PM Point of View

When you think of Project Management, do the terms Marketing and Branding come to mind? Maybe they should. In order to survive in today's fast-paced environment, with its accelerated rate of change, organizations need to pay attention to staying connected and staying relevant. PMs are well positioned to evaluate external perceptions as well as pick up on internal cues that can be indicators of the...

Project management is a system designed by humans for humans. Over the course of a prescribed length of time, teams of humans work together to create a process or a product. The closer the process hones to a human operating system (taking into the account variations in wiring of each individual), the more efficient it will be. In this episode of PM Point of View®, three experts in the areas of neu...

What's different about managing projects in the Federal Government vs the private sector? For one thing, you have more stakeholders, more rules and restrictions. There is oversight from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Government Accounting Office (GAO), not to mention shifting mandates from Congress. Government projects often take the longer view, and extend over many years. In t...

Every day we hear about another cyber attack. Another virus that we have to guard against. Defending our digital infrastructure is an ongoing and top priority for every organization. It must also be incorporated into every project, from inception to close-out. In this episode, host, Kendall Lott, convenes a round table of experts to discuss best practices to safeguard your project from digital pre...

When managing millennials do the old rules still apply? (Think servant leader for starters.) What exactly is the science behind effective techniques for team motivation? Need some handy tips for conflict resolution or negotiation? Something you might want to try: approaching change management by first assessing what is actually good in the present state. These topics and more are covered in the se...

Do the members of your project team communicate effectively? How well do they really trust one another? What do we mean when we say feedback, and what exactly is a "feedback culture"? What's the difference between observed behaviors and drivers? In this - the second episode on Psychometrics - host Kendall Lott gathers experts to discuss the practical applications of psychometric tools. They cite s...

This is the first of three episodes featuring highlights from the University of Maryland Project Management Symposium 2019. Here we focus on two of the presentation tracks: Disaster Resilience and Risk Management. Topics covered are Post Disaster Project Management ; Stepping Safely into the Unknown - Project Management in a VUCA Environment ; Carbon Neutrality, Resiliency, Program Management ; Th...

When you're managing a digital project, you need a framework that's so nimble, even Agile might not provide sufficient flexibility. As technology advances at an unrelenting clip, project managers working in the realm of digital products - websites, apps, etc. - are facing a new range of challenges. In this episode of PM Point of View, host Kendall Lott sits down with four Digital PMs to discuss wh...

What's the difference between preparation mindset and performance mindset? Did you ever consider that accountability should run horizontally as well as vertically? What's the point of constantly drilling on the basics? (Once you know them can't you simply move on?) What does it mean to hire for enhancement, and can one plus one actually equal three? Alan Stein, Jr., a former basketball coach, keyn...

Projects are vehicles for change. The whole point is to add value to your organization and/or your stakeholders. With this in mind, PMs are increasingly charged with keeping an eye on the greater strategic goals of the organization. In this episode, three experts/authors discuss the teachings of their books, and how PMs can (and should) exert their influence to enhance the effectiveness and compet...

A former US Marine/Special Ops commander, the co-founders of Leadership Techniques International, and the director/coach of the offshore sailing team at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis talk about what it takes to lead highly effective, high-performing teams. Project management is not for the faint of heart! Courage, selflessness, and dedication to the well-being of the team are some of the quali...

Know thyself. Then know your teammates. A key component of effective project management is teamwork. That's not always easy when you bring together people representing a range of ages, backgrounds, and values. But there are steps PMs can take to engender a harmonious and productive work environment. Generally it's better to address this issue earlier rather than later. To sort through the various...

Three seasoned Project Management practitioners, teachers, and authors share their insights, observations and what they consider the important issues of the day. Dr. Kenneth Smith talks about techniques and tools and why it's important for PMs to understand the underlying principles of the tools they use. John Stenbeck explains how Agile can be scaled up to the portfolio or organizational level. A...

"Efficiency is about going from inputs to outputs. But effectiveness is about going from outputs to outcomes." So says Charles Chandler, author and podcaster, who discusses his model for organizational sustainability and effectiveness. What makes a project and, by extension, an organization, truly effective and great? You must distinguish between "efficiency" and "effectiveness," and understand th...

This is the third in our series from the 2018 symposium at the University of Maryland's Project Management Center for Excellence. For this episode, presenters and speakers talk about project management in the construction space. Learn about the latest and greatest technologies, such as BIM (Building Information Modeling), cloud sharing, and virtual reality tools like Oculus Rift, which have greatl...

Managing Volunteers is key to the success of nonprofits and associations. In this episode of PM Point of View, host Kendall Lott talks with three Volunteer Management experts on the importance, the components, and the impact of good volunteer management. Listeners will learn about ways that volunteer managers can support their organization as well as their volunteers. This might include a rigorous...

Almost every project involves some sort of procurement, whether it's goods, or teams of contractors. In fact, Procurement is one of the ten Knowledge Areas of the PMBOK® Guide, and merits almost a complete column in the index of the Sixth Edition. Yet how well versed are PM's in the best practices, the methods and approaches of the procurement process?  In this episode, thought leaders and procure...

In the second of our 3-part series from University of Maryland's 2018 Project Management symposium, we feature excerpts from presentations in the Agile track: Jeff Dalton on Agility for Leaders; Jason Dunn on Deciding When to Save or Shut Down a Project; Sean Eddings on The Traffic Fallacy; Bruce Gay on Design Thinking; Christopher Harris & John Johnson on ECM and FIRE - A Framework for Rapid Acqu...

What do you get when you put a Systems Engineer, a Value Master, a Portfolio Manager, and a Risk Guy at a table together? Answer: an enlightening discussion on Risk in the PMBOK® Guide, seen through four very different lenses. This is the fourth in a series of roundtable discussions focusing on the most recent PMBOK® Guide – what's new, what's good, what are the must-haves, and interesting thought...

"Turning Knowledge Into Practice" was the title of the 2018 symposium hosted by University of Maryland's Project Center for Excellence. For this episode, we feature the track on Leadership and Conflict. Five presenters are featured, covering these topics "Breaking Rules: A Rulebook for Improving Your Performance"; "Managing Teams with Servant Leadership"; "Conflict Resolution Practices for the 21s...

According to the Project Management Institute, ethics is about making the best possible decisions concerning people, resources and the environment. Every Project Management Professional must sign off on a set of values: Honesty, Responsibility, Respect, and Fairness. But ethics – whether it's business, personal, or abstract – often inhabits a grey area, where neither right nor wrong fully prevails...

An energy project today might be the development of a car battery that will run an electric car for 200 miles; the placement of wind turbines in an open field; or the construction of an oil refinery that can process half a million barrels a day. For organizations seeking to restructure energy resources and delivery, options abound. More than a project, in energy you must consider a full portfolio...

In the beginning, there was the PMBOK®. Then came the deluge! If you are looking for information on the latest trends, philosophies, and cutting edge methodologies in Project Management, there is no shortage of books and articles to explore. The questions is, where to begin? In this episode, host Kendall Lott interviews three authors of recently published books: Ted Kallman, co-author of Flow: Get...

What does the PMBOK® Guide - 6th Edition say about Quality? It refers to the cost of Quality. And there is a cost to quality – in terms of both money and time. But lack of quality also has a cost. Being able to measure quality helps us to juggle and flex project requirements. How exactly does quality fit into the overall project scheme? Is optimum quality even a high priority of any given project?...

Being creatures of habit, humans have a hard time with change. But resilience and adaptability have kept us going through the millennia. Projects inevitably bring about change – whether its related to culture, processes, systems, environment, or all of the above – and it's the Project Manager who must shepherd the team or the organization through the sometimes painful process. That means dealing w...