As I mentioned last time, the company that looks after PRINCE2 for the UK Government, the APM Group, has announced it will launch a new PRINCE2 qualification on 30th January (next Monday). This new qualification will be called PRINCE2 Professional.

I’ve written before about my mixed feelings about the attempts to professionalise project management (using ‘professionalise’ here in a precise manner, not as a proxy for ‘improve’) and this new qualification seems another step along the route.

I’m not convinced, however, that it makes much sense for this type of qualification to be coming from the APM Group. While there is a demand out there for a qualification that asserts it proves ‘competence’, that demand is already well served – both the Project Management Institute and the International Project Management Association (through its national member associations) provide global coverage of such qualifications.

The PRINCE2 qualifications were always something different, in that they aimed to measure knowledge of the methodology, and not experience or competence in project management. This means that APM Group are making a significant departure from the previous qualifications.

Naturally, this makes commercial sense for them, but does it also help project managers? On the one hand, an addition to the alphabet soup of possible qualifications is probably a bad thing, in that we will likely end up with yet more culture wars about which one is best. On the other hand, where PRINCE2 has been successful, it tends to push out the wider ranging PMP and IPMA Level C/B qualifications, so an acknowledgement, from the PRINCE2 world, that sometimes more than knowledge needs to be assessed could be a good thing.

In other words, I’m staying firmly on the fence on this one. I’ll be interested in what extra information we get when the qualification is launched, particularly around the pre-requisites before you can apply. If they end up merely replicating what is already needed for the PMI’s PMP, or the IPMA’s qualifications, I’ll be a little disappointed at what would then look like an unnecessary rehash of what is already available.

What do you think? Is a PRINCE2 qualification about competence a good thing? Or are there already enough choices for project managers in this area?

(Image courtesy of karsten.planz. Some rights reserved.)

PRINCE2 Practitioners now have an advanced qualification to aim for – and one that tests competence, not knowledge.

APMG-International announced last week that they would be launching a new PRINCE2 qualification at the end of January. PRINCE2 Professional is aimed at assessing the candidate’s ability to apply the PRINCE2 method. This is in contrast to the current PRINCE2 qualifications, which are purely about showing a candidate knows the methodology, its terms, and its processes.

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments 2) is the de facto project management standard within the UK, and is used extensively in Western Europe and Australia. Recently, the Project Management Professional (PMP) qualification from the US-based Project Management Institute (PMI) has been making some inroads into these areas.

It’s clear that APMG-International are reacting to pressure from PRINCE2 Practitioners and industry for a qualification that is explicitly about competence. The PMP qualification is often cited as being more about competence as candidates must have a certain amount of project management experience before they can actually take the examinations.

It’s not clear what minimum experience level is required to take the PRINCE2 Professional assessment – the press release states that Accredited Training Organisations (i.e. who you will pay for the testing) will advise candidates on whether the qualification is for them. An early pilot of the assessment centre used three years of project management experience in the last five calendar years (so very similar to the PMP requirements).

Either way, it’s worth noting, for both PRINCE2 Professional and PMP, that having a certain level of experience doesn’t guarantee a certain level of competence.

More on this later in the week, I suspect.

I’ll be honest with you: I used to hate networking. I really did. It always seemed like a pointless succession of stifling small-talk, cold canapes, and woeful wine. Despite what I wrote last time, Why Networking Matters, I used to rather be, well, pretty much anywhere else. I always figured that I was weird or odd – most everyone else I saw at these events seemed to enjoy them, while I forced myself through them.

Thankfully, Networking for People Who Hate Networking by Devora Zack has set me straight. It’s not that I’m not suited for networking, it’s that I’m not suited to doing it that way – I’m an introvert trying to ape an extrovert. And that just doesn’t work.

This book’s subtitle is “A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected”, and that is exactly what it is. Zack starts off by arguing that the ‘traditional’ tenets of networking aren’t wrong, but are only one way of approaching it. They are a set of advice and techniques that work well for people who are extroverted – in other words, people who are probably doing just that already!

But there is more than one way to network, and Zack sets out new principles and techniques for you to try, building on your own strengths. So, for example, she suggests that an extrovert would typically excel at a networking event, with light banter, while an introvert would impress after the event, by making thoughtful and helpful follow-ups. Both styles can work, both can be effective, but trying to follow the wrong style for you is going to be a disaster – and leave you like me, muttering that you hate networking.

The ‘right’ style for introverts is described with three simple rules, based around Pause, Process, and Pace. Networking for People Who Hate Networking uses these general principles, and shows how they can be applied to certain types of situations, ranging from networking events through business travel up to job searching. Throughout, Zack highlights ways introverts can apply their strengths to achieve impressive results.

This book absolutely isn’t for everyone – as it says in the title! – but it is a networking book which, unlike others I have read, actually seemed to be talking to me. The new techniques, and indeed the new way of looking at networking and my own abilities at it, have encouraged me to try new things, and get better at building my own personal network.

So if you’re a project manager who feels overwhelmed at networking events, who would prefer to be having an in-depth conversation rather than trifling small-talk, or who sometimes looks at social butterflies and wonders why you find it so hard, give it a try.

Purchase on Amazon.com, Amazon UK.

Almost right - network with humans, not robots

A quick word on why networking (the people kind, not the computer kind…) is important to project managers.

Building a team

With every project, you will have new team members and stakeholders to talk to, to bring onboard, and to keep involved. In essence, you need to build a new network for every project. This means you not only have to bring people together to form the team, but also make sure they have confidence in you as project manager. Networking can help you build trust, respect, and confidence among your team and wider stakeholders.

Adding value

By having a network of other project managers, you are able to give and receive advice on particular situations. The reciprocal nature of this arrangement is important! Maintaining and building these kinds of contacts helps everyone.

By having a network of past suppliers, you can bring extra value to your current project. You’ll have a better idea of the true cost of your project, or components of is. You may even be able to swing a better deal – because of your own personal relationship with the supplier.

Better career

As a permanent employee, a strong network within your company can help you raise your profile, and get promoted to handle bigger and more interesting projects. Making sure you get noticed for your contributions, and that your contributions are more likely to be listened to, helps your project and your career.

As a freelancer / contractor, a network is even more important – it is your primary tool for finding new work after your current role finishes! Building links with past and potential clients, and demonstrating value to them, will help make sure work keeps coming in.

So…

Good networking can help your projects, your employer, and yourself. I guess that means we should try to get better at it…

(Image courtesy of NASARobonaut. Some rights reserved.)

It’s the people we work with who get projects done, but sometimes we don’t act like it.

When people talk about project management, a lot of the time they only seem to focus on the easy bits – the processes, procedures and methodologies. I don’t mean that these are simple to do, but they can be written down, tweaked, and agreed upon – they are easy to discuss.

What is less simple is team management, which is more important. No matter how good your plan, or how impressive your documentation, if your team aren’t committed to it, or just don’t know about it, then your project will fail.

That’s why I was interested to read two recent articles from Elizabeth Harrin’s blog, A Girl’s Guide To Project Management. They deal with the concept of team coaching, and what team leaders and members can do to help a team work well together.

The articles are an interview with Phil Hayes, and a review of his book. There are some interesting ideas in there, and they are certainly worth a read.

Personally, I think the only thing I’d add (or at least make more explicit) is the importance of trust within a team. All team members, including the nominal leader, need to be able to trust one another. As a project manager, I always try to demonstrate trust in my team by leaving them in peace to get on with assigned tasks, and by treating their concerns seriously.

This doesn’t mean I cross my fingers and hope work gets done – there are still regular update meetings. But this is about making sure everyone on the team knows where we are collectively, and is aware of any issues (and can suggest possible solutions!), and not an adversarial check on what they’ve done.

For my part, I try to show their trust in me is valid by dealing with problems promptly, always being available to help remove obstacles in the path of their work, and most importantly, letting them know I have confidence in them to get the work done.

I find once the team realises the project is a safe, shared environment, they are able to collaborate, and contribute, much more freely and effectively.

What about you? What are your tips for team management?

(Image courtesy of toffehoff. Some rights reserved.)

A new year is upon us, and many of us have made New Year’s resolutions. But, only a week into 2012, how many of us have already let some of those resolutions slip?

The problem with resolutions is we tend not to think them through. Chivvied on by the fast approaching end of the year, we pick something we’d like to change in the next year, and vow to do it. But it’s far too rare that we actually think about how we are going to do this!

So, after the first week of the year, full of good intentions and crossed fingers, let’s try to put our resolutions on a firmer footing, and give ourselves a better chance of actually getting them done this year. Let’s start using our project management skills to make our New Year’s resolutions project successful!

1. Define the resolution – Project Aim

Your first step is to get a clear grip on what you want to achieve. It may be that you have made a general goal, such as ‘lose weight’ or ‘get fit’. The problem with these is that they aren’t specific enough. Remember, in project management we want a clear aim – something precise enough that we know when we have met it. In other words, we need to know what success looks like.

In the two examples above, you could make the aims more specific, for example ‘lose weight’ could become ‘lose twenty pounds’, and ‘get fit’ could become ‘run a half-marathon’.

Remember, though, that you need to make sure your aim is not impossible. Aiming to go from couch potato to ultra-marathon runner in a year is not going to be successful! Be realistic, but don’t forget you should be trying to stretch yourself.

2. Define the benefit – Business Case

Now that you have a clear idea of what you are actually aiming for, you also need to make sure you set down why you want to do this. As you go through the year, there are going to be times when you simply don’t want to keep working towards your goal. After all, if it was easy, you probably wouldn’t be making resolutions about it!

To help you during those times, you need to remind yourself why you are doing this. For example, you may want to lose twenty pounds because you want to look good at your brother’s wedding, or to get fit enough to run a half-marathon so you’ll still be around to walk your 7-year old daughter down the aisle at her wedding. Focussing on the why will make the how seem a lot easier.

3. Define the actions – Plan

So, you know what you want to achieve, and you know why. Now is the important part of figuring out how you are going to do it.

Obviously this part is going to vary depending on what you have actually resolved to do, but there are some important principles you should keep in mind. Remember that you are trying to achieve something which will likely need continued small steps towards it over the year. In the two examples we have been using, we need to make some changes to our lifestyle, and keep them up.

For example, to lose twenty pounds, you may need to start skipping the latte you buy every morning, and eat better in the evenings. To get fit enough to run a half-marathon, you need to build time for exercise into your routine. Each of these are small steps, but they need consistency to have an effect.

Make a plan, and keep revising it. Remember, you need to pencil in the big milestones (e.g. able to run 5k, lost 5 pounds, etc.) that you are aiming for over the year, but you also need to look at a shorter timescale. Plan when you are going to train over the next two weeks, and stick to it. Revise the plan every week, to keep it up to date with everything else going on around you.

The important thing to remember is to not just have an aspiration, however well defined you have made it. You also need to take concrete steps towards achieving it – and the first of those steps is to create a plan!

4. Evaluate often – Project Monitoring

It is important that you keep an eye on how you are doing. It can be far too easy to allow the good intentions to be overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of life. Partly this can be combatted by making sure you keep your plan up to date, but partly it can be fought by evaluating where you are now.

Sometimes this will be a pleasant experience, as you realise you have done all you were supposed to, and are well on track. Sometimes it will be decidedly unpleasant, as you realise you have skipped too many actions, and are falling behind. But both of these are useful – good news can encourage you to carry on, and bad news can spur you to greater efforts.

On final word on this: in a project, sometimes we will have to change our plans, or even our aims, because we realise in our monitoring we have been too ambitious, and can’t achieve it. While ideally you will have avoided this with your resolutions project by setting a realistic goal, even realistic goals could be damaged by unforeseen events (e.g. a twisted ankle or broken leg preventing training). If this is the case, don’t give up completely – revise your aim, and work towards this new goal. Don’t make it too easy, though – it should still be a stretch.

5. Reward yourself – Milestones

A year is an awful long time to work at something without reward. I mentioned pencilling in some big milestones into your plan. When you meet these, reward yourself! They are a sign you are on the right track. Do something as a little gift to yourself – go to the movies, treat yourself to a good book, something that you enjoy – but that won’t derail your efforts so far!

6. Success! – Project Closure

Hopefully, by the end of the year, you will have met your goals. Even if you haven’t, you will have made some progress. Now is the time to evaluate how you did, to bask in the glory of having achieved your goals, or identify why you’ve missed them.

And why do you do this? Simple – now you can make a better plan for next year! Using the information you have on how you did this year, you can make an even better plan for next year. Now could be the time to start reading up on the Boston marathon…

Best of luck with your resolutions – and please wish me luck with mine (I need it!).