The Pmo Podcast

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story presents, "An Overview of Scrum for PMO Managers", presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Scrum is a variation on Sashimi, an "all-at-once" approach to software engineering. What is Sashimi? Sashimi, as you might have guessed, comes to us from Japan and is a variant of the Waterfall Model. To no surprise, the Japanese had the same problems with the traditional Waterfall model that everybody else has had. Given their continuous improvement oriented culture, they adapted and improved upon the Waterfall Model to best suit their ways of doing things. Both Scrum and Sashimi are suited best to new product development rather than extended development. And many development teams also enjoy using Scrum for their backlog of enhancements and new feature requests. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo asks "Do you want more innovation?" For many businesses and project offices, innovation is welcomed and abundant and contributes continually to the success of the or

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story presents, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective IT Portfolio Management Implementations", an interview with Gil Makleff, President, UMT Consulting Group, North America, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Mr. Makleff will talk to us about implenting IT Portfolio Management. UMT founded Portfolio Management concepts more than 15 years ago and has been at the forefront of developing Portfolio Management solutions ever since. UMT's software, consulting, and thought leadership to have enabled companies to manage their project, application, process and product portfolios and achieve superior business results. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo proclaims "Congratulations Cornelius Fichtner." Recently, the Project Management Podcast, hosted by Cornelius Fichtner, celebrated its first year anniversary and 50th podcast episode. Cornelius not only sets the standard in project management oriented podcasting for all of us to follow, he is an advocate and exp

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story presents, "PMO Spotlight: Project Management in Kuwait", an interview with Randy Tangco, Project Manager, National Bank of Kuwait, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Mr. Tangco discusses the state of the project management profession in Kuwait, organizational and cultural considerations, trends and directions, and the challenges and opportunities that project managers face. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo suggests "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine." It is better to fix a small problem right away, rather than ignore or dismiss it, because if you wait until later, things will get worse, and it will take much longer to deal with the problem. And, at that point, it may not be fixable. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding concerns over ASP availability and security. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup solution used by more than 1,000 companies.Request a Demo Logi

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story presents, "Seven PMO Manager Ideas to Reduce IT Costs", presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Often times PMO Managers are involved in discussions and brainstorming sessions along with management and the leadership team to identify ways to reduce IT costs. And after the meetings, discussions, and decisions, the PMO Managers are then involved in initiating, managing, and delivering the projects ideas that were selected. As virtually all businesses face pressures to contain if not reduce costs, provided are seven PMO manager ideas to reduce IT costs for your consideration and to help you in such discussions with your management and leadership team colleagues. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo recommends "Ensure your project managers show up during project overtime." When a project team is in a crunch and working overtime or over the weekend to meet a deadline, the PM should lead as appropriate for the situation. Often times, project team members can

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story presents, "Ten PMO Manager Tips for Project Management Vendors", presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Have you ever had a bad or disappointing experience with one of these vendor’s sales persons? Do you find yourself being rushed or pushed around, not given the information and facts you need, or just not being treated the way you would prefer to be treated. Well, if you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are not alone. In the spirit of continuous improvement within the vendor community that serves PMOs, compiled is a short list of ten PMO Manager tips for project management vendors to help their sales professionals do it right. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo advises "Take care of yourself". Taking care of yourself means having balance in your life. To some it means having work that is challenging, enjoyable, and gives you a sense of achievement; having recreation which is fun, relaxing, and rejuvenating; and having a love for lif

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story suggests "Successful Project Management in Marketing Requires a Project Management Tool, Let Them Have One", presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. It is exciting to see that more and more PMOs are taking a leadership position and making it a priority to, in addition to their core mission, ensure that all those users throughout the enterprise that a project effort, of any kind, to manage can do so. And one such example of these kinds of enterprise users that have projects to manage can be found in your marketing department. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo suggests "Find ways to encourage being on time." Is being on time important in your company? Is it a priority? When people are late for meetings, it impacts the schedule and attitude of others. And sometimes, this pattern of being late becomes a very bad habit. If it is not addressed or condoned, this kind of bad habit can quickly spread to others. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener que

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story presents "Project Management Tips From the European Ryder Cup Team", presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. There is a lot that can be learned from the European Ryder Cup team’s success. Three specific areas of success that very much serve as tips for just about anyone or any team to learn by are presented. First, avoiding risks is not necessarily risk management. Second, when it matters most, don’t bring you’re A game, bring your double A game. And third, play as a team. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo suggests "Speak Softly and Carry a Work Package List." We have all heard the term, "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick". In the PMO world, work packages and work package lists are a project manager’s big stick and can help ensure the success of the project. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding subscribing to The PMO Podcast™. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Se

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story shines a spotlight on Project-ON-Demand and interviews Mr. Marc O'Brien, the CEO of Projity Inc, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. In addition to telling us about Project-ON-Demand, Marc discusses the "On-Demand Ecosystem" and the advantages of on-demand software, and its relevance for project management offices. Project-ON-Demand is an on demand software solution for project management, a replacement for Microsoft Project, and one of the more than 300 Salesforce.com AppExxhange certified solutions. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo suggests "Support Your Ubiquitous Project Managers." Everyone in the project management community knows what a PMP is, but do they know what a UPM is? A UPM is an Ubiquitous Project Manager. They are everywhere. And, there is tremendous value to the organization in ensuring these project efforts are undertaken with some degree of skill and integrity. In fact, one could suggest that collective the value of all of th

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story presents Proverbs for your PMO, Inspired by a Coral Snake, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Have you ever had a near death experience? Or, have you had a real good scare? Often, during or after such an event, your mind races around sometimes going down the path of flashbacks and other times recounting things, oddities, one after another and for no apparent reason. Listen to a collection of 25 proverbs for your PMO, inspired by a Coral Snake. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo remembers Deming. Allow quality to be a consideration. Deming taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management and adherence to process, organizations can increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs. While the triple constrainsts (quality, cost, and time) are well understood and managed in the context of a project effort, often times the day to day management and culture of the organization and PMO can be dirven more by, if not primarily by, budgets and t

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses Project Fast Tracking Part II, MS Project Tips, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. To make the most of fast-tracking, look at the longest tasks on the critical path first. These provide the largest potential decrease in duration with the fewest number of risks to manage. Also, by fast-tracking only a few long tasks, you also have fewer revisions to make in the schedule. Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003 makes it easy to find your most likely fast-tracking candidates. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo shares a few lessons learned from the dinner table. Face the things you don’t like or enjoy straight away. Put them past you as fast as you can. They almost always will be more of a problem and less enjoyable later. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding tips for both justifying the PMO and becoming the PMO manager. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses Project Fast Tracking Part I, PMO Policy, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Project fast tracking is a technique used to ensure that projects are completed within the shortest time possible. When projects are "fast-tracked", it usually means that tasks have been arranged to take advantage of non-dependent activities that can occur simultaneously, thereby shortening the overall project timeline. But, there is more to fast-tracking than just the re-sequencing of tasks and activities. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo advises, "It’s Easier to Listen With Your Mouth Closed." As a PMO Manager, there are a lot of people that need to talk with and have something to say to your project managers and you too. Most project managers are excellent communicators, but anyone can have a bad day. Ensure your project manager’s are the quiet professional types, and not so much the certified know-it and tell-it alls. Talk less, listen and learn more, an

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses PMO Outsourcing, "You Know You Are A Services Addict If...", presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. No one plans on or intends to become a services addict, but one day, before you know it, you realize that you have become addicted to services. Topics covered include five examples to determine if you’re a services addict followed by a few ideas on what to do about it. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo advises, "You don't have to build the mouse trap, just make it better." Many of the greatest products owe their success, as much to improving upon things, as to the original invention. Take toys, for example. Kids have been playing with hoops for centuries, not years, yes centuries - rolling them and spinning them with sticks, tossing them, and even swirling them around their body parts. But, it was the year 1957, that Wham-O toy company founders brought to market the Hula Hoop creating the biggest fad of the fifties and making millions of do

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses PPM Software as a Service, with Christian Smith, VP of Sales and Marketing, eProject, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Topics covered include what PPM Software as a Service is, trends and perspectives, key advantages, and kinds of organizations that can benefit from a PPM Software as a Service solution. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo asks, "What do you see, the problem or the opportunity?" Fifty years ago, Joe McVicker learned from a teacher that little kids usually found modeling clay too hard to manipulate and soon lost interest in working with it. But Joe McVicker didn't see the problem, he saw the opportunity. Hear how McVicker rebranded his wall paper cleaner product into an educational toy for children, Play-doh, becoming a millionaire shortly thereafter. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding the difference between Scope and Deliverables. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provi

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses 2006 Trends and Insights with Dave Larson (about Dave), of BOT International, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Topics covered include mergers and acquisitions in the PPM software market, PMO trends and directions, and perspectives on the PM profession. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo advocates, PMO Brainstorming - Not all great ideas have to be yours. Brainstorming is a great way to generate ideas and alternatives to address issues, solve problems, or prevent them from happening in the first place. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding metrics to justify the PMO and show what the PMO is doing. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup solution used by more than 1,000 companies.Request a Demo LoginThe PMO Podcast™ is a trademark of BOT International. The PMO Podcast™ and its RSS feed are copyright © by BOT International 2013. All rights reserved.

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses Project Manager Performance Assessments That Motivate, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Often, the performance review process is one of the most anxiety-laden experiences that an employee can have. Provided are useful ideas and ten key steps to follow when preparing for, and giving, a performance assessment that will motivate your project manager. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo advises, "Ensure your project managers have a positive mental attitude." Having any kind of negativity in the project or the PMO is a major downfall and an accident waiting to happen. This week's memo disusses how to remove negativity from a project, a project manager, and even the PMO. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding the PMO edict to use Microsoft Project server for all project schedules. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup solution used by more than 1,000 comp

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses Project Management Methodology - a PMO Manager's Perspective, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Provided is an overview of what a project management methodology is, what it should cover, how it should be used, potential objections to be aware of, and organizational project management methodology implementation tips. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo asks, "Is the PMO Manager a Driver in the Organization?" Some say no, and that a PMO Manager merely monitors and controls. Others, say yes. A PMO Manager of course monitors and controls the project portfolio, but that is just one side of the coin. On the other side, PMO Managers are key leaders, drivers, and contributors to organizational excellence. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding too many changes to PMO processes. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup solution used by more than 1,000 companies.

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses Starting a PMO with Richard Eichen, CEO of ROE LLC, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Rich talks about the growth of PMOs and provides four ideas that can be used to start a new PMO or to spruce up an existing PMO that may be experiencing difficulties. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo asks, "Is the PMO Manager a Driver in the Organization?" Some say no, and that a PMO Manager merely monitors and controls. Others, say yes. A PMO Manager of course monitors and controls the project portfolio, but that is just one side of the coin. On the other side, PMO Managers are key leaders, drivers, and contributors to organizational excellence. When a good idea comes along, make sure that it gets knocked out of the park. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question about small projects and if some projects are too small to call projects. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup s

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses PMO Leadership in Requirements Definition, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Many PMOs focus a great deal on schedule and budget, but don't always give the same attention to requirements. Provided is a discussion on the importance of, and how best to manage, Requirements Definition. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo is titled, "Don't get called out on strikes." When a good idea comes along, make sure that it gets knocked out of the park. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question about Earned value Management (EVM). The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup solution used by more than 1,000 companies.Request a Demo LoginThe PMO Podcast™ is a trademark of BOT International. The PMO Podcast™ and its RSS feed are copyright © by BOT International 2013. All rights reserved.

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses Developing Your Project Managers: Five Skillsets to Hone, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Provided is a discussion on how best to develop your project managers and five skillsets that great project managers possess. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo is about, "Telling people what you want, not how to do it." The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding example of measurements that can be reported by a PMO. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup solution used by more than 1,000 companies.Request a Demo LoginThe PMO Podcast™ is a trademark of BOT International. The PMO Podcast™ and its RSS feed are copyright © by BOT International 2013. All rights reserved.

This week The PMO Podcast™ Featured Story discusses PMO Mergers: Five Critical Success Factors, presented by Mark Perry (about Mark), host of The PMO Podcast™. Provided is an interview with Sarah Jane Sanders, PMO Practice, BOT International. Sarah Jane discusses PMO Mergers, a topic that may befall upon a PMO at any time. The PMO Podcast™ Points Memo discusses, "Two Kinds of Mistakes." Most mistakes are unintended, but there is another category of mistakes that can be quite deliberate. Hear more about these two types of mistakes an dhow to deal with them. The PMO Podcast™ Mailbag answers a listener question regarding managing difficult projects. The PMO Podcast™ is sponsored by BOT International, the provider of Processes On Demand, a PMO Setup solution used by more than 1,000 companies.Request a Demo LoginThe PMO Podcast™ is a trademark of BOT International. The PMO Podcast™ and its RSS feed are copyright © by BOT International 2013. All rights reserved.