endeavor needed to produce a unique product or service, as presented in the PMBOK® Guide. The second concerns the word "project" with the discipline of knowledge related to projects, programs and portfolios, such as the letter "P" from PMI and IPMA...

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the resource leveling and when it should be done. He explains that this is a complex task that requires a cost-benefit analysis and decision making, and do this task only through software is not the best decision.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the fractionation of a project into smaller slices. He explains that if the project is large you can divide it into phases when there is no dependency between them. He shows the advantages and disadvantages of managing multiple projects and cases in which this technique can be used.