Effective Communications for Project Management by Ralph Kliem is a comprehensive treatise on all aspects of project communications including Communication Process, Communication Models, Written Communication, Meetings, Presentations, Website, Communications Management process and the importance of having PMIS (Project Management Information System). The author has put in extensive research as well as lessons learned in his long career.
Book Structure
This is a hardcover book with 236 pages. It has eleven chapters, each focusing on a particular facet of project communication. Author has used flowcharts, graphs and tables throughout the book to make it easy to read and remember. At the end, there is glossary, references as well as list of figures.
Every chapter is divided into subtopics so that the reader can focus on one topic at a time and grasp it. This also helps in correlating different elements. For example, chapter 'Applying Active and Effective Listening' is divided into
- Project Management Information System (PMIS) Contributions
- Active and Effective Listening
- Two Important Reasons
- Why Few People Listen Effectively
- Four Steps for Effective and Active Listening
- The Most Important Skill
Highlights
- This book is about theory and practice of communications. It defines a concept, describes why it is important and then shows how to implement the concept. For example, in the chapter 'Giving Effective Presentations', author has defined three types of presentations - informative, persuasive, and explanatory; explained when to use each type of presentation and provided outline of a sample presentation in each category.
- Author states that project managers spend 80 to 90 percent of their time communicating in some form. Communication remains one of the major differentiators between project success and failure.
- The book also emphasizes that communication is a difficult process. Planning and goal setting is important for every mode of communication - written, meetings, presentations, etc. If you are not clear on your objective, communication will be vague and will cause more confusion. Project managers are the "linchpins," interacting with a large, diversified group of people, requiring them to communicate effectively and regularly.
- As per the author, Communicating is about people, not about media. Understanding people, their style and preferences for communications gives the project manager leverage for effective communication.
- Technology has made our world much smaller and today's project communication covers global audience. The book has special tips for making a Virtual meeting effective. For example, provide agenda ahead of time, check the equipment, introduce everybody, do a round-robin, do a poll for key decisions and give everybody an opportunity to speak.
- Two most important listening skills are Active Listening and Effective Listening. Four steps in Active and Effective Listening are Hear, Clarify, Interpret and Respond.
My Takeaway
- One of my favorite chapters was Personality Style and Communications. This is applicable for communications in general. The book describes Myers-Briggs temperament, Birkman Model, Color Code, Multiple Intelligences, Enneagram, Herrmann Brain Dominance and Organizational Engineering. Each of these models identifies people in various categories. Based on a category, one can choose an effective way of communication. This can be really handy when you have to communicate with a small group of people. For example, if you have a critical meeting with key stakeholders, knowing their personality will be very helpful.
- Link between Communications and leadership. It is interesting to note that one of the key characteristics of effective leadership is the ability to communicate. Using that as the premise, project managers who become adroit as communicators will likely become, if they are not already, effective leaders.
- Significance of Project Website - How a website provides ready access to information, visibility to the project and also helps to build team identity. Also, it is of utmost importance that website remains "current".
- At the end of every chapter, there is a checklist with a series of Yes/No questions. This can be a guide for planning, a quick summary of the elements as well as a reference to validate if your communication was not successful.
Conclusion
Effective Communications in Project Management is an excellent source of information and tips for Project Managers. Containing examples and checklists that are adaptable to almost any project environment, this book is an invaluable resource that not only demonstrates how to attain effective communications, but also how communications can affect a project's bottom line. It is also valuable for leaders and professionals in general as communication is essential for life in general but in business settings, it is critical.
Bina Mehta
Kimberly Wiefling specializes in enabling people to achieve what seems impossible, but is merely difficult. She is the author of one of the top project management books in the US, “Scrappy Project Management - The 12 Predictable and Avoidable Pitfalls Every Project Faces”, growing in popularity around the world, and published in Japanese by Nikkei Business Press. The founder of Wiefling Consulting, LLC, she consults to global business leaders. She spends about half of her time working with high-potential leaders in Japanese companies, facilitating leadership, innovation and execution excellence workshops to enable Japanese companies to solve global problems profitably
Scrappy Women in Business – Living Proof that Bending the Rules Isn’t Breaking the Law is an entertaining and inspiring collection of true stories of women who overcame the negative voices around them – and sometimes within them – to create extraordinary lives. Gracious but determined, these resilient professionals ignored the easy path, didn’t take “no” for an answer, and frequently swam against the tide to achieve success. “Hanging in there” succinctly sums up their collective secret to success. But that’s easier said than done. We all need a little help sometimes. If you’ve ever had “one of those days” when your co-workers seemed to grow horns, or you were tempted to sink into the icy couch of despair, reading these stories will help buoy your spirits and realize that you’re not alone. Just one of their stories will inspire and energize you for the next sprint. If you’re a seasoned professional, you’ll see some of your own journey reflected in these stories. And if you’re just starting out, the wisdom in this guide will save you a whole lot of time and aggravation. Kimberly will share some of the stories from this book, and some of her own stories as a scrappy woman in business.
We often hear that women don't support each other in the business world, but you'll leave this event with:
- Inspiration, hope and a sense of connectedness to other businesswomen.
- A certainty that you are not alone in the challenges you face as a woman in business.
- A sense of humor to help you overcome those challenges.
- A renewed determination to unleash your greatest potential and be your full "scrappy" self!
Come to a free book Signing event
When: August 17th in Santa Clara.
Where: 3003 Bunker Hill Lane #110, Santa Clara, CA 95054
5:30 Registration open
6:00-6:30 Networking and light refreshments
6:30-7:30 Stories from "Scrappy Women in Business- Living Proof that Bending the Rules isn't Breaking the Law"
7:30-8:30 Q&A and Book Signing
Seats are limited.
The Project Management Office (PMO) is a business group that defines and maintains the standards of process. The PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects.
The PMO is the source of documentation, guidance, and metrics on the practice of project management and execution.
A PMO can be one of three types: enterprise PMO, organizational (departmental) PMO, or special purpose PMO. The Project Management Institute (PMI) views the PMO as a strategic driver for organizational excellence and seeks to enhance the practices of execution management, organizational governance, and strategic change leadership.
PMO 2.0 is the brainchild of Terry Doerscher, Chief Solution Architect for Planview. Traditional PMOs are now evolving into business management centers of excellence by extending their roles in their organization.
Program managers manage several related projects. Projects deliver outputs, programs create outcomes. Having a program manager helps exploit economies of scale and reduce coordination costs and risks. The program manager is concerned with the aggregate result or end-state. Program managers should not micromanage, but should leave project management to the project managers.
A Project Manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project within a specified period of time and budget. Key responsibilities include: charter, scope management and control, project requirements, WBS, building and guiding the team, and managing the triple constraints (scope, time, and cost) to successful on-time delivery within budget.
Triple Constraints according to PMBOK 4th Edition is 6 constraints namely:
- Scope
- Cost
- Schedule
- Risk
- Quality
- Customer Satisfaction
When you change one of these, it can have an impact on all others. We will discuss in details each of these in the future Blogs.
From a recent issue of PMI Passport to Credential Growth Global salary survey PMI conducted:
More Reason to Maintain Your Credentials: PMI’s Salary Survey Shows Increased Earnings for Credential Holders
Knowing your earning potential is an invaluable asset when you want to leverage opportunities at your current job, invest in skills to raise your marketability and plan the next phase of your career. It’s also critical for organizations, which are competing for top talent as the demand for project managers grows.
PMI’s latest project management salary survey shows that despite the global recession, for 51 percent of respondents, salaries are increasing. The median salary across all countries, roles and experience levels was US$90,260.
PMP® Credential Status Has Positive Impact on Earnings
The survey showed that the PMP credential has a positive impact on annual salary—a finding that varies by country.
In six major countries—Australia, France, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States—salaries are at least US$10,000 greater for PMP credential holders than for others who don’t have the credential.
The cumulative difference in salary over a number of years can exceed US$100,000. For instance, in the United States, the cumulative difference between the earnings of PMP credential holders and those without the PMP credential is more than US$102,000 during the time period between their third year of experience in project management (when one can first get the credential) and their 15th year (when experience starts to have a greater impact).
Background on Survey
Created and conducted by PMI’s market research team, the PMI Project Management Salary Survey—Sixth Edition measures salaries across eight major position description levels in 19 countries. The latest survey, conducted in 2009, reflects a greatly increased sample size for more accurate results, based on self-reported data from nearly 35,000 project management professionals around the world.
Represented countries include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Some of the information found in the survey includes:
- The country with the highest median salary (US$116,625) is Australia
- Size of projects (in terms of number of team members and average project budget) positively correlates with annual salary
- Salary correlates with the number of years a respondent has worked within the profession. In some countries, the salary difference from least- to most-experienced practitioner is dramatic.
In last few years I have organized and conducted number of Job Search related skills and preparation classes. Many times I have come across candidates who are very technically savvy and knowledgeable but they are not as strong in their leadership, communications or other soft skills.
I started to ask a question: How important are the soft skills and went and asked several hiring managers this question. Here is a brief summary of some of my findings as well as comments I read.
Here are answers from individual managers:
“I think the list of required soft-skills depends on the size/type of the company’s environment. Over the last 15 years, I’ve worked in many types of environments, including in an information services bureau and in more traditional industries such as manufacturing, and discovered along the way that approaches that worked in one environment sometimes backfired in another.”
Business Acumen:
“Business acumen. Understanding the basics of how and why an organization ticks and what motivates managers in general so that when specifics come around no one is surprised. Oh, yeah. Business acumen.”
“I would rate Listening Skills and Research Skills as my two favorites when interviewing for new folks.”
..
“A technical communicator needs to have some drive and be willing to go get the info they need. Being proactive does not come to all folks naturally so I look for some passion for the job and the ability to use social engineering skills when needed.
Example: A couple of years ago we had two writers— the pushy little flower that is me, and a guy who sat in his cube and waited for people to come to him.
I’m still here and he’s not.”
.
.“I like to see passion: does the applicant get excited about something. It doesn’t have to be work-related; can be music, travel, food, whatever.
2. Tact (the ability to accomplish #1 without giving offense, embarrassing or otherwise making enemies).
3. Relationship-building, especially in situations where the other person is remote and there are no opportunities for face-to-face interaction.
4. Ability to plan, keep to plan and keep stakeholders aware of necessary changes to plan.
5. Ability to follow instructions (for example, when someone asks for information to be sent off-list).”
.
.“In my experience, the essential soft skill are the ability to perceive how others are perceiving them, and to adapt as necessary to differing personality types among the subject matter experts with whom they have to deal. It is a surprisingly rare attribute.
Without that ability, the technical writer will have difficulty forming and maintaining the collegial interactions necessary to get the job done.”
I could see moving him to more advanced projects over time and as team lead eventually.”
It isn’t necessarily a must have for a brand new shiny grad, but, if you wish to fill a slot with a grizzled veteran, knowing how your function might fit into the company’s success is very valuable.
..
of the most important traits that you as a hiring manager look for in a candidate? Drop me a line.
If you are interviewing for a Project Manager or Business Analyst positions share your most difficult or interesting question you have been asked.
What is Business Analysis?
Business Analysis is a discipline of understanding an organization, identifying business needs and recommending solutions to meet those needs. It involves understanding how organizations function, who the key stakeholders are and what their relationships are. Business needs stem from customer request, a problem or an issue, a strategic initiative or a market opportunity. A person who performs Business Analysis is called a Business Analyst or a BA. This skill is used very heavily in building systems or software for automation of business operations. As a result, there are various roles like IT Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, etc who perform BA activities.
One of the major causes for project failure is poor quality of business requirements. A BA needs to understand the requirements, document, communicate and get stakeholder agreement; then work with the solution team and validate that the proposed solution will indeed meet the requirements. In order to perform his/her role effectively, a BA needs to have various competencies like facilitation skills, communication skills, leadership and critical thinking, expertise in software applications.
IIBA and BABOK
International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) was founded in 2003 to serve the field of Business Analysis. It is a not for profit professional organization. Currently, they have 100 chapters and over 12,000 members. One of the major contributions of the organization is Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), a globally recognized standard for the practice of Business Analysis. BABOK describes knowledge areas, tasks, inputs, outputs, techniques and skills required for effective analysis. BABOK 2.0 is the most current version.
CBAP
IIBA has also created CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) designation to recognize experienced professionals. In order to certify, BAs need to meet certain prerequisites, submit a detailed application, and prepare for the certification test based on BABOK and pass in the test.
Why Certify?
In the competitive environment and tough job market of today, a professional certification distinguishes an individual from a pile of other candidates and shows their higher credibility in terms of knowledge and experience. CBAP provides a similar advantage to Business Analysts. A BA with CBAP can establish credibility as a knowledgeable, skilled, experienced and competent professional with strong foundation of principles and practices. Certification can also help in career growth and recognition from the peers. It adds value to the individual as well as to the organization.
Requirements
These are the basic requirements to be eligible for CBAP
- Minimum education requirement: High School
- Professional Development requirement: 21 hours of professional development - It could be Business Analysis training, CBAP prep test, or any underlying skills like Facilitation, communication, etc.
- Experience requirement: This is the most challenging requirement. A candidate must have at least 7500 hours of experience in Business Analysis activities over last 10 years. Out of that, at least 900 hours each should be in four of the six knowledge areas. Six knowledge areas in BABOK are
- Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
- Elicitation
- Requirements Management and Communication
- Enterprise Analysis
- Requirements Analysis
- Solution Assessment and Validation
- References: Two references to indicate that a candidate is suitable for CBAP.
If you are a BA, Systems Analyst, process analyst, enterprise analyst, or business architect, you should consider getting certified as CBAP in order to improve your market value.
- Bina Mehta is a senior IT professional with CBAP and PMP certifications. She is an active member of PMI Silicon Valley Chapter, serving as Program Manager, communications and IIBA Silicon Valley Chapter. She is also a member of Toastmasters Organization and president of the club Fairoaks Toastmasters. Bina also teaches Business Analysis at Ultimate in Success.
Contact: bina_mehta@hotmail.com
What is CBAP?
CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) is a designation provided by International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) to recognize experienced Business Analysts. In order to certify, BAs need to meet certain prerequisites, submit a detailed application, and prepare for the certification test based on Business Analysis Book of Knowledge (BABOK, version 2.0) and pass the CBAP test.
Prerequisites
Before you think of applying and preparing for CBAP, verify if you qualify. Eligibility requirements are:
- High School or higher education
- 21 hours of training (professional development) in Business Analysis field
- 7500 hours of BA experience over last 10 years, spread over six knowledge areas as defined in BABOK, version 2.0
- Two references - One from a manager and other from an internal or external customer or a CBAP certified person. (A reference from Project Manager is not accepted)
Application Form
CBAP application form is available online on IIBA web site. You can complete the application over one or more sessions. Application gets saved during every session. Application form has these sections:
- Your Contact Information
- Education
- Work Experience
- This is the most tedious and complicated part of the application. You have to provide details on a project basis. If you worked on more than one project during a year, it can be combined.
- You need to provide project name, description, duration, company details, contact details.
- Then, you need to provide total hours spent on the project and number of Non BA hours.
- Last part on experience is a list of BA activities performed and percentage hours spent in that section. Based on the percentage, IIBA will compute number of hours spent in six knowledge areas from BABOK. They will validate if you have spent at least 900 hours in four of the six knowledge areas.
- Activities are predefined. You have to pick from the list. The list includes some Non BA activities as well (like creating project plan, performing testing, etc.) If you pick these activities, those hours will be disqualified.
- It is very important that you take an overview of six knowledge areas and tasks and techniques within those to understand if your experience really pertains to BA activities.
- Six knowledge areas in BABOK are
- Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
- Elicitation
- Requirements Management and Communication
- Enterprise Analysis
- Requirements Analysis
- Solution Assessment and Validation
- Professional Development (21 hours or more)
- References - Details of two references.
- When you complete reference details, references are sent an email. They should then go on-line and fill in required details as requested by IIBA.
- Fees: Application fee is $125, payable online by credit card (or by check/money order). It is not refundable.
- It takes up to 21 days to get an application approved. For most on-line applications, approval comes much faster. Once your application is approved, you should do two things in parallel:
- Start exam preparation. Most effective way to prepare is to enroll in a prep class. You get structured understanding, study materials, buddies to team up with and sample tests. It also keeps you motivated.
- While you are studying, you should also schedule your test. It takes some time to get a test schedule nearby. Exam fee is $325 for IIBA members and $450 for non-members.
- If the application is rejected, you will have to wait for 3 months before applying again.
- Bina Mehta is a senior IT professional with CBAP and PMP certifications. She is an active member of PMI Silicon Valley Chapter, serving as Program Manager, communications and IIBA Silicon Valley Chapter. She is also a member of Toastmasters Organization and president of the club Fairoaks Toastmasters. Bina also teaches Business Analysis at Ultimate in Success.
Contact her bina_mehta@hotmail.com
A recent headline for an article on Executive education in Wall Street Journal said it best when it described the recent trends in hiring: Exam Time: More Firms Are Requiring Test-Taking
Many companies outside of finance and insurance are encouraging employees to sit for certification exams-and some are flat-out requiring the effort.
Companies say the certifications are proof that their current or prospective employees meet an industry-wide standard. And, some companies say a growing number of their clients insist on dealing only with employees who have earned industry designations.
The Project Management Institute says it has seen a 30% jump in registration for its handful of certifications. The most popular is the Project Management Professional certification PMP for experienced managers, while the fastest-growing is the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), which prepares non managers to be part of a project-management team, according to the nonprofit professional association.
Offered since 1984 by PMI, the credential recognizes project managers for the knowledge, experience, and skills they apply to bring projects to a successful completion. It bestows a competitive edge on the certified individuals who earn it through a rigorous training schedule and then work hard to maintain it as well. Organizations with mission-critical projects use PMP certification as the litmus test for their choice of managers. It's not just the private sector that's taking notice of the PMP certification. It's also the government-both on the federal and state levels. Today, many government contracts require project managers to have the PMP credential.
A major advantage vested with PMPs is their ability to provide consistency across the enterprise so that their professionals working across the oceans speak the same project management jargon as they do. PMP certification has significantly shaped careers in the IT industry, with global IT companies like IBM and EDS creating career models for project managers based on PMI certification requirements. PMP certification process is dynamic as it is evolving successfully to meet the demands and requirements of today's businesses. Employers are increasingly looking for certified project managers because they think the presence of a certified project manager on a project will increase the odds of project success.
-Harish Chinai, PMP is the Managing Partner of Ultimate in Success and Past President of PMI Silicon Valley Chapter. He is conducting monthly training classes for PMP Prep at their Santa Clara, CA facilities.
Contact: harish@ultimateinsuccess.com