Welcome to the February
issue of PM World Today

This issue represents the second published on the new website, about which we have received numerous positive responses this month. There is still some work to do, for example, adding links to past issues in the archives section, but the new website has allowed us to clarify who we are and what we plan to do.  The About section of the website contains an overview and set of objectives.  We continue the process of creating a global resource for the world of project management.  PM World Today is intended to be a major source of educational and useful PM news and information.  It is also a vehicle for PM leaders and professionals to “get published”, receive PDUs for PMP recertification, and to gain some personal visibility. This website and publication also provide a showcase for advisors, authors, correspondents, and individual leaders, and for the organizations that help us produce the PM World Today eJournal.  This is what we mean by “resource”.  We hope you agree.  If you need information, want to publish an article, or want some visibility, we can help you.

Once again, this issue is fully new, interesting and full of useful information.  This month’s Editorial is entitled “The Importance of Projects in Outer Space, and Why the World of Project Management Needs to Care!” The selection of the subject was stimulated by a speech made to the Global Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on 26 January by Michael Griffen, Administrator of NASA.  The paper, however, is also based on my own interests, thoughts and conversations that I have had on this topic with several PMI leaders over the last two years.  Why should we project managers and PM professionals care very much about NASA, the International Space Station, the activities of space agencies around the world, or projects in outer space in general?  I offer seven good reasons.  Please read my editorial and let me know your reaction.

We received three Letters to the Editor this month worth sharing, two from Max Wideman, PMI Fellow and former PMI president & chair, and one from Eric Jenett, a founder & Fellow of PMI.  Max addresses two interesting subjects.  In one, Max responds to some issues raised in Brian Kooyman’s January Viewpoints Article. 

Specifically, Max offers an opinion as to why more PMI Fellows did not attend the PMI Global Congress 2006 North America conference in Seattle and how better use of their time might be made at future PMI events.  In his second Letter to the Editor, “On the Value & Possible Usage of the PMForum.org Global Team”, Max suggests some subjects that might be worth discussing among the global advisory panel that both he and Eric have joined recently.  Mr. Jenett reacts to an email he has recently received and proposes a research project in response in his letter, entitled “On the subject of capturing project management history”. 

Two Viewpoints articles are included this month.  Mr. Eric Jenett, a PMI founder, former Chair and Fellow of PMI, provides a very personal and philosophical response to two questions posed to him in December by the editor of this publication: What occurred in 2006 most worth celebrating in the world of project management?  If you had three wishes for the PM profession, what would they be?  We think Eric’s response, “A Reason to Celebrate & Three Wishes for Project Management”, might generate some thoughtful reactions from readers worldwide, but especially from long-time PMI members.  Paul Giammalvo, active PM professional leader and frequent contributor to PM World Today, offered another contribution from his base in Jakarta on the subject of professional ethics.  In his short article entitled “A Challenge for Project Management Organizations”, Paul refers to recent initiatives by the World Bank and the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) related to reducing corruption worldwide.  Paul suggests that the use of Earned Value Management (EVM) can be a powerful tool available to project managers and perhaps the PM profession should promote this concept more aggressively to improve transparency and honesty in reporting on all projects.

Three Featured Papers are included this month.  The first featured paper this month was contributed by Don Wessels, a senior consultant and trainer with Management Concepts.  In his paper entitled “The Strategic Role of Project Management”, Mr. Wessels puts strategic planning in context and discusses the application of project management as a strategic tool.  He provides some guidance, success factors and a good case study.  This is a good paper for senior executives and program managers.

We are happy to include the second major paper on the subject of Program Management by Mr. Russ Martinelli and Jim Waddell.  Their series, based on their recently published book entitled Program Management for Improved Business Results (ISBN: 0-471-78354-4), was introduced in the January issue of PM World Today.  The series will continue during 2007.  Their paper this month, entitled “Conquering Complexity with Program Management”, contains some powerful concepts and suggestions.

Mr. Mark Kozak-Holland returns this month with his eighth installment of his interesting and popular series on “Churchill the Agile Project Manager”, taking another lesson learned from history for today’s PM.  Entitled “Out of the Jaws of Defeat”, this installment discusses Churchill’s decision to withdraw from Belgium during the early days of WWII, allowing his team to cut their losses and fight another day.  The importance of seeing the bigger picture is illustrated for today’s program and project managers.

Our PM Tips & Techniques papers provide a convenient and useful opportunity for project management consultants, experts, trainers and vendors to contribute to the eJournal, with helpful suggestions.  In most cases, these papers are general enough to apply to most projects in most industries.  In some cases, however, they are related to specific PM applications, methodologies or tools.  We offer five such papers in this issue.  Mr. Curt Finch, CEO of Journyx corporation in Austin, Texas, provides some personal guidance on System-oriented Architecture in his article entitled“What everyone needs to know abut SOA: ‘Diving into the Next Big Thing’, while reusing legacy software”.  Mr. Dayo Sowunmi, Managing Director of The Anode Group in Melbourne, Australia, provides advice for PRINCE2 users in his paper “Positioning PRINCE2™ in an Unforgiving Business World”.  Harvey Levine, PMI Fellow and PMF Global Advisor, provides an entertaining and useful article on teamwork entitled “The Winning Team”.  Dan Patterson, Vice President of Primavera Pertmaster, offers some very useful advice in his paper, “Assessing Bid Viability for the Organization – Accounting for Risk”.  Mr. Hannon Brett, CEO of Yon Software Corporation in San Diego, provides some useful suggestions to improve the productivity of meetings in “Meeting efficiently can save you a month every year!”  We hope these suggestions are useful on your projects.  

We include six Regional Reports

again this month from our international correspondents in Argentina, Germany, Peru, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom.  PMF/PMWT correspondent in Rosario, Argentina, Ana Maria Rodriguez, provides an essay on the potencial impact of projects on local communities and economies, using her current project as an example, in her “Improving Local Economies with Projects: An Example in Argentina!”.  Manfred Rieck, International Correspondent in Frankfurt/Weisbaden provides a monthly briefing in his article entitled “How is Project Management life in Germany?”  Mr. Jose Machicao reports from Lima, Peru, in both English and Spanish, with “Project Management in Peru: A Status Report!”  Alfonso Bucero also provides an interesting report from Madrid in both English and Spanish, in his “Project Management in Spain: January Report”. Miles Shepherd, our correspondent in London, provides an interesting update on project management educational developments in the UK, in his report entitled “PM in the UK Today - Teaching the Project Manager.”  Florin Gheorghiu, International Correspondent in Bucharest, shares a personal essay entitled “Project Management in Romana: A Critical Essay & Report on the State of Affairs.” 

We thank these correspondents for sharing news, information and personal perspectives from these important regions of the World of PM.  Regional reports are intended to provide a snapshot of the PM profession in various parts of the world.  This section of PM World Today will continue to grow as correspondents are added in more cities and regions around the world.  This section will also provide a more global picture of conditions, development, trends and opportunities in the world of professional PM.

The balance of this month’s PM World Today features news, announcements, information and stories that have been featured over the last 30 days as breaking news articles on www.pmforum.org.  We hope the inclusion of those stories is helpful, especially those announcing future PM events and Calls for Papers.

I want to welcome Professor Erling S. Andersen, professor of project management at the BI Norwegian School of Management in Oslo, Norway; Professor Christophe Bredillet, Professor of Management, Associate Dean for Postgraduate Programmes, and Director of the MS, MBA and Doctorate in Project & Programme Management at Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Lille(ESC Lille) in Lille, France; and Dr. David Cleland, Professor Emeritus in the School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, to the new International Editorial Advisory Council (IEAC) for PM World Today.  The IEAC for PM World Today was announced on 5 January 2007 and is intended to expand our association with and connection to both educational programs and students of project management around the world.  This team will continue to grow throughout 2007. 

We also extend a warm welcome to Mr.  Ahmet Taspinar, our new International Correspondent for Turkey; Mr. Jose Machicao, new International Correspondent in Lima, Peru; Mr. Theofanis Giotis, new International Correspondent in Athens, Greece; Mr. Marc Zocher, new International Correspondent in the Northwestern USA; and Ms. Carol Dekkers, new International Correspondent in Florida, USA.  You can see the stories about these professional leaders who will be representing us in their respective countries and regions under PM Community News in this issue.

We want to thank our sponsors this month, which include the International Project Management Association (IPMA), Journyx, Inc., and iWorld Projects & Systems, Inc. Please click on their name above to visit their websites for some exciting PM products, publications and services.  Sponsors receive visibility and publicity in the PM World Today e-Journal that is emailed to thousands of PM practitioners and professionals worldwide, and on the new PMWT home page.  If your organization is interested in sponsoring an issue of PM World Today please contact editor@pmforum.org.

Thank you for your subscription, and for reading the articles submitted by our authors and contributors.  We are excited about the future of this online publication.  Please send this to a friend or sign up for a free subscription at http://www.pmforum.org/subscribe.htm.  We really are “Connecting the World of Project Management.”  Good luck with your projects!

David L. Pells
Managing Editor
PM World Today