Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Special Announcement! New Virtual PMP Exam Study Group being formed (to be discussed on the PMP Exam Study call on April 2nd)

We've seen a constant flow of people wanting a study group that they can be a part of, so we are going to start a "virtual PMP Exam Study Group" that will meet weekly.

(note: We will be discussing this on the free conference call on April 2, 2009 if you can join. If not, please read below and respond if you are interested)

We need to hear from you right away if you are interested in being a part of this group. Just use the "Contact Us" link at pmlessonslearned.com to contact us if you are interested.

Some of the main principals of the group are:

* This group will be a "virtual" PMP Exam study group - meeting on conference calls lines and using a yahoo group to communicate and schedule meetings
* The group will meet weekly via conference call
* All members would be be required to participate by doing a presentation when it was their turn
* We need to hear right away from people who would want to participate in this PMP Study group
* The group needs leaders ("PMP Exam Study group Program Managers") from among those studying. The leaders would schedule presentations for the members and oversee logistics. It is basically a coordination role. We have one volunteer leader so far.

Other points:

Members:
* All members would be scheduled to do a presentation on a PMBOK chapter (or related PMP Exam study topic) in a round-robin assignment pattern
* Being responsible for doing a presentation helps the student to prepare better and gain better knowledge of the subject matter
* We would leverage the powerpoint presentations we've been improving over the years with our current PMP Exam Study group calls
* If a presenter has a last minute reason they can't present, the member (and presentation topic) scheduled for the following week should be ready to fill in with their presentation. (i.e.members would be expected to be ready to present their topic on the week prior to their scheduled date in case the person has a last minute conflict. The member with the conflict would then be expected to present the following week - effectively switching weeks)

Leaders:
* The Program Manager leaders would be expected to document their processes and when they were ready to roll off the group (after they received their PMP certification) they would be required to transfer their role to their successor.
* The leaders need to commit to at least 3 to 9 months to make it worth while to train them
* There will be two leaders for continuity in leadership as leaders move on and to allow for a backup and sharing of duties
* This group will continue to be one of the sub-groups of PMlessonslearned.com and so we would have continual involvement to keep the ties
* We are working on finding some mentors who would implement the new OJT (On-Job-Training) that was first mentioned at our January board meeting. This program would allow our volunteer leaders (Program Managers) to be mentored in the use of project management for their volunteer efforts and would thus give them real PM experience to claim on their resumes.

Please contact us if you are interested and what your level of interest is (participating or leading) and when you wish to start participating in the group. It would also be helpful to know what days and times of the week work best for you to meet virtually.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Free Confcall April 2: Communications Management (PMP Study Subgroup)

What: FREE PM Lessons Learned PMP Exam Study subgroup conference call
Topic: "Communications Management"
Who: presented by Dana , PMP
When: Thursday Apr. 2, 2009 at 9pm Eastern time
Where: Conference Dial-in: (269) 320-8300 Access Code: 767 616#

Presented by Dana Safford, PMP, MCSE

On this call Dana will discuss the Communications chapter of the PMBOK. You can provide your experience, tips or ask questions. Our goal is to make this as interactive as possible so your participation is very important.

In addition there will be a brief discussion on our formation of a new "Virtual PMP Study group" that will meet weekly and have participation from the members.

Visit our Web site at: http://www.pmlessonslearned.com/

Follow the "files and presentations" link on our website for directions to the presentation. There is a lot of valuable information in this presentation so please download prior to the call.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Free Confcall March 19 (Thurs.) Introduction to Agile Estimating and Planning


This is the topic that our group voted to be presented!

What: FREE PM Lessons Learned PM Best Practice conference call
Topic: "An Introduction to Agile Estimating and Planning"
Who: presented by Kevin Aguanno - Keynote Speaker, Lecturer, and Workshop Facilitator http://agilepm.com
When: Thursday Mar. 19, 2009 at 9pm Eastern time
Where: Conference Dial-in: (269) 320-8300 Access Code: 767 616#





"An Introduction to Agile Estimating and Planning"

Presentation: The presentation will be available just prior to the call - follow the Files and Presentations link on our website to download it.
Give-a-way: A give-a-way is being planned to one random person selected from those who attend the call and give their names before the recording starts

In this session, we will cover:
* Why we plan in the first place and what makes a good plan
* Why traditional planning fails
* The basics of agile planning including building Release Plans, Iteration Plans and Day Plans
* Estimating with Story Points
* Estimating with Ideal Days
* A 3-step feature prioritization process
* Measuring and forecasting velocity
* An overview of Critical Chain estimating and scheduling
* Why agile planning works
more at: http://www.agilepm.com/presentation-agile_estimating_and_planning.html

Conference Dial-in: (269) 320-8300 Access Code: 767 616#

Bio:
With over 17 years of managing complex systems integration and software development projects, Kevin Aguanno is known in the industry for his innovative approaches to solving common project management problems. He focuses on two project management specialty areas: agile project management and troubled project recovery.

As a well-known keynote speaker, trainer, and coach in agile management methods, Aguanno has taught thousands of people how to better manage high-change projects by using techniques from Scrum, Extreme Programming, Feature-Driven Development, and other agile methods.

He has taught for several years at the University of Toronto where he won the coveted Excellence in Teaching Award, and is a regular guest lecturer in software engineering and project management classes at several other universities.

Kevin Aguanno holds a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario, and a Master’s in Project Management from the School of Business and Public Management at George Washington University.
He is a PMI-certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and his competency is certified by IBM as a Certified Executive Project Manager and by the International Project Management Association (IPMA) as a Senior Project Manager
(IPMA Level B).
Aguanno is an active member of the Project Management Institute (U.S.A.) including the Information Systems SIG, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (U.S.A.), the Association for Project Management (U.K.), and the Project Management Association of Canada where he is a founding director.
He is accredited by the International Project Management Association (Geneva, Switzerland) as a project management competency assessor, and he performs IPMA Level-B and IPMA Level-C assessments for the ASAPM in the U.S.A.

Kevin Aguanno is the author of over one dozen books and audiobooks.

More at: http://www.agilepm.com/bio.html
=======================
About the Conference Call:
Conference call participation is free and questions are encouraged. Long distance charges may apply depending on your carrier - some cell phone companies allow free long distance after certain times in the evenings.

PMlessonsLearned.com is all about Project Managers helping Project Managers and open to all.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Listen to our past calls for Free (by phone or computer)

Tonight was another great call about the job search process for PMs!

Don't miss this one!

You can always listen in to the recording of our most recent conference call by phone.
See the details of how on the top left of our pmlessonslearned.com website.
(the call is available by phone until we hold the next call)

OR

Checkout our archive of MP3 podcasts that you can play on your computer or download to play on your mp3 player

OR

Subscribe via itunes!

All the info is on the website!

Sunday, March 08, 2009

PM JobShop Confcall March 12th: Vega Consulting

PMLL PM JOB Shop is proud to have on our March 12th Program: Maggie Daronco and Kimberly Shand from Vega Consulting: Mountain Lakes, NJ.

DATE: March 12, 2009 (9:00 -10:15PM EST)
Conference Dial-in: (269) 320-8300
Access Code: 767 616#

Vega Consulting Solutions is an information technology consulting firm founded in 1994. They currently conduct business in 28 states designing creative business, and comprehensive IT solutions, to meet the needs of both public corporations and state governments.

http://www.vegaconsulting.com/

We're excited to have Maggie and Kimberly on the call with us. We have had the pleasure of them on prior calls and discuss their company, as well as their opportunities/requirements for Program and Project Managers.

Conference call participation is free and questions are encouraged. Long distance charges may apply depending on your carrier; some cell phone companies allow free long distance after certain times in evenings.

We look forward to having you on our call this coming Thursday evening.

Mike Chrepta
Scott Percival

PMlessonsLearned.com PM JobShop: "Project Managers helping Project Managers"

PMLL Episode 0059 PMBOK Time Managment (PMP Exam Study Subgroup)

Notes and Podcast from the PMlessonLearned.com Conference Call:
Topic: PMP Exam Study Group
Presentation Title: PMBOK Human Resource Management
PM Lessons Learned Leader: Henry Will, PMP
PMP Exam Study Subgroup Host: David Radkovich, PMP, EVM
Presenter: Dana Safford, PMP, MCSE

Date: 05Mar2009
Podcast number: 0059
MP3 / Podcast: MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or Listen on OurMedia or subscribe to our podcast on itunes

If you're studying for the PMP Exam, you may want to listen to the MP3s of past PMP Exam Study Group conference calls. They're located in our Archive (see the link on our website).

Notes from the call:
PMlessonsLearned.com PMPExam Prep sub-group host David Radkovich PMP, EVP leads this monthly call with Presenter Dana Safford; Complex Problem Manager, PMP, MCSE; Global Solutions Engineering; Hewlett Packard Company on Time Management


Visit our Web site at: http://www.pmlessonslearned.com/

Note: Presentation material for this call and past topics are available in the files section of the PMLL yahoo group. The links to join the yahoo group and the link to the files section (you must first login to the yahoo group) are located on the left side of our website.

===================================

Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

Join our Yahoo group for details, reminders of the calls, and information to help you in your PM Career. Visit the website for details.

PMLessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers. Open to all.

PMLL Episode 0058 Project, Program, and Portfolio Metrics (PM Best Practices)

These are the notes from the PMlessonsLearned.com Conference Call:

Topic: PM Lessons Learned
Presentation Topic: "Project, Program, and Portfolio Metrics"
Host: Henry Will, PMP
Presenter: Henry C. Will IV, PMP, Founder and Leader of PMlessonsLearned.com
Date: 19Feb2009
Podcast number: 0058
MP3 / Podcast: Download MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or Listen on Our Media or Join our podcast on itunes

===============
You may want to listen to the MP3s of past conference calls. They're located in our Archive (see the link on our website).
===============
PRESENTATION:
NOTE: Special announcement about the change of the PMP Exam Study Group to a weekly call that will not be podcasted!

The presentation is located on the website. Follow the "Presentations and Files" link on the left hand side of the pmlessonslearned.com website
===============
NOTES FROM THE CALL:
In this session, we will cover:

* What is Project, Program and Portfolio Management
* Metrics: what are they, how are they effective
* Ways to use metrics to address your project issues
* Top Metric Tips
* Examples of Metric reporting
===============
PRESENTERS BIO:
Henry Will is the Leader and founder of PMlessonsLearned.com, a volunteer organization with more than 1500 Project Managers from around the globe. The organization is made up of Project Managers helping Project Managers and those studying for their PMP. The group strives to help Project Managers with their careers and their application of PM processes.

Henry's credentials include a PMP [Project Management Professional] Certification. He currently is employed by a large global IT company as a Senior Program Manager.

Henry is a public speaker who has spoken on many varied technical and professional topics, including several presentations on Project Management.
===============
PRESENTERS CONTACT INFO:
http://henrywill4.com
===============

Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website. Also, you may freely use the information in our Archives of past calls.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

Join our Yahoo group for details, reminders of the calls, and information to help you in your PM Career. Visit the website for details.

PMLessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers. Open to all.

PMLL Episode 0057 The 10 Commandments of the Job Search (PMJobShop)

These are the notes from the PMlessonLearned.com Conference Call:

Topic: PM JOB SHOP
Presentation Title: The 10 Commandments of the Job Search
PMLL Leader: Henry Will, PMP
PM Job Shop Group Hosts: Mike Chrepta and Scott Percival
Presenter:
Date: 12Feb2009
Podcast number: 0057
MP3 / Podcast: Download MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or Listen on OurMedia or subscribe to our podcast on itunes

Notes from the call:

Dr. Sally Wright will focus on the 10 things you absolutely must do to get not only ONE, but SEVERAL job offers. If the principles are followed, the person looking for a job will be head and shoulders above the rest of the field.

Bio:
Dr. Sally Wright is a licensed clinical psychologist who serves as the Director of Wellspring Resources, an organization which offers therapy, evaluation, and psychological testing in central New Jersey. She also serves as a staff psychologist in the New Jersey VA Health Care System, and is on the faculty of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, serving as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.

Dr. Wright does speaking engagements throughout the area on stress management, as well as other adult, adolescent, and child mental health issues. She is a former lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, and has served in numerous key military leadership positions both here and overseas.

==============================

Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

PMLessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers. Open to all.

PMLL Episode 0056 PMBOK Quality Managment (PMP Exam Study Subgroup)

Notes and Podcast from the PMlessonLearned.com Conference Call:
Topic: PMP Exam Study Group
Presentation Title: PMBOK Quality Management
PM Lessons Learned Leader: Henry Will, PMP
PMP Exam Study Subgroup Host: David Radkovich, PMP, EVM
Presenter: Dana Safford, PMP, MCSE

Date: 05Feb2009
Podcast number: 0056
MP3 / Podcast: MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or Listen on OurMedia or subscribe to our podcast on itunes

If you're studying for the PMP Exam, you may want to listen to the MP3s of past PMP Exam Study Group conference calls. They're located in our Archive (see the link on our website).

Notes from the call:
PMlessonsLearned.com PMPExam Prep sub-group host David Radkovich PMP, EVP leads this monthly call with Presenter Dana Safford; Complex Problem Manager, PMP, MCSE; Global Solutions Engineering; Hewlett Packard Company on Time Management


Visit our Web site at: http://www.pmlessonslearned.com/

Note: Presentation material for this call and past topics are available in the files section of the PMLL yahoo group. The links to join the yahoo group and the link to the files section (you must first login to the yahoo group) are located on the left side of our website.

===================================

Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

Join our Yahoo group for details, reminders of the calls, and information to help you in your PM Career. Visit the website for details.

PMLessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers. Open to all.

PMLL Episode 0055 Managing Global Projects From My Home Office (PM Best Practices)

These are the notes from the PMlessonsLearned.com Conference Call:

Topic: PM Lessons Learned
Presentation Topic: "Managing Global Projects From My Home Office"
Host: Henry Will, PMP
Presenter: Drenda Theriault, PMP, IBM Project Manager
Date: 15Jan2009
Podcast number: 0055
MP3 / Podcast: Download MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or Listen on OurMedia or Join our podcast on itunes

You may want to listen to the MP3s of past conference calls. They're located in our Archive (see the link on our website).


===============

Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website. Also, you may freely use the information in our Archives of past calls.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

Join our Yahoo group for details, reminders of the calls, and information to help you in your PM Career. Visit the website for details.

PMLessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers. Open to all.

Friday, March 06, 2009

PMLL Episode 0054 Advanced Usage of Linkedin and How to Grow Your Network (PMJobShop)

These are the notes from the PMlessonLearned.com Conference Call:

Topic: PM JOB SHOP
Presentation Title: Advanced Usage of Linkedin and How to Grow Your Network
PMLL Leader: Henry Will, PMP
PM Job Shop Group Hosts: Mike Chrepta and Scott Percival
Presenter: Martin Czebotar
Date: 08Jan2009
Podcast number: 0054
MP3 / Podcast: Download MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or Listen on OurMedia or subscribe to our podcast on itunes

Notes from the call:

Do you think you know how to use LinkedIn? Are you comfortable with networking? Learn how to get more from Linked In with Marty Czebotar. Learn what you need to know to be a successful networker – when you're job hunting – and after you've landed your next position.

Outline and Notes:
Items discussed on call include:
Feeling "stuck" in your job search? Finding it hard to move on from the job you had to the job you want?

Your professional relationships are key to your professional success. Linked In's mission is to help you be more effective in your daily work and open doors to opportunities using the professional relationships you already have. This isn't networking—it's what networking should be. Forget exchanging business cards with acquaintances that don't know your work, or trying to renew professional ties when you need a favor.

Through your network you can:
• Find potential clients, service providers, subject experts, and partners who come recommended
• Be found for business opportunities
• Search for great jobs
• Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
• Post and distribute job listings
• Find high-quality passive candidates
• Get introduced to other professionals through the people you know

Bio:
Martin Czebotar areas of expertise is in designing production processes and optimizing the work process through Six Sigma techniques, project management, product design, production capabilities and team communications

Marty is a networking guru who also volunteers his time to speak to several local career networking groups. He understands the value of building and maintaining a strong network.


==============================
Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

PMLessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers. Open to all.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Free Confcall Thursday March 5: PMP Study Group: Human Resource Management

PM Lessons Learned

Free PMP Study Group Conference Call

Human Resource Management

The goal of this call is to empower Project Managers, and people studying for the PMP test.

Thursday, March 5th 2009

9:00 P.M. – 10:15 P.M. (EST)

Conference Call Telephone Number: (269) 320-8300 Access Code: 767616#

Topic: Human Resource Management

Presented by Dana Safford, PMP, MCSE

Join us on this free interactive conference call hosted by David Radkovich, PMP, EVP. On this call Dana will discuss chapter 9 of the PMBOK. You can provide your experience, tips or ask questions. Our goal is to make this as interactive as possible so your participation is very important. Some of the topics to be discussed include:

  • Human Resource Planning
  • Acquire Project Team
  • Develop Project Team
  • Manage Project Team

In addition there will be a brief discussion on what the group thinks of changing this call to a weekly conference call with greater participation from the members. The topic for our April 2nd, 2009 call is Communications Management. We would like a volunteer to present this topic.

Visit our Web site at: http://www.pmlessonslearned.com/

Note: Presentation material for this call and past topics are available in the files section of the PMLL yahoo group. There is a lot of valuable information in this presentation so please download prior to the call.

March PMlessonsLearned.com Conference Call Topics

Here's our schedule for our three conference calls this month:
(For all calls: Conference Dial-in: (269) 320-8300 Access Code: 767 616#)

Mar. 5, 2009 at 9PM Eastern- PMLL PMP Study Group confcall with Host David Radkovich, PMP - Topic: Human Resource Management presented by Dana Safford; Complex Problem Manager, PMP, MCSE

*** Note: this will be a special call where will will be discussing some important plans about the future of the PMP Exam Study Group! Please try to be on the call.

Mar. 12, 2009 at 9PM Eastern - PM Job Shop with Hosts Mike Chrepta and Scott Percival - Presenter: Maggie DaRonco (Vega consulting) Maggie has been a great recruiter friend of PMLL and has helped several members in their job searches!

Mar. 19, 2009 at 9pm Eastern - PMLL Lessons Learned confcall with Host Henry Will, PMP - Topic: "An Introduction to Agile Estimating and Planning" Presenter: Author Kevin J.J. Aguanno, PMP®, MAPM (agilepm.com)

My personal thanks to the 92 people who voted in the poll to select this topic! If you would like to vote on Kevin's topic for when he will be speaking again on July 16th you can still vote at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/pmlessonslearned/surveys?id=2829090

And, actually, we need more votes because there is a four way tie for the 2nd subject he will be presenting on July 16!

Also, if you didn't see it in our earlier correspondence, we now have in excess of 1300 Members!

PMlessonsLearned.com - It's all volunteer Project Managers helping other Project Managers and it's open to all!