How to Improve Project Sponsorship
By Alfonso Bucero, DEA, PMP
Many organizations do not spend enough time training executive sponsors and explaining their expected role and responsibilities in the project and towards project management.
Some years ago, I worked as a PMO manager for a multinational company in which business managers were assigned as project sponsors for the whole project life cycle. Results were not very good because project managers often felt alone when dealing with customers.
As a solution, I organized a workshop meeting with the project sponsors. I asked some questions to find out the level of knowledge they had about their projects. Seventy percent of them did not know the accurate project status and fifty percent never visited the project customer site. Most of the sponsors did not know much about their projects at all
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Alfonso Bucero
Author
Mr. Alfonso Bucero, PMP, is an International Correspondent for PMForum.org in Madrid, Spain. Mr. Bucero is also founder and Managing Partner of BUCERO PM Consulting. He previously managed the office in Spain for the International Institute for Learning (IIL) for two years, and was a Senior Project Manager at Hewlett-Packard Spain (Madrid Office) for thirteen years. Alfonso is an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI®), of the ALI (Asociación de Licenciados, Ingenieros y Doctores en Informática), and of the Spanish Project Management Association, AEIPRO (afíliate member asociación of the International Project Management Association, IPMA). Alfonso was the founder, sponsor and President of the PMI Barcelona, Spain Chapter until April 2005, and he is an IPMA Assessor. He belongs to the LIAG (Leadership Institute Advisory Group) of PMI. Alfonso has a Computer Science Engineering degree from Universidad Politécnica in Madrid, and is now studying for his Ph.D. in “Project Management”. He has 28 years of practical experience and has managed and consulted on projects in different countries throughout Europe. Mr. Bucero can be contacted at alfonso.bucero@abucero.com.
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The Technical Support Project:
How to Create a Winning Team, Part 1
By Randy Miller, Director of Services, Journyx
I have been manager of technical support at my company, Journyx, for seven years, and as such, I can say that creating a winning team was one of the most significant projects I have ever had to complete. When I started, we had disgruntled customers in all different directions, but no more. I learned a lot along the way, and in retrospect, I see things that should have been done sooner as well as things that shouldn’t have been done at all. Consequently, in this three-part series I will outline effective methods for change and improvement within your technical support department.
Communication and Planning
You might compare technical support to a team of jugglers. It requires a lot of communication and teamwork to be able to handle flying bowling balls, knives, flaming batons and pianos. For instance, you will need to know when a baton or knife is heading your way, or who will be able to catch the piano. There are three big processes to put in place in order to facilitate the communication required to do this juggling.
Randy Miller
Author
Randy Miller has 11 years of customer-focused experience in sales and services delivery. Prior to joining Journyx in 1999 as the first Timesheet-specific sales rep, Randy spent five years in the Corporate Sales and Retail Management divisions of leading electronics retailer CompUSA. Since then Randy has held many different positions at Journyx, including: Sales Engineer, Trainer, Consultant, Product Manager, Support Team Manager, and Implementation Manager for Enterprise Accounts. Randy has personally managed development and implementation efforts for many of the company's largest customers and is a co-holder of several Journyx patents. Randy was named Director of Services in 2005. Randy can be reached at randy@journyx.com
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Business in a Knapsack - Can you run your projects
when you’re on the run?
By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP®
Business on the go is part of our lives today. Whether you’re running a business or you’re running a project when you’re on the go, don’t mistake mobility for absence. When you’re not there in person, you need to be more effective at being there virtually. That means you have to sharpen your communication skills like a pro. Most of us think first about the technology tools in our knapsack and forget about the invisible tools – until there’s a problem. Communication is one of those invisible tools that every business needs to hone – especially in a virtual world.
Here are Six Keys to Clear Communication in a Virtual World
About the Author:
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is the founder and Chief Cheetah of Cheetah Learning. An international expert on accelerated learning and Project Management, she has grown Cheetah Learning into the market leader for Project Management training and professional development. In 2006, The Project Management Institute, www.pmi.org, selected Michelle as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the World, and only one of two women selected from the training and education industry. With a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, LaBrosse has done extensive postgraduate work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Educational Studies and with the University of Washington Industrial Engineering Program in accelerating adult learning with respect to meeting core business objectives. Michelle is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Owner & President Management program for entrepreneurs, and is the author of Cheetah Project Management and Cheetah Negotiations.
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Risk Management – Need it or Want it?
By Avneet Mathur
The PMBOK defines Risk Management as “The systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risk”. That being said, what is project risk? A project risk is an event that, if it occurs, causes either a positive or negative impact on a project. Not to be confused with issue management, which addresses those factors that are already causing impacts, risk management is about identifying potential risks and mitigating or managing them.
Elements of Risk Management
The purpose of risk management is to identify, address, and eliminate sources of risk before they become threats to successful completion of a project. Risks can be addressed at any of several levels.
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Confrontation — addressing risks only after they have become problems. Also called crisis management.
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Reaction — Detect and react to risks quickly, but only after they have occurred.
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Mitigation — Plan ahead of time to provide resources to cover risks if they occur, but do nothing to eliminate them in the first place.
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Prevention—Implement and execute a plan as part of the software project to identify risks and prevent them from becoming problems.
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Elimination —Identify and eliminate factors that make it possible for risks to exist at all.
A good project manager addresses schedule risks at levels 4 and 5 rather than at levels 1 through 3. The project is heading for failure if a project managers daily activity is addressing risks at level 1, 2, or 3.
About the Author:
 
Avneet Mathur
Avneet Mathur works for Zeratec, Inc. which provides utility computing solutions to individuals and companies, as their Chief Technology Officer managing various projects for the organization. He is a Certified Project Management Professional, as awarded by the Project Management Institute. Avneet holds an MBA in General Business Administration, with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Finance, with an additional Master's Degree in Computer Science and Networking from University of Missouri, Kansas City. He also has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from the Aurangabad University, India. He can be contacted at Avneet_mathur@hotmail.com.
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