PM Network

Opening Shot

The initiative is the brainchild of United Villages, a company spawned from a class project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., USA.

Feedback

The project manager, being responsible for the ultimate outcome of the project, is inclined to maximize the odds of success. Yet a project manager cannot go against the majority of stakeholders, and when there is a disconnect as related in the story, it often means there are other dynamics at play that need to be understood and managed.

Calendar of Events

17-20 October PMI New Zealand Chapter 2007 National Conference. "Lights! Camera! Action!" Wellington, New Zealand, www.pmi.org.nz

Executive Brief

* Working on a $500 million project to develop Ford's first crossover utility vehicle, the team needed to balance customer needs with bottom-line restraints.

Small Projects, Big Results

Small projects may not be as glamorous or prestigious as their larger counterparts, but they're still important and still require project management. The most common mistake people make when executing small projects is thinking that because of the small amount of effort required, the project doesn't need planning at all, says Roberta Toledo, PMP, managing partner at Alpha Consultoria, a project management consultancy in Mexico City, Mexico. Project managers who opt to cut back on project mana...

Trade Secrets

Behind almost every accomplished project manager stands a wise and generous adviser who sets an example, helps define goals, lends an ear or simply provides a much-needed dose of reality. Of course, finding that wise and generous adviser is often a project in itself. By its nature, project management demands an intricate balance of skills, and mentors can provide the kind of knowledge that typically only comes after spending years in the trenches. Alexandre Rodrigues, executive partner at PMO...

On the Edge

After dominating the U.S. sport utility vehicle (SUV) market in the 1990s, Ford Motor Co took a wrong turn in tracking consumer tastes. But the auto giant was betting it could get back on the map with a massive project to develop the Edge, its first official entry in the emerging crossover utility vehicle (CUV) segment. Designing and launching a vehicle that will define a new category of automobiles is no small undertaking. It would end up costing in excess of half a billion dollars and takin...

Maturity Matters

Few would argue that project management maturity isn't worth pursuing. Maturity does indeed matter, leading to fewer project failures and overruns, better governance and more efficient resource allocation. Consultancy power player PricewaterhouseCoopers took on the issue of ROI in a 2004 survey of 200 respondents in 30 countries around the globe. The survey concluded the greater an organization's project management maturity, the greater the positive impact on overall project performance. And ...

Worldview: Memphis, Tenn., Usa

The city of Memphis, Tennessee, is profiled with highlights on major projects in Memphis. Memphis may be known for Elvis Presley and his former home-turned-tourist attraction, Graceland, but the city is working on many mega projects that could grab some of that limelight. For example, transformed from an old soap factory, the Memphis Biofuels LLC plant opened in 2006 and currently produces 50 million gallons of biodiesel made from soybeans, cottonseed oil and poultry fat. Milagro Biofuels of ...

In the Field

It can be a messy process driving IT projects from idea to implementation-and it was clear Cable & Wireless Americas and Caribbean needed more structure. IT staffers were relying on Microsoft Project Plan and Excel spreadsheets to initiate projects.

Correction

Correction: PMI members in select states within the United States received the Velociteach Spring - Summer Catalogue with their May issue of PM Network®.

My Favorite Project

"Project management skills implemented are essential for the long-term development, and success of the Cedar Foundation's work. However, they are lacking among the charity's leadership team, which is composed of people with a passion for the organizational mission but without a true understanding of how to prioritize goals, identify stakeholders, and communicate and organize meetings."

Stake Holders

On the Move

Despite market fluctuations, the role of the project manager is more well-known today, Mr. [John Thorpe] says. "There is certainly a recognition by the general public that large amounts of money are being spent in government projects," he says, "and there is an expectation to see that procurement or project being managed properly." -Janet Liao

Sea Green

What's being billed as the world's first true hybrid tugboat may hit the water as early as 2008.

Got Skills?

IT professionals with project management skills will continue to be in high demand, according to a November 2006 study of 281 IT decision-makers from around the world by Forrester Research Inc., Cambridge, Mass., USA.

Follow the Rules

"Large information technology projects involve a lot of money, and it's important that the rules and processes in place for managing them be rigorously followed," Ms. [Sheila Fraser] says.

Where Did All the Women Go?

The IT workplace has become uncongenial, Mr. [Tom DeMarco] says. "We tend to burn people out, which is not something that a 20-year-old woman is looking for," he says. "The work is on the lonely side because we spend too much of our time alone in programming." Even in meetings, most people are on e-mail and not focused on the teamwork and social aspects of collaboration.

Best Practices Make Perfect

While nearly all respondents recognized the importance of most of the surveyed best practices, the buy-in or level of implementation was very underwhelming, " says survey author Stephen C.

Down the Pipeline

Although using the Nabucco pipeline would help alleviate Hungary's dependence on Russian energy supplies, the Blue Stream project appears better aligned with Hungary's ambitions to become a major energy hub in central Europe. "Nabucco has been a long dream and an old plan," Hungary Prime Minister Ferenc Gyuresany told the International Herald...

Dream Machine

Boeing Co.'s highly hyped 787 Dreamliner aircraft is scheduled to finally make its grand debut 8 July 2007 at the company's assembly plant in Everett, Wash., USA. Made of lightweight carbon composite material, it uses 20 percent less fuel than any other airplane of its size, reducing operating costs and producing lower emissions.

Shifting Energies

The city began construction on a clean-energy economic zone that will house a 500-megawatt solar power plant.

Hot Button July

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE to dialogue with your project management colleagues. Each month, PM Network polls project managers on a variety of topics relating to professional trends, attitudes and best practices.

From The Top

Command Center

Because combat soldiers are not usually equipped with project management knowledge, the normal tools, such as Gantt charts, were initially dismissed. For all team members to clearly comprehend action timelines, resources and base locations, project management outputs had to be put into understandable operations orders, slides, spreadsheets-and then translated into Arabic.

Point Counterpoint

Competency Vs. Connections

In an interview, Roland Gareis, the University of Economics and Business Administration in Vienna, Austria, and Josh Nankivel, Citigroup Inc., Sioux Falls, S.D., discussed whether it's knowledge or networks that truly makes the difference in a project's management. Gareis said that by definition, project manager is a management job requiring leadership. It's not just about networking. It requires a lot of day-to-day planning and coordinating. He said this is where competencies come in. Nankiv...

Best Of Congress Papers

The Big Event

Missing a deadline on a project is never optimum, but when the project is a major event, it's simply not an option. Be it a conference, concert or athletic competition, the event must be completed by the announced date. And in the case of truly high-profile events, project managers must also often contend with multiple stakeholders, throngs of viewers and a pack of press people just waiting to pounce on any error. That's when employing project management skills can help organizers pull togeth...

Featured Book

Combined Standards Glossary-Third Edition

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE Combined Standards Glossary-Third Edition Project Management Institute, ISBN 10:1-933890-27-4, ISBN 13:978-1-933890-27-2, 105 pp., $19.95 Member, $24.95 Nonmember

View Points

Winds of Resistance

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in search of a western route to Asia. At the time, of course, it was widely believed the world was flat and that a ship sailing west would eventually fall off the edge of the Earth. Although the explorer didn't find the route he sought, he did confirm his beliefs that the Earth was indeed round and returned to Spain as a hero. There were still a stubborn few who refused to amend their views, however. Project leaders are much like Columbus, vis...

To Kill a Pmo

There are sometimes individuals in an organization that will do everything they can to derail a project. These people will advocate strategies that don't work, and will encourage their use, thereby leading the PMO to waste time, effort, money and organizational clout. Antiproject management will often encourage the project management office (PMO) to adopt the following techniques: 1. Introduce widespread training. 2. Launch internal certification. 3. Mandate the use of a certain software tool...

Pmi Marketplace Bookstore

The Practice Standard for Scheduling

Designed for someone with experience in scheduling, this PMI global standard transforms the Project Time Management Knowledge Area of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)-Third Edition into an...

The Program Management Office: Establishing, Managing and Growing the Value of a Pmo

This breakthrough book is a guide to satisfying the needs for improved coordination, standardization, optimization and management of project portfolios and the general practice of project management.