PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTORING 2008

The formal conclusion and celebration of the 2008 Program was held at the AIM Facility in Spring Hill on 23 October.

Mentor/Mentoree pairs shared their stories which illustrated why their Mentoring experience had made significant and positive changes not only to their PM capabilities, but to life skills as well.

Positives for Mentorees included:

• Developing the self confidence to share PM experiences to a large audience Convincing an employer of the value of PM and "even getting engineers to want to know about it"
• Developing a plan to teach high school students the value of PM as a "life skill"

Mentors gained personal satisfaction and achievement from applying their PM Knowledge and Experience in a part formal, part personal relationship to help a fellow PM grow.

The 2008 alumni endorsed Mentoring as a highly effective tool in the professional development of Project Management practitioners - and would like to see the program offered annually by the Chapter. Many of the Mentors enjoyed the experience so much that they want to be a Mentor in 2009!!

Critical Success Factors for a successful Mentoring Outcome are:

• The Appreciative Mentoring framework developed by Dr Liz E Mellish
• Mentoring skills training through the Initial Briefing and Mid Term Review. For many, the Mid-term review was the turning point – making it a great outcome instead of just a good outcome
• Commitment by both Mentor and Mentorees to meet regularly and complete the agreed actions

Mentoring is a relationship which gives people the opportunity to share their professional and personal knowledge and to grow and develop in the process.  It is based on encouragement, constructive comments, openness, mutual trust, respect and a willingness to learn and share.

The 2008 Mentoring Program is an integral part of the overall professional development services provided by the PMI Queensland Chapter.  As either a Mentor or a Mentoree this program provides an opportunity for Members to enhance your professional skills and to enjoy working collaboratively toward jointly established goals. 

If you are interested in participating in the 2009 Program please let us know at education@pmiqld.net.au 

Evening Discussion Groups

Eighteen PMIQ Members attended the first Evening Discussion Group on 1 October at the offices of our event sponsor Parsons Brinckerhoff with 18 attendees.

After the usual introductions we split into three groups to brainstorm the topic “If only someone had told me.......................” . Group 1 addressed the topic in the context of INITIATING AND EXECUTING, Group 2, INITIATING AND PLANNING and Group 3, PLANNING AND EXECUTING.

From the Groups’ brainstorming, two topics,  “Managing Stakeholders” and “Schedule and Risk” were selected for further discussion and  the group developed some useful tools and techniques as “take-aways”.

See the mind map of the group output.

A big thank you to all who attended the event - from the comments on the night and since the feedback is that all felt it was an enjoyable format providing an opportunity not only to share knowledge and network but also to take home some valuable project management tools and techniques that could be used to make a difference the next day. 

Special “thank you’s” to Neil McCaffrey who facilitated the event, Tom Castor who was the key organiser and John Detering who developed the concept..

We are planning  to hold further Discussion Groups  before the end of the year and in 2009 but rely on PMIQ members to realise this. If you are able to provide a venue (a sponsorship opportunity for your organisation!), suggest a discussion topic or be willing to facilitate a discussion please let Tom Castor (0417 785 235, tom.castor@pb.com.au) or one of the committee members know"

The topic for our next event will be announced shortly – stay tuned.

5 STEPS SCHEDULING TRAINING COURSE

PMIQ has arranged with Melbourne based REP Mosaic Project Services Pty. Ltd. for this course to be run in Brisbane on Thursday 30 October 2008.

This course is now fully booked. If you are desperate to attend, please contact the PMIQ Education Director (education@pmiqld.net.au) to join the waiting list.

For those who missed out on theis course a second event will be held on Satuday 21 March 2009 at the AIM in Spring Hill.

Members will be advised by email when bookings are open.

This intensive one-day workshop will lay out the basis for an effective planning and scheduling practice.  Based on the new Practice Standard for Scheduling published by PMI the workshop will cover:

Step 1:   Planning the planning.  What you need to consider to design a ‘useful’ schedule. Command and control -v- collaboration in the modern workplace. The power of an effective schedule to motivate and coordinate the efforts of a project team.

Step 2: Develop the Baseline Schedule. The foundation for a successful practice including designing tasks and logic, understanding the calculations involved in the forward and backward pass, float, leads, lags, etc.

Step 3: Set reasonable objectives.  Understanding the impact of resource limitations, constraints, risks and variability on the plan.

Step 4: Maintaining the plan.  The power of regular updates. Statusing and updating the schedule to maintain its relevance and assist the project team to achieve a successful project outcome.

Step 5: Reviewing and validating the schedule. Understanding ‘scheduling components’ and the ‘conformance scoring’ elements of the Practice Standard’ and how these features can be utilised to specify what an ‘effective schedule’ should be from a contractual perspective.

All workshop attendees will be provided with a copy of the Practice Standard for Scheduling, a course workbook and references to an extensive library of papers available to assist planners and schedulers develop their skills; and the managers of planners and schedulers appreciate the direct linkage between ‘good scheduling’ practice and the successful delivery of a project or program.

This workshop is software independent. The ideas and practices discussed during the day are applicable to any schedule developed using any software tool.

About the Presenter:
Patrick Weaver, PMP, FAICD, FCIOB, has been a working scheduler for more than 30 years. His scheduling practice has included some of the largest building projects in Australia, aircraft maintenance, engineering construction and maintenance, ICT projects including Y2K and underground mine development.  He was a key contributor to the writing of the Practice Standard for Scheduling and is one of the first people world-wide to sit for the PMI-SP (Scheduling Professional) credential.  This practical workshop distils this experience and updates his 20 years experience training schedulers to provide a framework that today’s schedulers can use to build their careers and that project, program, PMO, and other senior managers can use to improve the scheduling practice within their organisations.