Transparent Project Management:
Giving your customers what they really want
By Myroslava Symonenko, Dimitry Korolkov and Oleg V. Fonarov
Building effective partnership is closely connected with one of the basic and well-known rules of business: you should learn what your clients really need (or help them determine their need) – and do your best to follow their interests and expectations when offering them corresponding products or services.
Of course, understanding your customers is of vital significance at the stage of pre-project negotiations. But aren't we often loosing this perspective once the deal gets to the implementation phase? The key requirements remain essentially the same: you should be able to listen to your vis-а-vis and really understand them, as well as to be open and responsive when you have already started co-operating.
About the Authors:
Myroslava Symonenko
Author
Myroslava Symonenko, Brand Manager at Program-Ace LLC, is an experienced business analytics and marketing specialist, focused on international campaigns and cooperation projects. As brand-manager of AceRemoteProject she is responsible for development and promotion of new IT-tools targeted at PM professionals worldwide. You can send an e-mail for Myroslava to M.Symonenko [at] program-ace.com.
Dimitry Korokov
Author
Dimitry Korolkov, PR-Manager at Program-Ace LLC, is a public relations and branding professional with 8+ years of experience in IT-journalism, business communications and consulting. After graduation from Karazin National University in Kharkiv, Ukraine he worked for several media and advertising companies in Kyiv and Moscow. In 2007 he joined the team of Program-Ace. Dimitry can be contacted at +38 057 71 22 180 or d.korolkov [at] program-ace.com.
Oleg V. Fonarov
Author
Oleg Fonarov is the founder and the CEO of Program-Ace, an independent software house from Ukraine with 15 years of history on regional and global markets. His key areas of expertise include R&D investments, strategic partnerships and visionary IT-development projects. More information about Oleg could be found on his public profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/programace.
\For more information, www.program-ace.com or www.AceRemoteProject.com. The authors can also be reached at info [at] aceremoteproject.com.
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Managing Your Company’s SAS 70 Audit
By Amanda Finch
SAS 70 audits are a relatively new business mandate, but they are coming on strong and fast. If your company provides services to publicly-traded companies (including software-as-a-service), chances are customers and prospects have already begun to ask for your SAS 70 audit report. Companies providing services such as payroll processing, benefits administration, and claims processing, as well as application service providers, are facing the need for a SAS 70 audit.
SAS 70 audits significantly impact your company’s operations and market position; hence, they require careful management. This article will briefly describe what SAS 70 audits are, who needs to undergo them, and why. It will make the case for good project management of the audit process. It will also describe the basic phases and activities of the audit process, from beginning to end.
Amanada Finch
Author
Amanda Finch is CEO of A.D.V Group; a company that helps executive and management teams to develop and execute partnershipand alliance strategies. Drawing on her expertise in application development, program management and business development, she understands the need to minimize "organizational drag" while maximizing effectiveness. As CEO of A.D.V. Group, Finch also acts as director of strategic alliances for Journyx in a contractor role. Finch formulates alliance strategy that is aligned with Journyx’ corporate strategy and develops alliance programs to execute strategy and drive revenue. Ms. Finch is a Certified Project Manager with eighteen years professional experience and has managed projects for numerous industry and government clients.
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Recognition: Key to success
By Germán Bernate
It is year 1982. In Stockholm, Sweden it is about to happen something unusual: A Colombian, Gabriel García Márquez, will be presented with the Literature Nobel Award. He wears a beautiful ‘liki liki’, traditional garment of the Caribbean coast for special ceremonies. Undaunted, he takes the stairway to reach the stage. In his mind, memories of his main work, ‘Cien años de Soledad’, that entitled him to the award, resound calmly. Now, at the honour site he makes his 1982 Nobel Award acceptance Speech: ‘Latin America’s Solitude’
He talks about the fantastic book written by Antonio Pigafetta, a sailor from Florence that traveled with Magallanes in his first trip around the world. The marvelous story depicted is the confirmation of his imagination and of the magic realism that he has taught. The works of the new Nobel receives the recognition of the entire mankind. This fills him with happiness and encourages him to continue working. A standing ovation accompanies him while receiving the prize from Norway’s King at the City Hall auditorium.
Year 1997. In Barranquilla, Colombia, a new star is born: Shakira. She goes from one stage to another with overwhelming success. Every day she strives to deliver the best quality show, taking care of her voice and body language to offer her fans a moment of peace and serenity ¡Huge task! ¡Endless dedication! There is a higher force that buoys her up: fans applause. This recognition makes her heart to overflow of joy and makes her work to be outstanding day by day. She is very demanding with her staff. All of them should be strongly commited to excellence, and this fact makes that, together with their leader, they all get recognition from the final judge: the public. Applauses from the audience are the truest sign of approval.
Read complete paper in English | Spanish
About the Author:
 
Germán Bernate
Germán Bernate is President of the PMI Santafé de Bogotá Chapter in Bogotá, Colombia. Mr. Bernate holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. He is General Manager and Founder of ALMAGESTO Consulting Firm. Mr. Bernate has dedicated 45 years of his professional life to the engineering and software industry in the areas of strategic management, Balanced ScoreCard, and Project Management. He worked for more than thirty years at IBM Colombia, where he assumed a wide range of responsibilities in both technical and management areas. He also worked as a Project Manager at NCR Colombia. Mr. Bernate has managed projects in Banks, government, distribution, communication networks, aerial transport, and retail stores. German has published several books, for instance “El año 2000 al acecho” (2000 Year Coming) cooperates with the Y2K problem. In 2004 Mr. Bernate was a guest speaker at the congress organized by PMI Madrid Chapter, with the lecture “Triunfos y frustraciones de un Gerente de Proyecto en Latinoamérica'” (Triumphs and frustrations of a Project Manager in Latin America). In February 2006 he presented “How to Grow in a Different Environment” at the annual congress of the Association for Strategic Planning - ASP- at Los Angeles, CA. In 1992 Germán won the first award of the fourth edition of the literary contest “Dr. Mariano Zumel” in Madrid, Spain. German is actually working in the fields of Project Management, Strategic Planning and Balanced ScoreCard implementation.
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Spring Cleaning Your Work and Your Life
By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP®
April is a great month for the project manager in all of us. We can look back at the first three months of the year and assess where we are with our projects both at work and at home.
When we think of the words “Spring Cleaning,” many of us tend to think of taking large garbage bags and doing a purge of the clutter in our lives. While that is tempting, the old garbage bag approach is just a quick fix and doesn’t address why the clutter is there. Instead, we want to develop long-term solutions that help you keep your projects moving along and make sure you enjoy the success you deserve.
Here are my seven favorite tips when I look at applying my knowledge of Project Management to the notion of Spring Cleaning.
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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Making International Project Kick-off Meetings Work
By Sue Freedman, Ph.D. and Lothar Katz
(Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series by the authors on the important topic of international project kick-off meetings. The first article, “Mission Critical: Why the Kickoff is the Most Important Meeting in the Life of your International Project,” appeared in the March 2008 edition of PM World Today.)
Chuck Willmer was hired by a German automotive subsystems manufacturer to lead a project setting up a new assembly plant in Chattanooga, TN. His team consisted of several local experts in the fields of industrial automation and facility management, as well as a number of manufacturing specialists from the company’s main German plant. Chuck wasted no time, quickly laying out a high-level project plan and identifying roles and responsibilities of key project team members. After weeks of working intensely with the industrial automation and facility management experts, he felt he had a comprehensive project plan and decided to call a formal kick-off meeting with his whole international team. While he would explain the plan and answer questions himself, he asked his boss, Doktor Dieter Schmitt, to kick off the meeting by laying out the company’s vision for the project.
That turned out a mistake.
Schmitt launched into a lengthy, uninspiring speech, venturing into the company’s history and discussing its past product successes. The general manager then talked about several seemingly unimportant details, such as individual product yields and efficiency metrics. Schmitt’s lecture did little to inspire a vision for the new facility and the team chartered to bring it to life. While the Germans in the room listened attentively, most of the Americans seemed bored. When Schmitt was finally done, Chuck tried to re-energize the group, launching into a pep talk about how great an opportunity this new factory represented and how proud everyone would be upon completing the project on schedule and budget. He went on to introduce his project plan and budget estimates, which triggered a number of questions from the German specialists. Several of the questions were too detailed and hard to answer right away. The Germans also brought up a long list of issues and concerns they felt were not properly addressed. Some expressed concerns that the plan was “way too aggressive” and that it included “too many risks.” Chuck was able to deflect several of these points by emphasizing that none of the issues were critical early in the project, so they would have enough time to work out the details later. This did not seem to alleviate all of the concerns, as a number of team members still seemed skeptical.
About the Authors:
 
Sue Freedman, PhD
Sue Freedman, Ph.D. is a consultant and teacher specializing in management, leadership, and change management strategies for projects and project based organizations. She has worked with fortune 500 and other companies in the areas of international project management, international leadership, complex collaboration, team effectiveness, and large systems change. Recent public presentations include: Management Across Borders” (Project Management Institute, Houston, 2007), “Initiating and Planning International Projects” (PMI SIG, 2006), and “Executing International Projects” (PMI SIG, 2006). For the past five years, Sue has taught project and organizational leadership at the University of Texas at Dallas for the Executive Education Project Management MBA Program. She is co-author of Beyond Teams: Building the Collaboration Organization (Jossey-Bass, 2003) and the “Managing Virtual Teams that Cross Borders” chapter of The Handbook on Virtual Teams (Jossey Bass, 2008). Sue spent 12 years with Texas Instruments, serving as Manager of Organizational Effectiveness at the Division and Corporate level and 2 years as Vice-President of Organizational Development and Human Resources of a real estate investment trust. Together with her Partner, Lothar Katz, she co-developed and frequently co-instructs a series of workshops on “Managing Projects Across Borders.” She can be contacted at sf@knowledgeworkglobal.com
Lothar Katz
Lothar Katz is a management advisor in the field of international business. He has helped many organizations grow their global competence and maximize their international business success. During his 16 years with Texas Instruments, a Fortune 500 company, Mr. Katz gained extensive negotiation, business leadership, and project management experience. As a Vice President and General Manager, he successfully led international organizations across four continents and regularly interacted with employees, customers, outsourcing partners, and third parties in numerous countries. Mr. Katz is the author of the book “Negotiating International Business – The Negotiator’s Reference Guide to 50 Countries Around the World”, a faculty member of the Project Management Program at the University of Texas at Dallas’ School of Management, and a Business Leadership Center instructor at the Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. In addition to his work with several Fortune 500 companies and other clients, Mr. Katz is a frequent speaker at nationwide conferences and organizational meetings. Recent public lectures included “Negotiating International Business” (Council for Supply Chain Mgmt Professionals, Dallas, 2007), “Negotiating and Innovating a Partnership in China” (“Innovation with Partners in China” Conference, San Diego, 2007), “Project Management Across Borders” (PMI, Houston, 2007), “Initiating and Planning International Projects” (PMI SIG, 2006), “Executing International Projects” (PMI SIG, 2006), “The Hidden Cost of Offshore Outsourcing” (Financial Executives Initiative, Dallas, 2006), “Selection Criteria for Global Projects” (Management Roundtable, 2006), “Co-Developing Products in Asia” (MRT, 2005, 2006, and 2007), and “Doing Business in China” (“Building and Enforcing IP Value in China” Conference, San Francisco/New York, 2005, 2006, and 2007). Together with his partner Dr. Sue Freedman, he co-developed and frequently co-instructs a series of workshops on “Managing Projects Across Borders.” Lothar can be contacted at lk@leadershipcrossroads.com.
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How to address the “Gray Areas” !
Tough Questions for Leaders
By
Jerry Manas
“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.” - Francis Bacon
Leaders face dilemmas every day. Decisions we make are translated into real-world outcomes, with each decision cascading into other actions. Sometimes, we mentally frame difficult choices and decisions in terms that simplify them—at least on the surface. We turn them into black or white just to get some clarity around them, yet in reality, they are not black or white, not either/or—they are gray.
How we address these difficult choices—as black and white, or as gray—will determine the feel of our organization. It will determine how people interact, and how work gets done. It will determine the strategies of both our present and our future.
About the Author:
Jerry Manas
Jerry Manas is author of Managing the Gray Areas (RMC Publications, January 2008) and Napoleon on Project Management (Nelson Business, April 2006). His work has been cited by management guru Tom Peters and highlighted in a variety of publications, including Leadership Excellence, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Chicago Sun Times, and The Houston Chronicle. He has written numerous articles and appeared on radio programs nationwide with the release of his first book, which Kirkus Reviews called, "The ultimate case study in effective project management."
To review the Executive Summary for Jerry's new book, click here.
An organizational architect with a specialty in project management and virtual team dynamics, he is passionate about helping leaders create flexible, yet integrated, organizations and teams. Pulling lessons from history, science, and the arts, he writes and consults on principle-based leadership and project management, using the cornerstones of simplicity, engagement, and trust. Jerry is president of The Marengo Group, co-founder of the popular blog site, PMThink! (www.pmthink.com), and a member of The Creating We Collaborative.
Visit his website at www.marengogroup.com.
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