Prince 2 Information

If you already work or are planning to work in Europe, you might want to check out what PRINCE2 is all about. Do you really think it's necessary to actually be PRINCE 2 certified?

The APM Group, is the body responsible for accrediting training organisations and administering the PRINCE2 examination scheme. Like PMI, PRINCE 2 also has their new version lined up for 2009. However, they have been advising candidates that the differences between 2005 and 2009 will not be major ones. So, now that you know- relax and prepare for your exams. If you have recently taken your exams, be ensured that the your accredition will stay valid, unless otherwise notified. The 2009 version will only be implemented only after the manual has been published.

The PRINCE2:2009 examinations at foundation and practitioner level will be available in all the languages as it was with the PRINCE2:2005. They are Chinese – Mandarin, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish – Castilian.

Here's the special offer for the Vday- you can actually get a £50.00 off training on any Prince 2 courses that you take up at the-PSO.

Here's what you have to do, so pay some attention now. Email to julia.carton @the-pso.com with the subject line as "Voucher Id- PSO 1189/03- stepping into project management". Please mention your full name, email address and contact number. Only 1 winner gets the discount. So, if you are interested for you or your loved ones please email within March 15. The lucky winner will be announced here. The voucher is valid till 12 June, 2009.

BPUG International Congress - Part 2

Feb 13, 2009 | 1 comments |
So, now that the blog is going places, it's time to let you know more about Project Management groups and accreditions.

Ofcourse after we have gone through some details of the 2 day's of seminar.

Among all the sessions I have heard in the seminar, they are a few which seemed very interesting. The information and the content were great however a few speakers had a charm of their own. Humor sure helps, to lighten up the subject and keep the listeners entertained. The list of speakers can be found here.

Oliver Buhr, the Danish Project Manager working in Germany was full of humor. The audience enjoyed the occasional laughs as they did the subject. Alan Harpham of the APM Group was remarkable in his wit. Alan made sure every speaker in the seminar was at ease while he chaired the sessions.

One of the session that I think everyone enjoyed was Plenary workshop: Discovering your mental cribsheet. It was simple, easy to follow and one of the most interactive sessions of the seminar. While the audience was left scribbling and talking among each other - it was everyone's involvement in the room that grabbed the attention. It turned out to be a great topic to network over at lunch.

It began with an exercise of how you come back from a leave and suddenly realise that one of the project managers is sick and you are taking over the project. So, you can write down the 5 questions which come to your mind and share it with the person sitting next to you. I actually took my original scribbling from the session and re-did it in "paint" so I can put it up here (see picture).

Other sessions I have to talk about includes Keynote address: the 40 minute business bootcamp by Colonel Bob Stewart DSO. A natural speaker, he taught about the necessity of careful planning, risk assesment and what leaders should be. Elizabeth Harrin, the youngest speaker talked about the emerging world of web 2.0. I think the trends of web 2.0 startled a lot of the audience and how they needed to keep up with the younger generation. It was a fresh approach with most wondering what "twitter" actually perhaps did. Funny I thought, it's time our generation brought something unique to the table.

Watch this space, more on Prince 2 exams and a discount voucher worth 50 pounds from the- PSO coming up.

(Click on the picture: Scribblings from the seminar. )

BPUG International Congress - Part 1

Feb 12, 2009 | 1 comments |
The idea of going to a seminar on this scale for the first time is quite scary really but it seemed alright. Thanks to Kate (PR manager for the event) and the APM group, it all seemed very easy.
There's a ton of things I've learnt from this seminar and yes I'm sharing it all right here. Three things you should always be ready with-
  • Your updated business card, so you are not trying to get one printed within 2 days of notice.
  • The right dress to be worn at the seminar (keeping in mind your changing waist line perhaps).
  • Your 30 second elevator speech (I took my tips from here)

Of course your passport.

Make sure to check out the location before and be there on time. The rest is really easy, you just go with the flow of the sessions and the people. However, a new country can be challenging in a lot of way. For me, being in a room full of people almost twice my height was really challenging. My height is not one of best assests.

Conversing with senior project, programme, portfolio managers and authors/experts/trainers could be really hard, specially when you are just starting out. It's such a thrill to just share the space with all of them and frankly most are really nice people only if you can master the guts to say, hello.

The most surprising part was meeting people right there who actually read my blog. Now, that was huge and inspiring.

Here are the websites of organizations present in the information booths:

More on the seminar coming up soon.

(Picture: At the Lancaster Hotel during the seminar tea and networking break)

Meeting Elizabeth Harrin

Finally I get to meet Elizabeth Harrin today at the BPUG International Congress. It was wonderful and overwhelming (as you may figure out from my clumsy expression in the picture).

Elizabeth's talk on how web 2. 0 tools can be integrated with Project Mangement was fascinating and to find her so down to earth was the best part ever.

More on the 2 day's seminar coming up soon.

(Picture: Elizabeth Harrin and me in Lancaster Hotel for the BPUG International Congress and me in Hyde Park, doing what all first time visitors do- sight seeing)

CAPM- is it time?

If you have been thinking of taking the CAPM(certified associate of project management) exam or trying to get into the profession, here are some links that might help you take the initiative and make it hassle free.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

You can download the CAPM handbook here and to know how it helps you in the current job market, read this.

To know more about the certification, you can always refer to the PMI site.

Lovely London

Feb 8, 2009 | 0 comments |

I'm in London and it's lovely.

Yesterday was spent in the Thames river cruise, in Oxford street and dinner at an Lebanese restaurant. It's fairly easier to go around the city if you have a map in hand and have an idea about the public transport.

Meanwhile you can listen to these videos about project management and see what you think.

Flight to London

Feb 5, 2009 | 0 comments |
I have my tickets for London and I leave tonight. The flight's really early which means I will need to be in the airport around mid -night. 

I still need to pack and my apartment right now looks like a complete mess. I need to be in office within the next couple of hours, which means I have to rush.

If you missed out the story about why I'm off to London, click here.

So, stay tuned for more updates right here. 

Reads for the Month

I promised to let you know my favorite reads for the month, here's my treasure box for you.

Project management related reads-

The article is worth reading even if you have to sign up for the free registration. So, please sign up at “projectsatwork”, if you want to get the know how to bag your first Project Management job. 

All the information you need to get into the gig. 

For those of us who need the inspiration- who said you cant be a top-notch professional in PM if you are young?

Articles that Inspire you

Just when you thought, your New Year resolution to exercise more often was failing- this will do the trick. 

If blogging/writing seems too tiring for you, here’s something to learn.

Being alone will help you think better, so stop complaining that you feel lonely and do something about it. 

Lesson Learnt (essentials of PM) - Stress and Time Management

My work week has been extremely stressful and I feel completely burnt out. I have started realizing this craziness has led me to deviate away from myself- the inner me. I have been functioning in an automated mode in creating the work list, getting work done, write reports, document change requests, email clients, fret over problems  and coming back home so late that I almost never have time for myself anymore. 

I wanted some rest (for the sake of my over alert mind) and really felt I had to slow down. I needed creativity and free thinking back in my life. 

I decided to fight out the stress- I read somewhere that challenging your mind and your self brings back creativity. I didn’t want to do Sudoku for sure, my mind was already over functioning and I had to slow it down and relax. I gave my bedroom a makeover, not new stuff, just re-arrange the furniture so it makes me feel different- feel new. I shifted my study table nearer to the window, I wanted some open air and the view of the long stretch of trees, blue sky, natural light and the birds chirping. I changed what was constant in my everyday routine. I will even be lazy today and read what I want to read, listen to some good music, catch up on movies and eliminate too much surfing on the net, tweeting, IM and try to keep my mind as free as possible. 

I always go in for a haircut when I want or feel I am ready for a personal change. Don’t ask me why, I really don’t know but it sure does pick me up. I tried the hair -cut thing but it didn’t transfer the instant pick me up feel this time. Either I was too stressed out or the bad haircut at this really expensive place made it worse.  

So, I found this great new blog  and I started reading it first thing in the morning. Sometimes, hearing or reading positive things you -already- know helps. It re-affirms your belief and soothes you over. Reading some random writings on how you can be happy was relaxing. Happiness is expensive.

I finally get this collection of everyday inspiring thoughts in a spiral bound format which I keep in my cubicle; I flip through it and read a new one the moment I feel I am starting to fret. I like what it says and it calms me down. 

So, I decide to talk it out with the System Administrator. He’s a great guy, insightful, calm, pleasant, non- judgmental and his casual, smiling, shuffled hair look makes him very approachable. We talk quite often; from discussing new ideas to “suggest me how I can focus more” and “how much do you think I’ve improved in the last 6 months”. It’s not about how insightful he is, I think simply talking about some random subject breaks the routine and brings in freshness and gets me in touch with myself that I sometimes miss. 

I think there are 2 major lessons learnt from what’s been going on - stress & time management are two essential things that you have to know to become a Project Manager. You can’t be out of touch with yourself and everyday should be a learning experience for tomorrow. After all Project Manager’s aren’t perfect, how they handle imperfection is as close as it gets in trying to be perfect!

As Raven (Young) mentioned- "Project management is more than a full-time battle...and half the battle is finding ways NOT to let the field take over your life."

(Picture : Google Images)

Interview Questions for the to- be PM

This gets interesting, we have talked about how you can pave your way to getting into the coveted profession but here are some questions that you might face to get the JOB as a PM! 

1. How do you handle non-productive team members? 
2. How do you motivate team members who are burned out, or bored? 
3. How do you handle team members who come to you with their personal problems? 
4. What are your career goals? How do you see this job affecting your goals? 
5. Explain how you operate interdepartmentally. 
6. Tell me how you would react to a situation where there was more than one way to accomplish the same task, and there were very strong feelings by others on each position. 
7. Consider that you are in a diverse environment, out of your comfort zone. How would you rate your situational leadership style? 
8. Give me an example of your leadership involvement where teamwork played an important role. 
9. Tell me about a situation where your loyalty was challenged. What did you do? Why? 
10. In what types of situations is it best to abandon loyalty to your manager? 
11. In today’s business environment, when is loyalty to your manager particularly important? 
12. Why are you interested in this position? 
13. Describe what you think it would be like to do this job every day. 
14. What do you believe qualifies you for this position? 
15. What have you learned from your failures? 
16. Of your previous jobs, which one did you enjoy the most? What did you like the most/least? Why? What was your major accomplishment? What was your biggest frustration? 
17. Tell me about special projects or training you have had that would be relevant to this job. 
18. What are some things that you would not like your job to include? 
19. What are your current work plans? Why are you thinking about leaving your present job? 
20. Describe an ideal job for you. 
21. What would you do if you found out that a contractor was in a conflict of interest situation? 
22. If I were to contact your former employee, what would he say about your decision-making abilities?
23. Give me an example of a win-win situation you have negotiated. 
24. Tell me about your verbal and written communication ability. How well do you represent yourself to others? What makes you think so? 
25. Give me an example of a stressful situation you have been in. How well did you handle it? If you had to do it over again, would you do it differently? How do you deal with stress, pressure, and unreasonable demands? 
26. Tell me about a tough decision you had to make? 
27. Describe what you did at your work place yesterday. 
28. How would you solve the following technical problem? (Describe a typical scenario that could occur in the new position.) 
29. What strengths did you bring to your last position? 
30. Describe how those contributions impacted results? 
31. What are the necessary steps to successful project management? 
32. How do you plan for a project? 
33. What is important to consider when planning a (your type of project)? 
34. What are things that you have found to be low priority when planning for (your type of project)? 
35. What distinguishes a project from routine operations? 
36. What are the three constraints on a project? 
37. What are the five control components of a project? 
38. What qualifications are required to be an effective project manager? 
39. What experience have you had in project management? 
40. Name five signs that indicate your project may fail. 
41. Tell us about a project in which you participated and your role in that project. 
42. When you are assigned a project, what steps do you take to complete the project? 
43. As you begin your assignment as a project manager, you quickly realise that the corporate sponsor for the project no longer supports the project. What will you do? 
44. Your three month project is about to exceed the projected budget after the first month. What steps will you take to address the potential cost overrun? 
45. Tell us about a successful project in which you participated and how you contributed to the success of that project. 
46. You are given the assignment of project manager and the team members have already been identified. To increase the effectiveness of your project team, what steps will you take? 
47. You have been assigned as the project manager for a team comprised of new employees just out of college and "entry-level" consulting staff. What steps can you take to insure that the project is completed against a very tight time deadline? 
48. What is a "project milestone"? 
49. What is "project float" 
50. Your project is beginning to exceed budget and to fall behind schedule due to almost daily user change orders and increasing conflicts in user requirements. How will you address the user issues? 
51. You’ve encountered a delay on an early phase of your project. What actions can you take to counter the delay? Which actions will have the most effect on the result? 
52. Describe what you did in a difficult project environment to get the job done on time and on budget.
53. What actions are required for successful executive sponsorship of a project? 
54. How did you get your last project? 
55. What were your specific responsibilities? 
56. What did you like about the project and dislike about the project? 
57. What did you learn from the project? 
58. Tell me about a time when you ran into any difficult situations. How did you handle them? 
59. Tell me about the types of interaction you had with other employees. 
60. Tell me of an accomplishment you are particularly proud of and what it entailed. 
61. Do you have people from your past consulting services who would provide a professional reference?
62. What other similar consulting or independent contractor services have you rendered? 
63. Discuss how you would envision working as an independent contractor or consultant for us. 
64. What conflicting responsibilities will you have? 
65. What would be your specific goals for this new role as a consultant or independent contractor? 
66. What experience do you have that you think will be helpful? 
67. This assignment will require a lot of [describe]. Will that be a problem for you? 
68. This assignment will require interacting with [describe the types of people]. What experience do you have working with such people? 
69. What would you like to get from this new assignment? 
70. What are two common but major obstacles for a project like this? What would you do in the face of these obstacles to keep your team on schedule?
71. What is project charter? What are the elements in a project charter?
72. Which document will you refere for future decisions?
73. How will you define scope? 
74. What is the output of scope definition process?
75. What is quality management? 
76. Do you inspect or plan for quality ?
77. What is EVM? how will you use it in managing projects?
78. What is a project? and what is program?
79. What are project selection methods?
80. Which tool would you use to define, manage and control projects?
81. What is risk management and how will you plan risk response?
82. What are outputs of project closure?
83. What are the methods used for project estimation?
84. What methods have you used for estimation?
85. How would you start a project?
86. If you were to deliver a project to a customer, and timely delivery depended upon a sub-supplier, how would you manage the supplier? What contractual agreements would you put in place?

Need more tips newbies, try this link.